To The Editor:
I want to thank Phil Lundblad (November 24) for responding to my essay. I totally agree with his first paragraph about freedom of speech. Much of the reason I write to The Valley Reporter is to start a conversation. Even more than being, “… a priceless commodity …” I think these conversations can help heal our divided nation. As a proponent of CRT, I hope Valley citizens will add to this dialogue.
Having said that, the rest of the essay leaves me scratching my head. Your history is bizarre. Angela Davis was and is a Black feminist thinker but there is no such thing as a devout communist. And she had nothing to do with CRT. A guy named Derrick Bell coined the term “critical race theory” in the 1970s. MLK said, “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the nature of their character.” [My emphasis] He cared about the color of your skin.
People who use CRT to analyze history discuss and argue a lot. We want to discuss its way of thinking. Science, math, reason, speech and empiricism are the tools of CRT. Also, history. CRT in no way says the founding of the nation was to have slaves. Slavery, though, was an integral part of our founding. The Constitution says that African slaves were counted as three-fifths of a human being. CRT tries to stop blaming individuals for today’s racism. Instead it focuses our energy at the systems that maintain cultural/economic oppression.
I apologize if I didn’t make that clear.
Robin Lehman
Warren
