Hacker News Books

Flagged again. I'll reform, study "Critical Race Theory" and perhaps translate the works into German.

"Kritische Rassentheorie" seems to be a perfectly acceptable name, so I'll go with that and see how it works out.

By CRT are you referring to Critical Race Theory? I'm sceptical that its both that influential, or that any good faith reading of CRT supports sacrificing accelerated programs. In particular CRT in education if anything pushes against reliance on standardized testing scores.

Everytime I read what Critical Race Theory is, my mind just goes blank. No idea what it even means. I predict it eventually gets lost in boilerplate language no one really reads.

Yes, skin color does matter, read up on Critical Race Theory. To be colorblind is to be racist because it ignores the disadvantages one can't see due to one's own privilege.

The theory states that inequality is due to racism and anyone who is part of the dominant race not only benefits from racism but unconsciously perpetuates it. This is why everyone is so sensitive, because this is what is taught in the humanities in college. "Everything is racist, everything is sexist, etc."

The commenter brought up Critical Race Theory (or at least 'Critial Theory') I was responding to that.

You're making my point for me:

Every portrayal of society reinforces the norms in that society.

So it's not 'scholarship' (or even relevant) to point it out the possibilities.

In fact, to avoid talking about the more material issues, and to go right into indirect fuzzy issues of feminism is 'anti scholarship'.

Not only that - it's probably false - as I pointed out, 'bad feminists' lament Barbies and more anatomically correct dolls at the same time, literally for opposite reasons.

It's speculative ideological rubbish. If a 'gender theory' researcher actually wants to do some research and put some sound logic together, that's find, but otherwise it's just politics.

Critical Race Theory as I have read about it being applied in schools teaches youth that they are inherently racist (note this is only taught to the white children) and that the minorities get to share their anecdotal, lived experience while the white students stand by and are not permitted to say anything.

I find the entire formula to be a groundwork for severe social damage. It certainly does not build bridges. Nor does it pave the way towards compassion and understanding.

I agree. Definition is the same problem that has plagued other movements: feminism, gay rights, defund the police.

The article cites "Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement," which is pro-critical race theory.

To cite Wikipedia:

> While critical race theorists do not all share the same beliefs, the basic tenets of CRT include that racism and disparate racial outcomes are the result of complex, changing and often subtle social and institutional dynamics rather than explicit and intentional prejudices on the part of individuals.

> CRT scholars also view race and white supremacy as an intersectional social construction which serves to uphold the interests of white people at the expense of marginalized communities. In the field of legal studies, CRT emphasizes that merely making laws colorblind on paper may not be enough to make the application of the laws colorblind; ostensibly colorblind laws can be applied in racially discriminatory ways.

> A key CRT concept is intersectionality, which emphasizes that race can intersect with other identities (such as gender and class) to produce complex combinations of power and disadvantage.

If you understood >90% of that, congrats; I'm still trying.

Thinking Fast and Slow and various Malcolm Gladwellania have probably out-influenced anything on that list.
Nudge by Sunstein has probably had a lot of subtle influence. The Taleb books, esp. Black Swan should be on the list - he essentially introduced a term into common usage (as Gladwell did with the 10,000 hours idea). Piketty will probably have a long tail of influence.

A lot of these books describe social and historical phenomena - they may be the most authoritative scholarly text, but don't really influence broader society as much. The exception would be Critical Race Theory, which has outsized influence both inside and outside of academia.