"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed... 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal'.
I have a dream that one day out in the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by their character." — MLK 1963
Sons of slaves and sons of slaveowners can sit down together at the table of brotherhood. Mississippi an oasis of FREEDOM and justice. Children NOT judged by colour of skin.
None of these things are on the radar with CRT. Dr. King's dream of no racism IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. For the CRT advocate, you must be ANTI racist, actively taking steps to end it (meaning being an activist, meaning bothering other people).
You will not be hearing Dr. King's quotes anymore. They have been fodder for progressivism for more than fifty years, morally clear and permanently true, thus useful as a club to strike about the head and shoulders the last remnants of old fashioned racism. Useful BECAUSE TRUE, and still true today.
CRT, on the other hand, is Marxism disguised. It's classism with a confusing veil of colour -- black vs. white is equal to proletariat vs. bourgeoisie. Same principles.
You can tell it's Marxism by the number of people in the higher class who are terrified of being cancelled and instantly begin saying loudly and publicly the things they hope will prevent the activist from moving on them. You can tell it's Marxism by the number of thick headed young people who lunge for the moral credibility of this set of positions, desperate to be taken as better, desperate for some kind of respect.
You can tell its Marxism by the lack of sympathy and lack of humour and lack of humanity in the philosophy.
MLK was about humanity trumping racism.
CRT is about rigid compliance and punishment of the other.
“Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn. The reality of substantial investment to assist Negroes into the twentieth century, adjusting to Negro neighbors and genuine school integration, is still a nightmare for all too many white Americans…These are the deepest causes for contemporary abrasions between the races. Loose and easy language about equality, resonant resolutions about brotherhood fall pleasantly on the ear, but for the Negro there is a credibility gap he cannot overlook. He remembers that with each modest advance the white population promptly raises the argument that the Negro has come far enough. Each step forward accents an ever-present tendency to backlash.”
— MLK, Where Do We Go From Here: 1967
CRT doesn't disguise its Marxian leanings. It's right in the name "Critical" and "Theory". Critical Theory was and is neo-Marxist - the application of Marxian critique to figure out how to change society.
CRT developed as a response to legal "colorblindness" in the post 1965 era, after racism in the law had been abolished. The sense, in the 70s, was that things were quickly becoming more equal.
Derrick Bell and others were arguing that, no, things had not become equal. De jure racism was eroding, but de facto racism still persisted, and institutions were still white supremacist, and were perpetuating racism.
CRT is just reflecting what MLK said in the above quote. It's about the backlash.
This current right-wing effort is a great example of the kind of racist backlash that happens. It is the backlash. Pushing CRT into the media spotlight, to demolish it, may have some of the following outcomes:
When CRT was making waves in the media, I had to go re-read about it. I'd only read a few Bell articles here and there, and didn't remember anything about them.
Digging into the articles, what I got was that CRT was mainly about law. It got picked up by other fields, but
PS - Marxism is as funny as hell. You should read some Marx and Engels writing about events of their day. They're both very droll, and Engels would have been great in flame wars.