Helen Raleigh says critical race theory is ‘Marxist ideology,’ harmful to Asian-American community
'CRT activists will not to stop, the woke left will not stop until they totally transform the United States of America,' Raleigh said
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Author and independent journalist Helen Raleigh, an immigrant from China, feels that critical race theory hurts members of the Asian-American community who haven’t yet achieved the success made possible by meritocracy in the United States.
"CRT is a Marxist ideology," Raleigh told Fox News. "It’s basically replaced the class divide with racial divide. Our country is going in the wrong direction."
Author Kenny Xu told Fox News last week that the success of the Asian-American community debunks critical race theory.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}SUCCESS OF ASIAN AMERICANS DEBUNKS CRITICAL RACE THEORY, ‘INCONVENIENT MINORITY’ AUTHOR SAYS
"The whole idea of critical race theory is developed by saying, ‘Hey, our laws, our society, our structures are inherently stacked against people of color,'" Xu said. "Asian Americans prove that, even in the face of whatever racial narratives that you're in, you still can succeed, that this country is the land of opportunity."
Raleigh agreed with Xu’s argument but took it a step further, declaring CRT is actually harming the Asian-American community. She said "Asian American" is a broad term that includes multiple ethnic groups and continued talk about the successful members of the community, combined with the actions of CRT activists, can block the path for everyone else.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It’s a very diverse group, right? So it's difficult to represent the people, you know, from or close to 20 different countries of origin and ethnicities," Raleigh said. "Some in the group are doing very well, and some in the group ae not doing very well, by income."
She feels critical race theory is harmful because Asian Americans who haven’t achieved success yet deserve the opportunity to enjoy equal access to meritocracy. Raleigh is concerned that people don’t understand what CRT is really about, and she feels it essentially tells people they are either set to benefit or doomed because of their skin color.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They overly simplify, to divide the society between oppressors and the oppressed, and all white people just naturally are oppressors and all people of color are naturally being oppressed," Raleigh said.
"But then they don't know where to put the Asian people because of Asian Americans' overall economic success, educational attainment," she said. "So then they classify Asian Americans as white adjacent … They're not part of the oppressed group and so I found that dangerous."
Raleigh doesn’t want the discriminations that Asian Americans have experienced to be overlooked, noting everything from the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act to Japanese Americans' internment in World War II.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The fact that so many Asian Americans are successful despite these adversity is a powerful testament that the American dream is possible for anyone and skin color is not destiny in this country. Hence, CRT is wrong," Raleigh said.
Raleigh, who has written "Backlash: How China’s Aggression Has Backfired," "Confucius Never Said" and "The Broken Welcome Mat," thinks schools that discriminate against qualified Asian Americans to maintain a particular racial makeup in their student body do significant harm to poorer Asian American children.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"What the activists are doing is shutting down their only way for economic mobility," she said. "They come from poor immigrant families. They’re just like me, they have no other resources, no connections, no legacy, no intergenerational wealth, nothing … Going to a good school based on their own efforts … that’s the only way. The CRT activists is taking that away from them."
Raleigh has been an outspoken opponent of critical race theory, penning columns headlined "Asian Americans Emerging as a Strong Voice Against Critical Race Theory" and "Woke Asian American Elites Do Not Speak for All Asian Americans." She feels that many other would-be critics of critical race theory are afraid to speak out because of cancel culture but something needs to be done before it’s too late.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I see what's happening, what's happening in China and other socialistic countries. So I know where this is going. The CRT activists will not to stop, the woke left will not stop until they totally transform the United States of America," she said.