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"I want to be absolutely clear that this Gobt stands unequivocally against Critical Race Theory", Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch told the Commons today.
A primarily US race academia phrase that < 2% of people would have heard of a year ago. (Not sure if as high as 5-10% now
A primarily US race academia phrase that < 2% of people would have heard of a year ago. (Not sure if as high as 5-10% now
'Critical Race Theory' began to conceive of itself as a movement in US academia in 1989, drawing on earlier strands in race. According to this 2009 article in the journal Ethnicities, 'CRT' did not arrive as a theme/label in UK academia until 2006
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1468796809103462?journalCode=etna
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1468796809103462?journalCode=etna
This 2020 article contains a timeline of how Critical Race Theory crossed the Atlantic to become a (contested) theme among "race-conscious scholars and activists" in England over the last decade or so, particularly in education
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1070289X.2019.1587907?journalCode=gide20#:~:text=Critical%20Race%20Theory%20(CRT)%20has,Warmington.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1070289X.2019.1587907?journalCode=gide20#:~:text=Critical%20Race%20Theory%20(CRT)%20has,Warmington.
Hansard records that the phrase "Critical Race Theory" has now been used four times in the British Parliament in the last decade (or the last two centuries). Once in the Commons in September 2020, and now three times in the Commons this month
Academic movement in US has had significant impacts on US civic society, left politics/journalism and culture. And some (weaker) influence in UK. However, almost certain that many other academic approaches to race have been more influential (though perhaps now conflated with CRT)
Several US discourses that have ended up being highly influential in the UK.
The modern rise of "political correctness" (after 1990) is a significant example of something that had a significant resonance on this side of the Atlantic.
"Culture war" is another example.
The modern rise of "political correctness" (after 1990) is a significant example of something that had a significant resonance on this side of the Atlantic.
"Culture war" is another example.
I guess "Critical Race Theory" will be a more marginal discussion than "Wokeness". This might conflate many things - from the furthest left academic theories, to a wide range of varieties of multiculturalist theory, to the general worldview of any Guardian-reading liberal.
Personally, in following UK race policy debates closely for 25 years, including those race academics who engage with public policy debate (eg Stuart Hall, Bhikhu Parekh, Tariq Modood) not much exposed to Critical Race Theory, though have heard a bit more about it in last 3 years.
From fairly differing right-of-centre and left-of-centre viewpoints, there were two significant points of overlap between Kemi Badenoch's Commons speech on Black History Month today and the David Olusoga conversation at the British Library earlier this month on the topic.
A point of convergence between Kemi Badenoch and David Olusoga was their scepticism about calls to "Decolonise the Curriculum". Badenoch stresses how much has changed; Olusoga sees it as a way to lose important arguments about what still needs to change https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1313921793028227072
Another point of convergence is that both were sceptical of a US template for Black History Month (though they voiced somewhat contrasting ideas about what the flaws of the US approach are, and what an more home-grown British Black History should focus on) https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1313917021655126017
Britain and America are very different societies. That isn't an argument that there aren't important issues to talk about on race here - but the history of Britain after Empire is different from the history of race in the USA.
Kemi Badenoch makes this point well.
Kemi Badenoch makes this point well.
A central point of the black lives matter protests was that there are distinct experiences of anti-black racism & black disadvantage, compared to other ethnic minority groups. That can be true in the UK, yet also be true here in a distinct way from how it is true in the USA
Transatlantic slave trade is certainly also significant in the history of Empire and the history of Britain
Windrush in 1948 - a key symbolic 'founding' moment for the Black British experience in post-war Britain - a distinct story over 3+ generations https://capx.co/windrush-at-70-a-totemic-chapter-in-britains-long-immigration-story/
Windrush in 1948 - a key symbolic 'founding' moment for the Black British experience in post-war Britain - a distinct story over 3+ generations https://capx.co/windrush-at-70-a-totemic-chapter-in-britains-long-immigration-story/
A complex British story - those who paid £28 (six month's wages) to seek a new life, often having served in the RAF, sure that they were British, yet arriving in a mother country which turned out not to recognise them as such. A different foundational story to Black America.
There are important, underestimated differences in social relationships as to why the left flank of US race politics - esp when it takes a somewhat segregationist turn - will fail to resonate in Britain https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1284105265047121920
'Critical Race Theory' is one source of ideas that people may hear about while never hearing about CRT, notably 'white privilege', 'white supremacy' & 'white fragility'. But other phrases sometimes attributed to CRT (eg structural or institutional racism) are not originated by it
Its valuable that we now have ethnic diversity on right, left and centre of British politics. The 'normalisation' of ethnic diversity is a big advance for integration & opportunity. @stephenkb makes insightful points about the value of pluralism on race https://twitter.com/stephenkb/status/1308346194159075329
But that pluralism is not well reflected by a binary approach to Woke vs Not Woke, where the right finds an interest in conflating social democracy with critical race theory, which the left may mirror by characterising the whole of the right as atavistic nativist populists.
To the extent I've managed to grasp what 'Critical Race Theory' is about, am not persuaded it offers an effective way to pursue anti-racism, equal opps & equal citizenship in Britain.
Bit surprised its in Commons discourse (before govt even came out against post-structuralism!)
Bit surprised its in Commons discourse (before govt even came out against post-structuralism!)
Obvs, would expect UK Conservatives to be sceptical of US left critical race academia too.
Question for mainstream centre-right on race: how to not just say what its against but set out how to pursue own agenda eg furthering meritocracy, shared identity https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1278435323060649988
Question for mainstream centre-right on race: how to not just say what its against but set out how to pursue own agenda eg furthering meritocracy, shared identity https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1278435323060649988
I suspect many people on the internet would tend to use Critical Race Theory to cover almost any academic discourse around race that has an anti-racist perspective. Whatever the pros and cons of multiculturalism in academia/policy, that is not from or part of Critical Race Theory
The Macpherson report (1999) did not take the concept of institutional racism from Critical Race Theory, then unknown in the UK. This thread reflects in hindsight on some of its limits, as a phrase, a point later made by inquiry adviser Richard Stone https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1101755334174093313?s=19
"Intersectionality" is a term coined in 1989. It is an abstract academic term for a thing that people discussing equality and equalities were aware of in the 1980s. At one level this is a common sense insight. What approach follows from this is what is politically contested.
Common sense insight - black working-class women may face more barriers in a society where black people, women and working-classes face barriers - is balanced by common sense point that eg some Black Old Estonians have advantages too over some students in Hartlepool/Tower Hamlets
Old Etonians!
Autocorrect suppressing that debate...
Autocorrect suppressing that debate...
Opposition to this approach to race (too essentialist, too pessimistic) is sincere, eg from right-of-centre thinkers and politicians from minority backgrounds. Characterising support for Black Lives Matter as CRT/hard left isn't how most ethnic minority Britons saw the protests
Intersectionality links. Coined with specific reference to the law, so about practical application as well as theory. https://twitter.com/wordsbyana/status/1318870695032573952?s=19
On Crenshaw coining Intersectionality https://twitter.com/wordsbyana/status/1318872585132802048?s=19
Challenge to the point about the distinction. Slavery being 'over there' before Commonwealth migration, largely economic, came over here in the post-war period https://twitter.com/AndrewBartletta/status/1318851894215888897?s=19
About one in five ethnic minority voters currently vote Conservative. About 4/10 of these voters believe Black Lives Matter protests advanced race equality in UK and about 4/10 think they didn't. Some may see it as far left + unhelpful, while many don't https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1285583418739298304?s=19
The idea that supporting the anti-racism protests or Black Lives Matter entails endorsement of Critical Race Theory is not an idea that would make sense to most ethnic minority Britons (including many of the Tory voters among them)
