CRT&I is harmful primarily because of its employment. I view it’s teaching in a similar way as many other theories. (eg Big Bang theory, creation or intelligent design theory, etc...) The problem arises not in the theory, but in its representation as fact absent proof. Theories are UNPROVEN or UNPROVABLE ideas proposed to explain how something came about. A theory becomes a law of nature when it is proven by scientific experiment to provide reproducible, predictable and consistent results. They must be exclusive as well. In other words they must not have a competing theory that would produce the same results using scientific experiments.

Our current “higher education” system is run by those who reject scientific method over political agenda (i.e. almost exclusively leftist). They propose a theory and then they agree (group think) to support the theory absent any unbiased tests/experiments as if it had the relevance of a law of nature. IF any testing/experiments are accomplished, they are slanted to provide the desired results. They get away with this foolish and deceptive practice by the use of layers of convoluted arguments based upon obscure bits of evidence (not proof) of supporting elements of their argument along with authoritarian arrogance that comes with positions of respect (subject matter experts).

Side Note: My father made many foolish statements, but one of them had an element of profound truth I recognized only after obtaining a master’s degree, several certifications and attending no less than 6 institutions of higher education. When he tried to convince me not to quit my great paying construction job in order to return for my second year of college, he said “a college education/degree is nothing but learning more and more about less and less until finally you know everything about absolutely nothing”.

If our education system hadn’t become so hyper-liberal and a breading ground for leftist political activists, this theory wouldn’t be a problem. It could be taught ALONGSIDE COMPETING THEORIES as a way of considering, with an open mind, various issues. When we see theories as fact, we close our minds to a host of potential explanations that might better enlighten our understanding and hence, inform our proposed plans of action.

Along with the problem of this vesting ourselves fully in one perspective without considering alternatives, there is the problem of this activist/reactivist tendency in our “woke” politically correct education system leading to unintended/second order effects. We may intend to move people toward a more just way of treating a person with black/brown skin by calling everything racism and every white person a racist and the entire system racist, but in the end the methods we use cause a backlash that leads to more racism than was experienced before. When we redefine racism so that it is seen as something a black man is incapable of (i.e. a black man can’t be racist because he is black and black people don’t have power, as only white people have power, so no black people are racist and all white people are racist) we become racist in our reactionary rhetoric. The fact of the matter is that racism is the assignment of traits based upon a person’s race REGARDLESS of their power. It is also a fact that many people with white skin are powerless and many people with black or brown skin have power.

As for second order effects of CRT&I, it is clear that this is a form of racism that is driving more previously unbiased people toward a more racist camp. Either they will be white racists that hate themselves (eventually making them hate those who made them feel bad about themselves) or they will be black/brown racists with license to hate and white people as the enemy based upon the color of their skin, or they will be white people who now hate black/brown people based upon the color of their skin because of what SOME black/brown racists have done, etc... There will also be those who see the danger and choose to fight against the natural inclination to choose a perspective of “us against them”. However, the second order effects of this foolish movement will be the degradation of all the progress made toward a society that sees racism as a bad thing and something to be avoided.

IMO