Critical Race Theory Summary

Words: 1773
Pages: 8

Gloria Ladson-Billings, opens her groundbreaking article “Just what is critical race theory doing in a nice field like education?” with a personal narrative. I share her sentiment for the importance of storytelling as a developing critical race theorist. She emphasizes her reasoning by stating, “I tell this story both because storytelling is a part of critical race theory and because this particular story underscores an important point within the critical race theoretical paradigm” (1998). Here is my story. In 1996, I entered my first year of high school at George Washington Carver High School. Very early in the school year we were informed that we would be taking a trip which required parental permission. As I glanced at the permission slip the locale struck me as an unorthodox …show more content…
My dad was a criminal, all of the adult males around me appeared to be criminal. Whenever I had close contact with police officers I was treated like a criminal and a majority of the black males on television or in song were also portrayed as criminals. The history of the species I most resembled were the bad guys and this “field trip” solidified my outcome. Because of this, my reaction was to become as crafty at doing wrong as …show more content…
It provides me with a wealth of information that I am able to utilize in recognizing when and how oppression is taking place which places me in a position to work towards creating a better future for the next generation of African-American high school students who are also being fed this narrative. I am able to attempt to steer them clear of this “rhetoric of color-blindness” that “obfuscates meaningful discussion about identity politics, access, and the progressive institutional reforms that would ensure this access” (Holmes,