Critical race theory (CRT) was developed to examine the persistence of racism. This literature review attempts to understand CRT as it has been applied in related fields such as higher education and possible reasons for its limited application in adult education theorizing about race and racism. This analysis of CRT is framed against a backdrop of the evolution of an adult education discourse on race and racism over several decades and distinguishes CRT from other racial theories that have been used in the field. CRT tenets are discussed using examples that demonstrate how CRT reveals areas of racism left untouched by other forms of theorizing. The author provides a critique of CRT, caveats for those adult educators who might choose to use it, and examples of areas within the field of adult education that might benefit from a CRT lens.
Bell, D. ( 1992). Faces at the bottom of the well: The permanence of racism . New York: Basic Books.
2.
Bell, D. ( 1995). Brown v. Board of Education and the interest convergence dilemma. In K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, & K. Thomas (Eds.), Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement (pp. 20-29). New York: New Press.
3.
Bergerson, A.A. ( 2003). Critical theory and White racism: Is there room for White scholars in fighting racism in education? Qualitative Studies in Education, 16(1), 51-63.
4.
Bernstein, J. ( 1995). Recovering ethical life: Jurgen Habermas and the future of critical theory. New York: Routledge .
5.
Brady, K., Eatman, T., & Parker, L. ( 2000). To have or not to have? A preliminary analysis of higher education funding disparities in the post-Ayers v. Fordice era. Journal of Education Finance, 25(3), 297-322.
Brown, E. ( 1995). The Tower of Babel: Bridging the divide between critical race theory and "mainstream" civil rights scholarship. Yale Law Journal, 105(2), 513-547.
8.
Burden, J., Harrison, L., & Hodge, S. ( 2005). Perceptions of kinesiology-based programs at predominantly White American institutions of higher education. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76(2). Retrieved June 2007 from http://find.galegroup.com.proxy.usf.edu/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=EAIM&docId=A134921322&source=gale&srcprod=EAIM&userGroupName=tamp59176&version=1.0
9.
Calmore, J. ( 1995). Critical race theory, Archie Shepp and fire music. In K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, & K. Thomas (Eds.), Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement (pp. 315-329). New York: New Press.
10.
Castagno, A., & Lee, S. ( 2007). Native mascots and ethnic fraud. Equity & Excellence in Education, 40(3), 3-13.
11.
Cole, M., & Maisuria, A. ( 2007). Shut the f*** up: You have no rights here: Critical race theory and racialisation in post-7/7 racist Britain. Journal of Critical Educational Policy Studies, 5(1). Retrieved November 2007 from http://www.jceps.com/?pageID=article&articleID=85
12.
Colin, S. ( 1996). Marcus Garvey Africentric adult education for selfethnic reliance. In E. Peterson (Ed.), Freedom road: Adult education of African Americans (pp. 41-66). Malabar, FL: Krieger.
13.
Colin, S., & Guy, T. ( 1998). An Africentric interpretive model of curriculum orientations for course development in graduate programs in adult education. PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 7, 43-55.
14.
Collins, P. ( 1990). Black feminist thought. New York: Routledge.
15.
Cooper, J., Massey, D., & Graham, A. ( 2006). Being Dixie at a historically Black university: A White faculty member’s exploration of Whiteness through the narratives of two Black faculty members. Negro Educational Review, 57(1-2), 117-135.
16.
Crenshaw, K. ( 1995). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence. In K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, & K. Thomas (Eds.), Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement (pp. 357-383). New York: New Press.
17.
Crenshaw, K., Gotanda, N. , Peller, G., & Thomas, K. (Eds.). (1995). Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement. New York: New Press.
18.
DeCuir, A., & Dixson, A. ( 2004). "So when it comes out, they aren’t that surprised that it is there": Using critical race theory as a tool of analysis of race and racism in education. Educational Researcher, 33(5), 26-31.
19.
Delgado, R. ( 1995). The imperial scholar. In K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, & K. Thomas (Eds.), Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement (pp. 46-57). New York: New Press .
20.
Delgado, R. ( 2003). Crossroads and blind alleys: A critical examination of recent writing about race. Texas Law Review, 8, 121-152.
21.
Delgado Bernal, D., & Villalpando, O. (2002). An apartheid of knowledge . Equity and Excellence in Education, 35(2), 169-180.
22.
Denton, L. ( 1993). Booker T. Washington and the adult education movement . Gainesville: University of Florida Press.
23.
Dixson, A., & Rousseau, C. ( 2005). And we are still not saved: Critical race theory in education ten years later. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 7-27.
24.
Donnor, J. ( 2005). Towards an interest convergence in the education of African-American student athletes in major college sports. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 45-67.
25.
Guy, T. ( 1996). Alain Locke and the AAAE movement: Cultural pluralism and Negro adult education. Adult Education Quarterly, 46(4), 209-223.
26.
Guy, T. ( 1999). Culture as context for adult education: The need for culturally relevant adult education. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 82, 5-18.
27.
Harris, C. ( 1995). Whiteness as property. In K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, & K. Thomas (Eds.), Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement (pp. 276-291). New York: New Press .
28.
Hayes, E., & Colin, S. (Eds.). (1994). Confronting racism and sexism . New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 61, 5-15.
29.
Johnson-Bailey, J. ( 2001a). The road less walked: A retrospective of race and ethnicity in adult education. International Journal of Lifelong Education , 20(1/2), 89-99.
30.
Johnson-Bailey, J. ( 2001b). Sistahs in college: Making a way out of no way. Malabar, FL: Krieger.
31.
Johnson-Bailey, J. ( 2006). African Americans in adult education: The Harlem Renaissance revisited. Adult Education Quarterly, 56(2), 102-118.
32.
Johnson-Bailey, J., & Cervero, R. ( 1996). An analysis of the reentry narratives of reentry Black women. Adult Education Quarterly, 46(3), 142-157.
33.
Johnson-Bailey, J., & Cervero, R. ( 2000). The invisible politics of race. In A. Wilson & E. Hayes (Eds.), Handbook of adult and continuing education (pp. 147-160). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
34.
Johnson-Bailey, J., & Lee, M. ( 2005). Women of color in the academy: Where’s our authority in the classroom. Feminist Teacher: A Journal of the Practices Theories and Scholarship of Feminist Teaching, 15(2), 111-122.
35.
Kujovich, G. ( 1997). Equal opportunity in higher education and the Black public college: The era of separate but not equal. Minnesota Law Review, 72, 35-43.
36.
Ladson-Billings, G. ( 1998). Just what is critical race theory and what is it doing in a nice field like education? Qualitative Studies in Education , 11(1), 7-24.
37.
Ladson-Billings, G. ( 2000). Racialized discourses and ethnic epistemologies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 257-258). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
38.
Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W. ( 1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teacher’s College Record, 97(1), 41-62.
39.
Leaders resign themselves to settlement in Mississippi desegregation case . (2001). Black Issues in Higher Education, 18(6), 13.
40.
Lynch, R. ( 2006). Critical race educational foundations: Toward democratic practice. Action in Teacher Education, 28(2), 53-65.
41.
Manglitz, E. ( 2003). Challenging White privilege in adult education: A critical review of the literature. Adult Education Quarterly, 3(2), 119-134.
42.
Marx, S. ( 2004). Regarding Whiteness: Exploring and intervening in the effects of White racism in teacher education. Equity & Excellence in Education, 37, 31-43.
43.
McDowell, T., & Jeris, L. ( 2004). Talking about race using critical race theory: Recent trends in the Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy. Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy, 30(1), 81-94.
44.
Monaghan, P. ( 1993). Critical race theory: Some startling analyses. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved July 2006 from http://chronicle.com
45.
Morfin, O., Perez, V., Parker, L., Lynn, M., & Arona, J. ( 2006). Hiding the politically obvious. Educational Policy, 20(1), 249-270.
46.
Outlaw, L. ( 1983). Philosophy, hermeneutics, social-political theory: Critical thought in the interests of African-Americans. In L. Harris (Ed.), Philosophy born of struggle (pp. 60-87). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.
47.
Peterson, E. ( 1996). Freedom road: Adult education of African Americans. Malabar, FL: Krieger.
48.
Peterson, E. ( 1999). Creating a culturally relevant dialogue for African American adult educators. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education , 82, 79-91.
49.
Rachal, J. ( 1998). We’ll never turn back: Adult education and the struggle for citizenship in Mississippi’s freedom summer. American Educational Research Journal, 35(2), 167-198.
50.
Reddick, (1945). Adult education and the improvement of race relations. Journal of Negro Education, 14(3), 488-493.
51.
Rhyne, D. ( 1973). Adult education and the rational-irrational dimension of prejudice. Adult Education Quarterly, 23, 203-233.
52.
Rocco, T., & Gallagher, S. ( 2004). Discriminative justice: Can discrimination be just? New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 101, 29-41.
53.
Rubin, I. ( 1967). Reduction of prejudice through mass media. Adult Education Quarterly, 18, 43-52.
54.
Sheared, V. ( 1994). Giving voice: An inclusive model of instruction-A womanist perspective. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education , 61, 27-37.
55.
Sheared, V. ( 1999). Giving voice: Inclusion of African American students’ polyrhythmic realities. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 82, 33-48.
56.
Solórzano, D. ( 1997). Images and words that wound: Critical race theory, racial stereotyping and teacher education. Teacher Education Quarterly , 24(3), 5-19.
57.
Solórzano, D., Ceja, M., & Yosso, T. ( 2000). Critical race theory, racial microagressions and campus racial climate: The experiences of African American college students. Journal of Negro Education, 69(1/2), 60-73.
58.
Solórzano, D., & Delgado Bernal, D. (2001). Examining transformational resistance through a critical race and LatCrit theory framework. Urban Education, 36(3), 308-342.
59.
Solórzano, D., Villalpando, O., & Oseguera, L. ( 2005). Educational inequities and Latina/o undergraduate students in the US. Journal of Hispanic Education, 4(3), 272-294.
60.
Solórzano, D., & Yosso, T. ( 2001). From racial stereotyping and deficit discourse toward a critical race theory in teacher education. Multicultural Education, 9(1), 2-8.
61.
Solórzano, D., & Yosso, T. ( 2002a). A critical race counter story of race, racism, and affirmative action. Equity & Excellence in Education, 35(2), 155-168.
62.
Solórzano, D., & Yosso, T. ( 2002b). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry , 8(1), 23-44.
63.
Tate, W. ( 2005). Ethics, engineering and the challenge of racial reform in education. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 121-127.
64.
Taylor, E. ( 1998). A primer on critical race theory. Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 19, 122-124.
65.
Tyack, D. ( 1988). Ways of seeing: An essay on the history of compulsory schooling. In R. Jaeger (Ed.), Complementary methods for research in education (pp. 24-58). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
66.
West, C. ( 1995). Foreword. In K. Crenshaw , N. Gotanda, G. Peller, & K. Thomas (Eds.), Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement. New York: New Press.
67.
Williams, D., & Evans-Winter, V. (2005). Burden of teaching teachers: Memoirs of race discourse. Urban Review, 37(3), 201-219.
68.
Wilson, A., & Hayes, E. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of adult and continuing education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass .
69.
Yosso, T. ( 2006). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. In A. Dixson & C. Rousseau (Eds.), Critical race theory in education: All God’s children got a song (pp. 167-189). New York: Routledge.
