Conclusion

The critical race quantum computer is an aspiration at the moment. As a planet, we have a long way to go until we realize an anti-oppressive shared existence. It would be antithetical to the logic of our metaphor to suggest that any one of us is ever going to become a perfect critical race qubit-like person. In that way, we do not claim to have conceived of this metaphor perfectly, either. We imagine this contribution as one that will grow as others take it up, interpret it, and include/critique it through their own work.


As with everything contained within the CRQC, each “coder’s” script must be read critically. James Baldwin wrote the code. Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Angela Y. Davis, Assata Shakur, Huey P. Newton, Bunchy Carter, Mary Wolstonecraft, adrienne marie brown, Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, Ibram X. Kendi, Ta Nehisi Coates, Mikki Kendall, Moya Bailey, Jane Elliot, the authors cited in this article, and so many more have been and are currently writing the code. These critical race “programmers” haven’t written “code” that could be considered gospel or scripture outright. Each has been, can, and should be critiqued.


adrienne maree brown (2020), for example, recently published We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice wherein she delineates the important nuances of cancel culture. In this contribution, brown discusses the benefits and pitfalls of cancel culture, providing guiding questions to those seeking accountability for harms wrought as well as resources for further learning to be done around this topic. The CRQC would categorize brown’s contribution as code supporting the development of us as qubits more capable of contributing to an equitable, liberated society by developing our individual and collective abilities to hold each other accountable for our actions without doing further harm in the process. Her code does so by developing our abilities to “cancel” people, but to do so transformatively and only when and where appropriate. It requires critical thought in order to know when, where, why and how to implement it.


With the rapid pace of technological evolution and the inevitable incorporation of quantum computers into our ways of life, recognizing the importance of a critical race approach to quantum computing and technology may allow us to get out ahead of potential pitfalls that may occur as a result of their use. In his recent book, Post-Corona, Scott Galloway argues that better technology is technology that reaches everyone, is inclusive of everyone and, thus, acknowledges that the user comes first. “Better,” according to Galloway, means scalable to everyone in an equitable way and in a way that gets technology in everyone’s hands without doing harm. While notions of scale have become fraught in their own right, the concept of liberation must be scalable or freedom itself, realized as a collective experience rather than an individual one, cannot exist. The concept of a critical race quantum computer is available to all. We hope people think about it, use it, share it, and develop their critical race theory (code).


In the time since we began writing this paper up to its publication, the discourse surrounding critical race theory has only become more hostile and divisive. More states and communities within states have sought to ban it, and indeed it has become somewhat of a testing of waters for factions of right-wing politicians--e.g. how much of a potential for culture war is there, here? How salient, triggering, and galvanizing is the concept of CRT: is it enough, for example, to shift the country towards the right again politically in 2022 and 2024? The polarization regarding CRT has played out on a national stage: from banning it in schools to the attempted silencing of those like Nikole Hannah-Jones who use it in their work. A timely question we consider now is in this vein: what happens if the “noisy qubits” gain an amplitude such that they are able to establish policy and enforce systems that further oppress, harm and marginalize? In other words: what happens when the influence of policymakers opposed to CRT and DEI grows to the point where it prevents others from developing their own critical consciousness and frameworks?


We are in the process of designing workshops based on the concept of the CRQC. These are meant to be rigorous resources to support interpersonal, institutional and systemic change towards more conscious contributions to the movement. We are also considering the development of a podcast series to support the understanding of this concept. But, more importantly, we believe the identification of the CRQC and the dissemination of this article contributes to the development and, hopefully, ultimate realization of something akin to the CRQC. Our goal is not for everyone to think, act and behave the same way, but to recognize that we are all imperfect and, thus, in need of support, collaboration and error correction to be the best we can be individually and collectively. We don’t each know everything, nor does any one of us have all the answers. From this space of humility we can dialogue, co-create, and build a better world together.