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Actually there is no short, one-paragraph definition of critical race theory, but here's a pretty close shot at one anyway.
Wikimedia/Mohamed Badarne, CC-BY-SA-4.0
Kimberlé Crenshaw, who coined the term "Critical Race Theory" (per the American Bar Association)
What is critical race theory? As controversial as it is, we really ought to know. I’ve written a longer version looking at it from two sides, but what if you want it just in one paragraph?
Someone sent me a request for a shorter version like that. I told them it would be tough: There isn’t one definition for CRT, there are a thousand definitions. Still I said I’d take a shot at it, and still I found I couldn’t do it. Here’s my best shot at coming close it it, though. First, a condensed version of the way the original critical race theorists (“crits”) view it, followed by CRT’s expanded meaning that holds among the rest of us.
Critical Race Theory: A Bare-Bones Definition
CRT began among legal scholars, where it was a critique of classical, liberal approaches toward ending racial inequalities embedded in American politics and the economy. The classical liberal strategy on racism, which focused on addressing racist attitudes and changing discriminatory laws, wasn’t progressing quickly enough for them. It didn’t get to the root of the problem, which was power; unequalpower, that is. “Systemic racism” — racism embedded in American power structures and language (where much power resides) — still left blacks oppressed. And it wasn’t about to get better very easily, because whites never release power to minorities unless it somehow gains more power back for themselves. Therefore, crits believe, racism can finally be ended only by upending existing power structures, especially through new legislation and case law.
There’s critical race theory’s legal version in a one-paragraph, sawed-off, condensed form, with apologies to crits for all I had to leave out. That’s your short definition — except it isn’t. I’m sorry, but it can’t be. Here’s why.
The Sawed-Off Version Doesn’t Cover It
Continued below.
Looking For a Good, Short Definition of Critical Race Theory? It Doesn't Exist. Here's One Anyway. | The Stream
Kimberlé Crenshaw, who coined the term "Critical Race Theory" (per the American Bar Association)
What is critical race theory? As controversial as it is, we really ought to know. I’ve written a longer version looking at it from two sides, but what if you want it just in one paragraph?
Someone sent me a request for a shorter version like that. I told them it would be tough: There isn’t one definition for CRT, there are a thousand definitions. Still I said I’d take a shot at it, and still I found I couldn’t do it. Here’s my best shot at coming close it it, though. First, a condensed version of the way the original critical race theorists (“crits”) view it, followed by CRT’s expanded meaning that holds among the rest of us.
Critical Race Theory: A Bare-Bones Definition
CRT began among legal scholars, where it was a critique of classical, liberal approaches toward ending racial inequalities embedded in American politics and the economy. The classical liberal strategy on racism, which focused on addressing racist attitudes and changing discriminatory laws, wasn’t progressing quickly enough for them. It didn’t get to the root of the problem, which was power; unequalpower, that is. “Systemic racism” — racism embedded in American power structures and language (where much power resides) — still left blacks oppressed. And it wasn’t about to get better very easily, because whites never release power to minorities unless it somehow gains more power back for themselves. Therefore, crits believe, racism can finally be ended only by upending existing power structures, especially through new legislation and case law.
There’s critical race theory’s legal version in a one-paragraph, sawed-off, condensed form, with apologies to crits for all I had to leave out. That’s your short definition — except it isn’t. I’m sorry, but it can’t be. Here’s why.
The Sawed-Off Version Doesn’t Cover It
Continued below.
Looking For a Good, Short Definition of Critical Race Theory? It Doesn't Exist. Here's One Anyway. | The Stream