Critical Race Theory Research Articles

A Critical Race Analysis of Resilience and Resistance in Domingo’s Breaking The Maafa Chain

This study examines the experiences of black African Americans within a white-dominated society while focusing on double consciousness, racial micro-aggressions, the historical implications of the slave trade, and systemic suppression. The primary aim of this study is to highlight the harsh realities of enslavement and the enduring struggle to preserve African heritage. Racism, a socially constructed phenomenon, subjects black individuals to frequent racial discrimination. This research aims to raise awareness and challenge the facade of superiority maintained by the white-dominated society. The selected novel explores the various forms of racial discrimination against African Americans, shedding light on the subtle attacks they face while striving to preserve their identity. Additionally, the study investigates the issues of identity and freedom by analyzing the relationship between the two sisters in the novel under disquisition. Through the lens of Critical Race Theory, this research analyzes the portrayal of black lives and their resilience against white supremacy through Domingo’s novel Breaking The Maafa Chain, a piercing and sensitive representation of suppressed or marginalized Afro-Americans. Critical Race Theory serves as a framework to address the issues of racial discrimination. The research methodology employed in this study is purely qualitative, analytical, and descriptive, and it involves a close textual analysis of the novel within the domain of critical race theory.

From Tolerance to Transformation: Unraveling the Impact of Organizational Culture and Policies on Addressing Gaslighting in Academia

This paper explored gaslighting in academia, focusing on its impact on women's career development and leadership experiences. Using feminist and critical race theories, the study examined how organizational culture, mentorship, networks, and policies supported or hindered women's academic careers. An inter-sectional perspective revealed how race, ethnicity, and disability intersected with gender to shape women's experiences in academic leadership. The paper analyzed how gaslighting operated in academia and the various forms it took. It also examined strategies for institutions and individuals to challenge gaslighting and promote a culture of equity and respect. Drawing inspiration from Kate Elizabeth Russell's My Dark Vanessa and Zoë Heller's Notes on a Scandal, the research offered insights into psychological manipulation, gender dynamics, and power relations within the academic sphere. Keywords: Gaslighting, Organizational Culture, Academia, Women, Leadership, Psychological Manipulation, Feminist theory, Critical Race Theory

Unveiling Victor Hugo through Critical Race Theory Feminist Lens: A Social Constructivist Approach

This study re-examines the life and works of Victor Hugo, one of the 19th century's most influential French writers, through the integrated lenses of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and feminist theory, employing a social constructivist approach. By analyzing Hugo's significant works, including "Les Misérables" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," this research explores how his narratives address the intersectionality of race, gender, and class. By critically examining characters such as Fantine, Cosette, and Esmeralda, as well as the depiction of marginalized groups, the study uncovers Hugo's critique of his time's social constructs and power dynamics. This analysis highlights Hugo's progressive empathy for the oppressed and discusses the contemporary relevance of his work in understanding and addressing ongoing social injustices. By situating Hugo's literary contributions within the frameworks of CRT and feminist theory, this research offers new insights into the enduring significance of his critique of systemic inequalities, emphasizing the importance of intersectional perspectives in literary studies.

A Critical Perspective on Testimonial Injustice: Interrogating Witnesses' Credibility Excess in Criminal Trials

This paper offers a critical race theory perspective on the testimonial injustice experienced by racially minoritized criminal defendants in evidential practice. It builds off Federico Picinali’s paper, inter alia, substantiating how minoritized criminal defendants experience testimonial harm through credibility deficit, by exploring epistemic injustice to the same when prosecutorial witnesses receive identity-based credibility excess. It argues that in an adversarial criminal legal system, the testimonial injustice of credibility excess afforded racial in-group prosecutorial witnesses should be considered in tandem with the testimonial injustice of credibility deficit imposed on racial out-group defendants. Only then can the epistemic harm and resultant unfairness at trial for defendants be fully assessed. The paper advocates for expanding the definition of testimonial injustice to encompass the epistemic wrong of socially biased credibility excess and “transferred epistemic harm.” In instances of transferred epistemic harm, the harm inflicted by an epistemic wrong impacts the speaker’s interlocutor rather (or more) than the speaker themselves.

“I Am Overworked and I’m Not Taking Care of Myself”: The Experiences of Black Men in Doctoral Programs Navigating Racial Battle Fatigue

ABSTRACT Historically, Black men encountered challenges related to race and racism throughout their educational journeys. Perhaps more pronounced at the doctoral level, Black men often experience racial microaggressions and feelings of isolation. This qualitative study utilized racial battle fatigue to explore the experiences of 20 Black men in social science doctoral programs. Utilizing Critical Race Theory and counter-storytelling, participants shared the effects of racial microaggressions and race related stress on their daily interactions and experiences. The study concludes by presenting implications, offering recommendations for future research, and suggesting strategies to better support Black men who facing and navigating racial battle fatigue in doctoral education.

What is QuantCrit doing in a nice field like family science?

AbstractFamily science is grappling with the legacy of White supremacy embedded in its theories and methodologies. This presents an opportunity to move beyond traditional theoretical perspectives and statistical approaches that have perpetuated racist assumptions about the inferiority of people of color compared to White Americans. We build on Curtis et al.'s (2022) introduction of Quantitative Criticalism by presenting quantitative critical race theory (QuantCrit) as a critical framework that combines quantitative methods and critical race theory (CRT) to examine issues of racism and race in social science research. Specifically, we (1) make an argument for why QuantCrit is needed in family science, (2) review and critique conventional approaches family scientists have used to analyze racial inequality within the family sciences, (3) offer QuantCrit as an alternative and critical strategy for the quantitative study of racial inequality in family research, and (4) provide examples of how family scientists can leverage QuantCrit to subvert underlying assumptions and practices that perpetuate continued marginalization. We discuss recent research that exhibits elements of QuantCrit in family research to showcase the value of an emerging subfield. QuantCrit provides an opportunity for family scientists studying racial inequality to promote theories, methodological strategies, and policies rooted in social justice.

Mapping the institutionalization of racism in the research about race and traumatic brain injury rehabilitation: implications for Black populations

Purpose Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a chronic disease process and a public health concern that disproportionately impacts Black populations. While there is an abundance of literature on race and TBI outcomes, there is a lack of scholarship that addresses racism within rehabilitation care, and it remains untheorized. This article aims to illuminate how racism becomes institutionalized in the scientific scholarship that can potentially inform rehabilitation care for persons with TBI and what the implications are, particularly for Black populations. Material and methods Applying Bacchi’s What’s the Problem Represented to be approach, the writings of critical race theory (CRT) are used to examine the research about race and TBI rehabilitation comparable to CRT in other disciplines, including education and legal scholarship. Results A CRT examination illustrates that racism is institutionalized in the research about race and TBI rehabilitation through colourblind ideologies, meritocracy, reinforcement of a deficit perspective, and intersections of race and the property functions of whiteness. A conceptual framework for understanding institutional racism in TBI rehabilitation scholarship is presented. Conclusions The findings from this article speak to the future of TBI rehabilitation research for Black populations, the potential for an anti-racist agenda, and implications for research and practice.

Multimodality and critical race theory as tools of canonical subversion

ABSTRACT Research has called for nuanced scholarly investigations that synergise, complicate, and advance social theories of literacy. Accordingly, this study melds critical literacy, critical race theory, and multiliteracies to distil students’ involvement with the canonical The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, investigating: What are participants’ design experiences reading canonical literature through a critical race theory lens, and what does multimodal design reveal about students’ critical literacies? Design reflects both understanding and meaning making using multiple sign systems. Applying case study methodologies, researchers investigated the experiences of 24 eleventh-grade students in an American literature course. Layers of inductive and deductive analysis reveal two findings specific to students’ experiences with multiliteracies: successes with literal transmediation and barriers to imaginative transmediation. Findings were then deductively treated with tenets of critical literacy and critical race theory, revealing that students identified Whiteness as property while simultaneously participating in Colour-evasion and upholding White saviour traditions. Implications for theory, research, and pedagogy are discussed.

Breathing space amidst the permanence of racism in the academy

ABSTRACT This paper presents evidence that sheds light on both the limitations and the possibilities of race-focused staff forums that have formed across UK higher education as part of a response to equality legislation. Based on interviews conducted with 13 staff of color across two universities, this paper foregrounds critical race theory presenting evidence that these staff forums are often performative and fail to address needed structural changes. Despite this, there is also evidence of agency among members to struggle for an anti-racist university. This paper reveals varying perceptions and meanings to these forums, highlighting a tension. On the one hand, staff recognize the performativity of these initiatives. On the other, they also often value them as spaces of respite. The paper concludes that further examination of the perspectives and situated knowledge of members of these forums can offer valuable insights that can impact the creation and implementation of such spaces.

Experiences of racism of Black medical students and residents in Montréal: "I wear my stethoscope around my neck at all times".

Black students and residents experience racism in medical school. This qualitative study documents Black students' and residents' experiences of racism using Critical Race Theory (CRT) and explores their coping mechanisms using the theatrical metaphor. We conducted semi-structured interviews with four Black medical students and residents (two medical students and two residents) studying in Montréal and analyzed their experiences through counter-stories. We identified themes related to their experiences of racism during medical training and their coping mechanisms. Our analysis reveals these experiences of racism occur in academic and clinical settings (classes, internships, social interactions with peers, faculty, and patients, and through the curriculum), in the form of microaggressions. The analysis also indicates that Black students and residents try to cope with racism using a hyper-ritualization strategy to better fit in (e.g., clothing, behaviours). Considering that Black students and residents experience various forms of racism (subtle or explicit) during their medical training, these findings urge us to increase awareness about racism of students, residents, teachers and health care workers in universities and teaching hospitals. Pathways to increase the representation of Black students and residents seem to be part of the solution, but improving the learning environment must be a priority to achieve racial justice in medical training in Québec.

Licensing whiteness: property, privilege, and (re)centering the politics of race within neoliberalism

Critical race theory ought to be central to analyses of neoliberalism and its impact on contemporary educational landscapes in the United States. Neoliberalism finds grounding in the rule of law, particularly as it relates to the role of contracts, contractual relationships, and by extension forms of licensure. Parallel to this, critical race theory also finds conceptual grounding in law, most notably as it pertains to understandings of linkages between property rights and whiteness. We explore the implications of considering whiteness as an institutionally-sponsored, state-sanctioned form of licensed property. The identification of neoliberalism as a dominant form of institutionalized whiteness centers understandings of the racialized contractual terms operating discursively under the auspices of white supremacist neoliberal regimes. Though Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned the “separate but equal” principle in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), we argue that neoliberalism continues to operationalize the maintenance of racial inequity in US schooling.

‘Sometimes white doctors are not very friendly or inclusive’: a Critical Race Theory analysis of racism within and beyond sexual health settings

Many Two-Spirit, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer Black, Indigenous, people of colour in Canada encounter racism when testing for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections. Our objective in this study was to understand how racism shapes testing experiences for these communities in Ontario, Canada. Four peer researchers conducted recruitment and data collection in consultation with a community advisory board. Focus groups and interviews took place with 21 participants and their narrative accounts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Participants identified three interrelated issues when testing: (1) experiencing judgement and discomfort due to racism; (2) lack of community and cultural indicators in testing spaces; and (3) barriers to accessing testing centres and services. Systemic racism was linked to each of these barriers, including increased distance to testing centres due to racial segregation. Participant accounts signal the need for antiracist testing spaces and practices. Key implications include the need for antiracism training for health service providers and others working with Two-Spirit, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer Black, Indigenous, people of colour, and the organisations that serve them, in order to make testing spaces safer. Dismantling systemic racism is imperative to achieve health equity for members of these communities.

Online knowledge production in polarized political memes: The case of critical race theory

Online knowledge production in polarized political memes: The case of critical race theory

Four theories to empower black men's existence: Meaning making in dehumanizing contexts

AbstractMost theories used to explore existential realities of clients were developed and informed by White Eurocentric philosophers, who overlooked the impact of race and racism on identity. At a time when Black men continue to experience threats to their survival, such as through the epidemics of racial violence and health disparities of COVID‐19, it is critical for professional counselors to appropriately incorporate racial and gendered perspectives into existential conceptualizations of client experience. In this paper, we identify four theoretical frameworks for clinicians to adopt in working with Black men's existential realities: Black existentialism, Black liberation narrative therapy, critical race theory, and radical healing psychotherapy. We locate these theories within the context of impacts from the dual pandemics of racial trauma and COVID‐19, applying mini‐vignettes to demonstrate how each theory can be responsive to the existential needs of Black men.

Antisemitism as an integral part of anti-bias educational policies and practices

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show how the impact of White Supremacy and Christian hegemony on the educational system. By highlighting interconnectedness across targeted groups, the authors assert that through coalition building, groups are stronger than they would be working alone. Solidarity gives hope to combating hatred of all kinds. Learning that there is a long history of antisemitism is an important component of fighting bias. With book banning and controversy over teaching critical race theory in schools, it is important that educators reflect on their social justice education.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyze the definitions and enactment of multicultural, culturally responsive and anti-bias education as well as critical theory. They then investigate how antisemitism is of concern to all identities targeted by White Supremacy and Christian Nationalism (LGBTQIA+, minoritized races, non-Christians, etc.) and the importance of education in fighting hate and influencing policy and practice.FindingsAlthough 2 % of the US population identifies as Jewish, 11% of incidents educators reported were classified as antisemitic. Education is the key to fighting antisemitism and Holocaust denial (Greene et al., 2021; Stanton and Marcus, 2019). The authors make recommendations for addressing antisemitism, including addressing antisemitic incidents, the importance of Holocaust studies, the need for religious literacy, fighting the banning of books and narrowing the school curriculum. The authors ended by reinforcing the need for Jewish people to be included in multicultural, culturally responsive, anti-bias education and the need for “Heb-crit” as a sub-study of critical race theory.Social implicationsAnti-bias education must include antisemitism and show how connected hatred is rather than having groups compare their struggles. The authors explained the diversity among Jewish people to highlight the complexity of an identity group that is often inaccurately oversimplified.Originality/valueThere is a need for scholarship on modern-day antisemitism and internalized antisemitism and reflective narratives as commonly used in Black and Latinx studies (Rubin, 2020). With the rise in Holocaust denial and antisemitic groups (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2024), it is important to advocate and teach about these topics, which are not often discussed in PK-12 or Schools of Education (Muller, 2022).

Variegated racism: exploring experiences of anti-Black racism and their progression in medical education.

Addressing anti-Black racism in medical education in Canada has become increasingly urgent as more Black learners enter medical institutions and bring attention to the racist harms they face. We sought to gather evidence of experiences of racism among Black medical learners and to explore the contexts within which racism is experienced by learners. Drawing on critical race and structural violence theories, we conducted interviews with Black medical faculty, students, residents, and staff at the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine between May and July 2022. We thematically analyzed interviews using instrumental case study methodology. Thematic analyses from 13 interviews revealed 5 central themes describing experiences of racism and the compounding nature of racist exposures as learners progressed in medicine. Medical learners experienced racism through uncomfortable encounters and microaggressions. Blatant acts of racism were instances where patients and superiors harmed students in various ways, including through use of the N-word by a superior in 1 instance. Learners also experienced curricular racism through the absence of the Black body in the curriculum and the undue pathologizing of Blackness. Medical hierarchies reinforced anti-Black racism by undermining accountability and protecting powerful perpetrators. Finally, Black women medical learners identified intersecting oppressions and misogynoir that compounded their experience of racism. We propose that experiences of racism may worsen as learners progress in medicine in part because of increases in the sources of and exposure to racism. Anti-Black racism in medical education in Canada is experienced subtly through microaggressions or blatantly from different sources including medical faculty. As Black learners progress in medicine, anti-Black racism may become worse because of the compounding effects of exposures to a wider range of sources of racist behaviour.

Innovative Marketing Strategies for Attracting Millennial and Gen Z Travelers

Purpose: The general objective of the study was to explore the innovative marketing strategies for attracting Millennial and Gen Z travelers. Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library. Findings: The findings reveal that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to the innovative marketing strategies for attracting Millennial and Gen Z travelers. Preliminary empirical review revealed the importance of leveraging technology, personalization, social media, and sustainability to engage these influential demographics. It was found that immersive technologies like VR and AR, personalized recommendations through AI, and sustainable practices significantly enhanced customer engagement and loyalty. Examples such as Marriott’s VR tours and Airbnb’s personalized itineraries demonstrated the effectiveness of these approaches. The study concluded that understanding and adapting to the unique preferences and values of Millennials and Gen Z were crucial for maintaining relevance and achieving growth in the travel industry. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Critical Race Theory, Social Disorganization Theory and Labeling theory may be used to anchor future studies on innovative marketing strategies for attracting Millennial and Gen Z travelers. The study highlighted the importance of integrating immersive technologies like VR and AR, utilizing advanced data analytics and AI for personalization, and engaging with social media and influencers. It recommended that travel brands invest in these areas to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. Additionally, it advocated for policy measures to support sustainable tourism and the involvement of local communities in tourism planning. The study contributed to theoretical advancements by expanding the understanding of consumer engagement and provided practical and policy recommendations to align with the values and preferences of these influential demographics. Keywords: Innovative Marketing Strategies, Millennial Travelers, Gen Z Travelers, Consumer Engagement, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR)

Struggle in the Bubble: The National Basketball Association’s Response to Player Activism in the 2020 Bubble

The National Basketball Association (NBA) restarted its 2020 season by playing in a “bubble.” At the same time, a new wave of the “Black Lives Matter” movement was in full swing. Many players joined the movement with their own forms of activism, which the NBA responded to in various ways. This essay explores the NBA’s responses to player activism by using Critical Race Theory’s concept of “Interest Convergence” to analyze the gestures organized by the NBA and highlight the role race, racism, and capitalism played in the NBA’s responses. Overall, this essay argues that in order to capitalize on the popularity of the Black Lives Matter movement, and in the interest of its bottom line, the NBA engaged in three types of responses: compromise, acquiescence, and co-opt/manipulation.

Transforming Science Research Through Liberatory Race-conscious Mentorship: The BUILD PODER Professional Development Modules.

BUILD is a NIH initiative designed to retain underrepresented undergraduates in biomedicine. Of the 10 BUILD sites, BUILD PODER is the only space-and-place that approaches this initiative through the framework of critical race theory (CRT). A feature of BUILD PODER's path to student empowerment is liberatory race-conscious mentorship. Researchers developed, implemented, and evaluated a quintipartite CRT-based antiracist-anticolonial online training program for biomedical educators nationwide. We review the social scientific and historical knowledge used to create these novel mentorship training modules. We describe the modular content and activities. We also report evaluation data obtained during beta-testing and outline how this information helped finalize the product. Discussed are the individual- and institutional-level implications of modularizing the developmental process of liberatory race consciousness.

Towards a Critical Race Criminology: Decolonising Criminological Practice

This article presents a rationale and strategy for bringing urgent attention to ‘minority’, ‘excluded’, and ‘marginalised’ perspectives within contemporary mainstream criminology. Russell (2022) has previously called for the development of ‘Black criminology’, whilst Phillips and Bowling (2003) further argued that there is a need to develop ‘minority perspectives’ within mainstream criminology. In allyship with these traditions, this article applies a Critical Race Theory lens to provide a rationale for a new criminological perspective presented here as Critical Race Criminology (CRC). CRC is applied here to demonstrate the necessity for centring on ‘race and the racialization of crime’ within the discipline of criminology specifically, and within a global context more widely. It further calls for the development and articulation of a ‘counter narrative’ around race and crime within the discipline of criminology itself. Achieving this requires transcending the binary of the Global North–South divide, moving towards a unifying ‘Critical Race Criminology’ (CRC).