Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 436 | Saving America Means Saving the Family | Guest: Ken Blackwell

Episode Date: June 10, 2021

Today, we're talking to Ken Blackwell, senior fellow for Human Rights and Constitutional Governance at the Family Research Council. We discuss critical race theory, and how all it does is stoke racial division, despite what its advocates say. The ideology behind critical race theory is rooted in Marxism, and its proponents see the state as the ultimate arbiter of rights. Therefore, ideas like religion and family that are of no use to the state must be done away with. --- Today's Sponsors: Annie's Kit Clubs have the perfect subscription boxes for both boys & girls that will keep them creative, constructive, and engaged at the table! Go to AnniesKitClubs.com/ALLIE & save 75% off your first shipment. Good Ranchers safely delivers American craft beef & better than organic chicken, right to your door! Go to GoodRanchers.com/ALLIE & save $20, plus get free express shipping! --- Buy Allie's book, You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love: https://alliebethstuckey.com/book Relatable merchandise: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey

Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Today, I am talking to Mr. Ken Blackwell of the Family Research Council. He is also an author of several books. And this is a very encouraging conversation. You are going to leave with a love for America and a hope that things can get better. And that's just something that we really need right now. We're going to talk about racial harmony, the enemies to racial harmony and just American unity in general. And what we, we're going to talk about racial harmony, the enemies to racial harmony and just American unity in general. And what we, can do just as average people to make the world around us better and to make sure that we are moving in a good direction in the United States. It's a good reminder that you don't have to be an influencer to have influence by you raising your family with the values that God has given us in his word, with the values of hard work and responsibility, that we can make the world around us better. And that's all that we're called to do. We can't change the world as just one person, but we can influence the spheres that God has placed us in. And so I'm very excited for you to hear his insight and to get encouragement and adification from him as well. So without further ado,

here is Mr. Ken Blackwell. Mr. Blackwell, thank you so much for joining me. I think most people listening or watching already know, but just in case, can you tell everyone who you are and what you do? I'm Kim Blackwell. I'm a fellow at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., and I serve on the board of several conservative constitutionally centered organizations. And you wrote something recently. We talk a lot on this podcast about critical race theory. You have also talked about critical race theory and how it undermines race. racial harmony. Can you expound on that a little more? I know for people on the left, that's a surprising statement. Well, critical race theory, as it has been advanced, sets up a hierarchy of racial types. It, under the guise of attacking racism, actually deepens the institutional racism

that might exist in the world. Look, those proponents of critical. race theory, believe that America was locked into a moment of history. Their model is the 1619 model. And they believe that as a consequence of being frozen in that moment, America is irreparably racist and must be reconstructed, torn down, and fundamentally reconstructed. Whether those of us who understand history as a process that America was not frozen in the 1619 modality. We in fact had a 1776 birth as a nation. And while there are moments in our history since 1776 where there have been racial challenges, what we have is a universally accepted principle that government, no form of government is the grantor of our human rights. Our human rights are a gift of God inherent in our human dignity, and governments can only actually recognize and protect those fundamental human rights.

And so critical race theory basically says that there is this cabal of racial geniuses who, in fact, can unfreeze us from a moment that they claim that we are frozen, in 1619 and through their critical manipulations can change us into the perfect utopian society. And that is just pure, that is just pure nonsense. You know, since 1776 as Lincoln opined, we are not a perfect nation, but we're a perfectible nation. And we've seen tremendous, tremendous advancements in racial harm. and in the breaking down of those barriers to opportunity that have been based on rates, and we have seen a tremendous transformation in our country.

Those who want to freeze us in the 1619 moment of history are looking at the world backwards, and they have falsely claimed the title of being progressive thinkers. And what do you think is behind that? Why wouldn't we want a positive view of our country as a country who is imperfect but has made amazing progress? Why would people like Ibrax Kendi or Nicole Hannah-Jones or Robin DiAngelo want to say that we're stuck in 1619, which is a statement on its face that seems ridiculous? Well, I think, you know, many of these theorists and activists have their roots in. Marxist, Lennonists, the worldview, and they fundamentally don't believe in a higher part. They don't believe that paragraph, the second paragraph in the Declaration of Independence,

which says, we hold these truths to be self-evident. And my dad, who was a blue-collar worker, high school graduate, used to always say to me, and my brother, any knucklehead should be able to get this, you know, that we're endowed by our creator with uneliorable rights and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And so what that paragraph really brings home is that there are all kinds of differences. We are different in height and weight and income and skin color, but we all have. human dignity. And it is that recognition of the universality of our human dignity that gives rise to this whole body of thinking and practice of protecting our human rights. And so if you

follow the logic of these Marxist-Leninists and collectivists thinkers and activists, they see no use for God and they see no use for the basic unit of the family because they think that government with centralized power and a bureaucratic elite that they are the masters of the universe and the granters of our human rights and determining who should give what and when. And on its notion that is offensive. seems like the different kinds of Marxist ideas, which we've seen, manifest themselves in different ways, not just in the West, but also in the East. One commonality between all the different manifestations, whether it's in Mao's China or in the United States, is godlessness. That seems to be

one of the common threads. Why do you think that is that as godlessness increases, the ideas of Marx and Lennon, this kind of collectivist, totalitarian thinking also increases? Well, there are a couple of basic tenets of Marxist practice and thought. One, they have no use for God. And so they will try to chase God and faith out of the public square. And they will tell you that religion can be practiced, if it's practice at all, within the four walls of the church. but it has no place in the public square,

and they do everything they can do to run God and faith out of the public square. The other thing is what I mentioned before, they see the family as a useless construct because they see the power of being in the state or the centralized bureaucracy that governs and controls, every aspect of our lives. And so consistent with their concentration of power in the hands of a few within a centralized government

is this notion that the family is useless, and God and faith must be, you know, exercise out of the public square. Look, my, I grew up in a blue collar, family of lower income. But my dad was a World War II veteran. And he believed in the promise and infinite possibilities of this country. But he and my mom and my grandparents, they raised us on three books.

And my grandmother, when she talked to me as I was going off to college. She said, remember the books that your family has taught you to embrace as you go to embrace the library of thousands of books. She said, those books, and she reemphasized, I already knew what they were, were my date book, my checkbook, and the good book. And she said, you know, and I was raised on this notion that my date book or my calendar reflected how I spent my time and with whom I spent it. My checkbook actually saw how I exercise my stewardship, no matter how meager our income or how abundant, you know, how we managed that, those resources was important.

But, you know, it was the good book. It was the Bible. It was the book that we were raised on that would help us pick the path of conviction over the path of, convenience. And so as I've gone through some of the best academic institutions, as a student, as a lecturer, as a member of boards of trustees, one of the things I've always remembered was that the family is the incubator of liberty. And in my family, you know, those three books, led by the Bible was so important. And it is that worldview that is in direct conflict and daily challenges the worldview of

collectivist or state is or walks into ninnitus. Right. Which is exactly why I would say a group like Black Lives Matter has said explicitly that, you know, a village cares for a child, a community cares for a child, for a child and they don't list fathers on their websites at all. They just say parents and mothers. I would say that that's intentional. That is from that Marxist godless worldview.

Because like you said, not only is the family the incubator of liberty, which liberty and Marxism are obviously opposed, but it's also the establishment of a child's values and dependence as well that is in direct conflict with getting your values. and depending on the state. So we obviously, we know that faith is important in combating this craziness of godless, critical race theory and Marxism. But as you say, the family is as well. Can you talk about some of the repercussions that we've seen and the disintegration of the family

in all kinds of communities in the United States, but as you have talked about before, in particular, the black community in the United States? Well, it was very, very fascinating. And I think embracing a real examination of the history of blacks in America is so important because we passed through the time where the institution of slavery was deeply rooted in America and had all kinds of negative consequences. But the family unit, the love, and you just mentioned it. You know, we are born into the world very dependent, very vulnerable to forces that are bigger than us.

And so we are very much dependent on the smallest unit of community and in our cases, the family, to protect the young, to teach the young to be independent and self-reed, self-reasing. reliant. Now, if you go back and you take a look at, you know, again, collectivists and status and socialists, you know, you put the label on them. They have something in common. And that is that they see human beings not as independent individuals with human conscience. They see them almost as humanoid that are manipulable and that they must in fact give daily insubes instruction to, and they build dependence. And so if you go back and you look at the 50s and the 60s, and the intact black family was almost, it was on par with the intact white family in America.

It was only after the Great Society program in the men's 60s that we moved. to the development of the welfare state. And rules and regulations were established that actually incentivized the breakdown of the family. And so when you had the breakdown of the family and you rewarded families that were fatherless, you in fact institutionalize the separate. the separation of fathers from the lives of their young.

And so as we said a few minutes ago, one of the responsibilities and functions of the family is behavioral modeling and education. And if you destroy the clarity of that modeling, of that relationship, you begin to see the breakdown of the family, so much so now that about 70% of the children born into black mothers are born out of wedlock and into broken families. And that has all kinds of negative connotations.

And you know, what you'll hear if you bring up the consequences of fatherlessness, rather than dealing with that, you'll get, you know, left-wing activists say, while fatherlessness is actually a result of systemic racism through mass incarceration. But if you look at the data that corresponds with what you're saying, actually fatherlessness increased for both white and black families started in the 1960s. Now, people talk about mass incarceration starting with the, you know, so-called drug wars of the 1980s and even the 1990s. And so fatherlessness started to spike in the 60s and 70s, among the.

both white and black families, which corresponds much more closely with what you said, the start of the welfare state in the 1960s. And now the fatherlessness rate for all kinds of ethnic backgrounds in the United States is much higher than it was in the 1960. So if it was truly just systemic racism against black people that caused fatherlessness, while the white fatherlessness rate wouldn't have increased as much as it has, too. And I also think it's just, a way to avoid talking about this problem. Why do you think it is that so many activist groups that say Black Lives Matter won't talk about the problem of fatherlessness, not just among those communities, but among all communities in the United States? Well, because most of them are beneficiaries of

maintaining individuals that are wards of the state. They aspire to be part of the bureaucratic elite, those folks that are more concerned in breeding dependency than they are in cherishing and developing individuals and families that further liberty. One of the main destructive element of the welfare state is that it destroys the dignity of work. And again, as I indicated, we're all sort of educated by, by as as young folks, by the folks who were our immediate, our immediate family and community. And again, the dignity of work was so, so important. And so, um, it was, so important. And so, um, it, My dad, as he looked for work, what he understood was that there was a correlation between his ability to work, his ability to give and provide for his family.

Two things happened. It bred independent. When he came back from World War II, he came back to Cincinnati, and there were still vestiges of segregation. There was a housing shortage. and we lived in a public housing community. But we saw that as a temporary, and he saw it, and my mom saw it as a temporary station. They didn't see ourselves as being,

our family is being locked into a public housing community. He, in fact, wanted to work, which he did. He worked two jobs, and at times three jobs, to make sure that there was an income coming into the family. he and my mom made a decision that he would work those two and three jobs so that she could, in fact, stay home and provide us with parental supervision. But, you know, she who was a high school dropout but went back and got her GED, she was always prepared to go to work if, in fact, there was an income shortage, particularly as we got older. But what I learned from both of them, going back to our three books, was that we prayed all the time. But there was a dignity in work, and there was a self-reliance that came from that.

And something that was very much taught to us, and that was that we have an individual conscience. And so there is accountability for our behavior, that our conditions might not always be perfect, but the actions that we take, the behaviors that we assume, we are responsible for them. And so when you have this notion that we are individuals of individual conscience, that we in fact know right from wrong and that there is an expectation that we will be accountable, you get a whole different set of behaviors

from folks raised in that sort of environment than folks from broken families where there is that lack of supervision and all too often the streets or the television became the babysitters and the cultivators. and the cultivators of a worldview and a set of expectations. That has devastating effects not only on the family, but on communities. Yes, and as you're talking, I'm thinking about my own parent story, which actually sounds

similar to your parent's story. They didn't come from very much or even the most stable families in the world, but they made a few good decisions when they were young, one, that they were both going to graduate from high school and that they were going to wait to have kids until after they got married. They got married very young. They got married at 19 and 20. My dad also had to work very hard. My mom was a student teacher when she was pregnant with my oldest brother. And so I think they would say those early days of living in a trailer were very, very difficult. And it was hard to provide, you know, for their family. But they continued to make what seemed probably at the time like small decisions

that differed even slightly from their parents and even the decisions that some of their siblings made. But that really did make all the difference. They were determined to make those small choices in the hopes that they would be able to create a life that was better for my brothers and me than the one that they had. And it seems like that kind of story, which I think is very typical for so many American families, it's pushed to the side in exchange for this narrative of, well, actually, you can't get ahead if you're born into this system. This is, you know, some kind of caste system in the United

States. And it's very, it's very foreign to me. And it's very difficult for me to have a conversation with someone who believes that and who thinks any story that I tell or any experience that I have is just, you know, indicative of my white supremacy or privilege. It seems like, like you said, that's going to continue to really hold people back, especially children, if that's their mentality. Well, you know, Ali, it's so important that we understand that the human condition, and this came out of my family's experience, the human condition is not a spectator sport. You can influence the course of history and change human conditions, or you can be a spectator and you can be made by and shaped and run over by the, by the, by the streams of history in your space and in your time. You know, I had a great uncle.

You probably had never heard of him. His name was DeHard Hubbard. My uncle DeHart was the first black American to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field individual event. He did it in 1924 in the Olympic Games. in Paris. And Uncle DeHart had a transatlantic debate with the great Eric Little as to which one of them was the fastest human being on the face of the earth.

My Uncle DeHard had qualified for the 100-yard dash, the high hurdles, and the long jump. And they were going to resolve that once they got to Paris. And folks know of Eric Little from the film The Cherokee To Far. So when my uncle got to Paris, he was told by the International Olympic Committee that the 100-yard dash and the high hurdles were white-only events. And so he couldn't compete. But he won the gold medal in the long jump. But he came back and he told my mom's generation that God had blessed him with his interaction with Eric Little. because, as you know, Eric Little didn't run in the finals for the 100-yard dash because it fell on a Sabbath.

And so because he was a devout Christian, he did not compete. He passed up the sprint for worldly glory because of his devotion to his faith. And when my uncle came back, he told my mother's generation, he said, you know, what I got exposed. to was a fidelity to faith that was so powerful that he, my uncle wanted to make sure that my mom's generation understood the power of faith and devotion. And so it goes back to that, one of those three books, we were raised on the biblical teachings to, and the story of Uncle DeHard and Eric Little, to understand, to understand. score the importance that, one, we can change our conditions.

We must be consistent with God's divine design for our lives. And we must understand that there's not a government on the face of the earth that can give you your human dignity. It's been invested in you by higher power already. And so we engaged in every aspect of my life, whether my father was going to World War II or whether we worked in the civil rights movement to make sure that there was a matching of America's promise with America's practice. And that's so important. The human condition is not a spectator sport. We can make things better.

And that's what Lincoln's meant when he said we are perfectible. We're not perfect where we are a perfectible nation. Do you think that that's still the case? And this is what I want to end on. There's a lot of people who feel like, you know, we're past the point of no return with these culture wars, with people who are just so willing to forego their freedom, churches, even de-emphasizing the importance of biblical justice

and the biblical definitions of marriage, sexuality, family, all of that. Some people feel that America is too far gone and there's no going back. Do you still think that we are a perfectable, betterable nation? And if so, what do we do? We stay engaged. And the answer to your question is yes. But again, we can't be sidelines sitters. Each one of us has to be willing to go on the front lines of this battle.

You know, and as my grandfather used to say, do what you can with what you have, where you are. And that is so important that we engage, that we in fact become a force for bettering our society. There are big moments throughout our 200 now almost 45 years of existence. And we've become a better nation when, in fact, we've had folks who have been willing to fight for the promise of America. Yes, and amen. I agree with that, and I hope people are encouraged by that as well. Can you tell people where they can follow you? I know that you're an author as well.

Where can they buy your books and all that good stuff? Well, I have three books that you can purchase through Amazon. But, you know, if you want to follow my writings, I was, like I said, senior fellow at FM Research Council, so you can go to FRC.org. punch on my, the link to my bio and my articles and follow me that way. And, you know, I just, I am so thankful because I understand the power of this sort of dialogue that we're having now. the human spirit is irrepressible. We will conquer any oppressive status force

because we, in fact, are pursuing a path that is not the architecture of Marxist, a Marx or Lenin or Mao, but of a much higher power. And that is one that recognizes that a divine power, God is the architect of our human liberty, and that the United States of America, as we've known it from now 45 years,

is not perfect, but it's perfectable when we are engaged. So thank you for being engaged. Thank you for illuminating, for lighting candles, not spending all the time cursing the darkness, And that is why we will win. We are not sideline centers who curse the darkness. We, in fact, light candles and we punch holes in the darkness of our time. Amen.

Well, that is a beautiful place to end on. Thank you so much for ending with that light and with that encouragement. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Thank you, Ali. All right, guys, I really hope that you enjoyed that conversation. So just to reemphasize what I said at the beginning and what was emphasized throughout this conversation is that you don't have to be an influencer to have influence. That means you don't have to have thousands of followers. You don't have to have a podcast.

You don't necessarily have to run for office. You don't have to start an organization or be an activist. You can do those things. Maybe God is calling you to do those things. But maybe he's not. Maybe he is asking you to make a difference in your family by obeying him in motherhood, by joyfully changing diapers and joyfully washing the dishes and joyfully doing the work that you do as a stay-at-home wife and mom. Don't let anyone tell you that obeying Christ in the so-called small areas of your life is not enough because that is what God calls us to. God calls us to occupy the spheres in which he has placed us with joy and with love and with service and with truth. So it means filling positively and in a godly way the spaces that you are in, the spheres of influence that you

already have, whether it's 10 people or whether it's 10 million people, it doesn't matter. What we are called to is obedience. And part of that is making sure that we are living in truth, that we are not redefining what we think about justice or the definition of love or the definition of sexuality or marriage or gender or right or wrong or good or bad or the role of the government. versus the role of the family based on what society tells us these things are. But we continue to look to God and we continue to look at his word. And that doesn't mean it's going to be easy.

You're going to be called a bigot. You're going to be said, it's going to be said that you're on the wrong side of history. If you don't agree with the whole social justice anti-racist movement, which is pushed by critical race theory, you are going to be told that you are wrong, that you're a racist, that you're a white supremacist. But you look to Matthew 10 that says, look, you are. to fear God rather than man because what God can do is eternal. What man can do is temporal. You look to Romans 8 and says it is God who justifies who is to condemn Christ Jesus is the one who died

more than that, who was raised, who right now is seated at the right hand of God interceding for us. If our God is for us, who can be against us? That is the strength. That is the resolve that you have and to be alone on God's side, to be alone on the side of truth is to be, is better than being on the wrong side with millions of people who are telling you that you are right. So keep that perspective and keep the faith and ask for God to give us strength and to give us resolve and to be with us as we move forward in love and in truth. All right, that's all I've got for us today. I will be back here soon.