defining terms
Systemic Racism
- Systemic racism is a core tenet of CRT.
- It claims that the entire founding of the United States was based on racism, including all of its institutions.
- It then goes further to say that those institutions must be dismantled if racism is to be defeated.
- Other names: Structural Racism, Institutional Racism
Anti-racism
- Anti-racism is a core tenet of CRT.
- Anti-racists advocate for present and future discrimination to make up for past discrimination.
- According to CRT proponents, individuals who are against racism are still racist.
Equity
- Equity is a core tenet of CRT, though it does not have to be applied in a CRT context.
- Equity is about guaranteeing the same output, regardless of the input.
- By contrast, equality is about giving equal opportunities, but not guaranteeing equal results.
Intersectionality
- Intersectionality is a core tenet of critical race theory.
- The theory ranks people according to their "privilege."
- It reduces individuals to aspects of their identity, such as race, class, sexual orientation, gender, nationality, disability, and religion.
- It then claims that individuals who have multiple overlapping "minority" features are extra oppressed.
White Privilege
- CRT proponents link "white" and "privilege" to the role of oppressor.
- By default, anyone who isn't white is oppressed.
- Other names: whiteness, white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalist oppression
The 1619 Project
- The 1619 Project was a subversive attempt by the New York Times to reframe America's founding through the lens of Critical Race Theory.
- The project scapegoats white Americans as the cause of all of the country's problems.
- Texas, along with numerous other states, banned teaching this project and its principles.
- Activist teachers do it anyway.
Microaggressions
- Microaggressions are everyday verbal or nonverbal slights that communicate a negative message to a person in a marginalized group.
- They can be either intentional or unintentional.
- The scope of microaggressions broadens daily.
- Microaggressions can be used as part of behavior matrices to track supposedly racist behaviors.
Colorblindness
- There is no colorblindness in CRT.
- To CRT proponents, individuals who say they are "colorblind" are racist.
- "Colorblind" people are denying that they see color, which is racist.
- CRT claims that not acknowledging skin color is an act of oppression.