CCU STATEMENT ON CRITICAL RACE THEORY
RenewaNation Editor ’ s Note : This statement by Colorado Christian University on critical race theory ( CRT ) succinctly describes CRT , its origins , and why CRT markedly conflicts with a biblical worldview . As more businesses , organizations , and schools adopt DEI ( diversity , equity , and inclusion ) initiatives , it is important to discern CRT ’ s fundamentally flawed ideas and learn and maintain a biblical theology of righteousness and justice . This statement by CCU provides an excellent example to spark ideas for a written statement crafted by your organization .
Because Colorado Christian University is committed to the truth of Holy Scripture , we look at the issues of race and racism through the lens of a Christian worldview . Therefore , we view critical race theory ( CRT ) as an inadequate social theory with a fundamentally flawed foundation , diagnosis , and prescription for the human condition .
CRT is a post-Civil Rights social philosophy , legal theory , and strategy for addressing racism and our changing society . Its underlying framework — critical theory — was formed as an attempt to understand human brokenness and oppression and to point a way toward liberation . It was formulated upon a neo-Marxist philosophy and worldview as developed by the Frankfurt School in Germany in the 1930s .
Critical theory is a master narrative that reduces human associations to relations of power . Adopting a neo-Marxist framework , one is either oppressed or an oppressor . Critical theorists go on to classify capitalism , “ heteronormativity ,” Christianity , etc ., as forms of oppression that keep oppressed groups in bondage . It aims to dismantle these norms in order to bring “ true liberation .”
CRT ( one outworking of critical theory ) critiques society through the lens of racial oppression . It denies a biblical view of human nature and sees everything through racial categories . One is either a racist or a victim of racism . Selectively , it makes whiteness the foundation of evil . Being white and non-racist is impossible .
According to CRT advocates , the United States of America is a white supremacist society . They assert that an ethnic majority culture is automatically racist . They claim America is hopelessly racist and state that its true founding was in 1619 ( when Europeans brought slaves to Virginia ) and not in 1776 . They falsely declare that the American Revolution took place for the purpose of preserving slavery and often make the claim that racism is perpetuated by capitalism .
We at CCU do not believe that racism is the defining feature of Western society . Nor do we believe it is the defining feature of the American founding or that a free-market economy is racist . We also take issue with the 1619 Project ’ s central thesis and favor the rebuttal offered by Robert Woodson ’ s 1776 Unites project . 1
In saying this , we are not blind to America ’ s racial sins and the blind spots of our nation ’ s founders . We are very much aware of the sad legacy of chattel slavery , Jim Crow laws , debt servitude , black codes , lynchings , forced relocations , and various racebased laws , urban policies , and local codes . We are aware of the effect of this
“ A biblical theology has to be the grid for evaluating CRT . . .”
history on the black family . We do not believe this history should be ignored .
We believe that America is not essentially nor uniquely racist . Racism afflicts all nations and people groups . We are thankful for the amazing progress made in overturning racially unjust laws to the point of African Americans rising to the highest ranks in government , business , and law . While America is certainly not the New Jerusalem or the kingdom of God , we are grateful for the way the prosperity and freedom of this great republic has impacted so many people , including people of color .
In making its extreme claims , CRT asserts that members of oppressed groups have special access to truth due to their lived experience of oppression . Whereas everyone else , i . e ., the oppressors , are thoroughly blinded by their privilege .
Arguments to the contrary and appeals to reason or objective evidence are actually , so it is claimed , white supremacist bids for power . Hence any disagreement with CRT is said to be racist . In other words , CRT denies
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