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2 Crit 1 (2009)
Will the Real CRT Please Stand Up - The Dangers of Philosophical Contributions to CRT

handle is hein.journals/tcrit2 and id is 1 raw text is: Winter 2009

WILL THE REAL CRT PLEASE STAND Up? THE DANGERS OF
PHILOSOPHICAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO CRT*
Tommy J. Curry1
INTRODUCTION
The recent pop culture iconography of the Critical Race
Theory (CRT) label has attracted more devoted (white) fans than a
9os boy band. In philosophy, this trend is evidenced by the
growing number of white feminists who extend their work in
gender analogically to questions of race and identity. The trend is
further evidenced by the unchecked use of the CRT label to
describe (1) any work dealing with postcolonial authors like
W.E.B. Du Bois and Frantz Fanon or (2) the role postcolonial
themes like power, discourse, and the unconscious play in the
social constructionist era. While this misnomer may seem
practically insignificant, the artifice formerly known as CRT in
philosophy-more adequately labeled critical theories of race-
has been axiomatically driven by the political ideals of integration
and by a revisionist commentary that seeks to expand traditional
philosophical ideas, such as reason, history, and humanity, which
were previously closed off by racial borders, to people of color.
This revision in the name of inclusion, however, is not without
its consequences. In order to incorporate the experiences of those
who suffer under the weight of modernity and are marred by the
burdens of racism into the narration of Continental and American
philosophy, the theoretical perspectives in Critical Race Theory
that deny the legitimacy of philosophy's diversity agenda must
necessarily be excluded    In particular, this recent move to
recognize the study of race as a category of philosophical relevance
has resulted in the outright denial of the nationalist and
revolutionary fervor contained in the intellectual history specific
to the Critical Race Theory movement started by the works of
I would like to thank Derrick Bell for his continued friendship and
correspondence in regard to his thought, Cheryl Harris for encouraging me to
write this piece, Saul Sarabia for asking the infamous question, Will the Real
CRT Please Stand Up, that motivated my reflections in this article; Dean Peter
Alexander for his feedback on this argument as part of my dissertation project;
and last but not least, Gwenetta D. Curry, whose support enables me to
continue writing.
1 Post Doctoral Fellow at Penn State University

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