Reimagining Critical Race Theory in Education: Mental Health, Healing, and the Pathway to Liberatory Praxis

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

In this article the author begins by noting that the arrival of critical race theory (CRT) in education in the United Kingdom is fairly recent. Next, with respect to racist inequalities in the UK education system, and concentrating on some of the arguments of a leading UK critical race theorist in education, he argues against two of the central tenets of CRT, the primacy of ‘race’ over class and ‘white supremacy’ respectively. In their place, he posits the Marxist concept of (xeno-)racialized capitalism which he argues has more explanatory purchase in understanding racism, both historically and contemporaneously. The author then addresses social class in both its Marxist and sociological modes, arguing that, in addition to ‘race’ in the UK education system, both modes are crucial factors to consider. He concludes that CRT suggestions for human liberation are variable and vague, and suggests that it is Marxism that, as a living philosophy, provides the best possibility of a viable equitable future.

This article examines the development of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in education, paying attention to how researchers use CRT (and its branches) in the study of K-12 and higher education. The article reviews CRT literature with a focus on CRT scholarship that offers tools to engage with and work against racism within education. The authors highlight works that embody the critical origins of CRT in both the law and elsewhere, with a goal of demonstrating that CRT work means more than just pointing to race. It requires an engagement and articulation with the material, structural, and ideological mechanisms of White supremacy.

In this article I take seriously the call for recruiting and retaining more preservice teachers of color by critically considering some of the pressing challenges they might encounter in teacher preparation programs. I draw from critical race theory (CRT) in education to review the extant literature on preservice teachers of color and teacher education in the US. I excavate how the dominant, (dis)embodied and normalized culture of Whiteness, White privilege and White hegemony pervades contemporary teacher education, and presents a formidable challenge to the goal of preparing teachers (of color) to teach in a manner that is relevant, critical and humanizing while also socially and individually transformative. I conclude by envisioning how teacher education programs might address these challenges in such a way that more effectively meets the needs of preservice teachers.

[A four volume collection of canonical and cutting-edge writing in the field of critical race theory.] Critical Race Theory (CRT) offers an account of society based on systemic, deep-rooted racist oppression that saturates our commonsensical judgements to such an extent that all but the most extreme racism appears normal and unexceptional, simply ‘business as usual’. CRT is one of the fastest growing and most controversial fields of contemporary social theory, and education is the discipline where its most dynamic and challenging work is taking place. Now, answering the need for an authoritative reference work to make sense of this sometimes shocking and often contentious body of thought, Routledge announces a new title in its Major Themes in Education series. In four volumes, Critical Race Theory in Education provides a unique ‘mini library’ that encompasses the very best CRT scholarship in education. As with other titles in the series, the collection’s hallmark is its combination of the canonical and the cutting edge: every selection is either an established ‘classic’ or significantly challenges and advances thinking on current issues. The first volume (‘Tenets of Critical Race Theory in Education’) sets out the core themes that distinguish the CRT approach. Volume II (‘Whiteness and White Supremacy’), meanwhile, explores the construction and maintenance of assumptions and practices that take for granted the elevated status of white people’s interests and perspectives. The third volume (‘Global and Specific: CRT Off-shoot Movements’) focuses on the development of CRT as an approach with an international reach, while simultaneously retaining space for distinctive developments that prioritize individual social groups within their particular historic, cultural, and economic contexts. The collection’s final volume (‘Doing CRT in Education’) is dedicated to questions of method, ethics, and praxis in the everyday struggle to advance research and effect genuine anti-racist change amid systems that normalize racism and deny the legitimacy of race-conscious scholarship. David Gillborn, the editor of the collection, is recognized internationally as a leading scholar of race inequity in education. He was one of the first writers to apply CRT outside North America.

The frequent police killings during the COVID-19 pandemic forced a reckoning among Americans from all backgrounds and propelled the Black Lives Matter movement into a global force. This manuscript addresses major issues to aid practitioners in the effective treatment of African Americans via the lens of Critical Race Theory and the Bioecological Model. We place the impacts of racism on Black families in historical context and outline the sources of Black family resilience. We critique structural racism embedded in all aspects of psychology and allied fields. We provide an overview of racial socialization and related issues affecting the parenting decisions in Black families, as well as a detailed overview of impacts of structural racism on couple dynamics. Recommendations are made for engaging racial issues in therapy, providing emotional support and validation to couples and families experiencing discrimination and racial trauma, and using Black cultural strengths as therapeutic resources.

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

Hate crimes across the country are becoming more prevalent, and there are growing concerns for higher education and college campuses. White supremacy has been noted as a potential driving force escalating hate and discrimination at disproportionate levels, especially for Black students on predominantly white campuses. This qualitative study described the murder of 2nd Lieutenant Richard Collins III by a white supremacist student, Sean Urbanski at a bus stop at the University of Maryland College Park. I used critical race theory in education and critical race methodology to analyze Black graduate students’ counternarratives and interrogations of a hate crime through semi-structured interviews. I described how the juxtaposition of this hate crime influenced campus and national conversations about Black students’ proximity to white supremacy. Lastly, participants’ counternarratives attested to widespread trauma, which adds a new layer to existing literature on Black graduate students’ experiences. Implications for this scholarship offer practice, policy, and research recommendations to eradicate hate crimes on college campuses.

ABSTRACTThis article explores the territory that has been covered since the publication of Ladson-Billings and Tate's 1995 article, “Toward a Critical Race Theory in Education.” We organize our review of the CRT literature is organized around what we are calling CRT “boundaries.” We identify six boundaries for CRT and education: 1) CRT in education argues that racial inequity in education is the logical outcome of a system of achievement presided on competition; 2) CRT in education examines the role of education policy and educational practices in the construction of racial inequity and the perpetuation of normative whiteness; 3) CRT in education rejects the dominant narrative about the inherent inferiority of people of color and the normative superiority of white people; 4) CRT in education rejects ahistoricism and examines the historical linkages between contemporary educational inequity and historical patterns of racial oppression; 5) CRT in education engages in intersectional analyses that recognize the ways that race is mediated by and interacts with other identity markers (i.e., gender, class, sexuality, linguistic background, and citizenship status); 6) CRT in education agitates and advocates for meaningful outcomes that redress racial inequity. CRT does not merely document disparities. We suggest that these core ideas provide a framework for analyzing the work that has been done in education in the past and a way to determine what might be left to do.

This chapter argues that the term “social justice” is rarely defined in the field of education. In critical race theory, a focus on race and racism is essential to achieving social justice and therefore must be protected by word and in deeds. Critical race theory (CRT) was created to “expose and dismantle this social and legal status quo from an explicitly race-conscious and critical ‘outsider’ perspective”. Critical race theorists believe a task of CRT is to remind people of the deep and complex current nature of racial ideology and power. Critical race theory provides scholars with the tools to critique and question the ways in which people of color are represented, the resources that schools receive, and the public mandates structuring their lives. The commitment to racial justice in critical race theory is rooted in critical studies, ethnic studies, and women’s studies. Black scholars had no choice but to use their work as the primary means to combat racism in society.

In this essay, Marvin Lynn explores a range of perspectives on African American education, with particular focus on three works: Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement, by social anthropologist John Ogbu; African‐Centered Pedagogy: Developing Schools of Achievement for African American Children, by teacher education expert Peter Murrell; and African American Literacies, by Elaine Richardson, professor of English and applied linguistics. Lynn draws on Charles Valentine's sociological framework for understanding culture in order to interrogate how the concept of culture is used in these works. Lynn concludes that critical race theory in education — a rapidly emerging discourse on schooling and inequality — may be a useful tool for lucidly framing the conditions under which African Americans are educated as well as the possible solutions to the perennial problems faced by this historically marginalized group.

The purpose of this study was to examine the recruitment and retention efforts of Black college athletes in football, women’s basketball and men’s basketball by white head coaches at historically white institutions (HWI). This study employed Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the educational tenets of: (1) racism; (2) interest convergence; (3) social construction; (4) differential racialization; (5) intersectionality/anti-essentialism; and (6) unique voice/counter storytelling [Bell, D. (1995). Who's afraid of critical race theory? University of Illinois Law Review, 1995, 893–910; Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2001). Critical race theory: An introduction. New York University Press; Ladson-Billings, G. (2013). Critical race theory: What it is not!. In M. L. Editor, & A. D. Editors (Eds.), The handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 34–47). Routledge Handbooks Online; Solórzano, D. G., & Yosso, T. J. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23–44]. A descriptive multiple case study [Stake, R. (1995). The art of case study research. Sage Publications, Inc.] was designed, and semi-structured interviews were carried out with seven male and three female former college athletes from a Power 5 institution. This study gathered common themes related to former athletes’ intersection of race and gender. The theme of race produced the following subthemes: (1) representation, (2) assimilation, (3) academics and (4) community. Furthermore, the theme of gender produced greater insight in the subtheme of (1) intersectionality. Through the aforementioned themes, the researchers call for a complete overhaul of the current practices of recruiting Black college athletes at HWIs through established offices comprised of researchers and practitioners well versed in providing resources and support for students on and beyond the campus environment.

This introduction presents an overview of the special issue on critical race theory (CRT)/critical race studies (CRS) that appeared in a 2002 issue of Qualitative Inquiry . I then go on to discuss how this new set of articles builds on the previous work of CRT in connection to qualitative studies and explores the racial productivity of choices people of color make in their daily negotiations with each other and White institutions within the context of neo-liberal racism in a postracial society. What is hoped for from this special issue is that a different kind of critical race realism emerges, both in terms of critical research and methodologies as well as acts of progressive change.

In 1995, Teachers College Record published an article by Gloria Ladson‐Billings and William Tate entitled ‘Toward a critical race theory of education’. In this article, the authors proposed that critical race theory (CRT), a framework developed by legal scholars, could be employed to examine the role of race and racism in education. Within a few years of the publication of the article by Ladson‐Billings and Tate, several scholars in education had begun to describe their work as reflecting a CRT framework. In this article, we review the literature on CRT in education that has been published over the past ten years. We also assess how far we have come with respect to CRT in education and suggest where we might go from here.

In the context of the ongoing debate between critical race theory (CRT) and Marxism, I begin in this paper by examining the origins of CRT in Critical Legal Studies (CLS) in the United States. I go on to describe CRT's entry into education, first in that country, and then in the United Kingdom. I move on to a discussion of current debates between critical race theorists and Marxists, focusing on an analysis of arguments for the existence of abstract racial domination.