Scan barcode
A review by mbwojci
Critical Race Theory (Third Edition): An Introduction by Richard Delgado, Jean Stefancic
4.0
A helpful primer on CRT. Stating its basis in legal studies, a book like this is helpful to situate the origins of CRT as well as how it disseminated over the last few decades.
Some interesting observations:
The picture of CRT here seems to be extremely contextualized—rather than dealing with sweeping legislation on a federal level as observed with some modern/progressive CRT advocates, it appears to specifically acknowledge immediate cultural contexts and use legal decisions to articulate points which are generally arrived upon through unique situations. (Seems that CRT would advocate for legislation at the local/state level over a federal level EXCEPT FOR when a federal level is actually possible / warranted)
The CRT advocates presented here seem to be ambivalent about Marxism/Class Warfare at best, arguing that Classism, when ignoring race, doesn’t solve systemic race issues writ large. A notable point, given general criticism of CRT from the right equates it with Marxist ideologies.
Lastly, I think the legal questions offered often in conjunction with highly specific scenarios is helpful to see the warrant of using CRT to examine situations and make recommendations towards solutions, or in the case where clear solutions don’t arise to try to at least be thoughtful in decision-making.
My one biggest complaint is that citation of ideas seems very inconsistent—in multiple places where a point was made as “a scholar has noted....” there were no cites present. In a couple of cases, I found myself interested in the study that was referred to but was unable to read it because there was no citation.
tl;dr
Want to learn more about CRT? Start here. Highly readable for being a work out of legal studies. Summarizes the history, present, and future of CRT in understandable terms appreciating the complexity of the field (Crit studies) and the topic (Racism).
Some interesting observations:
The picture of CRT here seems to be extremely contextualized—rather than dealing with sweeping legislation on a federal level as observed with some modern/progressive CRT advocates, it appears to specifically acknowledge immediate cultural contexts and use legal decisions to articulate points which are generally arrived upon through unique situations. (Seems that CRT would advocate for legislation at the local/state level over a federal level EXCEPT FOR when a federal level is actually possible / warranted)
The CRT advocates presented here seem to be ambivalent about Marxism/Class Warfare at best, arguing that Classism, when ignoring race, doesn’t solve systemic race issues writ large. A notable point, given general criticism of CRT from the right equates it with Marxist ideologies.
Lastly, I think the legal questions offered often in conjunction with highly specific scenarios is helpful to see the warrant of using CRT to examine situations and make recommendations towards solutions, or in the case where clear solutions don’t arise to try to at least be thoughtful in decision-making.
My one biggest complaint is that citation of ideas seems very inconsistent—in multiple places where a point was made as “a scholar has noted....” there were no cites present. In a couple of cases, I found myself interested in the study that was referred to but was unable to read it because there was no citation.
tl;dr
Want to learn more about CRT? Start here. Highly readable for being a work out of legal studies. Summarizes the history, present, and future of CRT in understandable terms appreciating the complexity of the field (Crit studies) and the topic (Racism).