Table of Contents

Executive Summary vii

Foreword x

Acknowledgments xiii

Critical Race Theory 1

Critical Race Theory in Higher Education 3

Critical Legal Studies 3

The Origins of Critical Race Theory 4

Critical Race Theory 5

Key Tenets of Critical Race Theory 5

Critical Race Theory in Higher Education: 20 Years of Theoretical and Research Innovations 14

Critical Race Theory in Higher Education 16

Tensions and Possibilities 16

Race and Racism on the U.S. University Campus 18

Engaging with Students of Color’s Experiences 20

Understanding Faculty of Color’s Experiences 24

Critical Race Theory, Higher Education Policy, and the Law 30

Conclusion 32

Critical Race as a Methodology 34

A Critical Race Methodology 35

Elements of a Critical Race Methodology 35

Providing Voice and Legitimizing People of Color’s Experiences 36

Master Narrative/Majoritarian Stories 37

Storytelling 38

Counterstories 39

Functions of the Counterstory 39

Types of Counterstories 40

Descendant Theories of Critical Race Theory 41

Growing the Counterstory? 46

Positionality 52

Conclusion 55

Critical Race Theory as a (Student) Development Theory 57

Centering Race in Student Development 58

Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality 62

Critical Race Theory and Campus Environments 64

The Ecological Perspective of Campus Space 65

Impact to Student Development 67

Toward a Critical Race Theory of (Student) Leadership 68

Conclusion: The Educator as Architect 70

Racial Microaggressions 72

Racial Microaggressions in Scholarship 73

Contextualizing Microaggressions 74

Types of Microaggressions 76

Research on Microaggressions 78

Microaggressions and Critical Race Theory 79

Decolonizing Microaggressions: A Concluding Thought 81

Critical Race Theory and the Next 20 Years 84

Reflexivity and Listening 86

Call to Praxis 87

Glossary 89

Notes 98

References 99

Name Index 110

Subject Index 114

About the Authors 117 

About the Author

Dorian L. McCoy is an assistant professor of higher education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Dirk J. Rodricks is a doctoral student in Critical Studies in Curriculum and Pedagogy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) of the University of Toronto.