Update on All One in Christ

Recently I was interviewed by Steve and Becky Greene on The Catholic Conversation about my book All One in Christ: A Catholic Critique of Racism and Critical Race Theory.  You can listen to the interview here.  Author Gavin Ashenden and teacher Katherine Bennett discuss the book at the Catholic Herald’s Merely Catholic podcast, judging it “an absolute must-read for all Catholic educators.”  Meanwhile, at the Acton Institute Powerblog, Sarah Negri kindly reviews the book.  From the review:

This book is perfectly subtitled in that it spends significant time evaluating both the church’s denunciation of racism and the incompatibility of Church teaching with CRT… Readers who seek a thorough overview of the church’s statements and position on racism will find it here, and Christians who have ever experienced confusion as to whether CRT obtains as a remedy for it will come away with the understanding that Christianity and critical race theory rest on entirely different first principles; indeed, they present irreconcilable worldviews…

Despite the subtitle’s giveaway that Feser will ultimately reject CRT as contrary to church teaching, his exposé of its tenets is impressive.  Drawing mainly from Ibram X. Kendi’s and Robin DiAngelo’s bestselling popularizations of the theory, he takes time to lay out the claims of CRT’s popular proponents with precision and a fair amount of objectivity…

Perhaps the most satisfying chapter in this book is when Feser bombards that worldview with the artillery of logical principles.  He proceeds down a long line of logical fallacies committed by popular critical race theorists…

Other highlights of All One in Christ include a refreshing discussion of nationalism, patriotism, immigration, and integration, all of which pertain to any serious analysis of race and ethnicity…

The book also makes a social scientific case in support of alternative theories to CRT that align better with church teaching.  Feser provides evidence from economics, history, sociology, and psychology to counter CRT proponents’ unempirical claims and offers other explanations (such as cultural factors) for the supposed racial discrimination at the root of socioeconomic disparities…

Feser is overwhelmingly convincing in his contention that, while racism is a grave evil and remains a painful reality in our own day, a faithful Christian (or any reasonable person who cares about human flourishing) should not espouse critical race theory as a viable solution.

Negri’s main criticism of the book is the following:

One rather wonders whether Feser, out of the principle of charity, which he accuses CRT proponents of violating, ought to have engaged the academicians who promote CRT rather than its popularizers, since he demolishes the assertions of the latter so effectively.  It would have felt more like a fair fight.  But in choosing to dismantle the popular arguments of CRT, he does send in his troops where the attack is thickest, since most people’s understanding of CRT comes from its more popular version.

In response, I’d point out that these remarks are a bit misleading insofar as I do in fact also quote from and discuss the work of academic critical race theorists like Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Alan Freeman, Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic.  But it is true that there is a special focus on popularizers like Kendi and DiAngelo, and for precisely the reason Negri says.  I defended this approach in a recent article.

Other reviews of and interviews about All One in Christ can be found here, here, and here.