Critical Race Theory, a Critical Review of the Reading

Iqtidar ul Hassan
LEAD 8002
Dr. Nelson
LEAD
University of Memphis
9/6/2016

Critical Race Theory, a Critical Review of the Reading

Critical Race Theory is a scholarly framework expounded by African American
scholars to undertake more judicious socio-legal and politico-legal study of the American
society. Critical Race Theory intellectualizes the historical discriminatory interaction
between the Whites Americans and the minority groups living in America. The theory has
emerged from American historical context, where the African Americans have historically
been slaves and after the abolition of slavery, the fact has been realized that the disparities
that has been in existence for centuries have provided for the privileges and deprivations
which has become the source of the perpetuation of the imbalance between different races
living in the USA. The White Americans not only own the material resources but also this
pride as privilege that the USA is the legacy of their forefathers not the other races. The
African Americans and other races not only have feelings of a material disparity but also
feel disprivileged to own the heritage of accomplishments of creating the greatness of the
America to share the pride with the White Americans.
Legal scholars like Dorrick Bell have come up with certain theoretical assertions
which have become the postulates of the Critical Race Theory. According to the Critical
Race Theory the race is endemic in the American society and this fact should be
recognized. According to CRT scholars the current advantages and disadvantages should
always be seen in historical perspective. The experimental knowledge of the African
American should be recognized for scholarly conclusions. CRT is interdisciplinary and its
goal is to eliminate all sorts of discrimination.
Critical Race Theory in education is a discussion not only the scholastic aspects of
the students academics seen in the perspective of CRT but also on the manifestly

disadvantageous opportunities and access available to the non-White race of the USA.
CRT scholars discuss all these aspects in the sub-themes of the theory. Some of those
sub-themes are: the intersection between race and property, the limits of multi-cultural
paradigm, the voice (the narratives of the sufferers as a counter-story), restrictive versus
expensive view of equality, and the problem with colorblindness. Dixon and Rouseau,
2005 have given examples of legal cases i.e. Brown v. Board of Education and the
Affirmative Action which favor the White Americans. Dixon and Rouseau, 2005 have
brought the example of a case of different perspectives on an effort of turnaround of the
schools. The Fredrick Douglass and Jefferson schools had black and white students in
majority respectively. The former was allocated more but unequal resources to bring
equality between the schools quality. But the result was a demonstration of the perennial
existence of racism, which the CRT scholars assert.
The counter intellectualization of the race in American can be the theorization of
the social contract as to bring the absolute equality among all races. But the CRT theorists
assert that the goal of absolute equality can only be achieved through the recognition of
the fact of the existence of racism in a subtle form in our society and aligning our policies
to the dictates of these facts which CRT scholars stand for.