Critical Race Theory Report

The enforcement and structure of school discipline demonstrates Critical Legal Studies’s theory of the relationship between law and society, because law is not neutral and it is socially constructed. Critical Legal Studies emphasizes the fact that “law is not neutral,” meaning that it typically benefits one side over the other. It also describes how it is not “indeterminate,” meaning that it is not easily applied across all cases, even if they are the same. Most importantly, this theory states that “law advances the interests of the privileged,” meaning that the law can, at times, favor groups based on race, gender, and class. Looking through the lens of Critical Legal Studies, law can often be viewed as uncertain, unstable, and vague, or having

Moving into the Critical Race Theory, it is clear that there are higher suspension rates for black students than any other race. “More than four decades of research has shown that black students are suspended at two to three times the rate of white students,” which proves that there is a major racial divide (Cohen 6). Critical Race Theory argues that race is socially constructed, and typically any race that is not white is looked at under a magnifying glass. Their every move is monitored double or even triple the amount that a white student, which again, makes law neutral. A “Ten Point Plan” released in July 2015 ‘includes reforms such as reducing racial disparities in suspensions and more transparent data collection,” (Anderson 5). Although there has not been much more done to improve and grow this plan, it is necessary in all schools. In most cases, policymakers and public speakers make empty promises that are never fulfilled, supporting the idea of Critical Race Theory, so it is great to see that some people are actually taking the steps necessary to make a real change. In other places, nothing is being done about the racial

Looking at school discipline, no one can seem to figure out what is right and what is wrong, but that is not the point of Critical Legal Theory. It wants to prove how the law can favor one side over the other, even when there are rights and wrongs in a certain situation. Law does not care about rationality or trying to improve in order to better everyone, it just wants to settle something, and in many cases it is the side with more power. It states that there is so much bias in the law that no one even knows where to start in order to make the change. An article stated that “change always brings resistance, but finding ways to sustain support from teachers and school administrators will matter greatly moving forward,” and with this, those biases will begin to shrink (Cohen 14). Looking at school discipline through Critical Legal Studies is important because it proves how school discipline is not neutral in the way that it is enforced, and a lot of the time it is socially constructed. It chooses sides and does not benefit both parties, the student, and the community as a