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A review by shaffoes
Critical Race Theory, An Introduction by Richard Delgado
4.0
The book is written with a legal audience in mind, geared towards filling a gap in legal education by providing background and examples of how critical race theory (CRT) came to be and what it has accomplished. It is a good introduction to CRT, although the language used was sometimes problematic, as the authors referred to Native Americans as “Indians” (a term which, aside from being inaccurate, can cause confusion concerning which ‘Indians’ are being discussed – misnamed Native Americans or Indians from India). My overall impression of the book, however, was that it was written to be accessible to a wide-ranging audience (from activists and scholars to lay people) so perhaps some of this sloppiness can be forgiven.
Although the authors are decidedly in favor of CRT, the book did a surprisingly good job of giving time to the movement’s critics and explaining their positions as reasonable. In the end, most of the critiques were given along with counterarguments, however the authors often seemed to be straying too far into fairness even as they laid out a well-argued critique of the liberal notions of ‘fairness’ and ‘equality’.
Perhaps the most useful part of the book came at the very end, in the Glossary of Terms, spanning from pages 141 to 156. This short section can be used alone as an introduction to some of the key concepts at work in CRT as well as a primer to some of the often mystifying language used by its proponents.
Each chapter includes discussion questions and scenarios that help to work through the ideas in the chapter and to consider them critically. Small groups or classrooms will likely find these questions extremely useful, and far more insightful than the typical discussion questions that authors present; the authors of this introduction want readers to engage with CRT, not just to accept its premises blindly. The book works well as an introduction, and it leaves the reader with enough of an appetite to continue searching – an appetite that each chapter responds to with lists of suggested readings.
Although the authors are decidedly in favor of CRT, the book did a surprisingly good job of giving time to the movement’s critics and explaining their positions as reasonable. In the end, most of the critiques were given along with counterarguments, however the authors often seemed to be straying too far into fairness even as they laid out a well-argued critique of the liberal notions of ‘fairness’ and ‘equality’.
Perhaps the most useful part of the book came at the very end, in the Glossary of Terms, spanning from pages 141 to 156. This short section can be used alone as an introduction to some of the key concepts at work in CRT as well as a primer to some of the often mystifying language used by its proponents.
Each chapter includes discussion questions and scenarios that help to work through the ideas in the chapter and to consider them critically. Small groups or classrooms will likely find these questions extremely useful, and far more insightful than the typical discussion questions that authors present; the authors of this introduction want readers to engage with CRT, not just to accept its premises blindly. The book works well as an introduction, and it leaves the reader with enough of an appetite to continue searching – an appetite that each chapter responds to with lists of suggested readings.