Critical Race Theory Demeans Black People | Opinion

The following is a lightly edited transcript of remarks made by Barrington Martin II during a Newsweek podcast debate on critical race theory. You can listen to the podcast here:

When you utilize terms like "white supremacy," you continuously reemphasize the oppressor vs. the oppressed dichotomy of the critical race theory ideology.

We have totally overused words, and we have watered down the definition of words, especially in this society. The reason I'm saying this is because I reject terms like white supremacy, I reject terms like white privilege because when you utilize these terms, you're basically supporting the critical race theory argument of the oppressor and the oppressed.

When we continuously use these types of terminologies or phrases, we're subconsciously putting in the minds of the masses, that there is some type of advantage that people have in this society based on their skin color. That's what you're doing when you use those types of terms, especially with younger adolescents who are unable to conceptualize specific types of ideologies. That's what you're doing when you tell students that because they're white, they have a supremacy, or you tell them because they're white, they have a privilege, when essentially there are white people who would totally dismiss the notion of being supreme, or even being privileged based on their financial or economic status.

I will never reject the idea that this may have been the case in the past from a legal perspective, or even from a societal perspective. But in 2021, I feel that we are the closest that we've been to those common tenets that have been put forth by our forefathers.

It's time for us now as a country, as a society, to reject these terms that we've been using for so long, that really possess no meaning when you ask people to break down the definitions of them.

Barrington D. Martin II is the founder of the United Alliance PAC and a former Congressional Candidate for the Fifth District of Georgia.

The views in this article are the writer's own.