Critical Race Theory Case Study

What began as a movement in the mid-1970s, is a theory that deals with the interconnectedness of racism and the legal system. Critical Race Theory is a concept created in law schools in the United States during a time when “heady advances of the civil rights era of the 1960s had stalled and, in many respects, were being rolled back” (Delgado et al. 4). The theory now encompasses its ideals into three main “features:”

1. Acknowledging color-blind racism and its relation to equality

2. Comparing the so-called “white elites” versus the “working-class Caucasian”

3. Understanding the fluidity of race as a socially constructed idea

Though the movement was supposed to simply reflect the 1970s legal system and societal ideals, the theory should

Critical race theory, began as a legal movement, and the the case study was produced by a legal scholar and published by a legal publisher. Osagie Obasogie Based on a hundred interviews conducted by Obasogie, the case study casts doubt on the idea of color-blindness, when Tammy, a White blind respondent states “People are always trying to make all these statements about how nonjudgmental the blind are…” (Obasogie 129). Through the interviews, Obasogie was able to reach an understanding that blind people, though they should be epitome of color-blindness, are able to perceive the same prejudices a sighted person can. Another conversation recorded by Obasogie stated “Jackson, a blind White man, recalled a conversation with a blind woman that he talked to ‘from time to time. We were talking about race one night. And her exact words were, I’ll never forget this: ‘I’m not racist, but I hate niggers’” (Obasogie 99). Even though those that support color-blindness would argue that the blind are the most non-judgmental individuals, Obasogie recounts many interviews with blind individuals who share racial prejudices. With his blind participants, Obasogie is able to depict race not just as a visual issue but one built by