Once upon a time not that long ago the civil rights movement was about equality before the law. It was and is a just and laudable goal and many brave people gave their lives for it.

But that vision has been hijacked by Marxists, as has a portion of the Democrat Party, and has degenerated into an avaricious quest for guilt money and a racism against those who do not meet a PC standard of racial preference. Professor Glenn Loury understands what has happened and wants to bring the debate back into a context that would be beneficial for all Americans.

FNC: “Economist and academic Glenn Loury on Sunday said the United States should “get beyond race” and reparations would be ‘disastrous’ for the future of America. Loury, an economics professor at Brown University, appeared on ABC’s “This Week” to discuss critical race theory and Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday, when he was asked by anchor George Stephanopoulos about how Americans can ‘bridge the divide’ on these issues dealing with race.”

Ilhan Omar, commenting on the recently minted holiday, doesn’t agree. “As we reflect on the significance of what this day symbolizes, let’s keep fighting to address the lasting consequences of slavery. Next step: reparations,” Omar tweeted. Glenn Loury knows better.

Loury: “I think we should get beyond race. I know I’m spitting in the wind when I say that. I know no one wants to hear it. I think the right story here is that it’s the American story. We’re all in this thing together. I know that’s very easy to say…I think Martin Luther King got it right in 1963. I think that the racialization of this discussion of crime and violence, and policing, of poverty and wealth and whatnot is bad for America.

“I think talking about reparations, whatever the moral argument might be, is disastrous for the future of this country,” Loury continued. “Black people should not be trying to cut a separate deal with America. Let’s make the country a good country for everybody and we’ll be on the right track.

What of critical race theory? “I think the definition is fine as far as it goes. I think the concern is about the narrative. It’s about what is the story of the American project and where does race fit into that,” Loury said. “I think it’s a bit like arguments about how do you teach evolution versus creationism or what do you do about sex education in the schools where people are concerned a certain narrative, a certain view, which is very uncharitable to the American project.” Would he ban the teaching of critical race theory? “No I wouldn’t do that no more than I would ban the teaching of Marxism. I wouldn’t ban it. I would argue against it.” In the diverse marketplace of ideas that should be our culture, that is the proper approach.