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What is the connection between Marxist thinking, Critical Race Theory, and actions by churches (including the Church of England) to address the perceived experience of racial injustice? The question is contested, but it is not straightforward, since Critical Race Theory has a complex intellectual history, and the underlying assumptions in the debates about race and ethnicity are not always evident from the language used on the surface. 

In this helpful essay, Matthew Morgan explores the connections and parallels, looking back at the origins of Critical Theory and Critical Race Theory. It is a longer read than usual—but bear with it, since it makes some important observations!

Matthew Morgan writes: The theoretical underpinning of Critical Race Theory (CRT) has been much debated. For critics such as James Lindsay, it is a Marxist attempt to spread chaos and foment unrest in the West, especially America. (James Lindsay, Critical Race Theory 2020). For advocates, it is a necessary and vital corrective to current Western culture and Christianity. Descriptions of CRT as Marxism are therefore perceived as hurtful attempts to malign this much needed work. (See Christianity and Critical Race Theory Robert Romero, Liou Chao, and M Jeff. 2023, p 9)

In what follows, I will attempt to outline the ideological roots of CRT in Marxist thought as it was developed by the Frankfurt School and by Antonio Gramsci. After doing this, I will explain some of the claims being made in popular culture from within the CRT framework and then pose what I consider to be a particular problem for CRT.

What is Critical Race Theory?

Richard Delgado (a founding contributor to CRT) and Jean Stefancic define CRT in their introductory text on the topic:

The critical race theory (CRT) movement is a collection of activists and scholars engaged in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power. The movement considers many of the same issues that conventional civil rights and ethnic studies discourses take up but places them in a broader perspective that includes economics, history, setting, group and self-interest, and emotions and the unconscious. Unlike traditional civil rights discourse, which stresses incrementalism and step-by-step progress, critical race theory questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law. (Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic. Critical Race Theory (Third Edition). 2017, p. 3.)

In short, CRT is an approach to studying racial dynamics within and on society. It does so by challenging the fundamentals of Western society as perpetuating racial hostility and oppression. As Delgado and Stefancic write, “Racism is ordinary […] the usual way society does business, the common, everyday experience of most people in [America]” (ibid, p 8). Though it was specifically developed within the context of the United States, as shown by the above quotation, CRT is being applied to other Western countries, and to the West in general.

(Why) should we explore the origins of CRT?

There may well be some who would argue that exploring the theoretical origins of CRT is itself racist. As I hope to show, such an endeavour might be conceived as an attempt of the oppressive hegemony (the dominant power) to retain power and divert the attention of the oppressed groups so that they stay oppressed. That is, that outlining the origins and framework of CRT is actually an attempt to undermine CRT and continue the racism that exists in society. Even is there is some truth in that, stifling questions about CRT will not help achieve the goals of racial justice and will just increase the sense of antagonism. It is in everyone’s interests that we are open and honest about the origins and methods of CRT.