critical race theory

noun

: a group of concepts (such as the idea that race (see race entry 1 sense 1a) is a sociological rather than biological designation, and that racism (see racism sense 2a) pervades society and is fostered and perpetuated by the legal system) used for examining the relationship between race and the laws and legal institutions of a country and especially the United States

Critical race theory essentially forces legal scholars to ask questions, she [Kimberlé Crenshaw] continued. For instance, why does possession of less expensive drugs carry higher jail sentences than more expensive drugs? Could this have anything to do with the fact that more people of color are in prison? "It is a way of looking at law's role … facilitating, producing, and even insulating racial inequality in our country, ranging from health to wealth to segregation to policing," said Crenshaw …

—Columbia News

Critical race theory is a field of intellectual inquiry that demonstrates the legal codification of racism in America. Through the study of law and U.S. history, it attempts to reveal how racial oppression shaped the legal fabric of the U.S. Critical race theory is traditionally less concerned with how racism manifests itself in interactions with individuals and more concerned with how racism has been, and is, codified into the law.

—David Miguel Gray

also : a movement advocating the examination of this relationship

Ultimately, the liberal defense of critical race theory ignores an aspect of the movement that many of its founders considered fundamental: the "desire not merely to understand the vexed bond between law and racial power but to change it," as the editors of "Critical Race Theory" [Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement] wrote. … Critical race theory is not merely about making a better historical document but about movement toward the way things could be.

—Lauren Michele Jackson

—abbreviation CRT

critical race theorist noun

plural critical race theorists

Many CRT scholars had witnessed how the law could be used to help secure and protect civil rights. Therefore, critical race theorists recognized that, while the law could be used to deepen racial inequality, it also held potential as a tool for emancipation and for securing racial equality.

—Janel George

Examples of critical race theory in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Brown singled out five major attacks on DEI, critical race theory, and affirmative action in the past two years. —Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2025

Trump also briefly mentioned his executive order banning critical race theory from public schools. —Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 6 Mar. 2025

And those who want to ban books, those who want to change the curriculum, those who believe that this kind of story might be considered a critical race theory. —Abc News, ABC News, 18 Feb. 2025

The film is a period piece — dated not so much for its sartorial styles as for its by-your-bootstraps analysis of Black culture, which has long since been revised in the light of critical race theory. —J. Hoberman, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1989, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for critical race theory

• beery
• bleary
• cheery
• cirri
• dearie
• deary
• dreary
• eerie
• kiri
• leary
• leery
• peery