critical race theory Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic field focused on the relationships between Social constructionism, social conceptions of Race and ethnicity in the United States census, race and ethnicity, Law in the United States, social and political ...

, the black–white binary is a

paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm ( ) is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. The word ''paradigm'' is Ancient ...

through which racial history is presented as a linear story between White and Black Americans. This binary has largely defined how civil rights legislation is approached in the United States, as

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

led most of the major racial justice movements that informed civil rights era reformation. The paradigm conceptualizes Black and White people as the two predominant racial groups, viewing all racism accordant to anti-blackness, and the Black–White relation as central to racial analysis. According to critical race scholars, the binary acts to govern racial classifications and describe how race is understood and approached politically and socially throughout American history. The black-white binary is a product of white socialization and reduces race relations to an oppressor/oppressed dichotomy. While the black–white binary defines how racism has been widely approached in the United States, many scholars of color have scrutinized the concept for contributing to the

marginalization Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

of non-Black

people of color The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...

, and omitting them from American

civil rights history Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

Richard Delgado Richard Delgado (born October 6, 1939) is an American legal scholar considered to be one the founders of critical race theory, along with Derrick Bell. Delgado is currently a Distinguished Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law ...

and Jean Stefancic propose a criticism of the black–white binary in an introductory book on critical race theory, arguing that because

anti-discrimination law Anti-discrimination law or non-discrimination law refers to legislation designed to prevent discrimination against particular groups of people; these groups are often referred to as protected groups or protected classes. Anti-discrimination laws ...

is designed with African American civil rights in mind, it fails to address the forms of discrimination that non-Black people of color experience. This legal blind spot, they argued, leaves non-Black racial minorities less protected by civil rights laws. Non-Black and non-White racial groups, such as

Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans with Asian diaspora, ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are Immigration to the United States, immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). A ...

and Native Americans, are understood as being positioned in relation to blackness and whiteness. The measurement of non-Black, non-White racial groups through this binary led to the concept of white adjacency, which refers to racial groups considered adjacent to whiteness. The application of white adjacency to Asian Americans through the

model minority myth The model minority myth is a racialized social construct that effectively frames certain minority groups, particularly Asian Americans, as comparatively successful, culturally adaptable, and morally disciplined to the same or different minority gro ...

further marginalizes Asian Americans under the black–white binary, measuring them by their perceived proximity to whiteness, and their subsequent positional opposition to blackness. Queerness is racialized as normatively white through the black-white binary, further marginalizing queer people of color. As the racial binary categorizes subjects as either White or Black, queer identity is often associated with white, Western society. To address the issues that stem from the black-white binary, it is believed to be important for a "coalition of forces" to work towards racial justice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black-white binary Legal history Critical race theory Postmodernism Africana philosophy Dichotomies