This paper examines Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a contemporary intellectual framework that has reshaped discourse on race, power, and identity in the United States, particularly within narratives surrounding Black victimhood. Originating in late twentieth-century legal scholarship through the work of Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Richard Delgado, CRT emerged in response to dissatisfaction with the outcomes of post-civil rights reform and challenged the assumption that formal legal equality marked the end of structural racial inequality. This study begins by clarifying CRT’s core principles, intellectual lineage, and intended scope, distinguishing the framework from common public misinterpretations. Using an interdisciplinary method combining philosophical analysis, intellectual history, and comparative textual study, the paper places CRT in dialogue with critiques of contemporary race discourse advanced by Thomas Sowell and other scholars concerned with culture, agency, and institutional development. The analysis finds that interpretive frameworks centered primarily on structural victimization risk narrowing public and internal self-conceptions of Black identity and inadvertently reinforcing narratives that underemphasize personal and collective agency. While CRT remains historically significant as a tool for examining past injustice, its continued influence as a cultural framework may obscure measurable social progress and weaken emphasis on civic participation, responsibility, and cultural renewal. The paper concludes that a recalibrated approach – one that acknowledges historical inequities while foregrounding autonomy and achievement – provides a more productive lens for understanding Black identity in the twenty-first century.

Authors:
Rheagan Humphrey, Southern Methodist University, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Ms. Rheagan Humphrey is a doctoral candidate at Southern Methodist University. Her research explores agency and personal responsibility in African American communities while critiquing contemporary victimhood frameworks.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rheagan-humphrey

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