Critical Race Theory & Legal Doctrine

Critical Race Theory

and

Legal Doctrine

Critical Race Theory will be referred to CRT throughout this document. This is to reduce reading time.

I think CRT was meant to evaluate laws, not to demand defunding of Law Enforcement/reoperations, and to change the written laws/rules.     

Scholars:

• Roy L. Brooks defines CRT in 1994 as:
• A collection of critical stances against the existing legal order from a race-based point of view.
• Richard Delgado, a co-founder of CRT, defines CRT in 2017 as:
• A collection of activists and scholars interested in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power.
• Tommy J. Curry defines CRT as:
• The view that the law and legal institutions are inherently racist and that race itself, instead of being biologically grounded and natural, is a socially constructed concept that is used by white people to further their economic and political interests at the expense of people of color.

“Scholars at the forefront of developing CRT: Derrick Bell, Richard Delgado, Mari Matsuda, Kimberle Crenshaw, Charles Lawrence, Neil Gotanda, Patricia J. Williams, Angela Harris,” Solorzano, D., & Yosso, T. (2000). Toward a critical race theory of Chicana and Chicano education.

Britannica, defines Critical race theory (CRT), as an intellectual movement and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour. Critical race theorists hold that the law and legal institutions in the United States are inherently racist insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially African Americans.¹

Wikipedia defines Critical race theory, as an academic movement made up of civil-rights scholars and activists in the United States who seek to critically examine the law as it intersects with issues of race, and to challenge mainstream liberal approaches to racial justice. CRT examines social and cultural issues as they relate to race, law, and social and political power.²

The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University, defines Critical Race Theory, or CRT, as a theoretical and interpretive mode that examines the appearance of race and racism across dominant cultural modes of expression. In adopting this approach, CRT scholars attempt to understand how victims of systemic racism are affected by cultural perceptions of race and how they are able to represent themselves to counter prejudice. 1970-present.³

Bodenheimer, Rebecca, defines Critical race theory (CRT), as a school of thought meant to emphasize the effects of race on one's social standing. It arose as a challenge to the idea that in the two decades since the Civil Rights Movement and associated legislation, racial inequality had been solved and affirmative action was no longer necessary. CRT continues to be an influential body of legal and academic literature that has made its way into more public, non-academic writing.⁴

Legal Insurrection Foundation, defines Critical Race Theory, as an outgrowth of the European Marxist school of critical theory, critical race theory is an academic movement which seeks to link racism, race, and power. Unlike the Civil Rights movement, which sought to work within the structures of American democracy, critical race theorists challenge the very foundations of the liberal order, such as rationalism, constitutional law, and legal reasoning. Critical race theorists argue that American social life, political structures, and economic systems are founded upon race, which (in their view) is a social construct. CriticalRace.org is a resource for parents and students concerned about how Critical Race Theory, and implementation of Critical Race Training, impacts education.⁵

Rufo, Christopher F., defines Critical Race Theory, as a neo-Marxist ideology that originated in law schools a generation ago, purport to expose and correct “unconscious racial bias” and “white privilege” among their employees. Critical race theory treats “whiteness” as a moral blight and maligns all members of that racial group as complicit in oppression. Critical race theory now forms the basis of personnel-training programs around the country, from corporate America and universities to churches and nonprofits.⁶

Morabito, Stella, defines Critical Race Theory as a Classic Communist Divide-And-Conquer Tactic.⁷

The American Bar Association, defines CRT, as not a diversity and inclusion “training” but a practice of integrating race and racism in society that emerged in the legal academy and spread to other fields of scholarship. Crenshaw—who coined the term “CRT”—notes that CRT is not a noun, but a verb. It cannot be confined to a static and narrow definition but is considered to be an evolving and malleable practice.⁸

McGuigan, Brendan, of Conjecture Corporation, infobloom.com , defines CRT as a way of looking at race relations, particularly within the United States, in a broader context than the traditional civil rights approach. The theory began sometime in the mid-1970s, as a number of people in the legal profession began to worry about the slow rate at which laws were changing to promote racial equality. These legal professionals also worried that many of the early victories of the civil rights movement were already eroding.⁹

Shapiro, Ben, defines CRT as an intellectual development in the late 1970s and early 1980s in which some scholars, perturbed by what they perceived as a loss of momentum in the movement for racial equality, began to doubt that the constitutional and legal system itself had the capacity for change. This criticism mirrored a Marxist attack long voiced in academia: that the Constitution had been a capitalist document incapable of allowing for the redistributionist change necessary to create a more equal world. To create a more equal world, the Constitution and the legal system would have to be endlessly criticized – hence critical theory – and torn down from within.

Critical race theorists attack the very foundations of the [classical] liberal legal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism and neutral principles of constitutional law. These liberal values, they allege, have no enduring basis in principles, but are mere social constructs calculated to legitimate white supremacy. The rule of law, according to critical race theorists, is a false promise of principled government, and they have lost patience with false promises.¹⁰

Pulpit & Pen News, defines CRT, innvented by Derrick Bell and other attorneys as a spin-off of Critical Legal Theory in American law schools in the 1980s, these theorists were disenchanted with the results of the Civil Rights Movement. Bell, Richard Delgado, and other CRT thinkers viewed classical liberal ideas such as meritocracy (people being rewarded based on their individual merits), equal opportunity, and colorblind justice (like that promoted by Dr. King) to all be factors that cause systemic, invisible, intangible racism.¹¹

UCLA School of Public Affairs: Critical Race Studies, defines Critical Race Theory, as developed out of legal scholarship. It provides a critical analysis of race and racism from a legal point of view. Since its inception within legal scholarship CRT has spread to many disciplines. CRT has basic tenets that guide its framework. These tenets are interdisciplinary and can be approached from different branches of learning.¹²

According to Adaway Group, Critical race theory asks us to consider how we can transform the relationship between race, racism, and power and work toward the liberation of People of Color.¹³

1 https://www.britannica.com/topic/critical-race-theory

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_race_theory

3 https://sites.education.miami.edu/crecer/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2020/06/Critical-Race-Theory.pdf

4 https://www.thoughtco.com/critical-race-theory-4685094

5 https://criticalrace.org/what-is-critical-race-theory/

6 https://www.city-journal.org/threat-of-critical-race-theory

7 https://thefederalist.com/2020/09/29/critical-race-theory-is-a-classic-communist-divide-and-conquer-tactic/

8 https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-critical-race-theory.htm

9 https://www.infobloom.com/what-is-critical-race-theory.htm

10 https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2012/03/11/what-is-critical-race-theory/

11 https://pulpitandpen.org/2019/08/06/4-main-things-christians-need-to-know-about-critical-race-theory/

12 https://spacrs.wordpress.com/what-is-critical-race-theory/

13 https://adawaygroup.com/critical-race-theory/