LAW & CRIME

The Origins of Critical Race Theory: The People and Ideas That Created a Movement

NYU. Mar. 2025. 288p. ISBN 9781479832675. $30. LAW
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Martinez (Latina/Latino studies, Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Counterstory: The Rhetoric and Writing of Critical Race Theory) and Smith (history, Univ. of North Texas; Comprehending Christian Zionism) put faces and features on the foundation and interwoven relationships of the development of critical race theory (CRT). In five chapters with a time line and numerous primary-source documents, and photographs, they straightforwardly introduce CRT’s founders and explain how they came together and what they created. They build out from the work of Derrick Bell (1930–2011), a central figure in the creation of CRT who was also an activist and legal scholar. Noting seminal works and milestone events from Bell’s 1985 Harvard Law Review onward, the book examines the evolving literature, network, criticisms, and cycles of right-wing political disinformation that stoke fear of CRT. Martinez and Smith’s plain language makes accessible what the argot of academic discourse often obscures about CRT’s tenets, which have roots in liberationist thought and the lived experiences of people of color.
VERDICT This absorbing narrative with textbook clarity is a must for readers interested in the facts of CRT and how it understands the U.S. legal and political systems’ impact on systemic racial inequality. Highly recommended.
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