Time for a @wokal_distance-style thread on two subjects: 1) the claim that #CriticalRaceTheory teaches that "all white people are complicit in racism" and 2) whether CRT scholars are always honest brokers.
First, does CRT claim that "all white people are complicit in racism"? 1/
First, does CRT claim that "all white people are complicit in racism"? 1/
I often hear it claimed that CRT doesn't teach anything like "all white people are complicit in racism." However, Delgado and Stefancic's CRT: An Introduction is *the* classic introductory text on CRT and it includes the following statement: 2/
"many critical race theorists and social scientists hold that racism is pervasive, systemic, and deeply ingrained. If we take this perspective, then no white member of society seems quite so innocent.” - Delgado and Stefancic, CRT: An Introduction, p. 91 3/ 
"But wait," you object, "they said 'many CRTs'! Not 'all CRTs'! So not all CRTs think that racism is 'pervasive, etc.!"
But that leads to my 2nd point. Do "many" but not "all" CRTs think this way? No. At best, that claim is misleading. At worst, it's disingenuous. 4/
But that leads to my 2nd point. Do "many" but not "all" CRTs think this way? No. At best, that claim is misleading. At worst, it's disingenuous. 4/
The claim that racism is normal, permanent, and pervasive is a *core tenet* of CRT. Indeed, many CRTs list it as the *first* core tenet of CRT.
For example, here is Delgado *himself* writing with Matsuda, Lawrence, and Crenshaw, who all helped found CRT: 5/
For example, here is Delgado *himself* writing with Matsuda, Lawrence, and Crenshaw, who all helped found CRT: 5/
"critical race scholars have identified the following defining elements [of CRT]: 1. CRT recognizes that racism is endemic to American life...federalism, privacy, traditional values [and] established property interests...serve as vessels of racial subordination" (WtW, p. 6) 6/
Here is Yosso: "For the field of education, [Solorzano] identified five tenets of CRT.. 1. CRT starts from the premise that race and racism are central, endemic, permanent and a fundamental part of.. explaining how US society functions" (in Dixson, CRT in Education, p. 117) 7/
Kumasi: "CRT scholars recognize that the characteristics ascribed to a particular race.. change to fit a dominant group's interest. In this way, racist behavior is not an aberration in everyday life; it is often normal practice in deeply racialized systems" (Beyond Crit, p210) 8/
Now, it is *possible* that to believe 1) "racism is endemic" and still *not* draw the conclusion that 2) "no white member of society seems quite so innocent"? Yes. But Delgado thinks that claim 1) logically entails claim 2) and so do many other people. 9/
More importantly, Delgado is wrong to imply that "many" CRTs think that racism is systemic. He *knows* that this is a core tenet of CRT. I try to read charitably, but examples like this one make it hard for me to give these scholars the benefit of the doubt. 10/10
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