Originally Posted by ShannonM

This is one of the core differences between the Critical Theory and Liberal models of social justice. In the Liberal model, (and, I'd argue, in reality,) "systems" and "societies" are dependent phenomena that derive their properties and even their existence from the individual humans who make them up. In the Critical Theory model, "systems" and "societies" are separate entities, and they have properties and behaviors that do not derive from any of the humans who exist within them.

Thus, under the Liberal model, if all of the individuals in a society start treating everyone the same regardless of race, that society and all of its systems would no longer be racist, because it couldn't be racist if there were no individual racists in it. Critical Race Theory explicitly denies this. Not "denies that it's possible for it to happen," but explicitly and repeatedly denies that anything about the system would change even if it did.

--Shannon