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Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform (2004)

Critical race theory (CRT) is an approach to studying U.S. policies and institutions that is most often taught in law schools. Its foundations date back to the 1970s, when law professors including Harvard Law School’s Derrick Bell began exploring how race and racism have shaped American law and society.

The theory rests on the premise that racial bias - intentional or not - is baked into U.S. laws and institutions. Black Americans, for example, are incarcerated at much higher rates than any other racial group, and the theory invites scrutiny of the criminal justice system's role in that.
-ESSAY: Explainer: What 'critical race theory' means and why it's igniting debate (Gabriella Borter, September 22, 2021, Reuters)

First things first; Derrick Bell is a legendary figure in the black Civil Rights movement, but was generally pretty anonymous until the Right got swept up in the racial hysteria surrounding the rise of Barack Obama and his support of Bell. The professor had been a leader in the development of Critical Race Theory and, inevitably, he, Obama and CRT were all caricatured and cast in the worst possible light. But, no reasonable person can read the definition above and deny its truth without completely blinding themself to our fraught racial history and its lingering effects. Just yesterday the Times ran a horrific story about a “time out box” that is used in a school system that is predominantly Native American and only mentions in passing that:

The incident brought renewed attention to the enduring use of restraint and seclusion in education. The practice — which can include putting children in closets, sending them into timeout boxes and locking them in tiny rooms — has been criticized for decades.

But it sometimes remains in use in districts across the United States to manage students’ behavior, and children with disabilities and students of color are disproportionately subjected to it.

Contra the Anti-Woke, these disproportionalities exist in many institutions and we ought always to take them into consideration and seek to eradicate them. Such is the promise of the Founding, that all men are Created equal and that all laws ought apply equally.

As to the argument of this specific text, I’m not naive, but suffice it to say that when I made what is basically the case presented herein, in a Constitutional Law class in 1990, it was not greeted kindly. Then again, I was a conservative white male maintaining that civil rights activists and the Supreme Court had made a mistake, in Brown v. Board of Ed, and should have demanded equality of education rather than an end of separation. It would be one thing if whites had been willing to completely integrate education and equalize that way, but Professor Bell charts the resistance to integration. As importantly, he marshals the statistics to show that black public school students and schools remain largely underfunded compared to most white students and predominantly white schools. No one would deny that the situation has improved since the days of open Jim Crow, but, likewise, one can’t really pretend that there are not still inequities in how we educate students that are simply accepted because of the racial makeup of the least advantaged.

We ought not fool ourselves that black Americans would still have had a fight on their hands to extract the funding to equalize education, but it seems likely that politicians would have preferred to spend money on permitting diversity. Such an arrangement–though obviously indulging racism–could have brought increased salaries for black educators, expenditures on the physical plants in predominantly black neighborhoods and acquisition of more modern educational resources. It is hard to imagine that the outcomes would have been any worse and they might, hopefully, have been much better.

Though there is much else worth considering in the book, this basic statement is its crux:

The danger with our commitment to the principle of racial equality is that it leads us to confuse tactics with principles. The principle of gaining equal educational opportunity for black children was and is right. But our difficulties came when we viewed racial balance and busing as the only means of achieving that goal.[...]

[T]ime proved that the persistent educational gap between black and white students was only indirectly traceable to segregation. Instead, the root of the problem appeared to be the substantial disparities in the resources provided to black students relative to white students. Many, including myself, decided that given the difficulty of integrating black and Latino students with their swiftly fleeing white counterparts, we should concentrate on desegregating the money.
? Derrick Bell, Silent Covenants

Amen, brother.

(Reviewed:23-Dec-25)

Grade: (B+)

Websites:

Derrick Bell, Jr Links:

    -WIKIPEDIA: Derrick Bell
    -AUTHOR SITE: Derrick Bell Official Site
    -COLLECTION: Guide to the Derrick A. Bell, Jr. Papers MC.138 (NYU Libraries)
    -ENTRY: Derrick A. Bell, Jr. ( 1930 – 2011 ) Lawyer; Scholar; Advocate (civil rights) (American Academy of Arts and Sciences)
    -ENTRY: Derrick Bell (Good Reads)
    -ENTRY: Derrick Bell (African American Literature Book Club)
    -ENTRY: Derrick Bell: Critical Race Theory Scholar and Law Professor (MasterClass, Sep 6, 2022)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -WIKIPEDIA: Critical race theory
    -ENTRY: Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform by Derrick A. Bell (Good Reads)
    -INDEX: Derrick A Bell Jr (Harvard Law Review)
    -INDEX: Derrick Bell (New York Review of Books)
    -
    -
    -
    -OBIT: Derrick Bell, Law Professor and Rights Advocate, Dies at 80 (Fred A. Bernstein, Oct. 6, 2011, NY Times)
    -OBIT: Derrick Bell (1930-2011) (Harvard Law News, 10/06/2011)
    -OBIT: Derrick Bell Obituary ((AP, 10/07/11)
    -OBIT: Derrick A. Bell, legal scholar who developed theories on race, dies at 80 (Washington Post, October 8, 2011)
    -OBIT: Derrick Bell: Former Oregon Law Dean, Influential Lawyer and Civil Rights Scholar (University of Oregon School of Law)
    -OBIT: In Memoriam: Derrick Bell, 1930 - 2011 (NYU School of Law, 10/06/11)
    -OBIT: R.I.P. Derrick Bell, Pioneer of Critical Race Theory (Lisa A. Mazzie, October 7, 2011, Marquette University School of Law)
    -OBIT: 'Stand Up, Speak Out,' Derrick Bell Told Law Students (NPR, October 7, 2011, Fresh Air)
    -
    -
    -TRIBUTE: IN MEMORY OF PROFESSOR DERRICK BELL (Foreword Janet Dewart Bell, Seattle University Law Review)
    -TRIBUTE: Derrick Albert Bell Jr. (1930-2011) (Olga Bourlin, 11/15/13, Black Past)
    -TRIBUTE: Derrick Bell: Godfather Provocateur (andré douglas pond cummings University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law)
    -TRIBUTE: The Legacy of Derrick Bell (Courtney Bowie & Inimai Chettiar, ACLU)
    -TRIBUTE: Derrick Bell was a radical, thankfully: The late Harvard Law professor, recently derided by US conservatives, helped pioneer critical race theory. (Paul Rosenberg, 16 Mar 2012, Al Jazeera)
    -TRIBUTE: Professor Derrick Bell, 1930–2011: Selfless, wise and welcoming, Bell was a mentor to legions of law school students without privilege, ultimately changing the way law schools work. (Patricia J. Williams, October 11, 2011, The Nation)
    -ETEXT: The Derrick Bell Reader (Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic)
    -EXCERRPT: from Silent Covenants: Brown V. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform (Derrick Bell)[pdf]
    -ESSAY: The Unintended Lessons in Brown v. Board of Education (Derrick A. Bell Jr., January 2005, New York Law School Review)
    -ESSAY: Brown v. Board of Education and the Interest-Convergence Dilemma (Derrick A. Bell Jr., Harvard Law Review)
    -ESSAY: Serving Two Masters: Integration Ideals and Client Interests in School Desegregation Litigation (Derrick A. Bell, Jr., March 1976, The Yale Law Journal)
    -ESSAY: Bakke, Minority Admissions, and the Usual Price of Racial Remedies (Derrick A. Bell, Jr., January 1979, California Law Review)
    -ESSAY: Law as a Religion (Derrick Bell, 2018, Case W. Rsrv. L. Rev)
    -ESSAY: The Strange Career of Randall Kennedy (Derrick Bell, Summer 1998, New Politics)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -VIDEO: Afrolantica Legacies: Mr. Bell discussed his book, Afrolantica Legacies. He took questions from the audience. Mr. Madhubuti introduced him. He addresses issues of race. (C-SPAN, June 2, 1998)
    -VIDEO: Gospel Choirs: Author/Professor Derrick Bell read from his new book, "Gospel Choirs: Psalms of Survival in an Alien Land Called Home." It focuses on how African-Americans expressed their sorrow and joy through gospel songs. In between passages, a gospel choir sang. (C-SPAN, June 30, 1996)
    -VIDEO: Faces at the Bottom of the Well: Professor Derrick Bell talked about his book, "Faces at the Bottom of the Well, the Permanence of Racism." He addressed discrimination against minorities, the civil rights movement in America, and the inevitability of racism in society. (Booknotes, September 24, 1992, C-SPAN)
    -INTERVIEW: "Derrick Bell and Racial Realism": A conversation with Timothy Golden: This conversation originally appeared in What Matters Most: Conversations on the Art of Living by Anthony Morgan (ed.) (Timothy Golden, The Philosopher)
    -
    -
    -
    -ESSAY: The Man Behind Critical Race Theory: As an attorney, Derrick Bell worked on many civil-rights cases, but his doubts about their impact launched a groundbreaking school of thought. (Jelani Cobb, September 13, 2021, The New Yorker)
    -ARTICLE: Bell criticizes effects of Brown v. Board ruling (Kira Lesley, October 31, 2004, Brown Daily Herald)
    -ESSAY: Derrick Bell’s Interest Convergence and the Permanence of Racism: A Reflection on Resistance (Alexis Hoag, August 2020, Harvard Law Review)
    -ESSAY: Discerning Critical Moments: Lessons from the Life of Derrick Bell Title Challenging Authority: A Symposium Honoring Derrick Bell (Jean Stefancic, 2013, Pitt Law Review)
    -ESSAY: On Derrick Bell as Pioneer and Teacher: Teaching Us How to Have the Nerve (Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Spring 2013, Seattle University School of Law)
    -ESSAY: How a Conservative Activist Invented the Conflict Over Critical Race Theory: To Christopher Rufo, a term for a school of legal scholarship looked like “the perfect weapon.” (Benjamin Wallace-Wells, 6/18/21, The New Yorker)
    -ESSAY: Many Americans embrace falsehoods about critical race theory (Chris Kahn, July 15, 2021, Reuters)
    -ESSAY: Explainer: What 'critical race theory' means and why it's igniting debate (Gabriella Borter, September 22, 2021, Reuters)
    -ESSAY: A Lead To Follow (Nick Gianficaro, Millersville University)
    -ESSAY: “It Just Means Telling the Truth”: Professor Derrick Bell’s Critical Race Theory (Vinay Harpalani, 11/10/2017, University of Pittsburgh Center for Civil Rights and Justice)
    -ESSAY: Derrick Bell on Class and Class-based Discrimination Against Whites (Mixed Meditations)
    -ESSAY: Derrick Bell and Critical Race Theory (Crystal Hernandez, Freedom & Virtue Institute)
    -ESSAY: Derrick Bell in 1994: ‘Jewish Neoconservative Racists’ (John Podhoretz, 3/09/12, Commentary)
    -ESSAY: Veritas? (New Criterion, June 1990)
    -ESSAY: The Strange Career of Antisubordination (Justin Driver, Chicago Law Review)
    -ESSAY: A Critique of Professor Derrick A. Bell's Thesis of the Permanence of Racism and His Strategy of Confrontation of Racism and His Strategy of Confrontation (Leroy D. Clark, January 1995, Denver Law Review)
    -ESSAY: Obama, Critical Race Theory, and Harvard Law School: (David French, March 8, 2012, National Review)
    -ESSAY: Racial-Quota Fallout (Thomas Sowell, March 15, 2012, National Review)
    -ESSAY: Staring Down Fanaticism (Rachel Lu, 12/13/21, Law & Liberty)
    -ESSAY: Purging Whiteness to Purge Capitalism: Critical Theory, and now Critical Race Theory, are fully-loaded howitzers aimed at all the pillars of the system. (Mike Gonzalez & Jonathan Butcher, 5/04/21, Law & Liberty)
    -ESSAY: What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack? (Stephen Sawchuk, May 18, 2021, Education Week)

Critical race theory is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.

The basic tenets of critical race theory, or CRT, emerged out of a framework for legal analysis in the late 1970s and early 1980s created by legal scholars Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Richard Delgado, among others.

A good example is when, in the 1930s, government officials literally drew lines around areas deemed poor financial risks, often explicitly due to the racial composition of inhabitants. Banks subsequently refused to offer mortgages to Black people in those areas.

    -ETEXT: What Brown v. Board of Education Should Have Said: The Nation's Top Legal Experts Rewrite America's Landmark Civil Rights Decision (EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY Jack M. Balkin)
    -ESSAY: Truth—and Shame —about Busing (Marvin Caplan, Fall 1976, Dissent)
    -ESSAY: Racism as “the Nation’s Crucial Sin”*: Theology and Derrick Bell (George H. Taylor)
    -ESSAY: Derrick Bell’s Narrartives as Parables (George H. Taylor, NYU Review of Law & Social Change)
    -ESSAY: The Void That Critical Race Theory Was Created to Fill: The movement’s architects saw the inadequacy of liberal solutions to racial injustice. Yet the term has become a lullaby by which liberals self-soothe. (Lauren Michele Jackson, July 27, 2021, The New Yorker)
    -ESSAY: Derrick Bell’s Toolkit: Fit to Dismantle that Famous House? (Richard Delgado, 8/2018, NYU Law Review)
    -ESSAY: The Long War on Black Studies: It would be a mistake to think of the current wave of attacks on “critical race theory” as a culture war. This is a political battle. (Robin D. G. Kelley, June 17, 2023, NYRB)
    -ESSAY: ‘Brown’: Without Deliberate Speed (Jonathan Zimmerman, November 22, 2018, NYRB)
    -
    -ESSAY: The Philosophy of Race: Sailee Khurjekar argues that race is culturally constructed. (Sailee Khurjekar, December 2025, Philosophy Now)
    -ESSAY: A Tale of Racial Fortuity: Interrogating the Silent Covenants of a High School’s Definition of Success for Youth of Color (Jason Salisbury, American Journal of Education)
    -
    -
    -REVIEW ARCHIVE: Derrick Bell (Kirkus)
    -
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of Silent Covenants (Michelle A. Purdy, 09 Sep 2008, International Studies in the Sociology of Education)
    -REVIEW: Mixed Motives: Regarding Race and Racial Fortuity: Book Review Of: Silent Covenants: Brown V. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform. by Derrick Bell (Kathleen A. Bergin, Constitutional Commentary)
    -REVIEW: For Whom Does the Bell Toll: The Bell Tolls for Brown? (Angela Onwuachi-Willig, 5-2005, University of Michigan Law Review)
    -REVIEW: of Bell, D. (2004). Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform (Beth Wassell, Perspectives on Urban Education)
    -REVIEW: of Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform, by Derrick Bell Hopes for Racial Reform, by Derrick Bell (Lisette Allen, 6/01/06, Perspectives on Catholic Education)
    -REVIEW: of Silent Covenants (Earnest N. Bracey, International Journal of Business and Social Research)
    -REVIEW: of Silent Covenants (Publishers Weekly)
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of FACES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WELL: THE PERMANENCE OF RACISM by Derrick Bell (Kirkus, Sept. 23, 1992)
    -REVIEW: of Derrick Bell’s Faces at the Bottom of the Well (Andrew Gaertner, Dec 28, 2022, Medium)
    -REVIEW: of Faces at the Bottom of the Well (Cheryl I. Harris, University of Chicago Law School)
    -REVIEW: The End of Racism, and Other Fables: a review of Faces at the Bottom of the Well (Linda Greenhouse, Sept. 20, 1992, NY Times Book Review)
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of Confronting Authority: Reflections of an Ardent Protester.By Derrick Belll (Kirkus, Oct. 1, 1994)
    -REVIEW: of Confronting Authority: Reflections of an Ardent Protester.By Derrick Bell (Laura Kalman, Oct. 2, 1994, NY Times Book Review)
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of ETHICAL AMBITION: LIVING A LIFE OF MEANING AND WORTH by Derrick Bell (Kirkus)
    -REVIEW: of
    -REVIEW: of

Derrick Bell, Jr Links:

    -WIKIPEDIA: Derrick Bell
    -AUTHOR SITE: Derrick Bell Official Site
    -COLLECTION: Guide to the Derrick A. Bell, Jr. Papers MC.138 (NYU Libraries)
    -ENTRY: Derrick A. Bell, Jr. ( 1930 – 2011 ) Lawyer; Scholar; Advocate (civil rights) (American Academy of Arts and Sciences)
    -ENTRY: Derrick Bell (Good Reads)
    -ENTRY: Derrick Bell (African American Literature Book Club)
    -ENTRY: Derrick Bell: Critical Race Theory Scholar and Law Professor (MasterClass, Sep 6, 2022)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -WIKIPEDIA: Critical race theory
    -ENTRY: Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform by Derrick A. Bell (Good Reads)
    -INDEX: Derrick A Bell Jr (Harvard Law Review)
    -INDEX: Derrick Bell (New York Review of Books)
    -
    -
    -
    -OBIT: Derrick Bell, Law Professor and Rights Advocate, Dies at 80 (Fred A. Bernstein, Oct. 6, 2011, NY Times)
    -OBIT: Derrick Bell (1930-2011) (Harvard Law News, 10/06/2011)
    -OBIT: Derrick Bell Obituary ((AP, 10/07/11)
    -OBIT: Derrick A. Bell, legal scholar who developed theories on race, dies at 80 (Washington Post, October 8, 2011)
    -OBIT: Derrick Bell: Former Oregon Law Dean, Influential Lawyer and Civil Rights Scholar (University of Oregon School of Law)
    -OBIT: In Memoriam: Derrick Bell, 1930 - 2011 (NYU School of Law, 10/06/11)
    -OBIT: R.I.P. Derrick Bell, Pioneer of Critical Race Theory (Lisa A. Mazzie, October 7, 2011, Marquette University School of Law)
    -OBIT: 'Stand Up, Speak Out,' Derrick Bell Told Law Students (NPR, October 7, 2011, Fresh Air)
    -
    -
    -TRIBUTE: IN MEMORY OF PROFESSOR DERRICK BELL (Foreword Janet Dewart Bell, Seattle University Law Review)
    -TRIBUTE: Derrick Albert Bell Jr. (1930-2011) (Olga Bourlin, 11/15/13, Black Past)
    -TRIBUTE: Derrick Bell: Godfather Provocateur (andré douglas pond cummings University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law)
    -TRIBUTE: The Legacy of Derrick Bell (Courtney Bowie & Inimai Chettiar, ACLU)
    -TRIBUTE: Derrick Bell was a radical, thankfully: The late Harvard Law professor, recently derided by US conservatives, helped pioneer critical race theory. (Paul Rosenberg, 16 Mar 2012, Al Jazeera)
    -TRIBUTE: Professor Derrick Bell, 1930–2011: Selfless, wise and welcoming, Bell was a mentor to legions of law school students without privilege, ultimately changing the way law schools work. (Patricia J. Williams, October 11, 2011, The Nation)
    -ETEXT: The Derrick Bell Reader (Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic)
    -EXCERRPT: from Silent Covenants: Brown V. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform (Derrick Bell)[pdf]
    -ESSAY: The Unintended Lessons in Brown v. Board of Education (Derrick A. Bell Jr., January 2005, New York Law School Review)
    -ESSAY: Brown v. Board of Education and the Interest-Convergence Dilemma (Derrick A. Bell Jr., Harvard Law Review)
    -ESSAY: Serving Two Masters: Integration Ideals and Client Interests in School Desegregation Litigation (Derrick A. Bell, Jr., March 1976, The Yale Law Journal)
    -ESSAY: Bakke, Minority Admissions, and the Usual Price of Racial Remedies (Derrick A. Bell, Jr., January 1979, California Law Review)
    -ESSAY: Law as a Religion (Derrick Bell, 2018, Case W. Rsrv. L. Rev)
    -ESSAY: The Strange Career of Randall Kennedy (Derrick Bell, Summer 1998, New Politics)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -VIDEO: Afrolantica Legacies: Mr. Bell discussed his book, Afrolantica Legacies. He took questions from the audience. Mr. Madhubuti introduced him. He addresses issues of race. (C-SPAN, June 2, 1998)
    -VIDEO: Gospel Choirs: Author/Professor Derrick Bell read from his new book, "Gospel Choirs: Psalms of Survival in an Alien Land Called Home." It focuses on how African-Americans expressed their sorrow and joy through gospel songs. In between passages, a gospel choir sang. (C-SPAN, June 30, 1996)
    -VIDEO: Faces at the Bottom of the Well: Professor Derrick Bell talked about his book, "Faces at the Bottom of the Well, the Permanence of Racism." He addressed discrimination against minorities, the civil rights movement in America, and the inevitability of racism in society. (Booknotes, September 24, 1992, C-SPAN)
    -INTERVIEW: "Derrick Bell and Racial Realism": A conversation with Timothy Golden: This conversation originally appeared in What Matters Most: Conversations on the Art of Living by Anthony Morgan (ed.) (Timothy Golden, The Philosopher)
    -
    -
    -
    -ESSAY: The Man Behind Critical Race Theory: As an attorney, Derrick Bell worked on many civil-rights cases, but his doubts about their impact launched a groundbreaking school of thought. (Jelani Cobb, September 13, 2021, The New Yorker)
    -ARTICLE: Bell criticizes effects of Brown v. Board ruling (Kira Lesley, October 31, 2004, Brown Daily Herald)
    -ESSAY: Derrick Bell’s Interest Convergence and the Permanence of Racism: A Reflection on Resistance (Alexis Hoag, August 2020, Harvard Law Review)
    -ESSAY: Discerning Critical Moments: Lessons from the Life of Derrick Bell Title Challenging Authority: A Symposium Honoring Derrick Bell (Jean Stefancic, 2013, Pitt Law Review)
    -ESSAY: On Derrick Bell as Pioneer and Teacher: Teaching Us How to Have the Nerve (Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Spring 2013, Seattle University School of Law)
    -ESSAY: How a Conservative Activist Invented the Conflict Over Critical Race Theory: To Christopher Rufo, a term for a school of legal scholarship looked like “the perfect weapon.” (Benjamin Wallace-Wells, 6/18/21, The New Yorker)
    -ESSAY: Many Americans embrace falsehoods about critical race theory (Chris Kahn, July 15, 2021, Reuters)
    -ESSAY: Explainer: What 'critical race theory' means and why it's igniting debate (Gabriella Borter, September 22, 2021, Reuters)
    -ESSAY: A Lead To Follow (Nick Gianficaro, Millersville University)
    -ESSAY: “It Just Means Telling the Truth”: Professor Derrick Bell’s Critical Race Theory (Vinay Harpalani, 11/10/2017, University of Pittsburgh Center for Civil Rights and Justice)
    -ESSAY: Derrick Bell on Class and Class-based Discrimination Against Whites (Mixed Meditations)
    -ESSAY: Derrick Bell and Critical Race Theory (Crystal Hernandez, Freedom & Virtue Institute)
    -ESSAY: Derrick Bell in 1994: ‘Jewish Neoconservative Racists’ (John Podhoretz, 3/09/12, Commentary)
    -ESSAY: Veritas? (New Criterion, June 1990)
    -ESSAY: The Strange Career of Antisubordination (Justin Driver, Chicago Law Review)
    -ESSAY: A Critique of Professor Derrick A. Bell's Thesis of the Permanence of Racism and His Strategy of Confrontation of Racism and His Strategy of Confrontation (Leroy D. Clark, January 1995, Denver Law Review)
    -ESSAY: Obama, Critical Race Theory, and Harvard Law School: (David French, March 8, 2012, National Review)
    -ESSAY: Racial-Quota Fallout (Thomas Sowell, March 15, 2012, National Review)
    -ESSAY: Staring Down Fanaticism (Rachel Lu, 12/13/21, Law & Liberty)
    -ESSAY: Purging Whiteness to Purge Capitalism: Critical Theory, and now Critical Race Theory, are fully-loaded howitzers aimed at all the pillars of the system. (Mike Gonzalez & Jonathan Butcher, 5/04/21, Law & Liberty)
    -ESSAY: What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack? (Stephen Sawchuk, May 18, 2021, Education Week)

Critical race theory is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.

The basic tenets of critical race theory, or CRT, emerged out of a framework for legal analysis in the late 1970s and early 1980s created by legal scholars Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Richard Delgado, among others.

A good example is when, in the 1930s, government officials literally drew lines around areas deemed poor financial risks, often explicitly due to the racial composition of inhabitants. Banks subsequently refused to offer mortgages to Black people in those areas.

Home | Reviews | Blog | Daily | Glossary | Orrin's Stuff | Email

Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform (2004)

Websites:

See also: