Critical Theory Is Incapable of Making Society Less Prejudiced

Critical Theory is failing at its goal of reducing prejudice. Fortunately, other highly effective approaches exist.

Image by Christina Buttons

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About the Authors

Julian Adorney is a columnist at Reality’s Last Stand and the founder of Heal the West, a substack movement dedicated to preserving liberalism. He’s also a writer for the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR). Find him on X: @Julian_Liberty.

Mark Johnson is a trusted advisor and executive coach at Pioneering Leadership and a facilitator and spiritual men's coach at The Undaunted Man. He has over 25 years of experience optimizing people and companies—he writes at The Undaunted Man’s Substack and Universal Principles.

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Critical Theorists (Critical Theory is the overarching theory that includes Critical Race Theory, Queer Theory, Postcolonial Studies, etc) are fond of asserting that the only people who oppose their ideas are bigots.

Kimberlé Crenshaw, a co-founder of Critical Race Theory, has argued that the “war on wokeness”—which she seems to equate with a war on Critical Race Theory—is “the road to an authoritarian state that’s paved through the history of white supremacy.” Robin DiAngelo contends that all white people are racists and labels disagreement with this view as a hallmark sign of “white fragility.” Alison Bailey claims that opposition to Critical Theory arises out of “privilege-preserving epistemic pushback,” implying that privileged people oppose these theories because they threaten their status.

But is this true? Does opposing Critical Theory automatically make you a bigot?

Let’s reframe the question. If our goal is to eradicate prejudice in the United States and create a society where everyone exists on an equal playing field, is Critical Theory the only game in town? Are there not other worldviews that we can adopt that could be equally or even more effective?

The answer to this question is clear: other approaches exist, and some are far more successful at reducing prejudice than Critical Theory.