What Really Is Critical Race Theory?

By Louise Brown Smith

CRT has recently become a hot topic in almost every part of our country, and one year ago most of us had never even heard of it. Is it an academic concept used by legal scholars to delve into racist processes built into our legal system...or is it a divisive curriculum used in public schools that teaches children to be unpatriotic?

During the past few years our awareness has increased dramatically regarding housing segregation, criminal justice policy, and the legacy of slavery on our Black citizens. At the same time we do not have widespread agreement about what we or our government should do in response.

Critical Race Theory is a theory that was developed in law schools about 40 years ago by legal scholars, Derrick Bell, Kimberle Crenshaw, and Richard Delgado. The theory is that racial discrimination is not merely a result of individual bias and prejudice but is deeply embedded in legal systems and policies. Remember the 13th amendment to the Constitution that forbade slavery except for imprisoned individuals? Today for the same crime our judicial system still imprisons Black individuals more often than white individuals, and for longer sentences. There have historically been exceptions built systemically into our laws which have almost universally been exploited to the disadvantage of Black people. CRT has developed a variety of legal strategies to increase equity in our laws and policies.

CRT’s critics, mostly conservative and white, charge that this theory leads to divisiveness between people who have been oppressed and those who are the oppressors. They think that teaching a history of America where children learn that our ancestors participated in colonialism and unnecessary violence is unpatriotic. They do not want their children taught to think that our citizens today need to apologize or provide any kind of reparations. They are concerned that our children will be taught that they are “bad.” They do not want policies that they think discriminate against their children or themselves. 

With such a difference in understandings of CRT, and with our cultural environment of income inequality, diverse ethnicity, cultural differences, and unapologetic opinions our vehemence seems inevitable.

In order to dampen the divisiveness that CRT arouses in us it is important for us to understand all of this. There are ways that CRT can help us understand how systemic racism has developed throughout Cazenovia’s history and how it still can be found today in our schools, churches, businesses, and cultural organizations. We can respond in ways that will build equity and compassion in our community.

The Anti Racism Coalition of Cazenovia will be exploring CRT in its next meeting! Please come and invite your friends! Our ARC-C January Event, “What Is Critical Race Theory? What Does It Mean for Me?” is coming up: Thursday January 20, 2022 from 7:00-8:30 p.m.  Join us for a conversation about CRT: we’ll work to distinguish CRT as a wedge issue and as a legal framework for understanding the relationships between race, racism, and power.