Marc Lamont Hill confronts race theory critic: ‘Name something you like about being white?’
"During a recent episode of "Black News Tonight" Hill asked conservative activist Christopher Rufo the question as they debated over critical race theory
Writer, scholar, and TV host Marc Lamont Hill asked a white conservative activist one question, “Name something you like about being white?” He has yet to receive an answer.
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During a recent episode of Black News Tonight on the Black News Channel, Hill asked Christopher F. Rufo the question as they debated over the critical race theory. Rufo vehemently rejects the idea igniting a passionate debate between the two men, per Raw Story.
Rufo, who is white, acknowledges America’s racist history as “an incontrovertible fact.” And while he said topics like slavery and segregation should be taught in school, he believes teaching critical race theory, the idea of how slavery and segregation still impact America today should be limited and left to the discretion of state lawmakers.
As the conversation came to an end Hill challenged Rufo by asking: “Name something you like about being white?”
Rufo responded with a chuckle and categorized white as an “amorphous term.”
But Hill did not let up and said: “You surely recognize that the world sees you as White…Name something positive you like about being White.”
Rufo responded by denouncing white stereotypes such as “timeliness.”
“These are very strange things to be ascribed to a racial identity,” said Rufo. “My view is that these actually should be ascribed to every individual human being.”
Hill interjected with: “That doesn’t answer the question though, name something that you believe is positive about being white.”
Rufo replied,“I don’t buy into the framework that the world can be reduced into these metaphysical categories of whiteness and Blackness, I think that’s wrong.”
This is not the first spirited debate Hill has had on critical race theory.
Earlier this month, Hill also called out the GOP’s Vernon Jones for the lawmaker’s stance on banning critical race theory from schools, as reported by theGrio.
Jones joined Hill for an interview on Black News Tonight earlier this month. When pressed for direct reasoning for his stance on banning critical race theory from schools, the conversation grew intense.
Jones, a former Democrat and current Republican who is a candidate in the GOP primary for Georgia’s 2022 gubernatorial election, said that he would ban the teaching of critical race theory in schools if given the chance.
“On Day One, through executive order, I will immediately instruct the Georgia Department of Education to prohibit the teaching of Critical Race Theory within our public schools,” he tweeted. “It’s time for our schools to stop teaching our kids to hate America.”
Hill tried to understand Jones’ reasoning by asking him to explain critical race theory and his answer was not definitive or factual, according to Hill.
“Well, actually, I think it’s different depending on who’s teaching it and how they’re teaching it,” Jones said. “I think you can agree with that. We were taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America. Well, you and I both know that Christopher Columbus got lost. People were already living here. But there are those who are using their own ideology and their own party affiliation to go to the extreme, and that’s what I’m trying to address here.”
Hill continued to ask for a definition, saying “For example, if I said I was against creationism, I would say creationism is x, y, and z.”
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Jones responded, “Well, first of all, again, I can tell you but it’s left up to you to understand,” Jones said. “I can’t make you understand. The fact of it is that critical race theory, even on its basis, should not be taught in our schools. Period.”
Additional reporting by DeMicia Inman
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