The Critical Race Theory

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Critical Race Theory is the notion of thought that race sits at the very bond of American life. It is an academic discipline that stimulates the reader, whether for or against the issues, to consider the relationship that exists between race, the judicial system and society. The CRT, as we know it began in the 1970’s with the work and research of Derrick Bell. Its concerns are racism, racial subordination and discrimination. This revolutionary movement puts race at the center of critical analysis. Cornell West writes that “critical race theory compels us to confront critically the most explosive issue in American civilization: the historical centrality and complicity of law in upholding white supremacy." This theory tries to dig deep into the more subtle forms of unconscious or conscious racism. It took off after many began to see the efforts of the civil rights movement stall. Many also thought that the progress that was made during the civil rights era was being decreased, so a few early writers converged to fight these passive forms of racism. Not only did the CRT stem from civil rights but it also constructed a lot of itself off the insight of critical legal studies and radical feminism. This movement put critical thinking to its best by adopting the idea of indeterminacy, meaning, one interprets one fact differently from another gaining a different outcome. This theory is one that causes major controversy, because some believe that it is a way that black leadership in this country has pardoned black people of responsibility, arguing that race, not truth, is the paramount factor in areas such as criminal justice, education and politics. While this may be true to a certain extent I still believe that race does play a part in those aspects. Also, another reason why it has caused controversy is because, this theory states that we are unable to make rational choices because of past experiences in our life. For example, if a black child was abused by white...
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