Is critical race theory (CRT) valid, or is it a problem? Does it unite us or divide us? Is it racist or anti-racist? Explore all perspectives, stances, and arguments for and against critical race theory with AllStances™ by AllSides.
Critical race theory (often abbreviated CRT) has sparked controversy in the United States. It is increasingly being applied or taught in institutions such as universities, elementary schools, federal agencies, and corporate HR departments. CRT was banned from being taught in government agencies via an executive order by former President Donald Trump; the EO was then reversed by President Joe Biden.
Critical race theory examines society and culture as they relate to race, law, and power in the U.S. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, CRT is the “view that the law and legal institutions are inherently racist and that race itself, instead of being biologically grounded and natural, is a socially constructed concept that is used by white people to further their economic and political interests at the expense of people of colour.” CRT challenges traditional American institutions, such as the American legal and economic system, as well as ideas of individualism and objectivity (defined as a paradigm in which whites are taught to see their perspectives as objective and representative of reality) as being part of “master narratives” that promote the worldviews of white people in positions of power.
CRT is mostly concerned with power — which groups have it and which do not. It distinguishes itself from traditional ideas of civil rights, such as color-blind, equal treatment and removing significance from racial identity categories, arguing that whites are actually favored by civil rights legislation. Critical race theorists instead favor identity politics, in which politics and power are viewed through the lens of the identity groups one belongs to, typically along the lines of race, gender and sexual orientation, and advocate for groups to be treated differently according to their needs. It favors equity over equality in public policy, claiming racial equality leads people, especially people of color, to accept the status quo and their systemic oppression. Critical race theorists define equality as providing the same level of opportunity and assistance to all segments of society; equity is providing various levels of support and assistance depending on specific needs or abilities.
CRT also promotes concepts like whiteness, intersectionality and microaggressions. Whiteness refers to the supposed way that white people, their customs, culture, and beliefs operate as the standard by which all other groups are compared. Intersectionality seeks to explain how different facets of identity like race and gender can intersect with one another to add layers of advantage or disadvantage. Microaggressions are defined as subtle insults directed toward people of color either consciously or unconsciously. Critical race theorists argue that systemic racism manifests in things like housing, bank lending, labor practices and access to education.
CRT was developed in the 1970s by a group of legal scholars and activists who developed the theory by building on the work of movements like critical legal theory and radical feminism.
CRT is necessary to defeat racism because it encourages us to see race, which can help us to dismantle systems of oppression perpetuated by white hegemony; it is anti-racist.
Some arguments for this stance:
Critical race theory offers a way of seeing the world that helps people recognize the effects of historical and systemic racism in modern American life.
Racism is foundational to American institutions and is baked into the fabric of the nation; those who benefit from systemic racism have a duty to recognize and dismantle it by becoming aware of their white privilege, limiting microaggressions, elevating the marginalized to positions of power, and denouncing whiteness.
We need to build an awareness of white privilege — the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies — in order to dismantle it. For instance, some studies show black Americans are disproportionately affected by police shootings.
CRT allows us to see the harms of meritocracy, which is largely a myth that leads to entrenched inequality and allows white people to maintain their cultural dominance and justify their own white supremacy.
CRT is a method to awaken us to the barriers that hold back people of color (POC), LGBTQ individuals, and BIPOC people and contribute to poverty, crime, and inequity in these communities. For instance, a history of U.S. housing policy shows racial discrimination, such as black Americans finding it very hard to qualify for loans, and restrictive covenants to keep middle-class neighborhoods white.
If you benefit from racism, you are motivated not to understand racism, not to be able to question your complicity in racism, and to want to perpetuate racism.
Individualism erases history and hides the ways in which wealth has been distributed and accumulated over generations to benefit whites today. The disavowal of race as an organizing factor, both of individual white consciousness and the institutions of society at large, is necessary to support current structures of capitalism and domination.
CRT helps us to identify unconscious bias or implicit bias – hidden attitudes based on racial stereotypes. Being sensitive and aware of one’s behavior towards others can help to prevent race-based discrimination and promote equity.
By listing characteristics of white supremacy culture, such as individualism, objectivity, the right to comfort, perfectionism and worship of the written word, we can point out how organizations that unconsciously use these characteristics as their norms and standards make it difficult, if not impossible, to open the door to other cultural norms and standards.
Putting us into categories of oppressed and oppressor only divides us against one another.
Some arguments for this stance:
CRT harmfully and falsely teaches that the United States and its foundational institutions are inherently racist or evil, and that specific races or ethnicities are inherently guilty.
CRT sets up a good/bad dichotomy based on skin color. It does not encourage us to assess people based on their character, contributions, or achievements, and touts such individual assessment as racist. It suppresses dissent with cancel culture, which divides us further.
The traditional legal framework that the U.S. has operated in since the Fourteenth Amendment promises equal protection under the law for individuals, and critical race theory directly and explicitly attacks that concept, seeking to replace it with inequality under the law by treating us differently based on group identity.
There are an infinite number of ways in which people may vary: intelligence, temperament, wealth, attractiveness, youth, family life, health, geography. There’s even evidencethat some of these factors are more important than race as to how far one gets in life. Focusing on race alone as an advantage or disadvantage ignores other metrics that determine achievement. The logical conclusion of intersectionality is individuality.
Stance 4: Critical Race Theory Actually Promotes Racism
CRT is creating systemic racism in the U.S. by promoting a color-conscious application of the law and encouraging us to judge each other by the color of our skin, not the content of our character.
Some arguments for this stance:
It is misleading to say CRT is “anti-racist” when it promotes racial guilt and makes certain groups feel wrong, sinful or guilty for their skin color or the past. Promoting collective guilt ensures there can be no forgiveness.
CRT’S agenda promotes true inequality by promoting a color-conscious application of the law, ensuring Americans will be privileged or disadvantaged according to their race (and/or sex, ethnicity, or sexual preference). CRT promotes different treatment for people based on race, instead of promoting individualism — a level playing field where we are treated the same regardless of background.
CRT promotes racial segregation, such as programs that segregate and target white men and ask them to “renounce their whiteness,” to give up “the land” and their “guaranteed physical safety” in order to be an “accomplice” for racial justice. While often done under the guise of “diversity training,” this is targeted treatment based on skin color.
We can “see race” or recognize and appreciate the differences among groups without putting race at the forefront of everything, making it central to all of our interactions and judgements, or upending American institutions.
CRT promotes a victimmentality that is not only harmful to the groups it purports to help, but assigns a high moral status to victimhood, thus incentivizing people to position themselves as victims.
It is racist to specifically target majority ethnic groups and argue they are guilty due to the benefits their culture infers upon them.
CRT encourages us to ignore real problems that disproportionately face white Americans, such as the opioid epidemic, low participation rates in higher education, and lags in income.
Thinking your race is given an unfair advantage doubles a person’s risk of poor mental health even after controlling for other factors; CRT narratives are damaging to the mental health of groups they point to as having gained unfair advantage.
Politicians, race hustlers and people who get a sense of superiority or earn large sums of corporate money through diversity trainings by denouncing others as ‘racists’ are keeping racism alive.