According to the Critical Race theory, race is a social construct that has made its way both into the minds of individuals and into established systems and structures. As mentioned in “Race the House we Live in” (2010), there was physical separation between the Black and the White communities, be it in the army or when buying homes. Some people were limited from living the American dream just because of their race, a social construct, according to the Critical Race theory. The theory came into light recently due to the Trump administration’s issuance of the executive order that banned diversity and inclusion training at workplaces and in schools due to their divisive natures (George, 2021). According to the order, labeling the problems as those related to race only worsened the conflicts since it brought value to the otherwise meaningless concept of race. Nevertheless, today, it has become a controversial issue, with some people arguing its damaging nature.
As mentioned above, the central tenet of the Critical Race theory lies in the belief that race is a social construct. This, therefore, validates the minorities’ experiences, alleviating them to a new level of injustice. When working with clients, it would be vital to relay to them my agreeance with the tenets of the theory, highlighting the fact that I do not believe race to be a distinguishing factor between people. Even more, however, it would be vital to make sure that this argument does not diminish the experience of the person I am interacting with. Although it might be true that race is a social construct, it does not make the experiences these people have any less real or traumatizing.
References
California Newsreel. (2010). Race – the Power of an illusion (Episode 3: Race the House we Live in).
George, J. (2021). A Lesson on critical race theory. American Bar Association.