scholarly journals Color Crit: Critical Race Theory and the History and Future of Colorism in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Reece
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Skin Tone ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
American Society

Critical race theory teaches that racism and racial inequality are constants in American society that stand outside of the prejudices of individuals. It argues that structures and institutions are primarily responsible for the maintenance of racial inequality. However, critical race theorists have neglected to formally examine and theorize colorism, a primary offshoot of racial domination. Although studies of colorism have become increasingly common, they lack a unifying theoretical framework, opting to lean on ideas about prejudice and preference to explain the advantages lighter skinned, Black Americans are afforded relative to darker skinned Black Americans. In this study, I deploy a critical race framework to push back against preference as the only, or primary, mechanism facilitating skin tone stratification. Instead, I use historical Census data and regression analysis to explore the historical role of color-based marriage selection on concentrating economic advantage among lighter skinned Black Americans. I then discuss the policy and legal implications of developing a structural view of colorism and skin tone stratification in the United States and the broader implications for how we conceptualize race in this country.

“I’m Not going to the f***ing White House”: Twitter Users React to Donald Trump and Megan Rapinoe

2020 ◽  
pp. 216747952095077
Author(s):  
Evan L. Frederick ◽  
Ann Pegoraro ◽  
Samuel Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Black People ◽  
The United States ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
White House ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
Inductive Analysis

When asked if she would go to the White House if invited, Megan Rapinoe stated, “I’m not going to the fucking White House.” The next morning, President Donald Trump posted a series of tweets in which he criticized Rapinoe’s statements. In his tweets, Trump introduced issues around race in the United States and brought forth his own notion of nationalism. The purpose of this study was to conduct an analysis of users’ tweets to determine how individuals employed Twitter to craft a narrative and discuss the ongoing Rapinoe and Trump feud within and outside the bounds of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and nationalism. An inductive analysis of 16,137 users’ tweets revealed three primary themes: a) Refuse, Refute, & Redirect Racist Rhetoric b) Stand Up vs. Know your Rights, and c) #ShutUpAndBeALeader. Based on the findings of this study, it appears that the dialogue regarding racism in the United States is quickly evolving. Instead of reciting the same refrain (i.e., racism no longer exists and systematic racism is constructed by Black people) seen in previous works, individuals in the current dataset refuted those talking points and clearly labeled the President as a racist. Additionally, though discussions of nationalism were evident in this dataset, the Stand Up vs. Know Your Rights theme was on the periphery in comparison to discussions of race. Perhaps, this indicates that some have grown tired of Trump utilizing nationalism as a means to stoke racism.

scholarly journals Sunera Thobani: A Very Public Intellectual

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
William K. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Public Intellectual ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities

<p>Sunera Thobani is a formidable activist and scholar. Through decades of activism and scholarship, spanning the globe from East Africa to Canada, via England and the United States, she has developed and applied a critical race feminist and anti-imperialist analysis of world capitalism and colonialism. As an activist, she is probably best known as the former President of the National Action Committee on the Status of Woman, Canada&rsquo;s then largest feminist organization. During her tenure she sought to make anti-racism central to feminist struggles. In her academic work, she has developed critical race theory to cast new light on the dynamics around globalization, violence against women, reproductive technologies, social programmes, immigration and nation-building, and colonialism and war. In her research and teaching, she consistently combines her scholarship with community activism, including through her work at the Centre for Race, Autobiography, Gender and Age (RAGA), which she directs and which features active collaboration among community activists and university scholars and students. She is a founding member of the Canada-wide alliance, Researchers and Academics of Colour for Equity.</p><p>Sunera Thobani was educated at universities in England, the United States and received her PhD from Simon Fraser University in Canada. She is the author of numerous articles, both scholarly and for a more general public. Arguably her most well-known intervention is &ldquo;War Frenzy,&rdquo; a 2001 speech calling on women across Canada to oppose the Canadian support of the American-led invasion into Afghanistan. This intervention is now reproduced in a book of Great Canadian Speeches (2004). A frequently invited speaker in both her academic and activist capacities, she has addressed audiences across Canada, as well as in Austria, China, Denmark, England, India, Malaysia, Mexico, the Palestine Occupied Territories, the Philippines, and the United States. Sunera Thobani has co-edited several books on critical race theory and feminism and is the author of the widely-read Exalted Subjects: Studies in the Making of Race and Nation in Canada (2007). Her forthcoming Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) supported book is tentatively titled <em>Media Representations of Gender and the War on Terror</em>.</p><p><br />This interview was conducted by William K. Carroll in Vancouver, British Columbia in February 2012.</p>

Applying Disability Critical Race Theory (DISCRIT) in the Practice of Teacher Education in the United States

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Migliarini ◽  
Subini Annamma
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Multicultural Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
The United States ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Behavioral Management ◽  
Race Theory

Strategies for behavioral management have been traditionally derived from an individualistic, psychological orientation. As such, behavioral management is about correcting and preventing disruption caused by the “difficult” students and about reinforcing positive comportment of the “good” ones. However, increased classroom diversity and inclusive and multicultural education reform efforts, in the United States and in most Western societies, warrant attention to the ways preservice teachers develop beliefs and attitudes toward behavior management that (re)produce systemic inequities along lines of race, disability, and intersecting identities. Early-21st-century legislation requiring free and equitable education in the least restrictive environment mandates that school professionals serve the needs of all students, especially those located at the interstices of multiple differences in inclusive settings. These combined commitments create tensions in teacher education, demanding that educators rethink relationships with students so that they are not simply recreating the trends of mass incarceration within schools. Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) shifts the questions that are asked from “How can we fix students who disobey rules?” to “How can preservice teacher education and existing behavioral management courses be transformed so that they are not steeped in color evasion and silent on interlocking systems of oppression?” DisCrit provides an opportunity to (re)organize classrooms, moving away from “fixing” the individual—be it the student or the teacher—and shifting toward justice. As such, it is important to pay attention not only to the characteristics, dispositions, attitudes, and students’ and teachers’ behaviors but also to the structural features of the situation in which they operate. By cultivating relationships rooted in solidarity, in which teachers understand the ways students are systemically oppressed, how those oppressions are (re)produced in classrooms, and what they can do to resist those oppressions in terms of pedagogy, curriculum, and relationship, repositions students and families are regarded as valuable members. Consequently, DisCrit has the potential to prepare future teachers to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interactions and active engagement in learning focused on creating solidarity in the classroom instead of managing. This results in curriculum, pedagogy, and relationships that are rooted in expansive notions of justice. DisCrit can help preservice teachers in addressing issues of diversity in the curriculum and in contemplating how discipline may be used as a tool of punishment, and of exclusion, or as a tool for learning. Ultimately, DisCrit as an intersectional and interdisciplinary framework can enrich existing preservice teachers’ beliefs about relationships in the classroom and connect these relationships to larger projects of dismantling inequities faced by multiply marginalized students.

Research on Racism in Teacher Education in the United States

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Dodo Seriki ◽  
Cory T. Brown
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Education Teacher ◽  
Racial Realism ◽  
Analytical Tools ◽  
Derrick Bell

Racial realism, as posited by Derrick Bell, is a movement that provides a means for black Americans to have their voice and outrage about the racism that they endure heard. Critical race theorists in the United States have come to understand and accept the fact that racial equality is an elusive goal and as such studying education—teacher education in particular—requires the use of analytical tools that allow for the identification and calling out of instances of racism and institutions in which racism is entrenched. The tools for doing such work have not traditionally been a part of teacher education research. However, in 1995 Gloria Ladson-Billings and William F. Tate introduced a tool, critical race theory, to the field of education. Since that time, education scholars have used this theoretical tool to produce research that illuminates the pernicious ways in which racism impacts teacher education in the United States.

“You Know if You Quit, That’s Failure, Right?”: Barriers to Professional Lactation Certification

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 454-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin V. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Certification Process

Background: Researchers have confirmed that breastfeeding disparities persist and that International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) play a key role in reducing them. However, there continues to be a limited availability of IBCLCs throughout the United States, with racial minorities facing persistent barriers during the certification process. Research aim: Using a critical race theory framework, the aim was to describe the barriers and supports that IBCLCs experience during the course of their certification. Methods: This study used a prospective, cross-sectional, qualitative design with semistructured interviews with IBCLCs ( N = 36) from across the United States. Interviews were audio-recorded and professionally transcribed. Results were analyzed using an in-depth thematic analysis from the perspective of critical race theory. Results: Women made up the majority ( n = 35; 97.22%) of the sample. People of color made up slightly less than half of the sample ( n = 16; 44.44%). Barriers were initially coded by the stages of the certification process. Existing healthcare providers experienced advantages in the certification process because of their connection to social networks and resources in their hospital or place of employment. Cost and racial discrimination were identified, using a structural racism lens, as primary barriers for certification. Race-related barriers were particularly pervasive and were detailed by each stage of the certification process. Conclusion: Lactation organizations and care providers need to consider ways to mitigate these perceived differences in support and infrastructure. These changes could help to ensure equity in the profession and may reduce racial discrimination in lactation care.

Undocumented Critical Theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 152-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Aguilar
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Mexican Immigrants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mexican Descent ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Tribal Critical Race Theory ◽  
Liminal Experiences

Despite an increasing body of literature on undocumented immigrants and an improved access to academia by DACAdemics and undocumented scholars, the need for theories about undocumented experiences in the United States persists. In this article, I introduce the central tenets of a developing theory that I call Undocumented Critical Theory (UndocuCrit). Rooted in Critical Race Theory (CRT), Latina/o Critical Theory (LatCrit), and Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit), UndocuCrit introduces the lens to better understand the nuanced and liminal experiences that characterize undocumented communities in the United States. Although this initial rendering focuses on the experiences of Mexican immigrants and individuals of Mexican descent, UndocuCrit exhorts DACAdemics and undocumented scholars to contribute to this emerging framework by applying it to their experiences and those of other undocumented communities. As a theoretical framework, UndocuCrit challenges an immigrant binary rhetoric as well as embarking on a journey toward social justice and the empowerment of our communities.

Barack Obama’s Faustian Bargain and the Fight for America’s Racial Soul

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Metzler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Racial Discourse ◽  
Black President ◽  
Sociohistorical Context ◽  
The Devil

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.

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