On the Importance of Critical Race Theory-and the Delusional Attacks On It (original) (raw)
Related papers
Foundations of Critical Race Theory in Education
Cultural and Pedagogical Inquiry, 2012
Does the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States prove that critical race theory is not true, or at least has overstated its contrarian claims that racism is permanent?" This is the question that co-editors Ladson-Billings, Gillborn and Taylor (2009) pose in their foreword to Foundations of Critical Race Theory in Education (p. ix). In a recent New York Times article, Westen (2011) has suggested that Obama failed expectations because he has not told the right story. Westen (a professor of psychology) explained that we come to expect certain stories, usually centered around heroes and villains, and that that the kind of story that Americans were hoping to hear from Obama would have provided a clear alternative to the dominant narrative of the right. With Obama, "there was no story-and there has been none since" (p. SR, 6). Meanwhile, here in Canada, Stephen Harper is said to be systematically spinning a revisionist Canadian story, one that undermines the long-held Liberal narrative of Charter, flag, peacekeeping and multiculturalism and that revolves instead around conservative symbols of: the Arctic, military, national sports and, especially, monarchy (Taber, 2011, p. A3). Foundational to critical race theory (CRT) is stories. The truth about stories, Indigenous writer and scholar Thomas King (2003) says, is that they are all we are. Stories convey what we believe; what we imagine and experience, as well as insulate us from what we don't want to think about. Writing about the Canadian treatment of Indigenous peoples, Thomas King is not a card-carrying critical race theorist, but his method of counter-story telling, by combining critical analysis with personal storytelling, is in keeping with CRT, the foundational tenets of which are addressed in this edited volume. One of its key tenets is storytelling. As the title of Foundations of Critical Race Theory in Education suggests, the volume is intended to serve as an introduction to CRT and how it can be applied to educational theory, policy and practice. Except for Taylor's introduction, all chapters were previously published, most in the 1990s, half in legal journals, the rest in journals devoted to education and qualitative research, saving an article from American Psychologist. Of the twenty chapters, six were published post-2000. As several of the contributors point out, CRT started out as a branch of Critical Legal Studies (CLS) and as such, originated as a critical response to the treatment of race in legal discourse and practice. CLS, which had its inception in the 1970s, has focused on the power relationships embedded within legal decisions. CRT concentrates on race, and arose in response to the stalling of civil rights litigation, especially from watershed cases like Brown v Board of Education. CRT has several main tenets: that racism is a permanent, normative feature of (American) society, that any apparent legal progress has been due more to interest convergence (benefits to Whites) than to genuine social justice, that racism needs to be understood historically and that the narratives of oppressed peoples stand as privileged accounts of lived experiences of racist policy and practice (Taylor, 2009). CRT carries on CLS' interest in the law but extends it to other spheres, notably, education. Like CLS, CRT defines itself as a counter-discourse that explores alternative forms of expression and evidence and is highly critical of claims of positivistic social science to neutrality.
Equity & Excellence in Education, 2002
What can critical race theory, a movement that has its roots in legal scholarship, contribute to research in education? Plenty, as it turns out. Much of the national dialogue on race relations takes place in the context of education--in continuing desegregation and affirmative action battles, in debates about bilingual education programs, and in the controversy surrounding race and ethnicity studies departments at colleges and universities. More centrally, the use of critical race theory offers a way to understand how ostensibly race-neutral structures in education--knowledge, truth, merit, objectivity, and "good education"--are in fact ways of forming and policing the racial boundaries of white supremacy and racism (Roithmayr, 1999, p. 4).
Critical Race Theory 20 Years Later: Where Do We Go From Here
2016
As the nation's schools become increasingly diverse along ethnic and racial lines, examining and understanding the racial complexities in the United States is more germane now than ever in the nation's history. To that end, critical race theory (CRT) has been a transformative conceptual, methodological, and theoretical construct that has assisted researchers in problematizing race in education. As we reflect on 20 years of CRT, it is essential to examine in what ways, if any, CRT is influencing school practice and policy. Given the disparate educational outcomes for students of color, researchers have to inquire about the influence of CRT on the lived experiences of students in schools. In this article, the authors lay out the historical trajectory of CRT, discuss its influence on educational research, and then evaluate to what extent, if any CRT has had on school policy and practice. The article will conclude with research, practice, and policy implications that may influence CRT's development over the next 20-year period. Race and education have always been an essential element in the way opportunities for learning have manifested in U.S. schools. Throughout the last several centuries, there has been an ongoing quest for educational inclusion
UCLA IDEA Publications, 2022
After a summer 2020 surge of protest-fueled antiracist energy across the nation and increase in K–12 education efforts to explore issues of race and racism in U.S. society (often at students’ request), pushback against a caricatured vision of “Critical Race Theory” (“CRT”) in K–12 public schools rose over the 2020–2021 school year. Propelled by common talking points, media attention, state legislation, and school board protests, school- and district-level conflicts increased and intensified over the year and into summer 2021 as critics sought to restrict or “ban” curriculum, lessons, professional development, and district equity and diversity efforts addressing a broad but often loosely defined set of ideas about race, racism, diversity, and inclusion. In 2020–2021, “CRT” became a caricatured catch-all term opponents used to try to limit and prohibit much such learning. In a rapid-response multi-method study funded by the Spencer Foundation for Research in Education, we have sought since spring 2021 to understand the current context of extreme pressure on educators attempting to teach on issues of race/racism in our country, and more generally to work on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools and districts so all students are supported as they learn.
Behavior and Social Issues, 2023
Critical Race Theory (CRT) and its potential contributions to K-12 public education is under scrutiny by lawmakers and parent groups across the United States. Banning the tenets of CRT will produce even less equitable outcomes for our most vulnerable student populations. Interdisciplinary collaboration is critical for behavior analysts working alongside educators in public schools. This paper will unite educators and behavior analysts in a scholarly discussion of the origins, definition, and opposition to CRT; highlight current inequities and disparities in educational systems; outline the effectiveness of culturally relevant pedagogical practices; and propose a call to action for behavior analysts to collaborate with educators to improve equitable student outcomes.
Why Critical Race Theory Matters
Ethnic Studies Review, 2022
On September 22, 2020, the 45th President of the United States issued an "Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping." This executive order took specific aim at Critical Race Theory (CRT) as the ideology responsible for creating a supposed "different vision" of America. This comment argues that CRT provides society a necessary (even crucial) way to look at how the law and other policies within institutions, such as schools, function in ways that racially privilege some and discriminate against others-it is an additional way of seeing, an alternative lens. CRT better prepares us as teachers, leaders, researchers, and activists to be institutionally and pedagogically antiracist. CRT serves to expose, analyze, and challenge majoritarian stories of racialized privilege. CRT can help to strengthen traditions of social, political, and cultural survivance and justice. CRT teaches us that "construction of another world-a socially and racially just world-is possible" (Yosso 14-15). Critical Race Theory matters.