A critical theory of racism highlights five basic tenets. The first is that racism is a familiar and everyday experience for most people of color. Its ordinariness and embeddedness make it a complicated phenomenon to combat. Moreover, the situation is difficult because many people do not recognize racism as a phenomenon. However, even if racism is recognized, society is in no hurry to resort to extraordinary methods to eradicate it.
In such cases, only a formal concept of equality is introduced, correcting only superficial problems that stand out. For example, formal equality might solve an issue where an employer of a large firm does not want to hire a qualified black employee in preference to a less eligible white employee. However, such a concept cannot deal with blackwashing in the arts, where white actors replace black characters in films.
The second postulate is that the modern system of superiority serves important white self-interest, which means that it is in no hurry to eradicate discriminatory harmony. For example, in the exemplary celebration of equal rights for blacks, large companies do so to attract liberal customers rather than out of honest motives. The third tenet of critical race theory is that race is a social construct that is artificially given importance.
The fact is that differences in skin color, eye color, or hair texture are insignificant compared to how much people resemble each other. Moreover, racial differences do not affect intelligence, personality, or the ability to think clearly. Nevertheless, society actively categorizes people precisely in terms of appearance. For example, many make assumptions about a person’s intelligence just by looking at their racial identity, completely overlooking the essential qualities of personality.
A fourth postulate is that society ratifies the population according to its changing needs. For example, until recently, Muslim people were considered a bit odd yet safe; they are now portrayed as the worst enemy of national security. In this way, society manipulates perceptions of this or that race depending on the global environment.
The final postulate speaks of the existence of a unique voice of color. This position asserts that members of different races can pass on to the world their unique experiences of which whites are unaware. For example, a black or Asian person would be far more competent in discussing racism than a white person.