FightingRacismintheTwenty-FirstCentury
Dorothy
A.
Brown
*
[F}orseveralhundredyearsNegroeshavebeendiscriminatedagainst,notasindividuals,butrathersolelybecause
of
thecolor
of
theirskins.It
is
unnecessary
in
twentieth-centuryAmericatohaveindividualNegroesdemonstratethattheyhavebeenvictims
of
racialdiscrimination;theracism
of
oursocietyhasbeen
so
pervasivethatnone,regardless
of
wealthorposition,hasmanagedtoescapeitsimpact.
...
It
is
notmerelythehistory
of
slaveryalonebutalsothatawholepeopleweremarkedasinferiorbythelaw.
And
thatmarkhasendured.
AsthelateJusticeThurgoodMarshallnoted,twentiethcenturyracismwasblatant,intentional,anditsexistencegenerallyundisputed.Theobviousnature
of
howracismoperatedinthetwentiethcenturyledtothepassage
of
civilrightslaws.
2
Twenty-firstcenturyracism,ontheotherhand,
is
moresubtle.It
is
hardertoproveintentionalracialdiscriminationtoday,
3
andasaresult,itsexistence
is
widelydisputed.Thewidespreadskepticism
of
theexistence
of
racisminthetwenty-firstcenturywasthemotivatingfactorforthisSymposiumissue,entitled
CriticalRaceTheory:TheNextFrontier.
CriticalRaceTheory(CRT)examineshowthelawandlegaltraditionsimpactpeople
of
color,notasindividuals,butasmembers
of
agroup.4
*
AlumniFacultyFellowandProfessor
of
Law,WashingtonandLeeUniversitySchool
of
Law,Lexington,Va.;B.S.,
Fordham
University;J.D.,GeorgetownUniversity
Law
Center;L.L.M.(Taxation),
NewYork
University.Iwouldliketo
thank
Professors
Devon
Carbado,MecheleDickerson,MituGulati,RachelMoran,andDavidSkeelfortheirinsightsandhelpfulcomments.Iwouldliketo
thank
Ms.ErinTroyforexcellentresearchassistanceandMs.LindaNewellandtherest
of
theWashingtonandLeeUniversitySchool
of
Law
library
staff
forworkaboveandbeyondthecall
of
duty.
1.
Regents
of
theUniv.
of
Cal.
v.
Bakke,
438
U.S.
265,400(1978)
(Marshall,
J.,
dissenting).
2.
Seegenerally
TheVoting
RightsAct
of
1965,42
U.S.C.
§
1973(2000);
The
CivilRights
Act
of
1964,42
U.S.C.
§
2000(2000).
3.
Cf
Washington
v.
Davis,
426
U.S.
229,238-41(1976)
(holdingthatin
order
tobesuccessful,plaintiffshadtoproveintenttodiscriminateinequalprotectionanalysisundertheFOUl1eenthAmendment;
showing
disparateimpactbaseduponracewasinsufficient).
4.
See
DOROTHY
A.
BROWN,CRITICALRACETHEORY:CASES,MATERIALSANDPROBLEMS
2(2003)
("Specifically,[CriticalRaceTheory]focuses
on
thevariouswaysinwhichthereceivedtraditioninlawadverselyaffectspeople
of
color
not
asindividuals
but
asagroup.").
1485
1486
61
WASH.
&
LEE
L.
REV
1485
(2004)
Although
CRT
doesnotemployasinglemethodology,5itseekstohighlightthewaysinwhichthelawisnotneutralandobjective,butdesignedtosupportWhitesupremacyandthesubordination
of
people
of
color.
6
One
of
CRT's
5.
See
CRITICALRACETHEORY:
THE
KEy
WRITINGSTHATFORMED
THE
MOVEMENT
xiii(KimberleCrenshawetal.eds.,1995)(liAsthesewritingsdemonstrate,thereisnocanonicalset
of
doctrines
or
methodologiestowhichweallsubscribe.");John
O.
Calmore,
CriticalRaceTheory,ArchieShepp,
and
FireMusic:SecuringanAuthenticIntellectualLifeinaMulticulturalWorld,
65
S.
CAL.
L.
REv.
2129,2139
(1992)(describingthreemethodologies
of
CRT
as"oppositionalculturalpractice,fundamentalcriticism,andculturalbordercrossings");EmilyM.S.Houh,
CriticalInterventions:TowardanExpansiveEqualityApproachtotheDoctrine
of
Good
FaithinContractLaw,
88
CORNELL
L.
REv.
1025,
1058-59
("Althoughcriticalracescholarshipemploysnosinglemethodology,someunifyingthemesandconceptshavedevelopedoverthe
past
twenty-fiveyears.").Some,however,doproposeasinglemethodologyforCRT:[CRT]reliesonamethodologygroundedintheparticulars
of
...
socialrealityandexperience.Thismethodisconsciouslybothhistoricalandrevisionist,attemptingtoknowhistoryfromthebottom.
From
thefearandnamelessness
of
theslave,fromthebrokentreaties
of
theindigenousAmericans,thedesireto
know
historyfromthebottomhasforced
...
scholarstosourcesoftenignored:journals,poems,oralhistories,andstoriesfromtheir
own
experiences
of
lifeinahierarchicallyarrangedworld.Mari
J.
Matsuda,
PublicResponsetoRacistSpeech:ConsideringtheVictim'sStory,
87
MICH.
L.
REv.
2320,
2324
(1989).
6.
See
RICHARDDELGADO
&
JEANSTEFANCIC,CRITICAL
RACE
THEORY:
AN
INTRODUCTION
6-7
(2001)("Whatdocriticalracetheoristsbelieve?Probably
not
everymemberwouldsubscribetoeverytenetset
out
inthisbook,
butmanywould
agreeonthefollowingpropositions.First,thatracismisordinary,notaberrational.
...
Second,mostwouldagreethat
our
system
of
white-over-colorascendancyservesimportantpurposes,bothpsychicandmaterial.");KimberleCrenshaw,
ABlackFeministCritique
of
AntidiscriminationLawandPolitics,in
THE
POLITICS
OF
LAW:
A
PROGRESSIVECRITIQUE
213-14
n.7(DavidKairysed.,1990)("Criticalracetheorygoesbeyondtheliberalracecritiques,however,inthatitexposesthefacets
of
lawandlegaldiscoursethatcreateracialcategoriesandlegitimateracialsubordination.");JeromeMcCristalCulp,Jr.,
To
TheBone:Race
and
WhitePrivilege,
83
MINN.
L.
REv.
1637,1638(1999)("[T]herearecriticalracetheories.
There
aremanytheoriesthatuniteanddivideeveryonewhocouldbeaccused
of
being
or
claimto
be
members
of
thecriticalracetheorymovement,
but
thereisa
commonbelief
inanoppositiontooppression.").Asoneauthorexplains:First,criticalracetheoryseekstoexposetheentrenchment
of
Whitesupremacyandthereality
of
thecontinuedsubordination
of
people
of
colorintheUnitedStates(andthroughouttheworld),andtounravelitsrelationshipwiththerule
of
law.
More
specifically,racecritsexamine
how
racial
power
constitutesandreproducesitself
through
theapparatuses
of
lawandculture.Second,racecritsare
not
satisfiedwithmerelynamingandunderstandingtheirobservationsanddiscoveries;theyalsoarecommittedtotransformingtherelationshipbetweenlawandhegemonicracial
power
inordertodestabilizethatpower.Third,likecriticallegalscholars,racecritscontinuetorejectnotions
of
objectivityandneutralityinthelaw,andtheideathatlegalscholarshipcanandshouldbesocharacterized.Houh,
supra
note5,at
1058-59.
FIGHTING
RACISM
IN
THETWENTY-FIRST
CENTURY
1487centraltenetsisthepervasiveness
of
racismin
American
society.?
At
itscore,
CRT
acceptsthenotion
that
eveninthetwenty-firstcentury,
if
youareaperson
of
colorinAmerica,youarethevictim
of
racialsubordination.
8
Given
that
argument,
what
isthe
purpose
of
thestatistical
data
foundinseveral
of
the
Symposium
articles?Isittoprove
thatsubordination
anddiscriminationexist?Whyprove
somethingthat
isagiven?ThisSymposiumraisesthefundamental
question
of
whether
empiricallegalscholarshipcan
everco-exist
withCRT.
Theargument
againsttheco-existence
of
empirical
legalscholarshipandCRT
is
twofold.First,theuse
of
statisticaldataprivilegesdataandprovides
7.
See
DERRICKBELL,
FACES
AT
THE
BOTTOM
OF
THE
WELL:
THE
PERMANENCE
OF
RACISM
12
(1992)
("Blackpeoplewillnevergainfullequality
in
thiscountry.Eventhoseherculeanefforts
we
hail
as
successfulwillproduce
no
morethantemporary'peaks
of
progress,'shortlivedvictoriesthatslideintoirrelevance
as
racialpatternsadapt
in
waysthatmaintainwhitedominance.");
CRITICALRACETHEORY:THECUTTINGEDGE
xiv(RichardDelgadoed.,
1995)
(describingtheCRTinsight"thatracism
is
normal,notaberrant,
in
Americansociety"whilenoting
that"
[b
]ecauseracism
is
an
ingrainedfeature
of
ourlandscape,
it
looksordinary
and
natural
to
persons
in
theculture");
DELGADO
&
STEFANCIC,
supra
note
6,
at
7("[R]acism
is
ordinary,notaberrational-'normalscience,'theusual
way
societydoesbusiness,
the
commoneverydayexperience
of
mostpeople
of
color
in
thiscountry.
");
KimberleWilliamsCrenshaw,
Race,Reform,
and
Retrenchment:Transformation
and
LegitimationinAntidiscriminationLaw,
101HARV.
L.
REv.1331,1336(1988)
("First,racism
is
acentralideologicalunderpinning
of
Americansociety.
");
Culp,
supra
note
6,
at
1639
("Whiteracism
in
itsmanyguises
is
deeplyburied
in
thestructure
of
thelawandthelegalacademy.
").
8.
See
CROSSROADS,
DIRECTIONS,
AND
A
NEWCRITICALRACETHEORY
2(FranciscoValdeset
al.
eds.,
2002)
("In
its
firstdecade,CRTdescribedandcritiquednotaworld
of
badactors,wrongedvictims,andinnocentbystanders,butaworld
in
which
all
of
us
aremoreorless
complicit
in
sociolegalwebs
of
dominationandsubordination.
");
Charles
R.
LawrenceIII,
The
Id,
TheEgo,
and
EqualProtection:ReckoningwithUnconsciousRacism,
39
STAN.
L.
REV.
317,322
(1987)
("Americansshareacommonhistoricalandculturalheritage
in
whichracismhasplayed
and
stillplaysadominantrole.Because
of
thissharedexperience,
we
alsoinevitablysharemanyideas,attitudes,andbeliefsthatattachsignificanceto
an
individual'sraceandinducenegativefeelingsandopinionsaboutnonwhites.
").
ProfessorCrenshawfurtherexplains:Yettheattainment
of
formalequality
is
nottheend
of
thestory.Racialhierarchycannot
be
cured
by
themovetofacialrace-neutrality
in
thelawsthatstructuretheeconomic,political,andsociallives
of
Blackpeople.Whiteraceconsciousness,
in
anew
form
butstillvirulent,plays
an
important,perhapscrucial,role
in
thenewregimethathaslegitimatedthedeterioratingday-to-daymaterialconditions
of
themajority
of
Blacks.Theend
of
Jim
Crowhasbeenaccompanied
by
thedemise
of
an
explicitideology
of
whitesupremacy.Thewhitenorm,however,hasnotdisappeared;
it
hasonlybeensubmerged
in
popularconsciousness....TherationalizationsonceusedtolegitimateBlacksubordinationbased
on
abelief
in
racialinferiorityhavenowbeenreemployedtolegitimatethedomination
of
Blacksthroughreference
to
an
assumedculturalinferiority.Crenshaw,
supra
note
7,
at
1378-79.
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