Fraternal twins: Critical race theory and systemic racism theory as analytic and activist tools for college sport reform
Book Chapter
Singer, JN, Weems, AJ, Garner, JR. (2016). Fraternal twins: Critical race theory and systemic racism theory as analytic and activist tools for college sport reform
. 11-55. 10.1057/978-1-137-60038-7_2
Singer, JN, Weems, AJ, Garner, JR. (2016). Fraternal twins: Critical race theory and systemic racism theory as analytic and activist tools for college sport reform
. 11-55. 10.1057/978-1-137-60038-7_2
As critical race-based epistemologies rooted in the Black radical intellectual tradition of scholars and activists such as Frederick Douglass, David Walker, W.E.B DuBois, Ida B. Wells, Anna Julia Cooper, Carter G. Woodson, Angela Davis, and Kwame Ture (formerly known as Stokely Carmichael), among others, both critical race theory (CRT) and systemic racism theory (SRT) are conceptual frameworks that can be used as analytic and activist tools for addressing reform in American college sport. Although CRT formally emerged in the law/legal studies field and SRT in the field of sociology, these “fraternal twins” have more in common than they are different, and an integration of both frameworks has the potential to provide a more robust understanding and change-related efforts in college sport reform. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to discuss the intersecting tenets of CRT and SRT, advance a multilevel framework to show how both can be used to analyze and explain racism in college sport, and discuss the activist agenda of each and its applicability to efforts of college sport reform efforts. In doing so, we centralize the experiences of Black athletes as a way to better understand and address the educational plight of all other college athletes.
