Re-Envisioning Race in a ‘Post-Racial’ Era: New Approaches in Critical Race Theory | Yale Law School
April 5, 2014
Re-Envisioning Race in a ‘Post-Racial’ Era: New Approaches in Critical Race Theory
Saturday, April 5, 2014
(with informal events on Friday, April 4, 2014)
(with informal events on Friday, April 4, 2014)
Sponsored by the Zelia & Oscar Ruebhausen / Debevoise & Plimpton Student Fund
at Yale Law School
at Yale Law School
with additional support from
La Casa Cultural, Asian American Cultural House at Yale College, and the
National Black Law Students Association
La Casa Cultural, Asian American Cultural House at Yale College, and the
National Black Law Students Association
We Are Proud to Announce Our
Keynote Speaker: Kimberlé W. Crenshaw
&
Endnote Speaker: Devon W. Carbado
&
Endnote Speaker: Devon W. Carbado
As the nation marks the fiftieth
anniversary of the March on Washington and the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
there is much to celebrate- and much cause for alarm. The country’s
first black president is well into his second term, a development that
would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. A number of people of
color have entered the middle and upper classes, enjoying financial and
educational success far beyond what prior generations could have
imagined. Critical race theory scholars - once rejected by their law
schools and denigrated by their colleagues - have become a part of the
academy, helping to shape the discourse around race and the law and
imagine new ways forward. Nevertheless, race continues to impact the
opportunities we have, how we’re treated under the law, and other
important aspects of our lives. The average white family is six times as
wealthy as the average black or Latino family. Brutal murders of young
boys of color, like Trayvon Martin, and stark racial disparities
throughout the criminal legal system reveal ongoing indifference to the
humanity of people of color. Comprehensive immigration reform remains a
dream deferred. And racial injustices large and small become harder to
confront as more and more Americans succumb to the myth that race no
longer matters.
The “Re-Envisioning Race” conference will be an exciting anniversary of the March on Washington and the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
there is much to celebrate- and much cause for alarm. The country’s
first black president is well into his second term, a development that
would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. A number of people of
color have entered the middle and upper classes, enjoying financial and
educational success far beyond what prior generations could have
imagined. Critical race theory scholars - once rejected by their law
schools and denigrated by their colleagues - have become a part of the
academy, helping to shape the discourse around race and the law and
imagine new ways forward. Nevertheless, race continues to impact the
opportunities we have, how we’re treated under the law, and other
important aspects of our lives. The average white family is six times as
wealthy as the average black or Latino family. Brutal murders of young
boys of color, like Trayvon Martin, and stark racial disparities
throughout the criminal legal system reveal ongoing indifference to the
humanity of people of color. Comprehensive immigration reform remains a
dream deferred. And racial injustices large and small become harder to
confront as more and more Americans succumb to the myth that race no
longer matters.
opportunity to convene leading scholars, legal practitioners and
community leaders to examine the ways in which Critical Race Theory can
be applied to scholarly work, legal practice, social justice advocacy
and community organizing. The event will continue the dialogue begun at
the 2013 conference “Critical Race Theory: From the Academy to the
Community,” and will move the larger conversation forward in bold, new
directions. Tackling complex issues such as the dangers of discretion in
the criminal legal system and the policing of the sexual and
reproductive rights of women of color, “Re-Envisioning Race” will offer
participants a chance to explore how the lessons of critical race theory
can be used to dismantle subtle and violent systems of oppression that
continue to constrain the lives of people of color. Conference
participants will be challenged to confront injustice “out there” and
within our own lives — a practice of reflection that is a necessary part
of the liberation to which CRT aspires.
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