Critical race studies in qualitative research: a review and future directions

Abstract

In 2021, former President Donald Trump issued a presidential memo halting and prohibiting “divisive” and “anti-American propaganda” in federal contracting--described as “any training on ‘critical race theory,’ ‘white privilege,’ or any other training and propaganda effort that teaches or suggests either (1) that the United States is an inherently racist or evil country or (2) that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil”. Unsurprisingly, the concerted attack against CRT grossly misunderstands what CRT is and often equates teaching about individual racism, privilege, unconscious bias, systemic racism, and U.S. history with the teaching of CRT. As of October 2021, 28 states have restricted education on racism, bias, and the teaching of CRT.

Keywords:

• Critical race theory
• qualitative methods
• higher education
• anti-CRT

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The editors want to acknowledge the controversy surrounding the term BIPOC. We defer to the language used by the authors in this special issue including: African American, BIPOC, Black, Brown, Chicanas/os, DeafChicana, Communities of Color, Indigenous, Latina, Latino, Latinx, Mexican American, people of Color, Scholars of Color, students of color, and Women of Color.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

María C. Ledesma

María C. Ledesma is professor and chair of the Department of Educational Leadership at San José State University’s Lurie College of Education.

Vanessa Johnson Ojeda

Vanessa Johnson Ojeda is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Utah’s College of Education.

Shawn R. Coon

Shawn R. Coon is assistant professor at Westminster College.

Laurence Parker

Laurence Parker is professor and chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Utah’s College of Education.