In answer to the question, ‘Who are some Black voices speaking out against CRT or race issues in general?’ I have compiled a list. This represents voices from whom I have learned a great deal. The names and resources have accumulated over the years with some excellent suggestions from friends. Thus, the list is a semi-crowd sourced item. I’m grateful for a group of iron-sharpening friends. Your good added suggestions are also welcome.
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A few thoughts about these thinkers:
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1) When reading/listening to this material we should keep in mind these are conversationalists to the big questions related to race. These persons aren’t tools. We should therefore not use their material as a thought-weapon on others who are in favor of CRT or its sister ideas. Nobody likes to be used. We can think of these good thinkers and communicators as partners in a necessary conversation.
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2) I have tried to assemble a list of voices that have these virtues as shared traits in their demeanor and discourse:
- ARTICULATE
- STUDIED and EXPERIENCED (academically and historical, not just in contemporary events)
- and most importantly, CALM
There is passion no doubt, but none of the voices listed are coming from a position of rage. The work of re-educating yourself and others is slow work done in the calm of evenly paced conversations. These thinkers are aware that certain terms or phrases are intrinsically inflammatory. Other terms are ambiguous and thus necessarily confusing. Some terms in the race discourse are intentionally high on the rage meter. These voices tend to avoid using these because they realize those terms are mostly for rhetorical effect than for thoughtful conversation. Thus, a common emotional state of these voices, except for a couple, is one of calm resilience. This calm resilience repels the inclination to hyper-elevate empathy and negative ambiguity, both which can be fuel for rage.
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3) Not all the voices are distinctly Christian. They are all in the Western ethical tradition which no doubt owes it root principles to Christian law and social theory. Thus, as with any list of resources it is best to read/listen from a broad perspective even though your own commitments may be confessionally narrower. That makes for a good balance. What these voices have in common ethically is that they are primarily interested in holistic analysis and holistic solutions. They tend to avoid the niche anger or externalized angst of narrow partisan takes. If we are going to aim for and achieve just solutions to Racism we have to aim for the common good. This does not cancel out giving conscious recognition for personal narratives of injustice. Yet, anecdotes should not be a canon for making public policy. These thinkers constantly reminds us that social order arrives not from emoting, but from ageless principles of “liberty and justice for all.” This emphasis on traditional ethics is inline with the Theology Delish project which is to enjoy the world and its people by enjoying the God who gives.
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4) These voices are not unanimous on questions such as abortion, gay marriage, taxes, immigration or on which political party or religion is best. This list is focused on the general matter of equity among all people and the fostering of environments for productivity. On this list there are those who disagree with each other, some strongly so. They have, however, a high regard for careful reflection on facts, a high regard for what can sustain a productive shalom in our neighborhoods and a high regard for communities (churches, towns, groups, etc.) that don’t function in isolation. Isolation is a badness that keeps us from being human to each other.
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Note: Most of the material listed is clean, but for those few that have explicit language I add (L!)
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My favorite is this gent, Darrell Harrison. He is a Christian servant who is careful with his words and calm in his demeanor. He is smart and very likable. A good model for how we should be toward others in the opposition.
– – Darrell B. Harrison
A must listen: “What is ‘racial reconciliation’?” – Episode, Feb 18 https://thebarpodcast.com/JT/index.php/2020/02/18/racial-reconciliation/
Just Thinking blog https://justthinking.me/a-few-words-about-justice/
The Gospel Is Enough conference https://www.gospelisenough.com/copy-of-speakers
Just Thinking podcast, Hosts: Darrell B. Harrison and Virgil “Omaha” Walker, Episode, June 1. https://thebarpodcast.com/JT/index.php/2020/06/01/george-floyd-and-the-gospel/
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– – A conversation of 4 friends
Get Real – Christianity and Race
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. . Voddie Baucham, Jr.
sermon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoJGYCc7EUg
sermon
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– – Carl Ellis, Jr.
Professor at RTS
(He’s not a CRT specialist as far as I know, but speaks/writes on the race issue in the church)
Free at Last?: The Gospel in the African-American Experience
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. . Bryan Loritts
Website
“Can We Please Stop Saying, ‘White Privilege’”
https://bryanloritts.com/blog/can-we-please-stop-saying-white-privilege
Books
. Right Color, Wrong Culture
. Letters to Birmingham Jail: A Response to the Words and Dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
. A Cross-Shaped Gospel
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– – John Perkins
Perkins is a treasure to the Church for his boots on the ground making of justice real to those in need. I love reading his books.
Let Justice Roll Down
One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race
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– – Martin Luther King, Jr.
No list is complete without at least some awareness of some of the key texts and speeches in MLK’s career. He has been misused by the Left as much as the Right. So for you to be a careful conversationalist on race issues it’s important to know what contributions MLK gave to that conversation. There are many. CRT came later, but getting a sense of MLK’s level-headed mind on these issues it’s easy to see that he would have rejected CRT, imo. Notice also that the header image to this post is a quote by MLK at the Civil Rights Memorial. That quote comes directly from the prophet Amos. Both the prophet and MLK were speaking of divine justice not temporal retribution poured out by the wrath of man. The wrath of man is not just.
– My favorite MLK book is a large one my shelf, A Testament of Hope. Also, “Letter From A Birmingham Jail” (included in AToH) is key.
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– – Thomas Sowell
Interview with Hoover Institute
Website
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– – Walter Williams
Website
Talk on economics
On academic corruption
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. . Joe R. Hicks
Oxford Union
. Fmr., vice president of Community Advocates Inc.,
. Fmr., executive director of the Los Angeles City Human Relations Commission from 1997 to 2001
. Political commentator in various newspapers and journals
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Burgess Ownes
fmr. NFL football champion – career statistics
Books:
Liberalism or How to Turn Good Men into Whiners, Weenies and Wimps
Why I Stand: From Freedom to the Killing Fields of Socialism
It’s All About Team: Exposing The Black Talented Tenth
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– – Brandon Tatum (in law enforcement)
Dave Rubin Show
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– – Coleman Hughes
“The High Price of Stale Grievances” Quillette https://quillette.com/2018/06/05/high-price-stale-grievances/
Dave Rubin Show, part 1 https://youtu.be/5R6kUiKQkxc
Dave Rubin Show, part 2 https://youtu.be/1sV5qU6e-YY
Race, Power & Politics https://youtu.be/xfQNW9-mkHg
“How to be anti-intellectual” https://www.city-journal.org/how-to-be-an-antiracist#
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– – Peniel Joseph
Book: Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour.
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– – Erec Smith
A Critique of Anti-racism in Rhetoric and Composition: The Semblance of Empowerment
Available Means of Persuasion (L!)
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. . Kemle Foster
Podcast: The Fifth Column
Ep 188 “On Anti-Racism II w/ Glenn Loury, John McWhorter, Coleman Hughes, Thomas Chatterton Williams”
https://shows.acast.com/wethefifth/episodes/188-on-anti-racism-and-covid
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– – Michael J. Fortner
https://inequality.hks.harvard.edu/people/michael-javen-fortner
Author of Black Silent Majority
The Rockefeller Drug Laws and the Politics of Punishment.
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674743991
Audio interview of author on his book
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– – Tommy Sotomayor
Fatherless America, a film
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07T5R65S3/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8
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. . Roland Fryer
https://scholar.harvard.edu/fryer/home
“An Empirical Analysis of Racial Differences in Police Use of Force,” Journal of Political Economy 127, no. 3 (June 1, 2019): 1210–61.
pre-pub PDF
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/fryer/files/empirical_analysis_tables_figures.pdf
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. . Denzel Washington
Not the system, but the home with a father
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– – Glenn Loury
open letter to Brown U pres.
https://www.city-journal.org/brown-university-letter-racism#.XtrCFG3larQ.twitter
Glenn Loury and John McWhorter on Bloggingheads.tv (L!)
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– – John McWhorter
https://youtu.be/O3POpubeoIc
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. . Jason Riley
with Glenn Loury
at The Heritage Foundation
ReasonTV – Stop helping us
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. . Robert Woodson
Book
The Triumphs of Joseph: How Today’s Community Healers are Reviving our Streets and Neighborhoods.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082MTKTNT/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
C-SPAN
https://www.c-span.org/video/?100061-1/triumphs-joseph
Contra 1619 Project
https://video.foxnews.com/v/6139541758001#sp=show-clips
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. . Shelby Steele
Hoover Institute interview
Books
. White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Era.
. Shame: How America’s Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country.
WSJ article
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/black-protest-has-lost-its-power-1515800438
“So, when people start to talk about systemic racism built into the system. What they are really doing is expanding the territory of entitlement. ‘We want more. We want more. We want the society to give us more… to help us and so forth. Society is responsible for us because racism is so systemic.’ Well, that’s a corruption. And I know it’s a corruption because the truth of the matter is blacks have never been less oppressed than they are today.” ~ Shelby Steele
https://www.facebook.com/16307558831/posts/10158582083393832/?vh=e&d=n
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. . Ward Connerly
Book
Creating Equal
https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Equal-Fight-Against-Preferences/dp/189355404X
“America: A Nation of Equals”
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/blackspeech/wconnerly.html
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. . David Webb
Called a man of “white privilege” by radio host
Oxford Union
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. . Ryan Bomberger
http://www.theradiancefoundation.org/
Not Equal: Civil Rights Gone Wrong
https://www.amazon.com/Not-Equal-Civil-Rights-Wrong/dp/0997203609
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– – Ian Rowe
https://www.aei.org/profile/ian-rowe/#bio
“The Power of the 2-Parent Home Is Not a Myth”
https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/01/10/the-power-of-the-2-parent-home-is-not-a-myth/
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– – Monique Duson
Center for Biblical Unity
https://www.centerforbiblicalunity.com/
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– – Audrey Smedley and Brian Smedley,
Race in North America: Origin and Evolution of a Worldview
https://www.amazon.com/Race-North-America-Evolution-Worldview/dp/0813345545
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– – Paul C. Mocombe
“Against Critical Race Theory” Ethnic Studies Review Vol. 37-38:83.
https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1405&context=esr
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– – Clayton Banks
founder & CEO Silicon Harlem
Short tech talk
https://www.facebook.com/siliconharlem/videos/190977695423353/?vh=e
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– – Larry Elder
Books:
. Double Standards: The Selective Outrage of the Left
. What’s Race Got to Do with It?: Why It’s Time to Stop the Stupidest Argument in America
Talk
Dave Rubin
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“They tried to get me to hate white people, but someone would always come along & spoil it.”
Thelonious Monk (Monk’s Advice, 1960)
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OTHERS:
Lindsay is hitting it out of the park lately. Smart. Not a theist so he will put the hex on religion sometimes, but the rest of his analysis hits the mark.
– – James Lindsay (L!)
Website, New Discourses
Blog, “Deep Fake Methodologies”
https://newdiscourses.com/2020/05/deepfake-methodology-limits-critical-theories/
Podcast
Ep, May 7, 2020 “Stealing the Motte: Critical Social Justice and the Principle of Charity”
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2i3ne9ghtOOxcnDCEOLlhN?si=EZL3j-j3T3Ct09SkhZQwvg
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A basic intro text:
– – Jean Stefancic and Richard Delgado, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction.
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