b'SCRIPTURECritical Race TheoryBy Justice Initiative ory, civil rights, and con-stitutional law, and later W hat Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is Everyoneat Columbia, where she Talking About It? was appointed a full pro-ColumbiaLawSchoolprofessorsexplainthisfessor in 1995, alongside method of research for legal scholars and how it\'sWilliams,aformerstu-being misunderstood. dent, research assistant, Critical race theory is making national news head- andlifelongmenteeof lines, and three pioneers of this academic disciplineBell\'s,andwhoisnow areColumbiaLawprofessorsKimberlCrenshaw,professor of law emerita.Kendall Thomas, and Patricia Williams.Republicanlawmakersinmorethan20statesAlthough the scholar-haveintroducedorpassedlegislationthatwouldshipdiffersinempha-directly target the principles underlying critical racesisanddiscipline,itis theorybybanningschoolsfromteachingaboutunitedbyaninterest structural racism. These efforts to demonize criticalinunderstandingand race theory are gaining traction more than a yearrectifyingthewaysin into a national reckoning with racism, following thewhich a regime of white murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, andsupremacy and its sub-the ensuing protests.ordinationofpeopleof Speaking at a conference held by the Faith andcolor in America has had(Left to Right) Columbia Law professors Kimberl Crenshaw, Kendall Thomas, and Patricia WilliamsFreedom Coalition on June 18, former Vice Presidentan impact on the relation-Mike Pence said that "critical race theory is racism."shipbetweensocialstruc- "Criticalracetheoryviewsracelawandpolicy Senator Ted Cruz, at the same gathering, comparedture and professed ideals such as "the rule of law"as tools of power," Thomas said. "Its focus on the the theory to the Ku Klux Klan saying the curriculumand "equal protection." politicsofracehashelpedbreakthestranglehold is "every bit as racist" as the white supremacist hatePutsimply,accordingtoCrenshaw,whocoinedof\'racialmoralism\'bychallengingtheegocentric group. "Critical race theory," the senator said, "saysthe term intersectionality, which refers to how dif- beliefthatracismisalwaysonlyaboutpersonal every white person is a racist." ferent forms of discrimination (such as sexism andfault,privateprejudice,andinvidiousindividual racism)canoverlapandcompoundeachother,intent. Critical race theory tells a story about insti-These campaigns are not just based on ignorancecritical race theory is a way to talk openly about howtutionalized racial disadvantage and systemic racial ofhowcriticalracetheorydevelopedandisnowAmerica\'s history has had an effect on our societyinequality. It highlights the structural harms of the applied,butalsorepresentanattempttostokeaand institutions today.\'colorblind racism\' we see at work in laws that don\'t reactionary resistance, rather than a broader under- mention race per se."standing. "We need to pay attention to what has happenedFor parents or educators who, according to G.O.P. in this country and how what has happened is con- lawmakers, say that white children are being made Urgent and Necessary Work tinuing to create differential outcomes, so that weto feel guilty and being taught that white people are "Criticalracetheoryandtheessentialscholar- can become the democratic republic we say we are,"oppressors, Thomas replied, that this "is not, by any ship it has advanced may challenge many long-heldCrenshaw explained. "We believe in the promises ofstretch of the imagination, an idea or tenet behind views, but that is what makes this work so urgentequality, and we know we can get there if we con- criticalracetheory.Tothecontrary,criticalrace andnecessary,"saidColumbiaPresidentLeeC.front and talk honestly about inequality." theory recognizes that racial inequity and exclusion Bollinger (LAW\'71). "I could not be more proud thathurt all Americans, whatever our race or color. In the it is taking place at Columbia. This is, after all, whatForcing Legal Scholars to Ask Questionsmakes universities such vital institutions in society." Critical race theory essentially forces legal scholarsfamous Brown decision, the Supreme Court empha-to ask questions, she continued. For instance, whysized that education is the \'very foundation of good "InthefinesttraditionofColumbiaLawSchool,does possession of less expensive drugs carry highercitizenship.\' The families and teachers who oppose ourbrilliantfacultywereamongthefoundationaljailsentencesthanmoreexpensivedrugs?Couldthe attacks on critical race theory know that we can\'t thinkers and continue to lead the dialogue on thisthishaveanythingtodowiththefactthatmorecensorclassroomdiscussionsaboutthemeaning vital issue," said Gillian Lester, Dean and Lucy G.people of color are in prison? of race if we want to prepare young Americans for Moses Professor of Law. "Their scholarship, teach- the responsibilities of democratic citizenship in our ing,andadvocacyhaveilluminatedthepervasive"It is a way of looking at law\'s role platforming,increasingly diverse multicultural society." effects of structural racism in our society and in thefacilitating,producing,andeveninsulatingracialFurthermore,saidThomas,"thepeoplebehind law. That they have persisted in the face of hostilityinequalityinourcountry,rangingfromhealthtothis legislation are trying to prevent the emergence and outright falsehoods is testament to their visionwealthtosegregationtopolicing,"saidCrenshaw,of a broad movement for multiracial democracy to and determination." who is also the co-founder and executive director ofaddresstheinterconnectedeconomic,social,and Critical race theory was a movement that initiallythe African American Policy Forum. politicalinequalitythatisdevastatingpoorand startedatHarvardunderProfessorDerrickBellFor those, like Senator Cruz, who say that criti- working-class communities of all races in this coun-in the 1980s. It evolved in reaction to critical legalcal race theory assigns blame to white people, that\'stry."studies, which came about in the 70s and dissectedwrong, said Thomas, who is the Nash Professor of the idea that law was just and neutral. Over time,Law and a member of the faculty at Columbia LawThis Is About Racial Justicethe movement grew among legal scholars, mostly ofSchool since 1984. He teaches a critical race theoryForCrenshaw,thelegislativeeffortsarescape-color, at law schools across the country, including atworkshop,amongothercourses,anddirectsthegoating. "The idea that anti-racism is racism against UCLA, where Crenshaw lectured on critical race the- Center for the Study of Law and Culture. white people has got to be the oldest talking point in their playbook. There is not a thing happening today that we have not seen before, including the ascen-dance of racial demagoguery on the anti-democratic, authoritarian, and nationalist impulses of a popula-tionmobilizedthroughthediscourseofaggrieve-ment," she said.We need to pay attention to what has happened in this"We saw this in the backlash against emancipa-country and how what has happened is continuing totion. We saw it in the successful effort to disenfran-chiseAfricanAmericansandpurgethementirely frompubliclife,andwesawaggressiveandeven create differential outcomes, so that we can become theviolent actions justified as self-defense," she said.democratic republic we say we are. We believe in theWhat is going on today is about racial justice. "This hysteria is just that. It has nothing to do with a legal promises of equality, and we know we can get there if wetheory that has been around for decades, and that you may never have heard of until now," Crenshaw said. "If you marched last year in the wake of George confront and talk honestly about inequality. Floyd\'smurder,ifyouhaveaBlackLivesMatter sign on your lawn or a bumper sticker on your car, if you had diversity training at your job and now you understand how you can do better, then you support racial justice."2 AUGUST 2021 BOCNEWS.com'