Why Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Should Be Renamed
October 6th, 2024
As an old colleague used to say, in prefacing a surmise, “It’s my humble but correct opinion” that CRT and DEI are bogus and toxic. The SBC was blindsided by the 2019 Resolutions Committee to gain assent to the claim that the former was a “useful analytical tool.” Fortunately, that vote, which was hustled upon us in a time’s-running-out batch, generated a backlash which sidelined its agenda in the denomination. (And I was gratified to see that Megan Basham quoted me among the gainsayers in Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for the Leftist Agenda.)
As for DEI, state legislatures (here and here) have begun banning it from their state colleges and universities, and other entities are following suit. Back in 1983, while I was a Wheaton prof, I wrote a book on what I took (and still take) to be the Bible’s counsel on justice, and I found no grounds for the racial discrimination inherent in DEI programs.
All to say, I was pleased when Dr. Mel Winstead of Southern Evangelical Seminary asked me to write a piece critical of those two schemes. A few years back, he invited to pitch in to a Festschrift for Richard Land, and I’m grateful he asked for this new contribution, this one to the seminary’s apologetics journal.