Something to Cry About

I used to think it was an urban myth, a cliché only found in old movies, and in sitcoms that are built around families. A child or teen does something wrong and gets caught. He or she feels bad about what was done and starts crying. Rather than caving at this sight of guilt, a parent (almost always a dad) says something like “You’re crying now, but I’ll give you something to cry about.” The strong implication is that a spanking is about to happen.

I thought about this story when watching the SCOTUS confirmation hearings for Katanji Brown Jackson. I thought about it more than once, perhaps as an escape from the clown show of the questioning, and I realized it really does happen.

As one example of how ridiculous the hearings were, during the hearings, the RNC tweeted out a gif showing Judge Jackson and her initials. Then the initials “KBJ” are crossed out, and the letters “CRT” (standing for “critical race theory”) replace them. While this attempt to link Judge Jackson with critical race theory is less than subtle, it is actually less embarrassing than Ted Cruz and a children’s book, or Marsha Blackburn and her “question” asking the judge “Is it your personal hidden agenda to incorporate critical race theory into our legal system?”

Conservatives have many objections to critical race theory, or what they perceive CRT to be. Most of these are not just ill-founded, they are wildly off the mark. Most often, what I see them objecting to is history that strives for accuracy, like mentioning slavery is bad.

For example, in March 2022, the Republican-dominated Florida Senate passed a bill banning any education or training that would cause those involved to feel, as Forbes put it, “discomfort” or “guilt” based on past actions taken by another person of their race. This would mean, in other words, that no one can be required to take any training that makes them feel bad.

Well, hmm. That’s a problem because reading accurate histories of any number of things make me feel sick to my stomach. Some of these happened in this country, like slavery or the Japanese Americans who were put in internment camps. (How many thousands of Americans were interned? For how long?) Others happened elsewhere, like the British Massacre of Amritsar when Indian civilians were killed in great numbers.

Would we…ban teaching these historical realities? Pretty them up somehow, making excuses for slaughter and enslavement? Or use euphemisms?

Let’s make it more focused, for the Christian conservatives in the audience: would you not teach the story of the crucifixion, since this was a case in which humanity betrayed its savior? Not teach Genesis, since all humans are linked by original sin and should feel shame for breaking divine law? How far does this dodging of discomfort go?

The Katanji Brown Jackson hearings showed us how far conservatives would go, and what it will look like. This push to not make whites feel bad about their actions takes several related forms: misrepresent Katanji Brown Jackson and her record, break the rules and traditions involved in evaluating prospective Supreme Court Justices, misrepresent critical race theory, claim a moral high ground, misrepresent American history and culture, and continually, smear Judge Jackson in an openly racist fashion.

It’s hard to know which of these actions is most shameful. Is it Senator Tom Cotton who suggested to Judge Jackson that she is not a credible witness, and not to be trusted? Is it Lindsey Graham voting to confirm Judge Jackson more than once in the past, but taking a stand against her now? Is it Senator Blackburn quoting the Declaration of Independence, but saying the line she quoted is from the Constitution? Is it Ted Cruz continually interrupting someone, then going off to check to name-check himself afterward? It is it Republicans going over time, storming out, or, in the body of Lindsay Graham, asking Jackson to rate her faith on a scale of 1–10, when he knows the position has no religious test and never has?

Taken together, these actions show a conservative party that has decided to set itself in opposition to reality, history, tradition, and ethics, all while claiming the right to determine reality, history, and ethics for others.

In short, your defense against people feeling bad as a result of CRT and realistic history turns out to be…disgusting people in real-time, right now.

I’ll tell you right now: as a straight white male American, I don’t have to be run through some hypothetical CRT gauntlet to feel bad about being white.

All I have to do is watch these supposed defenders of America, and I want to throw up.

Dear God, make it stop.