The Origins of Critical Race Theory

The People and Ideas That Created a Movement

By: Aja Y Martinez, Robert O. Smith

Narrated by: Janina Edwards

Critical race theory (CRT), a vital movement and discipline in American legal scholarship, has transformed our understanding of systemic racism. Yet despite insightful analysis revealing the threads of racism embedded in American institutions and society, it has been demonized by opponents at every turn.

The Origins of Critical Race Theory weaves together the many sources of critical race theory, recounting the origin story for one of the most insightful and controversial academic movements in U.S. history. In addition to introducing listeners to the tenets and key insights of critical race theory, Martinez and Smith explore the lives and intellectual influences of the movement's founders, shedding light on how the many components of critical race theory eventually formed into a movement.

Aja Y. Martinez and Robert O. Smith provide the personal side of critical race theory. They reveal that despite the Marxist menace it has recently been made out to be, critical race theory is an organic extension of the Civil Rights movement, a deeply human and deeply American response to ongoing systemic injustice and inequity. An insightful exploration into the story of a movement, The Origins of Critical Race Theory narrates the hidden influences, fascinating characters, and intellectual struggles that informed critical race theory's inception.

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