The Color-Line and the Class Struggle: A Marxist Response to Critical Race Theory in Education as it Arrives in the United Kingdom

Abstract

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.