“Critical Race Theory offers of discrimination frameworks as ways of understanding and eradicating racism. The focus on "discrimination" as the way to understand racism in the US has meant that racism is considered a question of discriminatory intentions - whether or not somebody intentionally left someone out or did something harmful because of their biased feelings about a person's race. This focus on individual racists with bad ideas hides the reality that racism exists wherever conditions of racialized maldistribution exist.” WayPersonsIdeasFeelingsRealityIndividualLeftUnderstandingRaceFocusConditionsTheoryOffersRacismIntentionCriticalDiscriminationRacistFrameworkBad IdeasBiased Author:Dean Spade
“Law reforms in the US, ostensibly enacted to prohibit racism, have proven ineffective because they focus on bad intentions of individuals and fail to comprehend population-level conditions.” LawIndividualLevelsFocusFailingConditionsRacismIntentionPopulationReformProvenBad Intentions Author:Dean Spade
“Legal doctrine requiring a showing of evidence of racist intent and a narrow chain of causation has made it very difficult to prove in court that a person or group is experiencing racism because the standards are too narrow and too focused on individual intentions.” PersonsMadeIndividualDifficultGroupsProveRacismStandardsEvidenceCourtIntentionFocusedDoctrineChainsMade ItRacistCausation Author:Dean Spade
“As trans advocacy has institutionalized and developed, the context of the undemocratic nature of US non-profits and the ways that white, wealthy individuals can intensely influence the directions of advocacy have increasingly come to the surface for trans activists.” WayIndividualWhiteInfluenceProfitSurfaceWealthyActivistTransAdvocacyNon Profit Author:Dean Spade
“Power is not a matter of one dominant individual or institutions, but instead manifests in interconnected, contradictory sites where regimes of knowledge and practice circulate and take hold. This way of understanding the dispersion of power helps us realize that power is not simply about certain individuals being targeted for death or exclusion by a ruler, but instead about the creation of norms that distribute vulnerability and security.” WayMatterHelpingCertainIndividualUnderstandingRealizingPracticeSecurityCreationInstitutionsVulnerabilityRegimesRulersSiteDominantNormContradictoryExclusionInterconnectedDispersion Author:Dean Spade
