Exploring the Social Imagination

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

In the Social Imagination of Proponents of Critical Race Theory...

 

The basic tenets of CRT include that racism and disparate racial outcomes are the result of complex, changing and often subtle social and institutional dynamics rather than explicit and intentional prejudices on the part of individuals.

Commentary- Yes, that is true. But, who is asking who composes social and institutional dynamics? Individuals. You see, people are part of a group/society/culture in a given place and they are shaped by that existence 'being in a place over time' with similar social actors. That means that those raised in a group are shaped by that group and they are part of that group.

Human beings al over the world, in every society, culture and group/tribe know who they are and are not simply by being in a place over time the sharing information they have been given/used and at hand in the place where they are; largely, because it works for them in that place at least with enough successful that they continue that sharing as a 'practice' that works. 

As for anyone outside of that shared information as a 'practice', they are and will continue to be outside of it; unless, they themselves decide to leave what they are and integrate into another group... just like being in a gang. The newbie has to prove him or herself... that they have left the old behind and are ready to be made new.

It can be explained by an analogy of in group/out group. People who are tall do have a certain vantage point and most of the time they don’t look down. They live in the clouds so to speak; but that’s not bad or wrong. It’s just their reality. Because they live on a level that others don’t and have a different perspective. It's this way for people who are of one social status vs another. It's this way for people of one kind of culture or geography vs. another.

People live with  the information they have been given and or have at hand. It’s a normal operation. Now, if some find themselves outside of a certain information reality or within a majority of people who share in one kind of information over another… then those who do not share the same information reality can feel left out... if that is even really possible. But, you can’t force one reality over and or on top of another without being guilty of doing what ‘you’ are criticizing… not sharing an embedded information reality that was culminated over a period of time in a place.

Even in saying that, how on earth could anyone from one reality group even know or understand on any ‘real’ level what the group that they criticize is thinking or doing. That is like saying you know and understand aliens and you feel left out from their planet.

Anyone who is not raised or shaped by a group in a place over time cannot know in any concrete ‘clear’ unbiased way what the group they criticize is really like. Let alone that they are being excluded by it.

It would be like monkeys at the zoo complaining that the lions get more attention. How would the monkeys even be able to recognize or understand that is what is happening to them? And, how would they be able to exclusively discern why they think they are not getting the same attention and that the lions know very well that they are getting more attention?

CRT scholars also view race and white supremacy as an intersectional (crossing over and mixing) social construction which serves to uphold the interests of white people against those of marginalized communities at large. 

Commentary- Firstly, how could someone make the statement that they are not a racist and yet recognize someone as being ‘white’ and worse being a white supremacist? Labeling people is racist. Its not surprising that self-labeling or group recognition is not new. Its still about knowing and displaying who you are and are not. This is done by the in-group inasmuch as its done by the out-group... those who want to be in. Those on the inside are always maintaining who they are and are not through shared information in a place over time. Every society/culture, group/tribe does this. Its about sustainability.

 A key CRT concept is intersectionality (analytical framework for the concept of intersectional), which emphasizes that race can intersect with other identities (such as gender and class) to produce complex combinations of power and disadvantage.

Commentary- This is true. Its like the melting pot of America. Or, what was once the melting pot of the United States. If one is seeking to divert from its given group in order to become like another, then the group which is being sought obviously has advantages that are preferred over their own group. Isn't that why people from all over the world came to America?

You need to hang out with that group, learn the lingo, learn the steps, learn the means of transportation. Its not the other way around… why would it be, unless you apply the politics of accommodation wherein you become like them from a distance and they move toward your group.

Academic critics of CRT argue that it relies on social constructionism, elevates storytelling over evidence and reason, rejects the concepts of truth and merit, and opposes liberalism

Commentary- If there is anything to agree with its social constructionism (information shared by a group in a place over time) … which is true for all people everywhere, it’s because we are talking about the human condition and processing of shared information in a place over time. The reality of either in-groups or out-groups is shaped/formed due to the working out of social dynamics in the place they are. This is observed not only among diverse groups attempting to cohabitate in the same place ‘geographically’ but within like groups and within the in-group. This is true in political structures, and in corporate hierarchies.

The only truth we can say about CRT is that "there is always somebody who don't like somebody"... Ray Charles.

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