scholarly journals The COVID States Project #73: American Attitudes Toward Critical Race Theory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alauna Safarpour ◽  
David Lazer ◽  
Jennifer Lin ◽  
Caroline H Pippert ◽  
James Druckman ◽  
...  

In a few short years, the scholarly approach known as Critical Race Theory (CRT) went from a relatively obscure academic framework to the new front in the American culture wars. CRT has made its way to the front pages of newspapers, cable news show’s primetime specials, Presidential executive orders, and a slate of laws and regulations dictating how history can be taught in public schools. Critical Race Theory1 is an academic movement of scholars who investigate and seek to change the existing power dynamic between race and racism in society.CRT began in the 1970s among legal scholars and has since influenced other fields such as sociology, education, and ethnic studies. CRT consists of several basic tenants or themes, although substantial individual variation exists across scholars. Among these is the notion that race is socially constructed (there is no biological basis for what we think of as race), the idea that racism is normalized as part of everyday society (it is entrenched in modern institutions and policies and can be difficult to combat), and the idea that the dominant group have little incentive to eliminate racism because the current racial hierarchy serves important material and psychological needs. Other themes in CRT include the idea of intersectionality which argues that belonging to multiple oppressed groups is a distinctive experience that is more than just the sum of its parts.

2021 ◽  
pp. 002216782110627
Author(s):  
Hyung Chol Yoo ◽  
Abigail K. Gabriel ◽  
Sumie Okazaki

Research within Asian American psychology continually grows to include a range of topics that expand on the heterogeneity, hybridity, and multiplicity of the Asian American psychological experience. Still, research focused on distinct racialization and psychological processes of Asians in America is limited. To advance scientific knowledge on the study of race and racism in the lives of Asian Americans, we draw on Asian critical race theory and an Asian Americanist perspective that emphasizes the unique history of oppression, resilience, and resistance among Asian Americans. First, we discuss the rationale and significance of applying Asian critical race theory to Asian American psychology. Second, we review the racialized history of Asians in America, including the dissemination of essentialist stereotypes (e.g., perpetual foreigner, model minority, and sexual deviants) and the political formation of an Asian American racial identity beginning in the late 1960s. We emphasize that this history is inextricably linked to how race and racism is understood and studied today in Asian American psychology. Finally, we discuss the implications of Asian critical race theory and an Asian Americanist perspective to research within Asian American psychology and conclude with suggestions for future research to advance current theory and methodology.


Author(s):  
Ronald William Whitaker II ◽  
Angela Campbell ◽  
Jeramie Iannelli

In his classic book titled Race Matters, West courageously deals with issues of race and racism in an unapologetic manner. In this chapter, the authors also unapologetically deal with issues of race and racism within the context of education and society. Specifically, the authors highlight a graduate education course within their institution that compels both students and professors to be vulnerable and truthful about race, racism, diversity, equity, systemic inequalities, and White privilege through service learning. The authors argue that his approach is necessary give the fact that historically, the aforementioned has impacted the educational experiences for students of Color, but in particular, Black and Brown children. The authors explore this work through critical race theory. The authors conclude the chapter with implications for practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-71
Author(s):  
Andrea N Smith

Teacher education programs are charged with preparing teacher candidates to successfully educate student populations that are more racially and culturally diverse than ever. However, a look at graduation rates among teacher education programs proves that the majority still produce, on average, a teaching force that is 80% White, although White students make up less than 49% the total Kindergarten-12th grade public school population (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). Absent from the dialogue on diversity in teacher education is a discussion on how race and racism are institutionalized and maintained within such programs (Sleeter, 2016). In this article, the use of Critical Race Theory (CRT) offers tools to examine the role of race and racism in teacher education. I further consider the role CRT can play in the disruption of postsecondary rhetoric about teacher education programs. Focus is placed on my own experiences in a Teaching Internship Seminar course when applying the structures of CRT to encourage conversations on disruptive practices that facilitate social justice in a course within a teacher preparation program. The tenets of interest convergence and permanence of racism are examined in the context of course development as pedagogical practices that disrupt normative patterns in teacher education. I conclude by envisioning how faculty in teacher education programs might address these challenges in such a way that offers suggestions derived from these tenets.


2013 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kara Mitchell Viesca

This paper presents a critically conscious policy analysis conducted on Massachusetts state policy regarding the education of secondary multilingual learners and their teachers through the lens of critical race theory (CRT).  My analysis suggests that even though current policy in Massachusetts is framed in terms of the overarching goals of educational quality and equality, in reality it substantively sanctions inequitable practices. This paper demonstrates that racism and linguicism (or language-based discrimination) towards multilingual learners are legally sanctioned in Massachusetts public schools as a consequence of state policy, thus contributing to educational disparities.


Author(s):  
Natsu Taylor Saito ◽  
Akilah J. Kinnison

Racialized privilege and subordination impact children’s rights in many ways. This chapter begins with an overview of critical race theory (CRT), a framework that has been used primarily to assess the roles played by race and racism in the US legal system. It then summarizes key provisions of international law that prohibit racial discrimination and protect the right of all peoples to self-determination, focusing on how these norms impact children’s rights. Noting the importance of addressing the intersection of race and rights, this chapter suggests that the application of CRT principles could enhance the recognition of children’s rights in international law.


2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Metzler

This article provides the theoretical and conceptual grounding for understanding how critical race theory (CRT), as a discourse of liberation, can be used as a methodological and epistemological tool to expose the ways that race and racism affect the lives of Blacks in the United States, post-Obama. To that extent, the goal is threefold. First, CRT is adequately defined by situating it within a specific sociohistorical context. Further, an argument is presented for why there is a need for CRT in current racial discourse. In doing so, a discussion is presented of why the term postracial is meaningless as a critique. Finally, the current racial discourse in the Obama presidency is examined, including his attempt to discuss race in a nuanced way that placates Whites and panders to Blacks, some of whom are so caught up in the symbolism of his presidency that they are willing to collude with many Whites who do not want a Black president but a president who happens to be Black. But the devil is in the details. As such, the case is made that Obama’s racial bargaining—as in the metaphorical Faustian bargain—is dangerous and tantamount to a deal with the devil.


Author(s):  
Ronald William Whitaker II ◽  
Angela Campbell ◽  
Jeramie Iannelli

In his classic book titled Race Matters, West courageously deals with issues of race and racism in an unapologetic manner. In this chapter, the authors also unapologetically deal with issues of race and racism within the context of education and society. Specifically, the authors highlight a graduate education course within their institution that compels both students and professors to be vulnerable and truthful about race, racism, diversity, equity, systemic inequalities, and White privilege through service learning. The authors argue that his approach is necessary give the fact that historically, the aforementioned has impacted the educational experiences for students of Color, but in particular, Black and Brown children. The authors explore this work through critical race theory. The authors conclude the chapter with implications for practice.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document