Former Senator Robert Klitzkie held a presentation before the Rotary Club of Guam on Thursday entitled Critical Race Theory, Separatists, and the News Media.
Klitzkie is a lawyer admitted to practice in California, Guam, CNMI, and the FSM. He is also a radio talk show host and a former Judge Pro Tem of the Superior Court of Guam.
During his talk at the Rotary Club meeting held at the 3 Squares restaurant in Tamuning, Klitzkie discussed his opinion on Guam’s right to self-determination which he believed to be rooted in Critical Race Theory.
According to Klitzkie, Critical Race Theory “means that everything that we do in the United States… is governed by race. Maybe you don’t understand it, maybe you don’t realize it, but every single thing, every decision, has to be looked at through the lens of race.”
According to Brittanica.com, it is an intellectual movement and a loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is a social construct, rather than a biological construct and is used to oppress and exploit people of color.
Recently, Critical Race Theory has become a flashpoint in American politics as conservatives have pushed the theory to the forefront of the culture wars.
Critics claim that Critical Race Theory is divisive, destructive, and teaches hatred of America.
Liberals claim that Critical Race Theory is but one approach to understanding and ultimately healing from the legacy of racism in America.
Klitzkie then discussed his opinion on Guam’s political status to which he argues that status quo should remain.
“To the separatists, we make noise that we got three choices: independence, free association, and statehood. The choice that I favor, is the one that we got right now. We got a really good way of life here… We don’t pay federal income tax… We have local self-government. We haven’t used all of what we have, we can have our own tax law if we wanted, we can have our own constitution if we wanted. But the separatists want it ending, pretty much putting the skids under that,” Klitzkie said.
He then went on to say his point of view in regards to how some local activists use the 4th of July or Guam’s Liberation Day to fit their agenda.
“One of the sick things that separatists really like to do, is they like to use the 4th of July, as a way of saying ‘we’re not really free here.’ Liberation day didn’t really liberate anyone,” Klitzkie said.
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