There are a few universal experiences that all children who go through the American public school system share: Pizza day was the best day in the cafeteria, field trips meant no homework and you pledged your allegiance to the flag every morning.
While ritually reciting the pledge of allegiance may seem like a harmless practice, it symbolizes the United States’ overwhelming national pride. This is not to say national pride is inherently a bad thing; however, when it reaches a point where people are not able to separate their individual identities as Americans from the American system and its institutions, issues arise.
The deep rooted nationalism that plagues the country has led to extreme tunnel vision and the inability to recognize the nation’s wrongdoings in the past — so much so that history curriculums around the country have been altered in order to teach U.S. history in a positive light, regardless of whether or not the information is inaccurate.
In Texas, efforts were made by state lawmakers to refer to the slave trade as the “Atlantic Triangular Trade” within its U.S. history curriculum. This change would have prioritized the economic market and eliminated slavery all together, “[downplaying] the treatment by white Americans of those people whom they subsequently purchased,” according to reporting by The Hill.
Additionally, acts of extremism can be attributed to nationalism — particularly extremist acts committed by white nationalists. In an interview with The World, professor Monica Duffy Toft of Tufts University said that when a country’s core national identity no longer matches its demographic breakdown, those who were formerly in the majority will react. This is because they worry about the potential political and/or economic losses that may negatively affect them.
“They have an ideal in their head what they think the country is supposed to look like,” Toft said. “In the case of the United States, it’s largely White, Christian… and also with males in charge.”
The reactions, as referred to by Toft, can lead to physical violence. Statista reported there were 128 white nationalist hate groups in the U.S. during 2020. And, of the 17 domestic extremist-related killings that year, 53% of them were associated with white nationalism. The best example of white nationalistic extremism took place on Jan. 6 this year, when rioters stormed and overtook the U.S. Capitol. In reports from the impeachment trial of former President Trump following the insurrection, rioters injured nearly 140 law enforcement officers, killed one officer, two other officers took their own lives afterward and there are likely to be dozens, if not hundreds, of officers who will struggle with PTSD in the time to come.
The capitol riots, in addition to the flawed US history curriculum, have been glaring examples of the prevalence of white nationalism within the country. Another way that this nationalist viewpoint is manifesting itself is in the ongoing debate around critical race theory.
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw developed critical race theory nearly four decades ago. In an interview with The New York Times, she described critical race theory as “a method that takes the lived experience of racism seriously, using history and social reality to explain how racism operates in American law and culture, toward the end of eliminating the harmful effects of racism and bringing about a just and healthy world for all.”
But, despite critical race theory’s four-decade tenure, a majority of the country had yet to hear the phrase “critical race theory” until roughly a year ago when it was popularized by Tucker Carlson and Fox News, as found by The New Yorker.
The debate surrounding critical race theory has produced many different arguments. Ultimately, the majority of people against it argue it pits People of Color against White people by portraying all People of Color as victims of all White people, who are oppressors.
This is where the influence of nationalism on personal identity comes into play. Racial identity has become so intertwined and integral with national identity that people are no longer able to make a distinction between the two. As a result, the opponents of critical race theory interpret calling social institutions –– like the criminal justice or healthcare system –– racist as calling them racist personally.
It’s time to settle the debate once and for all. Critical race theory does not call individuals, or even groups of people, inherently racist. Rather, it examines how the system of social institutions in America has perpetuated racism through its laws and practices. For many, a perceived connection to the system has provided a blind spot that conceals the many ways that America does not treat everyone in a moral way. But, until people address those blind spots and detach their sense of self from the system at large, critical race theory will not be widely accepted into practice, despite its clear necessity.
Opinion: Identity influences critical race theory
Caitlin Tapia
November 8, 2021
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