Why has the discourse on race disintegrated into circular discussions about merit, privilege, and victimization? In the thirty-six years since Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, we have failed to solve problems of housing discrimination, police brutality, and poor inner-city schools. In this course, we will examine the work of a group of scholars who contend that we cannot solve these problems without a radical shift in the analytical framework. We usually study race in the context of neutral political and legal systems. We sometimes analyze it in a "multicultural" context that dilutes issues of superiority and oppression. The authors we will read challenge concepts of neutrality, color-blindness, and multiculturalism. Part of the course will focus on the political-legal aspects of critical race theory, while other parts will address the intersection of race, class, and gender and the emerging scholarship on whiteness.

• Teacher: Andrea Simpson