Thread by @JuddLegum

1. CRT has been distorted by the right as an all-purpose boogieman to rile up voters.

But it's actually a sophisticated and useful way to understand the cause of persistent racial inequality.

Let's explore how it works in practice.

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2. Black people represent 12% of the total population and 33% of the prison population.

Why?

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3. It can't be explained by saying that black people commit more crime.

And "[b]lack and white Americans sell and use drugs at similar rates."

But Black Americans are 6x more likely to be incarcerated for it

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4. CRT interrogates the legal system for answers. And it finds many of the practices that create racial inequality are unintentional, banal, and facially race-neutral

There is no evil man behind the curtain

It is baked into the institutional structure

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5. For example, CRT scholars would point to the 1996 case of Whren v. United States

A unanimous SCOTUS ruled that police who lack probable causecan follow someone they FEEL might be engaged in druge activity until they find a pretextual traffic violation

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6. This helps explain why black people are much more likely to be incarcerated for drug crimes.

Police are able to use explicit and implicit bias to pull over black people at higher rates.

Thus, they catch more black people with drugs.

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7. These are complex topics that are hard to explain over Twitter. And, BTW, are not taught in second grade.

But check out the whole piece.

In order to understand how CRT is being distorted, we need to understand CRT itself

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8. I'll have more on the web of non-profits, elected officials, and media figures that are pushing disinformation about CRT in the days ahead. (And, critically, the $ behind their effort.)

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