Critical Race Theory

Here is my understanding of Critical Race Theory or CRT. According to Purdue Online Writing lab, CRT is “a theoretical and interpretive mode that examines the appearance of race and racism across dominant cultural modes of expression.” I did not know that this was an area of study. On this page I learned more about the forms at which racism spreads across our country from microaggressions, white privilege and institutional racism. I just recently for Housing Staff went through training o be able to identify white privilege and microaggressions. It is crazy to think that microaggressions are the most common form of racism in our country opposed to white supremacists. It was really helpful to learn more about them and white privilege together so that I could think more about the things that I say. Most of the time people who say a microaggression do not think they are racist or don’t realize they are saying something hurtful. I think it is important to correct people when they say things that are underlyingly racist. Sensible people will feel bad about saying something offensive and rethink about why they said that.

In Bell’s paper on CRT he talks about how the assumed intelligence is based off of white IQ scores but he points out that there is no evidence at all of intelligence being inherited. I really like his critique of the Bell Curve. The author wrote his book for an audience that already believed in the radical stereotypes that the author presented. My favorite quote form the article is “To see things as they really are, you must imagine them for what they might be.” This includes having Blacks and Whites coming together to destigmatize the ideas presented in The Bell Curve and in our country.

The video of the Spy Kids actor is disgusting. He thinks that just because he knows black people irl that he’s able to identify for them by voicing a black cartoon. He also says many microaggressions including when he says that he “relates to the urban community”. He is assuming that all urban communitees are where black people live in motels and is extremely racist. He is the definition of white privilege. To think that you can personally relate to a whole group of people just because you’ve lived in urban areas is racist to the max and really ignorant of an entire peoples past.