What is Critical Race Theory? Why should you care what I say about it?
As an Afro-Latina immigrant, there are multiple layers of racism, classism, sexism, and xenophobia that have impacted my identity. Whether I experienced it firsthand, or through the eyes of a loved one, my personal lens of marginalization at different levels informs everything I write about. I was born in the South American country of Brazil, my ancestry stems from enslaved Brazilians, similar to the ancestry of Black Americans, who also descended from enslaved African ancestors of mainland North America. The captivity and dissemination of black bodies from Africa into North and South America, also referred to as the African diaspora, accounts for the majority population of this region to be descendants of enslaved Africans. Even though both my native country of Brazil and my current country of residence, the U.S., have a history deeply rooted in slavery and racism, the individual and institutionalized racism in both countries are very different (this will be the subject of a future post). Nonetheless, both are deeply rooted in White supremacy, which is the driving force for the existence of Critical Race Theory (CRT).
The following is a compact version of how CRT can be defined. Please refer to these citations for further reading on the topic (Derrick Bell 1980, Richard Delgado 1994, and Kimberle´ Crenshaw 1988; Ladson-Billings 2013). Although these five tenets are principal to the views of critical race theory, its scholars would argue against using this as a menu for adapting critical race theory. I am sharing this information to help build an understanding of this now controversial theory. With almost half a dozen states, as of the date of this post, introducing bills and/or passing laws limiting the study of race in the classroom (https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1000537206/teachers-laws-banning-critical-race-theory-are-leading-to-self-censorship), it is vital that we understand what it is and why we should oppose legislation of this kind. Some of the states are Oklahoma, Idaho, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
Ladson-Billings (2013) outlines five tenets of critical race theory:
racism as normal: First, critical race theorists support that racism is not “some random, isolated act of individuals behaving badly”, but instead “the normal order of things in U.S. society” (p. 37). Most people would argue that racism lies within an individual, whereas CRT scholars believe that racism systematically has continued in various structures, including education.
interest convergence: Next, interest convergence describes how societal change for racial justice has only occurred historically because there has been something to gain for those in power. One example of this is when the Governor of Arizona canceled their Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, which causes the cancellation of 45 conventions and a loss of $25 million. “The reversal of the MLK Holiday decision was not a result of a change of heart on the part of Governor Meacham but rather a need to align the state’s economic interest with the hope and symbolism the holiday represented for African Americans” (p. 38).
race as a social construction: Thirdly, race as a social construction, has been used to create hierarchy and ideology of White supremacy. Historically, for a very long period of time, even though “biologists, geneticists, anthropologists, and sociologists all agree that race is not a scientific reality”, racism is a result of using race to categorize according to physical and “genetic differences like skin color, hair texture, eye shape, and lip size” (p. 39).
intersectionality and anti-essentialism: The fourth hallmark is that both intersectionality (race is one aspect of identity, mixed with many others, such as class, gender, sexuality, ability, religion, etc.) and anti-essentialism (“belief that all people perceived to be in a single group think, act, and believe the same things in the same ways” (p. 40) exist. Within both of these, confusion can arise where critical race theory can be criticized because it seems to focus only on race, when it supports a variety of sources to inform one’s identity, and where essentialism can lead to stereotyping, and critical race theorists clearly define an anti-essentialist point of view.
voice or counter-narrative: Lastly, there is power behind the voice or counter-narrative because history is written by those in power, or from the winning side. Critical race theory explores the voices of the marginalized. There are countless narratives from this point of view to bring openness and dialogue across racial barriers.