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When I was in college a friend asked me to give his buddy—let’s call him Jon— a ride. I didn’t know the Jon and immediately felt uneasy around him. But it seemed like a small ask. Jon just needed to make a quick trip to the other side of campus.
We’d be back at my friend’s in 15 minutes.
So Jon and I get in the car and he directs me to a parking lot outside of some dorm rooms. He tells me to wait for him and disappears behind a building. Five minutes later I see him running towards my car.
He’s holding a gun.
So Jon and I get in the car and he directs me to a parking lot outside of some dorm rooms. He tells me to wait for him and disappears behind a building. Five minutes later I see him running towards my car.
He’s holding a gun.
He hops in and tells me to drive. I obey. I mean…the guy has a GUN.
Thankfully, it turned out he hadn’t robbed or shot anyone. He’d ditched his gun earlier that day after seeing some cops and wanted to retrieve it. But what if he had committed a serious crime?
Thankfully, it turned out he hadn’t robbed or shot anyone. He’d ditched his gun earlier that day after seeing some cops and wanted to retrieve it. But what if he had committed a serious crime?
One small decision…to give a guy a ride when I didn’t know who this guy was and what he was all about…brought me to a scary place, and could have completely changed the course of my life.
Maybe you think you’re too smart to get yourself into that decision. Maybe.
Maybe you think you’re too smart to get yourself into that decision. Maybe.
But some of the smartest people in the world are in that situation today.
In response to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and riots, individuals and organizations are doing more than condemning the murder, condemning police brutality, and condemning racism.
In response to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and riots, individuals and organizations are doing more than condemning the murder, condemning police brutality, and condemning racism.
They are endorsing ideas that amount to locking themselves in a car with someone they do not know and should not trust.
The only difference with my story is: they aren’t the ones driving.
The only difference with my story is: they aren’t the ones driving.
To make sense the Floyd protests and the reaction to them, one of the dynamics to understand is what I call the Power of the Premise.
A premise has a consistent meaning which is often hidden—and once you grant the premise, you can be pressured into following it more and more consistently.
There’s this idea in persuasion that comes from the research of Robert Cialdini, called "commitment and consistency."
There’s this idea in persuasion that comes from the research of Robert Cialdini, called "commitment and consistency."
When people make a commitment they feel pressure to act consistently with that commitment.
And so, for example, if I knock on your door and ask for a charitable donation, you might say yes or you might say no.
And so, for example, if I knock on your door and ask for a charitable donation, you might say yes or you might say no.
But if I start by asking you whether you’re a charitable person and you say yes, you’re more likely to give to my charity in order to remain consistent with the image you’ve established for yourself. As a rule, consistency is a good thing!
But it can often happen that people make commitments without understanding what it would mean to act consistent with those commitments. In fact, the consistent meaning of the commitment is often deliberately concealed.
In the wake of the Floyd protests, Americans are being pressured to declare their opposition to racism. That’s a small ask because most Americans already oppose racism.
What they don’t understand is that racism has been redefined. Like, literally. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/us/dictionary-racism-definition-update-trnd/index.html
What they don’t understand is that racism has been redefined. Like, literally. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/us/dictionary-racism-definition-update-trnd/index.html
The old meaning of racism was judging individuals by the color of the skin rather than by the content of their choices and actions. In the US context, this mainly meant treating blacks as inferior to whites.
But that is not the meaning of racism operative today.
But that is not the meaning of racism operative today.
The operative meaning has been defined by “critical race theory.”
This is the understanding of racism that is being promulgated in universities and in the books that many organizations are being encouraged to share with their members—books like White Fragility and How to be an Antiracist.
CRT argues that Enlightenment individualism, and its political values of individual freedom, free speech, and capitalism, are inherently racist. We are not individuals who can deal with one another by reason.
We are fundamentally members of groups based on unchosen characteristics (race, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, class).
These groups are locked in a power struggle, and it is not your own beliefs and actions that determine whether you are an oppressor or the oppressed—it is your group identity.
And so, if you do not judge people by their race, if you treat everyone equally, if you oppose racial discrimination, but you are white? Your hands aren’t clean because you benefit from white privilege.
Do all of the protesters support this view? No. Not fully and consistently.
Do all of the protesters support this view? No. Not fully and consistently.
But they’ve granted its basic premise: that CRT represents antiracism. And that’s all leaders of the movement need.
Now people are trapped in a false alternative: either you oppose individualism and individual rights or you are a racist.
Now people are trapped in a false alternative: either you oppose individualism and individual rights or you are a racist.
Either you accept the supremacy of group identity, and side with the oppressed rather than the oppressors, or you are a racist.
Either you allow the oppressed to unilaterally define what constitutes racism and how it should be addressed (including by looting and defunding the police) or you are a racist. Either you accept guilt and apologize for your privilege or you are a racist.
The unifying thread: any opposition to our agenda is not just misguided, but immoral. Call that the Power of the False Alternative.
Final dynamic: the Power of Enforcement.
Final dynamic: the Power of Enforcement.
Use guilt, fear, intimidation, bullying, Twitter mobs, and cancel culture tactics to make it extremely costly to question your framework.
Now we can understand why a vocal minority with radical ideas seem to control the debate.
Now we can understand why a vocal minority with radical ideas seem to control the debate.
Once people accept a premise, even inconsistently, the more consistent advocates of that premise hold the moral high ground in any debate, and it means that over the long run, the rest of us compromise in their direction.
We can occasionally fight off one of their demands, especially if it’s too radical a departure from the status quo. But such victories are temporary, and what seemed radical last year seems like common sense this year.
And so it is with CRT.
And so it is with CRT.
Even though most Americans recoil at the widespread looting and think defunding the police is insane, they aren’t the people shaping the protest movement. They're at the mercy of more consistent CRT ideologues.
The only solution is not to concede their framework and offer a superior one.
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