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The Canberra Declaration is committed to the sanctity of human life and the equal worth of every person. Our historic statement, released just over ten years ago, wholeheartedly affirms this:

“We believe that all human life, being made in the image of God, has intrinsic and equal value.”

This is why we are deeply disturbed to see the rising popularity of ideas like critical race theory, which divide people on the basis of race and sow social unrest. We have been covering critical race theory extensively at the Daily Declaration, aware that if it can turn Black, White and Latino people against each other in America, if left unchecked it will undoubtedly divide Indigenous and non-Indigenous here in Australia too.

Watch this brand new 18-minute video on critical race theory:

Those defending critical race theory claim that its opponents “don’t understand CRT” or want to “ban the teaching of history”. This is untrue. With few exceptions, Westerners readily acknowledge the injustices of the colonial era, the ways these shaped the modern era, and the importance of this being covered in school curricula.

Moreover, the majority of people understand that racism is a persistent problem in all societies, including our own. Critical race theory claims far more than this, however. According to the theorists themselves:

• The very foundation of Western nations is white supremacy
• Western legal systems are merely a ‘camouflage’ for white domination
• White people today are responsible for the injustices of their ancestors
• All white people are racists, are complicit in racism, and benefit from it
• Individual rights, meritocracy and equality before the law are problematic
• The solution is a moral, economic and political revolution

Critical race theory didn’t come from nowhere. Its genealogy is clearly traced through 1960s Marxists like Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979) and Max Horkheimer (1895-1973). CRT is Marxism repackaged, with the old class categories of bourgeoisie and proletariat replaced by the racial categories of White and Black.

Christopher Rufo is an American filmmaker and investigative reporter, who is committed to exposing critical race theory in schools and workplaces. It was Rufo’s reporting that ultimately led Donald Trump to issue an executive order banning CRT from the federal government, which Joe Biden sadly rescinded on his first day in office.

Not one to be easily discouraged, Rufo has continued his fight against CRT, exposing its ugly dogmas in companies like Disney and Lockheed, and seeing it banned from schools by lawmakers in multiple U.S. states.

So effective are the efforts of Rufo and others that over the last week, the U.S. media has been abuzz with talk of critical race theory. Given the entrenched woke bias of America’s corporate press, much of that reporting is best characterised as a misinformation campaign. Slate, for example, tweeted a link to their article with the caption,

“Conservatives want to cancel critical race theory. But they don’t know what it is.”

This, despite vast bodies of research on critical race theory and precise definitions of the term at outlets like New Discourses and City Journal. At his own website, Christopher Rufo last week released the Critical Race Theory Briefing Book as an aid for parents, lawmakers and other concerned citizens in their battle against this revived Marxian ideology. In that briefing book, CRT is defined clearly, using direct quotations from its strongest proponents.

Perhaps the most useful resource Rufo has produced to date, however, is his short documentary released this week, simply titled Critical Race Theory.

The video crystallises his years of research and labour in this field into an easily-digested format that anyone can understand. Rufo contends that we must not fight critical race theory in academic or abstract ways. We must reckon with the measurable damage these ideas are unleashing on our societies.

His concern is for everyday people — the children, parents, teachers and employees whose lives are being upended by this divisive ideology. More than this, Rufo’s desire is to see communities healed of racial hostility, and nations like America live up to their founding ideals. “The secret to winning this fight is courage,” he argues:

This is the fundamental virtue required of our time. The courage to speak the truth. The courage to withstand epithets. The courage to face the mob. When enough of us do this — when we break through the wall of fear that prevents so many people from speaking out — the narrative of critical race theory will begin to crumble.

You can watch his new documentary here.