What is Critical Race Theory? [View all]

[AndyS]

I've tried to simplify this at the end, so read on and if you have a better 'elevator speech' share it.

So, what exactly is Critical Race Theory? To begin it is poorly named but that aside it isn't a single educational class, It is discipline like Math, Theoretical Physics or Philosophy. It is NOT taught in K-12 or even in two year colleges. It is a post graduate course of study.

What does CRT encompass? One description, outlined by Rodney Coates, professor of global and intercultural studies at Miami University, is that it has three components:

1. Observing multiple viewpoints and voices in order to understand America. For example, Coates said, looking at the year 1776 from the vantage point of a Native American would tell a different story than through the eyes of a slave, and different still from the voice of a British colonist gaining independence in the newly formed U.S.
2. Looking  at bias in systems, practices and policies. The war on drugs, for example, disproportionately incarcerated young Black men.
3. Working to make those systems and practices equitable.

I would add to #2 examining those past biases and evaluating how they still have a disproportionate effect on some cultures even after they are ended. For instance, Jimmy Carter ended Red Lining in 1977 yet home ownership among people of color is still disproportionately low. Why? Well it ended in 1977, took ten years to implement and home mortgages are usually 30 years. Count forward 40 years and it was 2017 before a Red Lined community could pass on the wealth for home ownership to it's families. Those communities have only had five years to catch up to affluent neighborhoods' centuries of growth.

Fine, so how do we break this down to an elevator speech?

First it is not taught in K-12 and CAN”T be taught there because it is a post graduate study--it needs too much background.

Second, it isn't what you've been told it is. It's not just one race against another. It is a way of understanding history by seeing it through other people's eyes. How would a typical British family of 1776 look at the American Revolution? They've been sending their young men in uniform here to protect the colonists with their tax dollars yet the colonies don't want to pay taxes?

Finally, by learning these things we can better understand history and not repeat the mistakes in it.