Differential racialization refers to the way that different racial and ethnic groups have been racialized differently, differently from each other and differently from themselves at other times, based on what is most beneficial to the dominant group at the time. 

Differential Racialization

The social construction of race refers to how the concept and categories of race, as well as the meanings given to them, are not innate, but instead formed by society. While there are real physical traits that humans have, such as skin color, these traits do not exist in the format of clearly defined boxes that the concept “race” is structured as, nor do they correspond to any personal traits or values, a false belief that racism is built upon.

Georgetown University

While not universally supported by every critical race theorist, these are the basic propositions uniting the movement:

- Racism is ordinary
- Racism serves the dominant group
- Race is socially constructed

Basic Tenets of Critical Race Theory

Socially constructed groupings of people that are defined by shared physical or biological characteristics. 

Race (as a Social Identity)

The theory that what we consider “reality” is a collection of collaboratively constructed views of the world created through social interactions that then become the basis for shared assumptions, meanings, and ascribed values within a society.

Social Constructionism

Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2012). Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (2nd ed.). NYU Press.

Critical Race Theory: An Introduction 

The view of racism as something ordinary asserts that racism is something we all interact with in our common, everyday life experiences. While there are glaring examples of racial discrimination that catch our attention, there are many more common examples of racism that go unnoticed every day. 

Racism as something ordinary

The view that racism serves the dominant group asserts that the material and psychological benefits that white people experience through racism means they are disincentivized from challenging racism as a system.


Racism as something that serves the dominant group

The poverty rate is two times higher for African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans than it is for White people and Asian Americans; Unemployment plays a huge role, especially in a pandemic since many Black workers are more likely to lose their jobs

Race (as a Characteristic of the Poor)

Critical Race Theory is an interdisciplinary movement made up of activists and scholars working to understand and change the relationships between race, racism, and power. 

Critical Race Theory (CRT)

On average, African Americans are 3.5 times more likely to be killed by police. They are also 1.5 times more unlikely to be unarmed. As such, people of color, particularly African Americans are most likely to experience the negative effects of his violence. This can be seen in mental health trends.

Police Violence and Its Effect on People of Color

-  representations (e.g. ideas, theories, taxonomies)
- general non-representational facts 
- non-representational facts about human traits.


Types of Social Constructs

Kerschbaum argues that discourse extends beyond spoken or written language to encompass material objects, body language, and physical environments. By integrating perspectives from materialist disability studies and critical phenomenology, the author offers a theoretical counterbalance to purely social constructionist models, arguing that the material world serves as an "active co-participant" in the construction of disability. This approach insists on recognizing the "shared world-making" that occurs between material realities and social constructions.

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