When Gloria Ladson-Billings (2009) posed the question "Just what is Critical Race Theory, and what's it doing in a nice field like education?" in 1998, she heralded a new era, introducing to educators what had served theretofore as a means of theorizing structural racial inequalities in the law. Ladson-Billings and others applied critical race theory (CRT) as an essential analytical tool for systemic racial injustice in education, and indeed, in the whole of society.
But if CRT has applications to the field of education generally, what might be the some of the specific benefits of its implementation in the world language classroom? Can CRT likewise help inform language students about structural inequalities in target cultures as well as their own? Even, or perhaps especially, in times when CRT has come under fire from the political right, is this set of theories a similarly helpful tool for learners who want to understand more deeply the inner workings of the target culture as well as their own, and, ultimately, to come to a deeper understanding of the human capacity to create and vigorously sustain injustice, as well as to vibrantly and resiliently combat it? Finally, in courses that include community-engaged language learning (CELL), how does CRT help students grow in understanding of the community with which they interact, and where do we see evidence of learners' transformational growth?
This paper explores these questions through the application of two long-standing CRT principles, that of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1995) and community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005), and their application in one practitioner's university-level CELL classrooms before, during, and in (what is hoped will be) the waning months of the pandemic. Looking at Intermediate and Advanced Spanish students in CELL programs that couple them with adult workers in the Silicon Valley, California (United States), the paper provides details of social justice curricula, classroom materials, learner-initiated activities, and student gains in understanding societal inequities while advancing linguistically.
Ultimately, the paper argues that CRT is an essential tool for language classrooms, with seemingly limitless potential for helping students deepen their understandings of "ways in which race, racism, and racialization intersect with issues of language, belonging, and identity" Crump (2014).
Crenshaw, K. (1995). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity, politics, and violence against women of color. Critical Race Theory: The key writings that formed the movement. Crenshaw, K., Gotanda, N., Peller, G. and Thomas, K. (Eds.). New York: The New Press.
Crump, A. (2014). Introducing LangCrit: Critical language and race theory. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies (11)3, 207-224.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2009). "Just what is critical race theory, and what's it doing in a nice field like education?" Foundations of critical race theory in education. Taylor, E. Gillborn, D., and Ladson-Billings, G. (Eds.). New York and London: Routledge.
Yosso, T. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A Critical Race Theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race, Ethnicity and Education (8)1, 69-91.
