Experiences

Thinking Problems

This article utilizes W.E.B. Du Bois’s often-overlooked classic essay “The Souls of White Folk” to develop a long overdue dialogue between Africana studies and critical white studies. It demonstrates the dialectical nature of Du Bois’s philosophy of race and critical race theory by comparing and contrasting his groundbreaking critiques of racism in The Souls of Black Folk with his reconstructed and decidedly more radical critique of the political economy of race, racism, whiteness, and white supremacy in “The Souls of White Folk.” The conception and critique of white supremacy that the author develops in this article does not seek to sidestep socio-legal race discourse as much as it intends to supplement it with the work of Du Bois et al. in philosophy of race, sociology of race, radical politics, and critical social theory. One of the main reasons this supplemental approach to critical white studies and critical race theory is important is because typically legal or law-focused studies of race confine theorists to particular political, social, national, and/or disciplinary discursive arenas, which is extremely problematic considering the fact that white supremacy is an international imperialist or global racist system.

In this article, I reflect on Signithia Fordham and John Ogbu's classic research on the “burden of ‘acting White’ ” to develop a long overdue dialogue between Africana studies and critical white studies. It highlights the dialectical nature of Fordham and Ogbu's philosophy of race and critical race theory by locating the origins of the “burden of ‘acting White’ ” in the work of W.E.B. Du Bois, who provides some of the intellectual foundations for this work. Following the work of F. W. Twine and C. Gallagher (2008), I then survey the field of critical whiteness studies and outline an emerging third wave in this interdisciplinary field. This new wave of research utilizes the following five elements that form its basic core: (1) the centrality of race and racism and their intersectionality with other forms of oppression; (2) challenging white supremacy, patriarchy, heteronormativity, and other dominant ideologies; (3) a critical reflexivity that addresses how various formulations of whiteness are situated in relation to contemporary formulations of Black/people of color identity formation, politics, and knowledge construction; (4) innovative research methodologies including asset-based research approaches; and, finally, (5) a racial elasticity that identifies the ways in which white racial power and pigmentocracy are continually reconstituting themselves in the color-blind era and beyond (see A. A. Akom 2008c).[oppositional identity, Black student achievement, youth development, acting white, Du Bois, critical whiteness studies, critical race theory, race, Black metropolis, double consciousness, twoness, hip-hop]

Midwestern Studies Meets Critical Race TheoryNotes on Imagining the Heartland Jon K. Lauck Britt E. Halvorson and Joshua O. Reno, Imagining the Heartland: White Supremacy and the American Midwest. Oakland: University of California Press, 2022. 218 pp. $85.00 (hardcover), $29.95 (paper). As readers of this journal know better than anyone, the last decade has witnessed a concerted effort to promote and revive Midwestern studies. As consumers of the news in recent years know, the ideas underpinning Critical Race Theory have increasingly been debated in the public square after years of mostly percolating underground in the academy and adjacent institutions. Now comes a direct meeting of the worlds of Midwestern studies and Critical Race Theory in the form of a book published by the University of California Press, which is based in Oakland, California. It is titled Imagining the Heartland: White Supremacy and the American Midwest and was authored by two anthropologists, one at Colby College in Maine and the other at Binghamton University in New York. In a bit of stage-setting, the University of California Press announces in the book that it "publishes bold progressive books … with a focus on social justice issues—that inspire thought and action among readers worldwide."1 Imagining the Heartland affords an opportunity to consider whether Critical Theory generally, and Critical Race Theory (CRT) in particular, can help us understand the Midwest more completely and accurately or if the reverse is true. At this stage of the discussion, the CRT approach to the study of the Midwest, if this book is a reliable guide, suffers from weaknesses that will cloud our ability to see the region in its fullness and complexity. It serves as a broader warning about the problems associated with Critical Theory more generally and should be a reminder of the importance of relying on more [End Page 126] fruitful ways of examining the history of the Midwest. These include, most importantly, a dedication to collecting and examining the particular facts on the ground when interpreting the Midwestern past and placing them in historical and comparative context with limited use of theories which can predetermine conclusions. At a minimum, before it is widely adopted, CRT and its application in Midwestern studies should be the subject of a robust discussion which can begin in this journal. This discussion will continue in future issues. It should be explained up front that Imagining the Heartland does not rely on original research nor the kind of ethnographic study once-common to anthropology. The book relies on secondary publications, from academic studies to media reports to aspects of popular culture, and analyzes them through the lens of Critical Theory and seeks to explain and critique how other writers and artists have imagined or talked about the Midwest. Critical Theory is not the same as thinking critically about evidence when interpreting the past, an exercise we should all embrace.2 Critical Theory, for the uninitiated, was primarily developed by the Marxists who organized the Frankfurt School of social analysis in Germany in the early twentieth-century and who later, to escape the Nazis, moved its operations to the United States.3 During the last third of the twentieth century, Critical Theory in its various forms became highly influential in humanities and social science departments at American universities. From the general debates and ideas within Critical Theory emerged the more focused CRT, which was made prominent by Derrick Bell at Harvard Law School, in addition to other law professors. Bell and his allies promoted activism and, for them, CRT recognized that "revolutionizing a culture begins with a radical assessment of it" and predicted that "scholarly resistance will lay the groundwork for wide-scale resistance."4 A deep background in the adoption and development of Critical Theory in the academy and an understanding of these goals are helpful when reading this book because that is the source of its ideas and language. This grounding in Critical Theory is important to understand when delving into Imagining the Heartland because the book is quite distinct from some of the research that takes place in Midwestern studies. A good deal of the work in Midwestern history is grounded in studying...

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) scholars have recently drawn on critical race theory (CRT) to critique and understand the propagation of Whiteness as a norm associated with native English speakers. However, the area of language studies, more broadly defined, has yet to develop the same link with CRT. To this end, this article proposes and introduces an emerging theoretical and analytical framework called LangCrit, or Critical Language and Race Theory. LangCrit puts the intersection of the subject-as-heard and the subject-as-seen at the forefront of interpretation and analysis. This article urges language studies scholars, both within the field of English language teaching and beyond, to continue to look for ways in which race, racism, and racialization intersect with issues of language, belonging, and identity.

Since former President Trump’s 2020 Executive Order banning critical race theory, the scholarship has been at the center of an international moral panic. Right-wing American, British, and French commentators invented a conspiracy theory version of critical race scholarship (Marxism! Black supremacy!). Once constructed, conspiracists blamed critical race theory for several alleged social ills, including making white kids uncomfortable and destroying nationalist sentiment. Although the acute stage of this moral panic may be receding, critical race theory’s reputation as a body of scholarship aimed at diagnosing and curing racial inequality is tarnished. Scholars concerned about racial inequality—for intellectual and ethical reasons—should be worried, as it will likely take time to reverse the damage. Answering objections from academic and lay opponents of critical race theory, Ali Meghji’s The Racialized Social System: Critical Race Theory as Social Theory shows what recovering from this moral panic will look like. Contra academic detractors who claim that critical race theory does not provide a coherent analytical framework, Meghji contextualizes the development of critical race theory in legal studies in relation to the broader set of critical theories of race and racism that were bubbling up in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The theoretical imprimatur of these currents runs deep, as these intellectual movements were part of a long lineage of radical thought from racially marginalized scholars such as Oliver Cromwell Cox, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Joyce Ladner. For lay readers (and I’m sure this book will draw interested non-specialists), Meghji provides an accessible overview showing critical race theory’s explanatory power across the social sciences.

Africana intellectuals and political leaders generally regard W. E. B Du Bois as Father of Pan-Africanism. Du Bois's philosophy of race and theory of reparations, in many senses foreshadows contemporary critical race theory and, therefore, contributes several paradigms and theoretic points of departure. However, as with so many other aspects of his thought, Du Bois's writings on race and racism have been relegated to the realm, at best, of sociology, which downplays and diminishes their interdisciplinarity and significance for Africana Studies and contemporary critical social theory and radical politics. African Americans' cries for reparations are part and parcel of an older and wider, world-historic discourse on the denial of continental and diasporan Africans' humanity and distinct human personality. The African American reparations struggle is intrinsically related to critical race theory in that it is not simply a struggle for reparations, but also a struggle against racism.

Foreword: The Evolving Role of Critical Race Theory in Educational Scholarship Gloria Ladson-Billings Introduction: All God's Children Got a Song Section I: Critical Race Theory and Education in Context 1. Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education Gloria Ladson-Billings and William F. Tate, IV 2. And We Are Still Not Saved: Critical Race Theory in Education Ten Years Later Adrienne Dixson and Celia Rousseau Section II: Critical Race Theory Constructs 3. The First Day of School: A CRT Story Celia Rousseau and Adrienne Dixson 4. Peddling Cackwards: Reflections of Plessy and Brown in the Rockford Public Schools De Jure Desegregation Efforts Thandeka Chapman 5. 'Proving Your Skin is White, You Can Have Everything': Race, Racial Identity and the Property Rights in Whiteness in the Supreme Court Case of Josephine DeCuir Jessica DeCuir-Gunby 6. Keeping it Real: Race and Education in Memphis Celia Rousseau 7. Critical Race Perspectives on Desegregation: The Forgotten Voices of Black Educators Jerome Morris 8. Parent(s): The Biggest Influences in the Education of African American Football Student-Athletes Jamel Donnor Section III: The Interdisciplinary Nature of Critical Race Theory 9. Whose Culture has Capital? A Critical Race Theory Discussion of Community Cultural Wealth Tara J. Yosso 10. Critical Race Ethnography in Education: Narrative, Inequality, and the Problem of Epistemology Garret Duncan 11. The Fire This Time: Jazz, Research and Critical Race Theory Adrienne Dixson Section IV: Critical Race Theory in US Classrooms and Internationally 12. Where the Rubber Hits the Road: CRT Goes to High School David Stovall 13. Critical Race Theory Beyond North America: Towards a Trans-Atlantic Dialogue on Racism and Antiracism in Educational Theory and Praxis David Gillborn Conclusion 14. Ethics, Engineering, and the Challenge of Racial Reform in Education William F. Tate, IV

This Article examines why and how critical race theory (CRT) should be taught as a mandatory component of the first-year law school curriculum. Learning the fundamentals of critical race theory is not only important to empathetically understand and serve those around you, but necessary to understand the law as it is. The law’s past and future require this. This Article first makes the positive argument for critical race theory’s necessity in legal education, showing that it rises above normative (albeit virtuous) justifications. It then briefly summarizes what critical race theory is by outlining its central tenets, as well as what critical race theory is not by examining the recent uproar surrounding the CRT boogeyman. Part II explores why and how critical race theory can be taught in two doctrinal first-year courses: constitutional law and civil procedure. The courses show how easily critical race theory’s tenets slot into commonly taught cases, before even considering adding new material to course requirements. Constitutional law demonstrates how interest convergence and the social construction of race play a role in the law, while civil procedure demonstrates how intersectionality and counter-storytelling can recontextualize how we view a court’s ruling. Part III prescribes actionable solutions. The first solutions include discretionary implementation of critical race theory into syllabi by professors. It suggests more concrete solutions in the form of mandatory curriculum requirements, changes to ABA accreditation standards, and changes in NCBE Bar Exam requirements. It then surveys some existing courses to examine how such requirements can be implemented. Finally, the appendices outline the wealth of existing CRT scholarship relating to the first-year courses for reference.

In this chapter Maria Teresa de la Garza assesses Sharp’s work relating philosophy of education and the practice of the community of philosophical inquiry to social justice, feminist theory and philosophy of childhood. The task of education is in part defined by the need to do justice to the oppressed. Sharp encouraged women and children to philosophize about their experience in order to intervene against what Paolo Freire referred to as a “culture of silence.” The community of inquiry can be seen as a practice of liberation and gives rise to “the child as critic.” Sharp’s ideal of the classroom community of inquiry as a site of social criticism is an antidote to the naive optimism that multicultural education can easily bring historically oppositional cultural, religious, and political beliefs and ways of life into relationships of mutual accord. Sharp’s educational theory was also shaped by her commitment to a feminist ethic that is non-imperialistic, relational, contextual, and focused on the concrete details of daily life. One of the least-studied aspects of Sharp’s scholarship is the way she incorporated these political and ethical aspects into her philosophical stories and novels for children.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is an intellectual framework intended to explain the day-to-day situations that affect the lives of members of minoritized groups. Its main goal is to help bring about revised social and systemic structures, which in turn can ameliorate the detrimental effects of racism and racist systems for historically marginalized and excluded groups. As a framework, CRT stands on a set of principles which serve as a foundation. Although the wording and structure of these principles varies among scholars, some of the ideas presented are stated throughout. For example, some of the main principles for CRT is that racism is ordinary and not aberrational, that race is a social construct which is not objective, inherent, or fixed on any genetic or biological reality, making it a purely social phenomenon, and that CRT due to differences in their historical experiences with oppression, Black, American Indian, Asian, and Latinx individuals are better equipped to communicate their experiences than their white counterparts (Delgado and Stefancic, 2017).
 These principles have been met with active resistance on multiple fronts which have started all the way at governmental levels. The debate is particularly incendiary in the field of education, where there has been strong pushback and hostility. This mostly over the assumption that CRT based curricula is being applied to education in public K-12 school systems. Most of these arguments do not take into consideration that CRT itself is taught at the graduate level as a method of analysis, it is not a topic taught in K-12 settings. This opposition to CRT has been so strong that as of 2021, 16 states were pushing legislation banning the teaching of CRT in public institutions of higher learning (Flaherty, 2021).
 This volatile and increasingly resistant environment serves only to highlight the importance of centering CRT, especially for a field such as Library and Information Science (LIS), but particularly for LIS pedagogy. The LIS field has lagged behind on many aspects related to bringing about racial equality, despite a generalized idea that the field is a pioneer of social equality and egalitarianism (Cooke and Colón-Aguirre, 2021; Ettarh, 208; Honma, 2005). As LIS educators, we must focus not only on preparing our students for the work they will perform but also to present the challenges faced by their chosen career.
 In what Colón and Cooke have named LISCrit (for CRT in information science) (2022), CRT is foundational to the equity LIS strives for. Seen from this perspective it is essential that as LIS professionals and educators we understand that if we can’t name the structural and racist barriers and oppressions that CRT warns of, we can’t address them. This inability in naming and identifying barriers means that true and sustainable equity will not be possible. Bringing CRT more squarely into the LIS ecosystem is necessary and provides the language for much needed innovation, assessment, and change.
 Buy in from the field at all levels is required in order to bring LISCrit to the future generations of information professionals, and one of the ways to do that is to clearly and consistently demonstrate how CRT undergirds and informs the profession and its teachings. The tenets are CRT are baked into LIS, one only need to look closely and critically through a lens of intellectual and cultural competence and humility.
 In this presentation the panelists will discuss their efforts to infuse CRT into graduate LIS curricula (LISCrit). The discussion will focus on three main initiatives geared at bringing about more discussions and enabling the field’s multiple facets to benefit from the contexts and discussions which CRT facilitates. The panel will take place in three parts, including:
 
 Colón-Aguirre and Dr. Cooke (2022) will discuss their article that introduces the LISCrit framework and its main propositions,
 Colón-Aguirre and Dr. Cooke will share their scholarly efforts to produce an edited collection (Advances in Librarianship) and special journal issue (Library Quarterly), which have been designed to enable LIS educators to better include this content in their LIS classrooms,
 Harris will present and demonstrate a digital CRT in LIS toolkit developed through an American Library Association Carnegie Whitney Grant.

Foreword Introduction Part One: Critical Race Theory in Education 1. Just What Is Critical Race Theory and What's It Doing in a Nice Field Like Education? Gloria Ladson-Billings 2. Who's Afraid of Critical Race Theory? Derrick Bell 3. Education Policy as an Act of White Supremacy: Whiteness, Critical Race Theory, and Education Reform, David Gillborn Part Two: History and evolution 4. Brown v. Board of Education and the Interest Convergence Dilemma, Derrick Bell 5. Desegregation as a Cold War Imperative, Mary L. Dudziak Part Three: Affirmative Action 6. The We've Done Enough Theory of School Desegration, Mark v. Tushnet 7. Affirmative Action as a Majoritarian Device: Or, Do You Really Want to Be a Role Model? Richard Delgado 8. Critical Race Theory and Interest Convergence in the Backlash Against Affirmative Action: Washington State and Initiative 200, Edward Taylor Part Four: Critical Race Research Methology in Education 9. Critical Race Methodology: Counter Story-Telling as an Analytical Framework for Educational Research, Daniel G. Solorzano and Tara J. Yosso 10. What's Race Got to Do With It? Critical Race Theory's Conflicts With and Connections to Qualitative Research Methodology and Epistemology, Lawrence Parker and Marvin Lynn Part Five: Race in the Classroom 11. A Threat in the Air: How Stereotypes Shape Intellectual Identity and Performance, Claude M. Steele 12. Peer Networks of African American Students in Independent Schools: Affirming Academic Success and Racial Identity, Amanda Datnow and Robert Cooper Part Six: Intersections: Gender, Class, and Culture 13. Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color, Kimberle Williams Crenshaw 14. Ain't I a Woman? Revisiting Intersectionality, Avtar Brah and Ann Phoenix Part Seven: Intersections: White Supremacy and White Allies 15. The Color of Supremacy: Beyond the Discourse of 'White Privilege', Zeus Leonardo 16. Teaching White Students About Racism: The Search for Whites Allies and the Restoration of Hope, Beverly Daniel Tatum Part Eight: Critiques of Critical Race Theory 17. Some Critical Thoughts on Critical Race Theory, Douglas E. Litowitz 18. Telling Stories Out of school: An Essay on Legal Narratives, Daniel A. Farber and Suzanna Sherry 19. On Telling Stores in School: A Reply to Farber and Sherry, Richard Delgado

Teaching (Cooperative) Business: The “Bluefield Experiment” and the Future of Black Business Schools

Critical race theory concerns the study and transformation of the relationship between race, racism and power. This chapter presents an overview of critical race theory and its explanation of the effects of racism and racially disparate outcomes throughout various stages of American justice systems. Critical race theory has various underpinnings that easily distinguish it from other mainstream criminological theories. Borrowing from several traditions – including liberalism, law and society, feminism and Marxism – critical race theory transcends many epistemological and disciplinary boundaries. A litany of concepts captures the spirit of critical race theory, including the social construction thesis, differential racialization, intersectionality and anti-essentialism, among others. Two of the more powerful concepts are those of legal indeterminacy and first-person narrative. With first-person narrative, critical race theory recognizes the experiential knowledge of people of colour as legitimate, appropriate and critical to understanding, analysing and teaching about racial subordination.

Critical race theory refers to a historical and contemporary body of scholarship that aims to interrogate the discourses, ideologies, and social structures that produce and maintain conditions of racial injustice. Critical race theory analyzes how race and racism are foundational elements in historical and contemporary social structures and social experiences. In defining critical race theory, it is important to make a distinction between the deep historical tradition of critical theorizing about race and racism and a specific body of American legal scholarship that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s in response to the successes and failures of the Civil Rights Movement struggles for the freedom and liberation of people of color of the 1950s and 1960s. While this new school of legal thought coined the phrase “critical race theory” to signal a new critical analysis of the role of the law in propagating and maintaining racism, this movement is part of a broader intellectual tradition of critical theories of race and anti‐racist struggle that has political roots in the work of pioneering scholar‐activists like Frederick Douglass, Ida Wells‐Barnett, and W. E. B. Du Bois. Using this broader framework, critical race theory can be viewed as a diagnostic body of “intellectual activism” scholarship that seeks to identify the pressure points for anti‐racist struggle. Given the historical scope of critical race theories, this essay highlights several core themes that tie together this eclectic body of explicitly political theorizing.