Conservative media host Ben Shapiro criticized MSNBC commentator Malcolm Nance for advocating for critical race theory despite having “succeeded in” American society.

In a Friday interview on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Shapiro broke down the complexities of critical race theory and what it challenges in the U.S. socially, politically, and economically.

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“Critical Race Theory, essentially, argues that racism is baked into all the systems of American society and that any sort of neutral system is in fact a guise for racial power,” Shapiro said.

“Even things that are purportedly good, in terms of race, so long as they uphold these broader systems, things like capitalism, things like the meritocracy, these things are just guises for power,” he continued. “And so what that boils down to in sort of practical terms is, all disparity equals discrimination. 

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“If you can see any stat where Black people are underperforming White people, this means the system was set up for the benefit of White people and that White people have a duty to tear down these systems in order to alleviate the racism that’s implicit in those systems,” Shapiro added.

Nance said he approved of Shapiro’s definition of Critical Race Theory.

“I agree with all of those suppositions because they are grounded in truth,” Nance said.

The MSNBC commentator continued by alleging historical policies like the Scalp Act of 1747 and the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 are purposefully glossed over in American education.

“These are things we don’t talk about,” Nance added. 

Shapiro fired back and said, “You seem to be a pretty good beneficiary of the meritocracy because you have merit.”

“If you’re going to criticize the meritocracy as an outgrowth of white supremacy, then you’re going to have to tear down the system that you’ve succeeded in because you have merit.”

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Nance later suggested he believes Critical Race Theory has been “hijacked” by the far left and is actually about ensuring history is adequately taught in schools – not about instilling a reverse sense of racism in anti-White culture. 

Shapiro accused Nance of attempting to “redefine” Critical Race Theory and said it was a “cheap semantic trick.”