Critical Race Theory

Presenter: Howard Gibson

What is CRT?

Critical Race Theory, or CRT, is an academic field that focuses on the relationships between the social conceptions of race, and ethnicity, social and political laws, and mass media. According to Wikipedia, CRT considers racism to be systemic in laws and rules. It is not based on individuals' prejudices. The word "systemic" links to their page on Institutional racism.

System racism is a part of American society, affecting education, housing, healthcare, and the legal system. Racism is embedded in laws, policies and institutions. The racism goes beyond individually held prejudices, and is woven into the laws and institutions of the nation.

CRT scholars argue that race is a social construct rather than a biological reality. Race is used to oppress and exploit people of colour.

It began in the post-civil rights are in the 1970s, as lawyers recognized that civil rights were being eroded and rolled back. CRT started off as a legal theory, but it has been adopted by sociologists and feminists.

Conservative activist Christopher Rufo seems to have started off the current controversy about CRT, claiming that it is being taught in schools.

Discussion Questions

1.     Is CRT a meaningful concept that helps us understand American institutions?

2.     Are Canadian institutions racist as per the definition by CRT?

3.     Is race really just a social construct?

4.     How do we manage political activists who lie about or wildly exaggerate issues?

5.     Civil rights legislation in the USA was rammed down the throats of some fanatical white supremacists. How responsible are the rest of us white folk for this?

References

1.     Race Is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue From the Scientific American, by Megan Gannon & LiveScience. Racial categories are weak proxies for genetic diversity and need to be phased out.  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/race-is-a-social-construct-scientists-argue/

2.     Critical Race Theory Frequently Asked Questions From the LDF — Legal Defense Fund.  https://www.naacpldf.org/critical-race-theory-faq/

3.     Race and Biology by Beth Baker on Oxford Academic. The article claims that 94% of generic variation is found within populations, while 6% is found between populations.  https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/71/2/119/6101069

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