Critical Race Theory

Origins

Responding to the critical legal studies (CLS) movement in legal scholarship, CRT was the attempt by legal scholars of color to critique liberalism. The CLS scholars understood the legal system to be unjust with regard to issues of class, but CRT scholars felt that it did not take into account all the necessary evils that contributed to an unjust society. Challenging their primary focus on class, CRT scholars felt it was just as important to incorporate race as one of the evils that contribute to an unjust legal system. Their understanding was that racism will not go away because just because CLS scholars argue that the law is reflective of the interests of the power structure. Instead, CRT scholars operated on the premise that social reality is constructed through narrative. In creating such an exchange, narrative becomes the compound agent that embraces an interdisciplinary approach. To the CRT scholar, the theoretical construct expands the scope of CLS through the addition of a racial component by way of critique of the liberal tradition in legal scholarship.

From the legal perspective, there are three components of CRT that are relevant to the analysis of race and racism in education and curriculum studies. The first is the social construction of race. CRT scholars understand that race is not a fixed term. Instead, it is a socially constructed phenomenon with political implications regarding members of the in (i.e., accepted) and the out (i.e., marginalized) groups. Where there are no biological determinants to race; race and racism operate a set of complex relationships that come from a complex self-reinforcing process subject to the marco- and microforces. On the macrolevel, social and political struggle influence how we understand race and racism. At the microlevel, these larger influences affect our daily decisions. Where race is biologically false, it is socially real in relation to the experiences of [Page 153]people of color in relation to race, class, and gender hierarchies.

Second is the idea of interest convergence. Coined by Derrick Bell, the construct posits the idea that policies aimed at achieving racial equality will be enacted only to the extent that they are of some advantage to mainstream White society. Bell uses the example of the United States during the cold war, as the United States began an anticommunist campaign in Western Europe to stimulate commerce throughout the region. As Europeans questioned the fight against the evils of communism by the U.S. government, they were simultaneously able to view acts of terrorism committed against African American residents in urban areas and the rural South. As lynchings, beatings, and other acts of terror and intimidation were part of the nightly news broadcasts throughout Europe, these actions stood in direct contradiction to the U.S. pursuit of liberty through the promotion of anticommunist policies. When the United States realized this contradiction, it began to enact policies intended to address racial inequality. In this instance, economic and social polices converged to preserve the interests of the dominant culture.

...