EDUCATION
Demystifying Critical Race Theory Do objectors really know what they are angry about? BY NOOR ALI
around and through which a conversation (research) can be furthered. Here, it becomes pertinent to note that CRT, before the recent interest, would be a framework that individuals would first come across in a doctoral program or specific graduate/undergraduate level courses. Teaching Licensure programs would speak of culturally relevant teaching, but barely ever about Critical Race Theory. It is also important to note that CRT is one theoretical framework among many, and when scholars work on their thesis and dissertations and articles and books they use the theoretical framework that is best suited to their research purpose.
THE TENETS OF CRT
L
et’s start by saying that there is no debate raging around Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the country right now. That debate is not a debate at all. The sound-making you hear around CRT is in fact one side’s lack of acknowledgement of systemic oppression. The issue at hand is not whether one agrees with CRT, but whether one recognizes the endemic nature of racism that prevails in the country. The truth is, a few months back no one knew what CRT was, and the greater truth is that several months later only a few more people know what CRT is. It only took the careless misuse of the term by unaware politicians to unleash a rhetorical warfare on this academic framework, as people who had no expertise or basic knowledge of CRT took a vehement stance against it. For me personally it started with a social media post. A resident of my small, suburban, New England town posted an anti-CRT meme on the town’s unofficial Facebook page. The comments that followed disclosed that people in my small town felt very strongly against it. When I first came across the post, my instinct was to look up if CRT stood for something else. I am a Critical Race Theory scholar. And,
I had never come across a person outside academia who knew about it, and now there were CRT experts emerging from the woodwork in my town. As I worked in reverse from that point, I realized that they were in fact referring to Critical Race Theory, and while they didn’t know much about the theoretical framework their comments spoke of an uncomfortable fear of growth and lack of acknowledgment of the existence of white supremacy. What folks are against is not CRT, it is talking about racism on any platform, particularly in schools that doesn’t jive with their historical comfort with selective silence.
SO, WHAT IS CRT?
Critical Race Theory started out in the 1970s as a lens within Legal Studies, which emphasized on recognizing the role that race and racism played within the legal framework and justice system. Later, CRT was adopted by scholars and academicians in the field of education. Applying similar principles, CRT in education became a theoretical framework with five particular tenets. And, what is a theoretical framework? Quite simply put it offers us working parameters, assumptions, definitions, and defining principles
20 ISLAMIC HORIZONS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021
Critical Race Theory has certain identifiable tenets which include: (a) the permanent and endemic nature of racism; (b) the importance of counter-narratives by marginalized people; (c) whiteness as norm and property; (d) interest-convergence as a means of initiating change; and (e) challenging concepts of neutrality. To delve a little deeper this means that CRT asserts that we must agree to the premise that racism does exist in a systematic manner within the mainstream, and is a permanent, institutionalized, and endemic feature of society. Therefore, acts of racism that take place across the nation such as the murder of George Floyd or racial health inequity or racial profiling, are not isolated incidents of racism but symptomatic of systemic inequities. Further, CRT recognizes the importance of creating space for minoritized, marginalized, and oppressed people to be able to share their lived experiences, thereby creating counter-narratives. Oftentimes, the stories of marginalized people are told by and through a white lens- this sabotaging, hijacking, and whitewashing of peoples’ narratives is a tool of “othering”, alienation, and disempowerment, where the mic remains in the hands of the domineering. CRT emphasizes the need for counter-narratives to emerge, where they begin voicing the experiences without fear of self-invalidation or irrelevance. CRT also posits that whiteness is seen as the norm and therefore it and its capital are coveted. When whiteness is the norm, all else becomes othered, marginalized, minoritized at the least, and vilified, demonized, and oppressed more often than not. All that is non-white is perceived as being culturally deficient. CRT also suggests that everyone benefits when racism is addressed, and work towards equity takes
