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Well before critical race theory and white privilege (see @JamesEWrightII ‘s thread) became the latest political attack by right-wingers in the U.S.
I fell in love with CRT early in my academic career because I needed the language to critique public institutions.
As someone interested in social justice and racial equity, I found a vast majority of PA literature did not explicitly call out racist practices and systems of oppression like white supremacy, patriarchy, heterosexism, and ableism. #ScholarStrike #PAScholarStrike
I needed to better understand the contours of injustice, how these systems were not only created, but reinforced through public institutions and administrative practices.
Alas, CRT comes into view for me as the conversation missing from PA research and scholarship.
Cornell West writes of CRT “This comprehensive movement in thought and life – created primarily, though not exclusively by progressive intellectuals of color – compels us to confront critically the most explosive issue in American civilization: the historical centrality...
and complicity of law in upholding white supremacy (and concomitant hierarchies of gender, class, and sexual orientation.”
PA has never fully acknowledged the racialized history for which our discipline was founded. @Sean_MC ‘s thread on Woodrow Wilson exemplifies that perfectly.
It helps to contextualize the ways in which terms like colorblind, neutrality, technical rationality became par for the course of ignoring the social realities of U.S. society. @DrRachelEmas @meganehatch and @SheRambl have great resources to bring context into PA classes.
However, scholars like Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Richard Delgado, Gary Peller offered space to interrogate the law in ways that did not exist before.
In her article “Twenty Years of Critical Race Theory” @sandylocks discusses the evolution of the theory “through various angles, taking up the possibility that a unique confluence of temporal, institutional, and political factors set the stage out of which CRT emerged.”
CRT emerged in response to societal conflict and discrimination that was reinforced and reproduced through the U.S. legal system.
In #publicadministration CRT offers a completely different lens to examine our institutions, policies, and administrative decisions.
In #publicadministration CRT offers a completely different lens to examine our institutions, policies, and administrative decisions.
The critical interrogation of its analysis has resulted in many other disciplines adopting CRT as needed framework to their discipline. To date, CRT has a presence in education, psychology, cultural studies, political science, among other fields.
The beauty of CRT is its ability to use a race-conscious lens to “see” the world. Let’s be honest, there is nowhere in the world where race does not exist. Whether we acknowledge it or not, it informs our attitude and behaviors.
In research it manifests itself in the types of questions we ask and the methods used. See @hannahlebovits ‘s excellent thread on research methods and how they create “massive inequities in the academy, research endeavors, and policy efforts.”
It informs how polices are developed, who benefits and who is burdened, the types of resources allocated (or not allocated) to different groups and communities. See @DocDantzler ‘s discussion on place-based policies re: housing accessibility and community development.
In a world where White identity affords individuals of unmarked & unnamed privileges, using a race-conscious lens is important to understand how oppression manifests itself across society and through our institutions because to not name it allows a society to deny its existence.
Zumudio, Russell, Rios, and Bridge start their book with some assumptions about CRT. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780203842713
Race Matters. “Critical race theorists all agree that race is a central structure in society.”
History Matters. Critical race theorists understand the process of racialization (i.e., of creating social divisions based on race) as a historical one, which links to contemporary racial inequality.
Voice Matters. “Critical race theorists agree that an oppositional voice to the dominant or master narrative (i.e., the dominant story or taken-for-granted truths) is an effective tool in making visible...
the structures, processes & practices that contribute to continued racial inequality."
Interpretation Matters. “Critical race theorists agree that understanding the complexities of race requires insights from various academic disciplines (i.e., an interdisciplinary approach).
Praxis Matters. “Critical race theorist agree that it is not enough to simply produce knowledge, but to dedicate this work to the struggle for social justice.”
@Sherambl and I named our consulting company @praxismatters because we have always wanted our work to be aligned with justice and meaningful change.
Never have we ever been interested in doing research for its own sake or for it to be just shared in the academy. Our work individually and collectively seeks to bridge the gap between theory and praxis.
#ScholarStrike #PAScholarStrike
#ScholarStrike #PAScholarStrike
Shout out to @AshleyENickels and her @GrowingDem
Just another example of bridging theory and praxis.
Just another example of bridging theory and praxis.
Other tenets of CRT that are important:
Cheryl Harris introduce the concept Whiteness as Property. Now this for me was the article that literally changed the game.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1341787
Cheryl Harris introduce the concept Whiteness as Property. Now this for me was the article that literally changed the game.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1341787
Harris states “In ways so embedded that it is rarely apparent, the set of assumptions, privileges, and benefits that accompany the status of being white have become a valuable asset - one that whites sought to protect and those who passed sought to attain, by fraud if necessary.”
She further argues “Even though the law is neither uniform nor explicit in all instances, in protecting settled expectations based on white privilege, American law has recognized a property interest in whiteness that, ...
although unacknowledged, now forms the background against which legal disputes are framed, argued, and adjudicated.”
@JamesEWrightII ‘s ENTIRE thread discussions how these experiences play out in the academy!
For more of a discussion of what that looks like at a societal level, see Farmbry https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739119105/Administration-and-the-Other-Explorations-of-Diversity-and-Marginalization-in-the-Political-Administrative-State
Another 
by Derrick Bell introduces this language to discuss the Brown v. Board decision.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1340546
by Derrick Bell introduces this language to discuss the Brown v. Board decision. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1340546
Bell states “The interest of blacks in achieving racial equality will be accommodated only when it converges with the interests of whites. However, the 14th Amendment, standing alone, will not authorize a judicial remedy providing...
effective racial equality for blacks where the remedy sought threatens the superior status of middle- and upper-class whites.”
In other words, the reality of Brown came to fruition to assist with U.S. credibility with emergent nations; it offered assurances to American blacks that the precepts of equality and freedom heralded during WWI may mean something at home;
and segregation was viewed as a barrier to further industrialization of the South.
Therefore, there was no altruistic impetus or even a justice goal of the school desegregation case. It was in the best interest of the “American image” abroad and a new way to remodel the South as a location ready for industry.
There is no better way to conceptualize this reality than acknowledging that schools and communities are as segregated now as they were in the 1960s. There have always been loopholes for states to circumvent laws, Executive Orders, and judicial decisions.
Recently, re: #affirmativeaction & HiED college admissions @stephaniepuello stated “Rather than upholding the need for restorative justice, the SCOTUS’ diversity rationale/interpretation is that of a “compelling state interest” that converges w/ the interest of White Americans.”
This recent article by @Politico states “non-white school districts receive $23B less in school funding than white school districts that serve the same number of students.”
https://politi.co/3jKA3Sw
https://politi.co/3jKA3Sw
Inequity is legit baked into our societal existence!
@SheRambl and I wrote about Interest Convergence in response to the VRA and DOMA Supreme Court decisions in https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10841806.2014.11029956
We use CRT and interest convergence to examine two very divergent outcomes for two marginalized groups – Black people and same sex couples.
#ScholarStrike @PAScholarStrike
#ScholarStrike @PAScholarStrike
We argue that the presence of whiteness in leadership positions within the LGBT movement allows for power and privilege to be associated with the dominant culture to be used to advance the cause.
The significant presence of people of color, and the lack of resources, power, and privilege result in sluggish advances for the civil rights movement.
CRT also brings intersectionality to bear. Although coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, discussions of intersectionality have been foundation to Black feminist studies.
See bell hooks https://www.plutobooks.com/9780861043798/aint-i-a-woman/
Audre Lorde and others
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/198292/sister-outsider-by-audre-lorde/
#CiteBlackWomen #ScholarStrike @PAScholarStrike
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/198292/sister-outsider-by-audre-lorde/
#CiteBlackWomen #ScholarStrike @PAScholarStrike
The CRT bench is deep! This is just an introduction because there are a ton of articles and edited volumes, and legal reviews using this framework to interrogate U.S. society in comprehensive and insightful ways.
Public administration scholarship has much to do to dig deeper into this work. The lived experience, voice, and alternative interpretations of U.S. life are needed to bring equity and justice to the forefront;
to make institutions responsive to diverse needs; to eradicate the inherent bias that exists within our institutions; as well as our administrative decision-making practices!
#ScholarStrike #PAScholarStrike
#ScholarStrike #PAScholarStrike
Understanding the historical context of the U.S. – policies, politics, ideology, values – will best position the field of #publicadministration to address root cause issues related to white supremacy and everyone else at the intersection.
If nothing else the summer of 2020 has given me a renewed awakening about people and institutions.
I cannot unsee the actions of officials, administrators, colleagues, institutions, etc.
I cannot unsee the actions of officials, administrators, colleagues, institutions, etc.
To superficially or performatively say #BlackLivesMatter 
and do nothing substantial to change the structural, organizational, personnel, or relational dynamics within your sphere of influence is disingenuous.
and do nothing substantial to change the structural, organizational, personnel, or relational dynamics within your sphere of influence is disingenuous.
At a time when racism is professed from the highest officials of the land, now is the time for public administration to do better. We are an academic and professional field. Our research, the questions we ask or don’t, has direct implications for the lives of everyday people.
How else will we manifest the ideas of fairness, justice, and democracy if we, as public service academicians and professionals, are not modeling this behavior?
If not now when?
This is THE moment to reimagine EVERYTHING!
If not now when?
This is THE moment to reimagine EVERYTHING!
Excited about the level of engagement with this #PAScholarStrike and the fortitude of my colleagues to make racial equity a mainstream conversation. It legit gives me all the feels, but we still have so much more work to do!
Thank you for your time and attention! Next up, my friend @JeannineMLove
Also, to close us out, please stay around for @Delmnb @Parisa_Vinzant @MeghanWilson at 4pm.
#ScholarStrike #PAScholarStrike
Also, to close us out, please stay around for @Delmnb @Parisa_Vinzant @MeghanWilson at 4pm.
#ScholarStrike #PAScholarStrike
