Critical Race Theory: Suffering Without Forgiveness

[Jesus’] disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2)

A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”)

The raison d’être of our faith is Christ’s resurrection. If, as St. Paul so aptly declares, Jesus had never risen from the dead, “our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). His suffering, signs, and wisdom, as powerful as they are, all mean nothing without that salvific act that redeems us from our sins. For without His resurrection, we are eternally damned to our failures, our folly, and our brokenness. All hope is gone. All life is, ultimately, meaningless. If this world is all there is, then what is our purpose for existence?

However, through His resurrection, there is redemption from the sins of our past and eternal hope for our future. No longer are we unclean lepers who are forever cast out in the desert of despair. With repentance and salvation comes rebirth, as the sons and daughters of God we were created to be. With forgiveness, we are given a clean slate, and our past shortcomings no longer define us. And while we, in our human nature, will surely fall again, our hope is that we will sin less and less as we walk more closely with Christ. Suffering is not the totality of our existence.

As Christians, we know that forgiveness between humans is expected by the One who forgives us. So how can we benefit from His gift to us and not, in turn, give that same gift to another?

The Benefits of Forgiveness

Ironically, by exercising forgiveness, we discover a beautiful paradox of our faith: Forgiveness not only provides peace to one who is forgiven but also to the one who forgives. The guilty debt is lifted off the shoulders of the one who sinned, and the victim is released from the debilitations of victimhood. With forgiveness, the relationship is restored, or a new healthy relationship is achieved, in which both parties have achieved parity: they are now equal as all debts have been discharged. Both parties are freed from the burdens of the past iniquity.

Even in cases where the sinner is not repentant, the victim becomes a victor when they forgive. Scientific studies have shown that one who forgives another is psychologically and physically much healthier than those who do not forgive. Those who forgive feel greater control over their lives, far less stress, and a higher rate of overall happiness. By choosing to unload the burden of resentment, they are free. By granting forgiveness, the victim controls how they will be defined.

And because forgiveness rejects the status of victimhood, it is, as stated by Mahatma Gandhi, “the attribute of the strong.” Clearly, one does not have to be Catholic or even religious to appreciate the overwhelming benefits of the adoption of forgiveness.

Critical Race Theory

Unfortunately, the encouragement of victimhood and the resulting lack of agency over one’s future is the primary component of critical race theory. Critical race theory (CRT) has been most clearly described by Dr. Carol Swain, former professor of political science and law at Princeton and Vanderbilt Universities:

Critical Race Theory is an analytical framework [for] institutions and culture. [It] divides the world into white oppressors and non-white victims. [Rather than rely upon proven data], it uses personal narratives of marginalized minority “victim” groups as irrefutable “evidence” of the dishonesty of their mostly white heterosexual oppressors. Within this framework, white privilege and its unearned benefits are responsible for [the] economic, health care, and social disparities in the minority communities. [Thus] racism is permanent and affects every aspect of our society, including political, economic, social, and religious institutions.

Neutrality in law and decision-making is a pipe dream that can never be attained. [Because] race and ethnicity will always taint and pollute every decision, racial minorities will consistently lose out to whites because of structural racism. [Furthermore, because CRT holds that] every dysfunctional condition in black, urban communities can be traced to slavery and its aftermath, [t]here is no place for individual-choice initiatives. The message is clear: if you are unfortunate enough to be born with black skin, you are forever a second-class citizen who pays a race penalty. (Dr. Carol M. Swain, “Critical Race Theory’s Destructive Impact on America,” in Robert L. Woodson, Sr. [ed.], Red, White, and Black)

The Death of Forgiveness

There already are many political and historical challenges to the veracity and efficacy of critical race theory. One aspect, however, that needs to be examined more diligently, especially in light of the effects of forgiveness for victims, is the personal impact CRT has and will have upon children. White children would be forced to inherit the “sins of their fathers,” while non-white children would be required to carry the heavy mantle of victimhood in which they eviscerate their will to control their lives and look hopefully to their future.

Delving even more deeply, the concepts of forgiveness and redemption would be non-existent. Not only would these children be forced to view themselves as eternally suffering the perceived abuses of racism, but they also would never be permitted to throw off the yoke of resentment, allowing them to embrace their “abusers” as equals and ultimately exercise free agency over themselves. In the end, the persons who most suffer, educationally, psychologically, and spiritually, are the very youngest victims whom critical race theory is supposed to protect. It thus prompts the question: Who truly benefits from CRT?

Conclusion

Through its parishes and especially its educational facilities, the Catholic Church would do well to reject the tenets of critical race theory. Each human is a wonderfully unique individual created in the image and likeness of God, not a nameless cog in a monolithic conglomeration of race. To divide humans into such artificial categories, and treat them differently based upon the perceived color of their skin, is to promote the very racism which CRT supposedly seeks to remedy.

Rather, each human being is amazingly different from all others and should be treated and honored as such. To view each of us as any less is an insult to God and His beautiful creations and truly degrades each human personality.

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” (John 9:3)