Patricia Critical Race Theory Essay

Gender and race are commonly perceived as autonomous domains often seen as independent encounters which influence economic, political and social aspects of oppression. In social science research, gender, race, class, and identity are viewed as categories to be studied and measured separately. However, these categories overlap and intersect each other creating complex interactions. Feminist sociological theorists promulgate that race, gender, class, and other aspects of identity must be treated as overlapping and intersecting forms of oppression. Kimberlé Crenshaw was among the first to articulate this theory. She called the concept intersectionality. Intersectionality has emerged as a major paradigm of research in women’s studies. Patricia

2001, p. 2). Critical Race Theory had its foundation in the 1970s leftist legal movement and Critical Legal Studies (CLS) which saw a small group of academics deconstruct traditional liberal approaches to legal ideology and discourse with a view to better conceptualizing how structural (class) inequalities were perpetuated and maintained in US society (Tate, 1997, p. 198). Critical Race Theory questions the foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law (Delgado & Stefancic, 2012, p. 3). Critical Race Theory recognizes that racism is ingratiated in the fabric of society and that it is pervasive in dominant culture. At the heart of CRT is the notion that power structures in society are based on white privilege and white supremacy, ultimately marginalizing people of color. Delgado and Stefancic (2001) articulate that CRT regards racism as so deeply entrenched in the social order that it is often taken for granted and viewed as natural. Furthermore, CRT discards the traditions of liberalism and meritocracy. Legal discourse stipulates that the rule of law is neutral and colorblind and the constitutional guarantee of

Furthermore, they go on to highlight the notion that racial stereotypes are ubiquitous in society and limit the opportunities for people of color (152). The interconnection between Critical Race Theory and social science could provide a collaborative response to dispelling the myth that the United States has become postracial. Social science data can provide compelling evidence that the existence of racial discrimination, disparity and inequality refute the contention of postracial proponents that there is a social insignificance of race. The article written by Laura Gomez, Understanding law and race as mutually constitutive: An invitation to explore an emerging field provides some insight into the relationship between law and race highlighting the fact that law and race shape one another in a profound way. Social scientists who have studied law often view race as a separate entity and have defined race as a phenotype and measure it in binary terms. Critical Race theorists in contrast have made race their central focus and have treated race as an independent variable that explains race. They write about race and law from the perspective that is critical of the anti-discrimination model permeating