Critical Race Theory

Over the years, the face of racism has taken on many forms. In present day America, racism is a very taboo subject. It a common view that racism is not a big issue anymore, given the large strides that we, as a country have made towards equality. However, the inequalities that still exist between races point to a different situation. Instead of the blatantly discriminatory acts that our nation has witnessed in the past, modern racism practices are more covert and seemingly nonracial, making this kind of discrimination seem more acceptable and politically correct. The Civil Rights Movement forced society to implement a new, subtler way to perpetuate racial inequality. In Racism Without Racists, Bonilla-Silva describes the justification

We have all sat through multiple history classes and learned about slavery, segregation, and the Civil War. We have all seen brutal movies and presentations based on racial injustices and the lack of equality. So often, we forget that these issues are still so present in our community. Slavery is illegal in the United States but other forms of racial profiling, insensitivity, and racism continue to be a recurring social barrier. Racism is still very much alive. The United States is “equal” yet somehow segregated. There isn’t quite a quick fix to this problem. Clearly, this has been an ongoing issue and requires major progression in our personal global

The election of Barack Obama as the 56th president of the United States raised many hopes that the “Black struggles” was finally over. For conservatives, Obama victory reassured their beliefs that there was no longer such thing as racism and that every American had equal rights and opportunity to pursue the American dream. While many people have come to believe that all races have equal rights in America, Tim Wise argues in his documentary “White Like Me” that not only does racism and unconscious racial bias still exist, but that also White Americans are unable to simply relate to the variety of forms racism and inequality Blacks experience. This is mainly because of the privileges they get as the “default.” While Wise explores the variety forms of racism and inequality today such as unconscious racism, Black poverty, unemployment, inadequate education system, and prison system, the articles by the New York Times Editorial Board, the Human Rights Watch (HRW), and Adam Liptak further explore some the disparities in the criminal justice system. Ana Swanson points out in her article, “The Stubborn Persistence of Black-White Inequality, 50 Years after Selma” that while the “U.S. has made big strides towards equal rights,” significant gaps still remains between the two races. With the Supreme Court striking down a “portion of the Voting Rights Act that stopped discriminatory voting laws from going into effect in areas of the country with histories of disenfranchisement,” civil

Race is a particularly powerful way of maintaining the dominance of the social group in power. The construct of race is about stratification, which puts a racially justified hierarchy among people in society to keep the dominant social group in power. Stratification can influence the resources an individual receives. Therefore, social workers sometimes use a theoretical approach called, Critical Race Theory (CRT), to guide their work in making certain general assumptions about issues of power, race, ethnicity, and racism. This is because CRT is an alternative theory that offers a radical lens to make sense of racial inequality in society, which could prove useful when analyzing a client’s situation. The

The idea of racism has evolved and has become less prevalent throughout the last century. Schools and public areas are unsegregated, voting rights, racial slurs being considered as unacceptable behavior etc. American sociologist and race theorist, Howard Winant states that’s “The ensuing approaches increased recognition of racial injustice and inequality, but did not overcome the discriminatory processes” (Winant,2000)Although the United states has come a long way to try to end racism, one cannot ignore the fact that it still exists. It is something that may seem invisible in society, but everybody knows that it still thrives and that it’s racial attitudes affect the way our society functions. One of these invisible forms of

“Racism still occupies the throne of our nation,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pronounced just before his assassination. Almost fifty years later, we are still faced with the same unchanged threat that makes the words of Dr. King true. As individuals, communities, and a proud nation we have made an everlasting fingerprint for the children of our future, yet we lack the strength of acknowledgment to alter the course of racial discrimination and conquer prejudice. Has the formation of structural discrimination rooted itself too deeply into our subconscious that hope for rehabilitation seems unattainable? As a nation, we voted a man with a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya as the first multiracial President of the United States. Racism has not been eradicated because of the racial background of President Barrack Obama and we have not accomplished victory because of his African decent because prejudice has been too deeply fixed within our society. Social circumstance and the insinuation of race continue to change over time, precisely because race has become a social construct that serves political ends. The prior and present leaders of our nation organize, generate, and endorse the laws and public policy that ensure racism continues to maintain itself against people of color. Our historically racist foundation, the rising effects of structural discrimination, and the view of modernized racism all actively participate in shaping our structural

‘‘CRT begins with an a number of basic insticts. One is that racism is normal, not abberrant, in American society. Because racism is an ingrained feature of our landscape, it looks ordinary and natural to persons in the culture. Formal equal opportunity – rules and laws that insist on treating blacks and whites (for example) alike – can thus remedy only the more extreme and shocking forms of injustice, the ones that do stand out. It can do little about the business-as-usual forms of racism that people of color confront every day and that account for much misery, alienation, and despair’’ (Delgado & Stefanic, 2000: xvi).

Furthermore, the critical race theory approach draws attention to African-Americans seeking to break historical norms to create a new respect for their race. For example, Natchez, who claims himself to be James Fulton's nephew confines in Lila Mae about his desire to obtain his uncle's "black box," which will not only benefit his family but the African-American race as a whole. Natchez said, "They always take away from our people. I don't know if they know he was colored… When I hear them talk about his invention, they always saying it's the future. It's the future of the cities. But it's our future, not theirs. It's ours. And we need to take it back" (Whitehead, 140). This quote strengthens the argument of critical race theory because as previously

An intelligent Black boy, who dumbs himself down to avoid criticism. The Hispanic girl who stays at home to take care of her family, instead of going to school. The Asian who pursues a career in medicine, despite wanting to be an actor. All of these strange actions can be explained by the Critical Race Theory. In short, the Critical Race Theory examines how victims of racism and stereotypes counter prejudice. Under the Critical Race Theory falls stereotype threat in which victims assume the roles that they think are prescribed for them based on popular stereotypes. The aim of stereotype threat and the Critical Race Theory is to explain both negative and positive ways minorities are effected by their race and how this reflected in our society as a whole.

Systemic Racism sheds light on one of the most commonly referenced forms of racism in America today. Joe Feagin highlights several relevant points that contribute to discussion on the racial divide we see in our nation today. This work specifically targets societal and institutional manifestations of systemic racism, and the dual perspectives on subjects like slavery, legal segregation, and the contemporary racial realities we see

The role of Critical Race Theory provides us with the idea of “racial realism”, the idea that racism, the normalcy of white supremacy is part of the everyday life of an ‘other’, in other words, racial or indigenous minorities in Canada. Consequently, the Critical Race Theory gives an understanding of the power that can be given to a definition such as ‘race’, and how heavily influence the way society functions and sparked in a cultural divide in Canada due to the simple idea that biological and aesthetic difference. The Critical Race Theory gives us the understanding of how common it is for an individual, but most dominantly, a person who is Caucasian or who has light complexion can easily identifies with their ‘race’, and view a person of another colored complexion as an ‘other’ because this normalized.

Critical race theory examines power structures which are a result of the white supremacy pursuit. Those try to perpetuate the suppression of people of color. Peggy C. Davis introduced the term microaggressions, which means that all Americans share a cultural heritage in which racism has played a significant role. Due to this shared heritage Davis says Americans “share many ideas, attitudes, and beliefs that attach significance to an individual’s race and induce negative feelings and opinions to non-whites.” (Delgado et al. 187). Consequently,

Critical theories of race and racism have been used by sociologists to not only describe modern societies, but also address issues of social injustice and achieve an end to racial oppression. Critical race theory is one of the most widely used for this purpose. Its utility rests upon the assumption that race is a social construct and not an inherent biological feature. In place of the concept of inherent race, critical race theory proffers the concept of racialization. The tenet that the concept of race is created and attached to particular groups of people through social processes. In tandem with this, critical race theory contends that identity is neither fixed nor unidimensional. It also places importance on the perspectives and experiences of racial minorities (Ritzer and Stepnisky, 2013:66).

Historically, United States battle against racism has come a long way from the days of colonialism, slavery, racial hierarchies, racial demarcated reserves, strict policies and segregation. And yet, discrimination and inequality continue to persist in our society. Howard Winant, an American sociologist and race theorist, stated that, “the meaning of racism has changed over time. The attitudes, practices and institutions of epochs of colonialism, segregation… may not have been entirely eliminated, but neither do they operate today in the same ways they did half a century ago (Winant 128).” The meaning and how racism operates may have changed over time but its negative connotations and implications in society continue to limit the individual’s understanding, explore and accept the complexity of each individual. Presently, racism appears less blatant and may appear “more acceptable,” but its existence and effect is undeniable. As a result, it continues to destroy society’s cohesion and ideas for equality. Racism is the ideology that devalues and renders other racial and ethnic group as inferior and it is reflected through the individual’s interaction, expression and attitudes towards others (Racism No Way). It is deeply rooted from historical, social, cultural and power inequalities. Racism has indeed shifted its course from previously stricter policies and practices of racism to individuals who promote multiculturalism, equality

Yet, the most significant flaw in this essay can be seen through the author’s simplistic view of the scope of racial injustice. Remarkably, the author only refers to white privilege in terms of its impact on what she calls “the problems facing Black America.” She fails to acknowledge or perhaps has no insight that white privilege involves the preference for ‘whiteness’ over all persons of color. Every non-white group is impacted by individual and institutional racism. Every non-white group grows up with the knowledge that their white peers have certain automatic privileges. Every child of color has to learn to navigate through the floodwaters of racism