The Acton Institute justifies the defeat of Affirmative Action and provides a platform for more anti-Black Lives Matter pontificating

The far right think tank, the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, continues to demonstrate how much they defend the systems of White Supremacy and Institutionalized racism.

Last week, the Acton Institute posted on their blog an article entitled, Affirmative Action and the Imago Dei. Like most groups that defend White Supremacy, the Acton Institute uses religion to justify their position that policies like Affirmative Action are wrong and that the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Affirmative Action for college admissions. Here is the concluding comments used to justify the anti-affirmative action policy: 

Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions to the racial and social tensions that plague us. But a good starting point is to recognize and respond to the image of God as it presents itself in our neighbors, and to remember that while we are certainly different in big and small ways, we share at least that in common. Our attempts to resolve these tensions will be and have been halting, difficult, and suffer many setbacks. But in solidarity with our neighbors, with whom we share God’s image, we can imperfectly work toward just resolutions that the Constitution of our democratic republic allows the space to pursue.

Now, the person who wrote this post is a white guy named Trey Dimsdale. Dimsdale used to work for the Acton Institute, but is now employed by another far right think tank, known as the First Liberty Institute.

The First Liberty Institute is the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious liberty for all Americans, according to their website. However, if you spend anytime on their website it pretty much means they defend Christians who want to impose their absurd ideological beliefs on the rest of society. In fact, the organization lists as experts and leaders that endorse their work, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry and Mike Huckabee, which speaks volumes. 

More anti-Black Lives Matter rhetoric

It wasn’t bad enough that the Acton Institute posted an article justifying the end of Affirmative Action in college admissions, they also provided space for another far right writer to dismiss the Movement for Black Lives.

On July 3rd, there was an interview conducted by the Action Institute with Ian Rowe, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, which is possibly the most influential conservative policy institute.

Maybe the most outrageous thing that Ian Rowe had to say in the interview with the Acton Institute was, 

Since the death of George Floyd, there has been an explosion in completely useless, insulting, and hopelessly ineffective actions that are purportedly intended to make progress toward racial “equity.”

Essentially, what Rowe is saying is that calling for the abolition of systems of power and oppression, engaging in Mutual Aid work, elevating the voices and lived experiences of Black people, resisting institutionalized racism, creating community bond funds, fighting back against groups like the Proud Boys and developing community gardens are “hopelessly ineffective actions.” 

What Ian Rowe advocates for is personal responsibility, and for Black people to stop blaming Structural Racism. What is unfortunate is that Ian Rowe is a Black man, or what Malcolm X would refer to as a House Negro, someone who defends the plantation owner. This is just the latest example of how the Acton Institute has nothing but contempt for the Movement for Black Lives.