In a Sept. 18 speech to the American Association of Christian Counselors, McDowell talked about the “Five Greatest Global Epidemics” which includes threats to the Church. Among them is Critical Race Theory, he warned the audience, because it twists the idea of “justice” and is not rooted in the Bible.
American Family News has pointed out that CRT claims systemic racism exists in society because whites, who are inherently racist, have set up a system of oppression in the law, business, politics, and education that keeps whites in power and denies opportunities for minorities to succeed.
McDowell told the audience it is true that minorities do not have “equal opportunity” but the polished speaker and best-selling author then stepped on a political land-mine as he continued his speech.
“Most of them,” he said of minorities, “grow up in families where there's not a big emphasis on education, security. You can do anything you want. You can change the world. If you work hard, you will make it.”
That observation, in fact, mirrors Critical Race Theory and its central premise that minorities cannot succeed, and never will, because of a white "power structure" that is so devious and pervasive that even the gains from the Civil Rights movement were done to maintain power over blacks.
Back in the summer of 2020, none other than the esteemed Smithsonian Institute was called out for creating a “whiteness” chart at its African American Museum, where the exhibit explained to visitors about the “certain signs of whiteness” in our society.
What are those signs? “Individualism, hard work, objectivity, the nuclear family, progress, respect for authority, delayed gratification,” the sign read.
“Most of the attributes listed,” Byron York wrote in the Washington Examiner, “seem to be a recipe for success for anyone.”
To the CRT proponents, even mathematics is racist. Hence the need for an 83-page Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction, which instructs white teachers how to "self-reflect" and confront their own racism and learn to become an anti-racist in the classroom.
According to that document, characteristics of "white supremacy" in the classroom are "Perfectionism," "Only One Right Way," "Individualism," "Objectivity," and "Worship of the Written Word."
McDowell: I will enter 'season of listening'
McDowell’s speech was first noticed by a Christian college professor, who posted the speech on social media, and then a race-conscious crowd came for McDowell’s scalp for what it viewed as racist views.
According to Baptist Press, McDowell’s speech was yanked from the AACC website, then Religion News Service came knocking for McDowell’s reaction to the anger his speech had created.
In a statement posted to social media, McDowell backtracked from his speech in a lengthy post that said he believes, in fact, that blacks and other minorities do not have “equal opportunity” in the U.S.
“Racism has kept equality from being achieved in our nation,” he also wrote, mirroring the premise of CRT that equality will never be achieved as long as whites hold power.
"It has become clear to me,” McDowell stated, “that I need to step back from my ministry and speaking engagements to enter a season of listening and addressing the growth areas that I have become aware of through this."
Reacting to the controversy, fellow Christian apologist Alex McFarland says what surprised him was who went on the attack: fellow Christian believers.
“What's unfortunate is that it appears that so much of the criticism just being barraged on Josh is coming, not from the atheist, not from skeptics,” McFarland observes, “but from Christians. The cancelling comes from within the ranks of professed believers.”
That is just one more sign, he adds, that the “woke” culture has come for Evangelicals.
“The greatest problem we have is a systemic sin issue,” McFarland tells American Family News. “We need to be preaching Critical Redemption Theory. People need to be born again.”
