critical race theory
Racial inequity framework
Critical race theory is an academic framework examining how laws and institutions perpetuate racial inequality, even absent individual racism.
Originally developed in legal scholarship, it argues that racism is embedded in social structures rather than merely personal prejudice.
The term has become politically charged, with critics using it broadly to describe any discussion of systemic racism in schools: Parents protested critical race theory in the curriculum.
Often abbreviated CRT.
Discrimination embedded in institutions
- institutional racismPrejudice embedded in organizations
- intersectionalityInterconnected identity-based discrimination study
- white privilegeSystemic benefits from pallor
- colorblindnessImpaired hue discrimination
microaggressions · implicit bias · structural inequality · social construction · white supremacy · racial hierarchy · hegemony · counternarrative
Philosophy governing legal systems
- intersectionalityInterconnected identity-based discrimination study
- law reviewStudent-published legal scholarship journal
- counternarrativeStory opposing mainstream accounts
- storytellingRecounting events aloud
deconstruction · postcolonialism · hermeneutics · legal doctrine · case law · precedent · constitutional law · equal protection
Organized effort against discrimination
- Jim CrowRacial separation laws
- segregationForced separation by group
- redliningRefusing loans by neighborhood
- slaveryOwnership of people
Reconstruction · Brown v Board · affirmative action · desegregation · voting rights · Fourteenth Amendment · reparations · racial covenants
Fairness regardless of ethnicity
- antiracismActive opposition to bigotry
- advocacyPleading for a cause
- consciousness-raisingIncreasing social or political awareness
- solidarityUnity among allies
allyship · community organizing · social change · equity · diversity initiatives · inclusion · representation · empowerment
Conflict over societal norms
- school boardsBodies governing local education
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
- bansOfficial restrictions imposed
- backlashStrong negative reaction
political debate · education policy · parental rights · curriculum · indoctrination · academic freedom · censorship · free speech
systemic racism
Discrimination embedded in institutions
- institutional racismPrejudice embedded in organizations
- intersectionalityInterconnected identity-based discrimination study
- white privilegeSystemic benefits from pallor
colorblindness · microaggressions · implicit bias · structural inequality · social construction · white supremacy · racial hierarchy · hegemony · counternarrative · revisionist history
jurisprudence
Philosophy governing legal systems
- intersectionalityInterconnected identity-based discrimination study
- law reviewStudent-published legal scholarship journal
- counternarrativeStory opposing mainstream accounts
storytelling · deconstruction · postcolonialism · hermeneutics · legal doctrine · case law · precedent · constitutional law · equal protection
civil rights movement
Organized effort against discrimination
- Jim CrowRacial separation laws
- segregationForced separation by group
- redliningRefusing loans by neighborhood
slavery · Reconstruction · Brown v Board · affirmative action · desegregation · voting rights · Fourteenth Amendment · reparations · racial covenants · convict leasing
racial justice
Fairness regardless of ethnicity
- antiracismActive opposition to bigotry
- advocacyPleading for a cause
- consciousness-raisingIncreasing social or political awareness
solidarity · allyship · community organizing · social change · equity · diversity initiatives · inclusion · representation · empowerment · dialogue
culture wars
Conflict over societal norms
- school boardsBodies governing local education
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
- bansOfficial restrictions imposed
backlash · political debate · education policy · parental rights · curriculum · indoctrination · academic freedom · censorship · free speech · state laws
- Black IntellectualismW.E.B. Du Bois, Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin, double consciousness, HBCUs
- controversiescontroversy, dispute, scandal, outcry, outrage
- identity studiesethnic studies, racial identity, ethnic identity, identity politics, identity formation
- political buzzwordswoke, wokeness, virtue signaling, virtue signal, dog whistle
- political controversiesabortion, gun control, voter suppression, gerrymandering, affirmative action
- School Debatesschool choice, school funding, school reform, curriculum reform, standardized testing
critical race theorycolorblindness
Impaired hue discrimination
assimilation · American exceptionalism · rugged individualism · equality of opportunity · equal treatment
critical race theorypatriotic education
State-promoting instruction for citizens
conservatism · American exceptionalism · traditional values · white nationalism · neoconservatism
theory, critical, criticism, criticize, critically, uncritical, hypercritical, overcritical, noncritical