Critical race theory (CRT) is a term that refers to multiple ideologies that relate to the role of race and racism in the United States.
Origins
Derrick Bell, the founder of critical race theory, was inspired by Paul Robeson, Frantz Fanon, and W. E. B. Du Bois. In 1973, he published Race, Racism, and American Law, which was the first textbook describing the racial effects of U.S. law. This original form of CRT was materialist and believed that racism had an economic foundation. Bell believed that racial progress occurred when the interests of New Afrikans overlapped with the interests of the white ruling class; for example, the Supreme Court's ruling against segregation in Brown v. Board of Education helped industrialize the South and gain some Black support for the Cold War.[1]
References
- ↑ Patrick P. Anderson (2021-07-23). "The Conspicuous Absence of Derrick Bell—Rethinking the CRT Debate, Part 1" Black Agenda Report. Archived from the original on 2023-03-30.