Essays on Critical Race Theory

While the concept of race is today clearly recognized as fictitious, the term itself has taken an altogether new reality as a cultural denotation. More specifically, the culture of racism is largely influenced by geopolitical imagination and socio-political antagonism. The new political order referred to as “Empire” is a social frame work that posits “the inferiority of an “Other” based not in biology but in cultural differences and their insurmountability” (Semati, 257). Semati argues that ‘Brown’, once signified exoticism, but refers to menacing ‘Other’ today. The Brown in this case (in Semati’s article) refers to the Muslims of ...

Critical race theory is a legal framework that provides critical analysis of race and racism. It recognizes that racism is engrained in the fabric and system of American society (Delgado and Stefancic, 11). The concept also rejects traditions of liberalism and meritocracy. Despite legal discourse terming the law as neutral and colorblind, critical race theorists challenge this notion by examining liberalism and meritocracy as a vehicle of self-interest, power, and privilege. Using various narratives, theorists are able to present different perspectives on matters concerning race and how they relate to law and power. Keywords: meritocracy, liberalism, legal In his ...

Ethnic stratification is a phenomenon creating division and inequality based on difference among people of various backgrounds. It is an unavoidable issue in regions where the population is largely diverse. The United States of America is a nation where a multitude of diversity exists in various forms. Many include gender, race, religion, sexuality, and social class. As the most powerful nation in the world, America is infamous for the inequalities that exist among its dominant white citizens versus all the minorities that reside in the country. Not only is race a sign of superiority in this nation, but the ...

Introduction

During the period 1877-1920, the United States underwent a period known as Reconstruction. Well, life for African Americans was not at all easy during this period. In as much as the recently freed African Americans did enjoy political and social equality, the South was regained by the self-proclaimed Democratic redeemers. As a result, Jim Crow racial segregation was instituted which led masses to move, known as the Great Migration. Much did change with regard to the life of African Americans, which begs for the question as to why they faced these challenges during this period of time.

Event 1-Racial Segregation

This event ...

Critical Analysis

As Delgado and Stefancic point out, the critical race theory (CRT) as held by most pragmatists and civil rights activists helps in explaining the issue of racism that is so entrenched in the American society’s legal, social, political, and economic systems (23). According to them, race is not a biological but a social construct which means that it is embedded in people as they interact with people from different racial backgrounds. Critical race theory also helps in explaining some of the historical racial injustices such as discrimination that people of color have had to go through for a ...

Governor Wilson ran full-page ads in the major California newspapers, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, to launch his anti-immigrant based re-election campaign. The ads were in the form of a letter to President Clinton, demanding that he halt illegal immigration to the State of California as well as reimburse the state for the cost of federally mandated health, education, welfare services, and the incarceration of undocumented immigrants. Remarkably, Governor Wilson was able to narrow the complex political and economic conditions besieging California. It proved to be a politically astute move. In doing so, Wilson obfuscated the ...

Introduction

One of the major occupations of students studying crimes is to understand how criminal behaviors come about and why individuals are induced in engaging in deviant or criminal behaviors. Theories on crime and delinquency primarily explores this question to get a better understanding of individuals and society at large. Theorists drew from different fields of sciences such as sociology, psychology and biology, to find answers in uncovering individual motivations and structural inducement. One such theory that draws not only from sociology, but also from psychology, is the strain theory of Agnew. This paper provides a detailed discussion on the ...

Abstract

When Invisible Man, the seminal novel by Ralph Ellison was published in 1953, it quickly established a reputation as one of the most important literary depictions of the struggles of African-Americans in the history of fiction. The central character, the titular ‘invisible man,’ struggles with a metaphorical invisibility that was endemic to the 20th-century attitudes of white hegemony toward African-Americans, and encapsulated the black experience as one of marginalization and oppression. These elements contribute greatly to manifesting a vision of black American life that expressly prevents blacks from achieving the same level of respectability and acceptance as whites, regardless ...

Spike Lee’s incendiary, stylish film Do the Right Thing is a wonderful example of race relations in the late 1980s; in the face of police brutality and gang warfare in the ghettos of America, a fine line exists between black pride and equality, portrayed elegantly and energetically by director Spike Lee. Multiculturalism is at a razor’s edge in this film, with many members of the community being one arbitrary offense away from being beaten or killed by an insensitive police force, or prejudiced, conflicted whites in their own neighborhood. The events of the film are representative of the theory of ...