Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff
Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum here. The term critical race theory or CRT
Speaker 1: became a hot button issue in late twenty twenty. Since then,
Speaker 1: hundreds of US state and local legislators and other officials
Speaker 1: have introduced policies attempting to ban critical race theory from
Speaker 1: being taught in public schools. As of October of twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three, twenty nine states had actually adopted such policies
Speaker 1: in one way or another. Many measures have failed to
Speaker 1: be adopted, or have been withdrawn or expired before they
Speaker 1: went to vote. Only seven states have had no such bans.
Speaker 1: Put forth, the term seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Speaker 1: So why is critical race theory suddenly part of the
Speaker 1: conversation and what is it? Anyway? For the article, this
Speaker 1: episode is based on how Stuff Work. Spoke with David
Speaker 1: Miguel Gray, an assistant professor of philosophy at the Institute
Speaker 1: for Intelligence Systems at the University of Memphis. He explained,
Speaker 1: critical race theory is a movement in legal thought. Let's
Speaker 1: unpack that our Critical race theory is an academic framework
Speaker 1: that legal scholars specifically used to critically examine the legal
Speaker 1: history of the United States through a lens of racism,
Speaker 1: including everything from the US Constitution to the Mayflower Compact,
Speaker 1: as well as legislation from the Supreme Court or lower courts.
Speaker 1: A CRT was developed during the mid nineteen seventies by
Speaker 1: a handful of legal scholars after they determined that despite
Speaker 1: the gains of the US civil rights movement, a progress
Speaker 1: toward racial equality had been slow or in some cases
Speaker 1: rolled back. These scholars, in particular Derek Bell and Alan Freeman,
Speaker 1: realized that a new conceptual framework was needed to better
Speaker 1: understand the complex relationship between race, racism, and the US
Speaker 1: legal system. In nineteen eighty nine, more than twenty scholars
Speaker 1: created the first CRT workshop in Madison, Wisconsin. One of
Speaker 1: the organizers one Kimberly Crenshaw, so that they quote were
Speaker 1: interested in defining and elaborating on the lived reality of
Speaker 1: race and were open to the aspiration of developing theory.
Speaker 1: So the original purpose of CRT was to think about
Speaker 1: how the law contributed to racial inequality in the United States,
Speaker 1: both in the past and present. The theory they developed,
Speaker 1: which is that racism is systemic in the institutions of
Speaker 1: the United States, and that these institutions function to preserve
Speaker 1: the dominance of white people in society, regardless of people's intentions.
Speaker 1: Has continued an academic inquiry through today. For example, a
Speaker 1: member of the American Bar Association wrote in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: one that in the legal field, critical race theorists quote
Speaker 1: address the role of racism in the law and the
Speaker 1: work to eliminate it and other configuration of subordination, meaning
Speaker 1: that as a theory, CRT provides scholars with a framework
Speaker 1: from which to review past and existing legal decisions. Before
Speaker 1: diving deeper into the principles of CRT, it's important to
Speaker 1: understand the purpose of academic theories like this one. Theories
Speaker 1: are used in both scientific and non scientific research, and
Speaker 1: they're used to explain complex things in ways that others
Speaker 1: can apply the same ideas to another situation. Various academic
Speaker 1: disciplines engage with different theories, although many theories cross over
Speaker 1: into multiple disciplines. Anthropologists might use theories like structuralism and postmodernism.
Speaker 1: Educators might use theories like behaviorism or connectivism. Not all
Speaker 1: scholars with a discipline utilize the same theories, or even
Speaker 1: use them in the same way. Which allows many viewpoints
Speaker 1: to discuss each discipline, which this really cool. It acknowledges
Speaker 1: that there are different ways of viewing the world and
Speaker 1: of trying to figure out how it works. Critical race
Speaker 1: theory is one such academic theory. It was initially developed
Speaker 1: within legal studies, but now discussed within many other academic disciplines. Again,
Speaker 1: to quote the American Bar Association, a CRT is not
Speaker 1: a diversity and inclusion training, but a practice of interrogating
Speaker 1: the role of race and racism in society that emerged
Speaker 1: in the legal academy and spread to other fields of scholarship.
Speaker 1: The aforementioned Kimberly Crenshaw explained in an MSNBC interview in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, quote, a critical race theory is not
Speaker 1: so much a thing, it's a way of looking at
Speaker 1: a thing. She elaborated that basically, CRT is a way
Speaker 1: of looking at race to understand why after centuries since emancipation,
Speaker 1: patterns of inequality have endured for people of color and
Speaker 1: indigenous people. Goal of CRT is to get everyone closer
Speaker 1: to the promises that are embedded in the Constitution. Gray
Speaker 1: explained that many people have conflicting views about critical race
Speaker 1: theory and what ideas should be included with it. However,
Speaker 1: it does include some fundamental views. These basic views include
Speaker 1: the idea that racism is a part of American society,
Speaker 1: not just a simple flaw that can be easily fixed
Speaker 1: with laws. So, for example, the concept is that in
Speaker 1: United States legal and governmental institutions, racism isn't an anomaly
Speaker 1: or some aberrant feature, It's just normal. And while racism
Speaker 1: may be more present in some areas than others, it
Speaker 1: has existed throughout US history and it continues today. CRT
Speaker 1: focuses only on legal and other institutions in general, and
Speaker 1: not on individual people. Through it, scholars work to learn
Speaker 1: how racism exists in society and where improvements can be made,
Speaker 1: as well as to provide an analysis of what perpetuates
Speaker 1: racism in American systems. The theory also maintains the idea
Speaker 1: that the foundation of the United States was based on
Speaker 1: doctrines that could be considered racist, for example, the Virginia
Speaker 1: laws about slavery and servitude. In other cases, race might
Speaker 1: not have been explicitly included, but was nevertheless implied, like
Speaker 1: in the Three Fifths Compromise that was the agreement made
Speaker 1: during the seventeen eighty seven Constitutional Convention, which determined that
Speaker 1: enslaved individuals counted as three fifths of a person for
Speaker 1: both representation and taxation. Gray explained that later and even
Speaker 1: modern laws and policies about housing, voting rights, education, and
Speaker 1: segregation can also fall into this category. He said, the
Speaker 1: critical race theorists have argued that our country is largely
Speaker 1: founded upon doctrines that are in direct opposition with what
Speaker 1: we normally hear our country is all about. In addition
Speaker 1: to just studying these discrepancies about liberty and equality, critical
Speaker 1: race theorists also aim to change them. Some researchers who
Speaker 1: study education have taken up critical race theory by arguing
Speaker 1: that racism is entrenched in American education practices and policies.
Speaker 1: They've questioned how the educational system might be unjust with
Speaker 1: respect to race. Again, regardless of anybody's intentions, certain practices
Speaker 1: might have different impacts on different communities. For example, the
Speaker 1: aforementioned Derek Bell explored the Brown Versus Board of Education's
Speaker 1: Preme Court ruling of nineteen fifty four, which legally determined
Speaker 1: that the racial segregation of children in public schools is unconstitutional.
Speaker 1: Bell asserted that the court's decision was based on improving
Speaker 1: the international image of the United States during the Cold War.
Speaker 1: He also argued that the ruling was effectually limited because
Speaker 1: the court didn't actually offer a fix, and that furthermore,
Speaker 1: the fact that there is still racial inequality and education
Speaker 1: means the law is helping maintain that, whether anyone meant
Speaker 1: it to or not. This is an example of the
Speaker 1: relationship between CRT and education. The theory is used to
Speaker 1: critically analyze the history and present state of education in
Speaker 1: the United States. However, there is no evidence that critical
Speaker 1: race theory itself is being added to the curriculum in
Speaker 1: American K through twelve schools. One reason for that is
Speaker 1: that K through twelve children are unlikely to comprehend advanced
Speaker 1: academic theories. That's why structuralism and behaviorism aren't on the
Speaker 1: K through twelve curriculum either, with the possible exception of
Speaker 1: some advanced high school classes. A critical race theory is
Speaker 1: a law school course, and the theory is used in
Speaker 1: university courses of other disciplines like philosophy and literary criticism,
Speaker 1: often at the graduate level. But I know that's being
Speaker 1: a little pedantic. Certainly some of the documents and court
Speaker 1: decisions that CRT has been used to critique are taught
Speaker 1: at various levels during K through twelve education, such as
Speaker 1: the Three Fifths Compromise and the Enduring Effects of Slavery.
Speaker 1: That is why CRT has received a lot of attention recently,
Speaker 1: with people and politicians expressing concern that's being taught in schools,
Speaker 1: including elementary schools. AGray wrote in an article for The
Speaker 1: Conversation that it's quote become a catch all phrase among
Speaker 1: legislators attempting to ban a wide variety of teaching practices
Speaker 1: concerning race. However, the concepts being banned by proposed legislation
Speaker 1: under the guise of prohibiting the teaching of CRT aren't
Speaker 1: often part of CRT principles. For example, in Tennessee, and
Speaker 1: anti CRT bill that was signed into law in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one states that public and charter schools may not
Speaker 1: teach or use materials that assert one race or sex
Speaker 1: is inherently superior to another race or sex, or that
Speaker 1: an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment
Speaker 1: because of the individual's race or sex. Critical race theory
Speaker 1: doesn't really have anything to do with that what seems
Speaker 1: to have happened is those opposing CRT have taken the
Speaker 1: fact that the theory isn't colorblind because it recognizes the
Speaker 1: effects of race and racism and asserts that the only
Speaker 1: way to improve our society is to address racism through
Speaker 1: legal and institutional changes, and they've therefore ascribed a racist
Speaker 1: characteristics to the theory. In other words, many people are
Speaker 1: saying that critical race Theory is trying to rewrite American
Speaker 1: history to convince white people that they are inherently racist,
Speaker 1: which again is not the point of CRT. It's merely
Speaker 1: a lens through which to see how our world works,
Speaker 1: and it focuses specifically on laws and systems, regardless of
Speaker 1: any person's intent. Gray the situation up by saying it's
Speaker 1: a hot mess to use a really good Southern phrase.
Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article what is critical
Speaker 1: Race Theory Anyway? On how Stuffworks dot com written by
Speaker 1: Kerry Whitney. Rains Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership
Speaker 1: with how Stuffworks dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klain.
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