… Whiteness, it turns out, is … shifting and malleable.” (Delgado and Stefancic, 86-87) In modern times, the law has “create a world where the racial ideas that we have ‘make sense’” through things like over-policing and incarcerating specific racial groups. Historically “the law could give and take away whiteness.” (Bridges, 133) “Early in our history Irish, Jews, and Italians were considered nonwhite. The law also plays an important role in the social construction of race. (Bridges, 128-129) Differences in material outcomes between races (wealth distribution, poverty rates, etc.) can serve to reinforce these associations.
The social construction of race associates “mental, emotional, and political capacities” with physical traits, such as skin color or facial features. Instead … the 0.1% difference is spread across the globe in a spectrum – making the demarcation of the human population into four or five (or more, or fewer) races an exercise in arbitrariness. The Human Genome Project in 2003 that all persons, irrespective of racial ascription or identification, share 99.9% of the same genes … the 0.1% of genetic differences among humans does not function to divide the inhabitants of the globe into four or five discrete races. Not objective, inherent, or fixed, they correspond to no biological or genetic reality … races are categories that society invents, manipulates, or retires when convenient.” (Delgado and Sefancic, 8). “Races are products of social thought and relations. These concepts include: (1) the social construction of race, (2) structural or institutional racism, (3) implicit bias, (4) microaggressions, (5) white privilege, and (6) intersectionality.
The “core concepts” or “basic tenets” of CRT are described in introductory texts on CRT for college students written by the political position’s founders and practitioners. The best way to understand those ideas is to read the words of critical race theorists. If policymakers and citizens are going to determine whether and how CRT is influencing schools, they must first comprehend the main ideas of CRT. Nevertheless, understanding the core ideas of CRT is important for resolving the controversy surrounding CRT and Utah’s public schools.
Of course, CRT itself can be a distraction from the deeper underlying problem: the need to restore rigorous, sequential and prioritized civics and history curriculum and teaching. Compounding the confusion is disagreement among CRT adherents about what CRT includes, and the fact that some concepts embraced by many critical race theorists predate the establishment of the CRT movement. And understandably so: One person will see in critical race theory a list of over 100 words and concepts, while another person will not see many of those concepts.
Which ideas actually come from critical race theory (CRT)? The question spurs plenty of debate and even more confusion.
The descriptions below should not be viewed as either critique or endorsement of the ideas described. Disclaimer: This post informs readers about the main ideas of critical race theory by describing them in the words of critical race theorists, without intending any commentary on those ideas.