Definition Of Critical Race Theory By W. E. B. Dubois

3055 Words13 Pages

“If somewhere in this whirl and chaos of things there dwells Eternal Good, pitiful yet masterful, then anon in His good time America shall rend the Veil and the prisoned shall go free.” This is a quote by W. E. B. Du Bois in his 1903 work, The Souls of Black Folk. He is referring to the deeply rooted but subtly spoken of oppression of Black Americans in the twentieth century. At the end of his work, he appeals to God for help in lifting this oppression for his fellow brothers and sisters. Du Bois is one of the various activists, scholars, and philosophers who wrote of particular injustices on a societal level. This paper will seek to show how Critical Race Theory, a particular ideology within the grand Social Justice Movement, has historically …show more content…

Next, a three part analysis of Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and W. E. B. Du Bois will seek to show how specific ideals from each perspective are favorable and could contribute to the modern understanding of Critical Race Theory. More specifically, Marx’s “Labor Theory of Value,” Nietzsche’s concept of “Slave and Master Morality,” and Du Bois’s perspective of “The Veil” will be explored in detail. Du Bois’s perspective will be explored in greater length due to how it relates closest with CRT. This paper seeks not to demonstrate how each academic gave specific rise to Critical Race Theory. Rather, this paper will merely show that each academic held specific ideals or perspectives that are also found in Critical Race …show more content…

The CRT movement “is a collection of activists and scholars engaged in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power.” They elaborate and include various core beliefs, both general and specific, that narrow their movement. In short, they believe that racism is always present and works directly against people of color. Further, the hierarchical systems of power favor the majority (Whites) and rarely ask them to compromise in discriminational decisions. There are smaller facets that surround these general beliefs such as the belief that race has been manipulated and abused for economic advantage and that an unsympathetic “voice of color” exists that exhibits an unheard experience that Whites simply cannot understand. Common phrases and themes of CRT include the relationship between oppressor and oppressed, manipulated and blind devotion, and the general idea of injustices and inequalities within systems of power. These should all be considered in light of Marx, Nietzsche, and Du