Critical Race Theory and the Law (LAW412H1S)

Note: This course satisfies the Perspective course requirement.

“We are a society that has been structured from top to bottom by race.
You don’t get beyond that by deciding not to talk about it anymore.
It will always come back; it will always reassert itself over and over again.”
—Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw

The origin of Critical Race Theory (CRT) can be traced to the works of Derrick Bell, Alan Freeman, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, and Richard Delgado. More specifically, Bell, Freeman, and Delgado took an interdisciplinary approach to building upon the American civil rights movement and Critical legal studies. Crenshaw advanced the works of Sojourner Truth and Angela Davis, birthed the term intersectionality to capture the interlocking nature of identities and the necessity to take the whole person into consideration when addressing race. Constance Backhouse’s Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900-1950, Carol Aylward’s Critical Race Theory: Racism and the Law and Cheryl I. Harris’ Whiteness as Property, are some of the works that will deepen our understanding of CRT by elucidating the roles that race and racism play in the practice of Canadian law. This seminar will focus on the applicability of CRT to the Canadian legal context and the examination of the interplay between racial identities and legal practices. Moreover, current issues of racism and inequity will be analyzed in relation to CRT and the Canadian legal system.