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My understanding is that in order to understand Critical Race Theory accurately one should begin with the seminal work, Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement, authored and edited by Kimberlé Crenshaw, Neil Gotanda, Gary Peller, and Kendall Thomas.
Especially since June of 2021, the political and Christian Right has chosen to target Critical Race Theory as harmful to the democracy and culture of the United States. Over 22 states have passed or are considering passing laws that prohibit the teaching of Critical Race Theory.
Based on what I have read from the ‘The Key Writings’ book and what I have heard or read about Critical Race Theory from the political and Christian Right, it is my conclusion that what is being presented by the political and Christian Right is some mixture, depending upon whose perspective is being presented, of being uniformed, misinformed, simply wrong, and often intentionally maliciously deceiving.
In order to help provide some fuller, deeper, and more accurate understanding and to help correct what is being presented from the political and Christian Right, Professor Kendall Thomas, one of the co-authors and co-editors of ‘The Key Writings,’ has graciously agreed to be my guest for this episode.
Professor Thomas is the Nash Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. He is a scholar of comparative constitutional law and human rights whose teaching and research focus on critical race theory, legal philosophy, feminist legal theory, and law and sexuality.
Professor Thomas is the co-founder and director of the Center for the Study of Law and Culture at Columbia Law School, where he leads interdisciplinary projects and programs that explore how the law operates as one of the central ways to create meaning in society. He is also a founder of Amend the 13th, a movement to amend the U.S. Constitution to end enforced prison labor.
The intro and outro music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project.