The critical race theory fight is part of a much bigger debate


We have entered the eye-rolling phase of the critical race theory debate. "People should be asking [Republicans], what elementary, middle and high school is teaching Critical Race Theory and why they are spinning false narratives," tweeted lightning rod Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar. "Lo and behold, the single most important issue to them apparently right now is critical race theory," former President Barack Obama told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "Who knew that that was the threat to our republic but those debates are powerful because they get at what story do we tell about ourselves."
This debate is powerful not only because of how it shapes the story we tell about the past. It also encapsulate the main questions the left and right are grappling with about our present and future. Is it still possible to have a national identity that transcends other identities, including race? Is racism a personal character flaw? Or is it something more systemic and baked into the American DNA? Does the latter view entail collective or inherited guilt on the basis of race?
The central task of modern American conservatism is to try to preserve the political inheritance of the founding, which few of its adherents define as 1619. Progressives increasingly question not only the date of that founding, but core constitutional concepts like the design of the Senate, the power of smaller states, federalism more generally, and the Electoral College.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This is not just culture war claptrap about a heretofore obscure academic theory. These are questions about the essence of the American system and who we are as a country. Where the culture war frivolity manifests itself is in the cartoonish way these debates tend to unfold, especially on social media. Just as "wokeness" contributes to a tone-deafness on the left, conservatives can be in denial about racial injustices in our past and their continued impact on the present, which can make it difficult to chart a realistic way forward with maximum social peace.
The problem is not that we are having this conversation. It is that we are not conducting it seriously and intelligently.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
W. James Antle III is the politics editor of the Washington Examiner, the former editor of The American Conservative, and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?.
-
July 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include new TSA rules, FEMA cuts, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy complimenting Donald Trump's new wardrobe
-
5 weather-beaten cartoons about the Texas floods
Cartoons Artists take on funding cuts, politicizing tragedy, and more
-
What has the Dalai Lama achieved?
The Explainer Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader has just turned 90, and he has been clarifying his reincarnation plans
-
The Supreme Court and Congress have Planned Parenthood in their crosshairs
Talking Points Trump's budget bill and the court's ruling threaten abortion access
-
How will Trump's megabill affect you?
Today's Big Question Republicans have passed the 'big, beautiful bill' through Congress
-
How successful would Elon Musk's third party be?
Today's Big Question Musk has vowed to start a third party after falling out with Trump
-
Zohran Mamdani: the young progressive likely to be New York City's next mayor
In The Spotlight The policies and experience that led to his meteoric rise
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Some mainstream Democrats struggle with Zohran Mamdani's surprise win
TALKING POINT To embrace or not embrace? A party in transition grapples with a rising star ready to buck political norms and energize a new generation.
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic Party
Talking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
DNC rocked by high-profile departures as future is in question
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Generational shifts, ambiguous priorities, and the intensifying dangers of the Trump administration have pushed the organization into uncertain territory