Michael A Van Allen
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Education
In the Department of Education Leadership, Management and Policy
Seton Hall University
This dissertation explores the author’s undergraduate years through the framework of Critical Race Theory (CRT), applying its central tenets to examine racial dynamics and personal experiences within a predominantly White institution in East Orange, New Jersey. The study situates these reflections within CRT's posits and methodologies, using storytelling to highlight systemic inequalities that pervade educational spaces. Key themes include the intersection of race and property rights, normalization of racism, and the privilege embedded within institutional structures. This work contributes to CRT discourse by examining personal narratives and expanding on CRT's applicability beyond legal studies into higher education and personal lived experiences.
I graduated from grammar school, high school, and the only college in my hometown of East Orange, New Jersey. My undergraduate institution, formerly Uppsala College, once stood on the same site as my high school, creating a continuity of academic experiences that have profoundly shaped my understanding of race, education, and equity. During my doctoral studies, I encountered Critical Race Theory (CRT), a framework developed from the Critical Legal Studies (CLS) movement, pioneered by Derrick Bell at Harvard Law School in the 1970s (Ladson-Billings, 1998). CRT seeks to challenge dominant racial narratives and to unearth the deeply embedded racial hierarchies within institutions, using personal narratives as a tool to illustrate broader societal issues (Delgado & Stefancic, 2007). This dissertation presents my undergraduate years through the CRT lens, connecting lived experiences with CRT’s theoretical principles.
CRT emerged as a critique of Critical Legal Studies (CLS), which attempted to deconstruct legal doctrines that perpetuate social hierarchies. While CLS theorists explored class discrimination, CRT scholars critiqued CLS for not addressing racial discrimination specifically (Bell, 1980). CRT diverges from CLS by focusing explicitly on race and by recognizing racism as an ordinary, pervasive force in American life (Delgado & Stefancic, 2007). CRT’s application has since expanded into education (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995), emphasizing storytelling to provide marginalized perspectives and challenge dominant narratives.
According to CRT, race and racism intersect with property and economic rights, informing a framework that analyzes inequality through the social construction of race, the reality of White supremacy, and the power structures within educational institutions (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995). The following tenets underpin CRT:
This dissertation employs narrative inquiry, a methodology central to CRT, to explore personal undergraduate experiences as illustrative of broader systemic issues. Storytelling serves as both an analytic and emancipatory tool, providing insights into the lived realities of racialized individuals within educational settings (Delgado, 1989). The personal stories shared here are contextualized within CRT’s framework to underscore how institutionalized racism manifests in education.
1. My Undergraduate Years as Seen Through the Lens of a Critical Race Theorist
I graduated from grammar school, high school and the only college in the small 3.9 square mile town of East Orange. The high school I graduated from (now called East Orange High Campus) has relocated to the exact same site of my - now defunct - undergraduate college. During my doctoral studies, I ran across an interesting theory. I would like to make the point of the theory by embedding my college experiences in the story telling – a key feature of the theory. The Critical Race Theory, originally coming from the Harvard Law School legal scholar Derrick Bell in the 1970s in what was called the Critical Legal Studies, has evolved to become applicable in many fields including the field of higher education (Ladson-Billings, G., 1998). The Critical Legal Studies (CLS) like all theories – has shortcomings. One blatant limitation in the CLS is that it reduces racism by making it analogous to class discrimination (Bell, D. 1980). Many of the original Black authors of the CLS questioned those shortcomings, and the CLS evolved to become the Critical Race Theory (CRT). The CRT is somewhat different from many of the educational theories discussed in education and psychology today, in that it consists of anecdotal, legal storytelling and biographical stories to make its point (Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. 2007). Although the CR Theorist supports the aims of the civil rights activist, they question many of their “Ban Aid” approaches to racism such as the U.S. Supreme Court landmark ruling in the 1954 Brown v. Bd of Ed (Bell, D. 1980). The following anecdotal stories are used to highlight how White supremacy played a role in too many of my college experiences.
Although there is no single proclamation that defines the CRT, the Critical Race Theory has three posits, they are:
Race continues to be significant in the United States of America. Racism is perceived as normal and expected,
The United States of America is based on property rights, not human rights and,
The intersection of race and property creates an analytical tool for understanding inequality (Ladson-Billings, G., 1998).
One of the key characteristics of the CRT is storytelling. As an example, there is a story in “Voices of India” by A.K. Rumanujan about a poor widow forced to reside with her two evil sons and wicked daughters-in-laws. She was castigated for gaining weight as she aged. She felt terrible and went for a walk with no particular destination in mind. She came across an old, dilapidated home, without even a roof. She went inside the house, looked at one of the walls, and told the ugly story of how one of her sons humiliated her. The wall tumbled down. She went to the next wall and told the story of his wife’s cruel behavior towards her. That second wall also came down. Each time, she felt lighter than she felt before sharing her story. She went on to the other two walls, telling a story to each wall until she was surrounded by rubble. She returned home, only this time, feeling lighter than she has ever felt (Baltuck, 1994). The Critical Race (CR) theorist asserts that telling stories can be an enormous relief for the storyteller.
Race continues to be significant in the United States of America.
It was the first day of my first year at Uppsala College. I was seated on the floor, in a jam-packed, predominately White, freshman chemistry classroom, when my White chemistry professor, Dr. Joseph Most asked the class for examples of chemical or physical reactions. I eagerly raised my hand with enthusiasm and responded, “electronegativity!” Professor Most smiled, aggressively pointed at me and yelled; “Now that’s a man who has studied chemistry!” One White girl in particular, was very impressed with my knowledge of chemistry. She wasted no time befriending me. We frequently talked after lab. She told me about the racial unrest in her hometown of Boston. Rachel explained the anger between the Whites and Blacks in Boston. She blamed the busing policy, aimed to racially integrate the public schools. One night, I was in Rachel’s dorm room, and a small group of her White Bostonian Jewish home girls dropped by and acknowledged the intimacy of our relationship. One of the girls said, “Rachel, I thought you had more class than that!!” Rachel reacted angrily with Ann in my presence, but she heeded to her suggestion and gave me the cold shoulder ever since that incident. It can be seen very clearly through the Critical Race theoretical lens that Rachel’s White peers reminded her of her innate superiority for having White skin. My superior knowledge of chemistry compared to her lower level was not important. What was important was the fact that Rachel was White and I was not White.
The United States of America is based on property rights, not human rights.
During my second semester, a Black freshman girl told me that she was leaving school to return home to Boston. After having a long, deep and emotional discussion with her, she finally disclosed how four White students raped her during the previous semester. She reported the rape to the school. However, Uppsala College chose to protect the White rapist and never reported the crime to the local police. Angela’s grades dropped precipitously, and the same school official that took the rape report expelled her from school for “substandard academic performance.” She took the bus back to the racially segregated section of Boston - where she undoubtedly had an inferior education from the start. This school official, Dean Aaron Nierenberg had a Ph.D. in psychology, and I only wonder which theories on student socio-psycho cognitive development he was reading in the 1970s. Angela had a burden she carried alone. Because of self-inflicted shame, she could hardly bring herself to tell all of her friends and family of the violent trauma she experienced, nor could she elaborate about the inferior academic preparation for college or the lack of professional support or legal redress after the rape- without sounding irresponsible. The fact that those four white rapists had their way with her beautiful black slender body, speaks to how for centuries, Black people in America were legal property -owned by White men. According to the Critical Race Theorist, the intersection of race and property creates an analytical tool for understanding inequality (Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W., 1995). Angela was property, owned by four White rapists.
The intersection of race and property:
Critical Race Theorist advocates that the United States of America is built on property rights and citizenship as opposed to human rights (Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W., 1995). This dates back to the early colonial days when only White men enjoyed the franchise of property rights and land ownership. The concept of race and citizenship was demonstrated in the first Black President of the United States of America having to actually show everyone his papers (i.e. birth certificate) - while presiding in office - to verify his American citizenship. The intersection of race and property rights is reflected in citizenship on campus as well. Although Uppsala College was located in a Black town, the small predominately White college demonstrated its property rights by erecting a high, black iron fence around the circumference of the campus.
I frequently shacked up in the dorm rooms with scores of Black and White girls. However, I mostly lived at home with my parents on the corner of Lincoln and William Street - walking distance of the college on Prospect and Springdale Ave. There was a #96 New Jersey Transit public bus from the corner of my house to the campus. I often rode my Motobecane bicycle or drove my MGB English convertible sports car when I didn't take the 0.8-mile flat walk to school. In any event, my commute to the campus was not extremely challenging. The college population was predominately White and conversely the surrounding neighborhood where I lived was largely Black. I remember one autumn morning, approaching the campus on route to the library, and noticing a high, black rough iron fence enclosing the campus. The fence had a blockade appearance. Except for its blackness, the architecture did not blend with the community -in any way. It was clearly erected to protect the White transplants from Boston (and other American cities), by keeping the Black “townies” out. (‘Townies’ is a term used by college students to identify municipal citizens not attending the college). The black Iron barrier offended me; I was one of those Black citizens! I wondered if that black fence protected the four White rapists from the Black townies, or if Angela ever saw the interior of the protective barrier.
After cycling past the black iron barrier, and stepping onto campus property, I noticed red spray paint across the glass of the student’s center, and on the nearby sidewalks. The large print read: “Niggers go back to Africa and Spicks just die!” (Spic is a derogatory term for Latino people.) Someone eventually removed the graffiti, but no school official made a formal apology or even admitted to having recognized its offensiveness.
BIG MAN ON CAMPUS
The student’s demeanor was somber that week. No one openly discussed what happened, but you could see the thoughts in students’ eyes. The hate speech was not openly discussed nor mentioned in Uppsala Gazette newspaper. It was kind of like Angela’s rape. Nothing said, nothing done! These events took place in the 1970s when the NJ minimum drinking age was 18-years-old. Many colleges -including Uppsala College - had a pub. One evening, I was having a cold mug of Budweiser beer, when a popular dance song came on by the ‘Average White band’ entitled, “Pick up the piece,” (No, I am not saying the band was average, “The Average White band” was the band’s official full name.)
I purposefully asked a familiar hot Italian girl, that I suspect liked me, from my physics lab to dance. She had a Black girls butt and lips and graciously accepted my invite for the dance. Then, one of my Black friends- took my lead and tactically asked another White girl to dance. She accepted. Then one of the nerdy but cool, socially smart Jewish boys caught on quickly and strategically asked a Black girl to dance with him. She graciously accepted. Before the song was over, every Black student was dancing with a White student, and the surplus of White students danced along as well. It was very clear that 100% of the people in the pub were dancing -which was unusual that everyone would be dancing. Nevertheless, it was a protest dance against racism spontaneously and eloquently executed. Everyone on campus heard about the interracial protest dance faster than today’s social media could have informed anyone. It was at that time an informal apology was made and accepted. One aspect of the CRT is that progress in race relations is made through grassroots protest as opposed to legal procedures (Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J., 2007). I got to know my hot Italian physics lab partner much better over the course of that night. Except for her sky-blue light eyes, she looked just like Maria Bartiromo (CNBC television journalist). After leaving her dorm room that next morning and hearing the positive responses to the 'protest dance' at the dining hall during breakfast, I felt like THE BIG MAN ON CAMPUS.
Coloreds need not apply
The following year, during my histology course, I needed more study time viewing the tissue slides. The cool Jewish boy from the pub sneaked me upstairs to his private research laboratory to use his compound light microscope. I’ve taken classes in Puder Hall many times but never thought to go up that extra flight of stairs before this invite. I never knew that ‘certain’ students had research labs for independent study. During my histological study of the slides, a group of White boys came rushing up to the area. My Jewish friend stepped outside into the hallway and immediately closed the door behind him. I instinctively remained silent while the White boys were questioning him about me. I overheard one student asked my friend, “Did you see a colored boy come up here?” My friend lied, and said, “No”. The only thing that I could think is “why am I hiding?” I am not doing anything wrong. Matter of fact, I’m studying, which is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. One of the canons of the Critical Race theory is that White people have privilege, and these student’s laboratories were for White people and not for ‘Colored’ folk such as myself.
After college graduation, I landed a job as a research Biochemist for Merck & Co., Inc. My former chemistry professor Dr. Most, asked me how “they” [White biochemist] treated me at Merck Pharmaceuticals. I was not sure how to interpret or even answer him until 2012 when a White union president – asked me the same question. The president and I have a long-term working relationship, and he knows that I serve as an officer and trustee for the Community College of Morris, so he felt free to ask me, “How do the [White] “Republican” trustees treat you?” Like everyone, my identity is more than my mere race. The intersectionality of my identity includes me being: Middle class, African American, a cis-gendered heterosexual man, able-bodied, a writer, a racial justice advocate, a Woke Atheist, a swimmer, a jazz saxophonist, a stargazing amateur astronomer, an avid reader, etc. Interestingly, both lines of questioning regarding how I was treated circumvented my race, and phrased from job title or political affiliation. Critical Race Theorist would hear the affirmation of a racist system and the subtler question - How are you navigating under this system of White supremacy?
Interest convergence
White scholars of education typically don’t embrace the Critical Race Theory, largely because it is not optimistic that “colorism” will ever be resolved in the interest of Black people (Van Allen, Michael A. , 2012). Numerous White scholars profess one of several schools of thought:
1) Colorism doesn’t exist anymore, so move one and stop making excuses or,
2) OK. Sure, racism may exist here and there to some extent, but it’s not as bad as it used to be. You have your Black president [Obama] now, so institutional racism doesn’t exist any longer or,
3) Sure, colorism exists in America today, but it will soon fade away when White people become racial minorities (2043) and it becomes in White people’s best interest to eliminate it once, and for all.
Dr. Derrick Bell, the Harvard university professor and pioneer of the Critical Race Theory addressed what he coined “the Interest Convergence Dilemma” (Bell, D., 1980). The concept is that White people would not do anything to benefit Black people unless it was in the interest of White people. The student demographics at Uppsala College darkened as time progressed. It was in the interest of the school that was increasing its Black student body population to have additional Black faculty. As the first student of color to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, I later became the first non-White instructor in the Chemistry/Physics department, hired by Chairman Joe Most, Ph.D. When Uppsala College ultimately went out of business and closed its doors for good in the mid-1990s, Professor Most sought a chemistry teaching position at the Newark Public Schools. Ironically, had he been hired I would have been his supervisor. Had I seen him at the job fair, I would have aggressively pointed my finger at him – in plain sight of the interviewers and yelled, “Now, that’s a man who has taught chemistry!” (Joe is a good man and fortunately secured another chemistry teaching position for himself at a neighboring institution of higher education i.e., Bloomfield college/Montclair University.)
I shared these undergraduate accounts with my wife – who has white skin. She naively asked me with a frightful tone and shocking frown, “Michael, are all your college experiences race related?” I responding lovely with, “Debbie, I was Black the entire time I was there!” We both laughed aloud, and I felt “lighter” having shared the story with her. Thank you for listening to my story! I only ask you to think about the kind of employment Angela may have accepted for not having a college degree. Could Angela possibly be a waitress serving food to the children of her rapists while they enjoy the American Dream by attending upscale schools in Mass? Might some of those Ivy League students look at her with disdain wondering why she never did anything with her life or even worse not see her at all? More importantly, I wonder if that beautiful black- complexioned, brown-eyed, sexy, lean girl with that radiant white smile and contagious laugh, ever came across a roofless, house where she was able to share her experiences to four walls so she too, could feel lighter than she felt before she was violated.
The experiences described above reveal how CRT’s principles apply to educational settings, elucidating the often-invisible barriers that sustain racial inequities. Each narrative reflects CRT’s emphasis on storytelling as a powerful means of addressing and challenging institutional racism. Furthermore, these stories demonstrate the necessity of CRT in understanding the educational landscape, where racial hierarchies influence interpersonal relationships, institutional responses, and resource allocation. Through these experiences, it becomes evident that CRT is a vital framework for examining and addressing the pervasive racial dynamics that shape American education.
Reflecting on my undergraduate years through the lens of CRT underscores the pervasive influence of race within educational institutions. From personal encounters with White peers to the structural exclusion symbolized by campus boundaries, CRT reveals the racialized mechanisms at play within academia. The stories presented here offer insights into how institutions can perpetuate inequality and the vital role of storytelling in advocating for change. By examining race, privilege, and property in education, this dissertation contributes to CRT discourse, illustrating the theory’s applicability to lived experiences and the ongoing need for racial justice within academic spaces.
2. THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF RACE:
“One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an antiracist. There is no in-between safe space of “not racist.” The claim of “not racist” neutrality is a mask for racism.” ― Ibram X. Kendi In Genesis 9:20-21, after the flood is over and his family has settled down, Noah gets drunk and passes out, lying naked in his tent. His son Ham, specifically identified as the father of Canaan (9:22), sees him and tells his two brothers Shem and Japheth, who then carefully cover up their father. When Noah wakes up and finds out what happened he pronounces a curse on Canaan, the son of Ham, stating, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.” Noah then blesses Shem and Japheth, declaring, “Blessed be the LORD of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth. . . and may Canaan be his slave” (9:26-27). When Europeans came to Africa, they had the bible, and indigenous Black Africans had the land and precious minerals. After we "woke" from prayer, we had their bible, and they had our land. If there is a God, he will have to beg my forgiveness for reason and logic prevent me from accepting the existence of spirits, Gods or Devils. But, if I were to renounce the use and authority of reason, I would have to acknowledge that the evil colonizers responsible for the genocide of the Indigenous Americans, the enslavement and torture of African people, the genocide of Africans in the Congo under Belgium King Leopold II, Apartheid in South Africa, today's ReTrumpliKKKans, and White Evilgelicals, are the collective Devil. However, I would suffer from cognitive dissonance when reconciling the heterozygous recessive Caucasian blood (from love/rape) in my very own body. There are many theories as to why whites have and continue to behave in an inhumane, phobic, psychotic and uncivilized Neanderthal manner. One evolutionary theory, rooted in evolutionary anthropology, posits that some Homo sapiens interbred with Neanderthals - an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals didn't disappear entirely. Non-African humans contain on average about 2% Neanderthal DNA. In other words, at least sometimes it seems, humans and brutal Neanderthals found each other and built communities together. In any event, I refuse to forget their evil, psychopathic behavior and I’ll continue to demand that all forms of white supremacy’s systems of racism cease and desist, and I further demand full reparations now! The Cress Psycho-Genetic Theory posits that their phobia is for white survival. The phobic theory posits, if ‘pure’ whites miscegenated with the world's diverse and genetically dominant majority of color, then homozygous recessive whites would be replaced and become extinct. No surprise, racists fear diversity, abortions and non-procreating queer people. The denial of doubt, the blind faith in a God’s existence, and the concept that man communicates with this deity, knows what it wants and this God is involved in individuals’ personal day-to-day activities is delusional. The Cress Psycho-Genetic theory speaks to an evolutionary psychopathy, and the 500 years of genocide, slavery, rape, human torture, white lies, and the selfish, cowardly complicit silence from whites - still today is factual evil. I therefore have more evidence of a Devil than Gods. So, I don't know if God exists, but it would be better for his reputation if he didn't.
3. Added Comments:
"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best-colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1960, remark to Bill Moyers, "What a Real President Was Like," Washington Post, 13 November 1988
Prosecutors have legal "discretion" to charge or not. One of the many injustices Black people experience in the criminal injustice system is being charged for crimes that whites will often not be charged for. There are various standards depending on color, SES, etc, exercised by prosecutors. Often White prosecutors, judges, and white juries have empathy for white offenders while throwing the book at BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), and holding them to the full extent of the law.
If there is no injury, damage, loss, or violation of rights then there is no crime, and no criminal [full stop]. That said, laws are constantly evolving to serve and protect Whites but limit Black Americans' freedoms and security. Racism is not merely a simplistic hatred. It is, more often, broad sympathy towards whites and broader skepticism toward People of Color.
White Privilege doesn’t mean your life hasn’t been hard: it means that your white skin color isn’t one of the things making it harder. Got it? In the criminal injustice system, you’re better off being white and guilty, then Black, and innocent.
LAWS
L egally
A llowing
W hite
S supremacy
White Supremacy ensures that white folk's actions are framed around "rights" and "empathy" (ex., Mentally disturbed victims of the opioid epidemic), and Black folk's actions are framed around "crime" and "punishment" (ex., violent criminals, drug addicts). In the US legal system, it is safer to be white and guilty than innocent and Black. Racial justice must be put at the forefront of the struggle for justice.
Due to centuries of brainwashing, Whites are more forgiving and generous with each other than people perceived as "others." Social attitudes, laws, and policies should and must be made based on science, compassion, health, and human rights, not fear, hate, or racism. One example of the system of White Supremacy: When European immigrants, in the Mafia, imported heroin into the African-American community of Harlem, the US government legally forced blacks to be punished (not helped) with prison time, while they acquire criminal records which ultimately destroyed families, communities, and their life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I lost my dearest uncle Darryl to heroin. He was stigmatized, and shamed for being an incarcerated ‘junky.” However, Whites addicted to these very same narcotics (Opiates) are sympathized victims with "rights" to clinical, restorative remediation, so they can 'get back on their feet with government support (helped, not hurt), and have no criminal records. They are able to maintain strong families, communities, and lucrative careers, without humiliation.
White Silence is violence and consent to genocide: Too few whites have the courage and moral conviction to protest against powerful governmental agencies, that protect and serve them. (It's far easier and frankly more pusillanimous to criticize a football player for peacefully taking a legal knee than a white racist cop who takes a violent murderous knee (George Floyd). Many criminal whites are forgiven and not held accountable for infractions or offenses, creating a large pool of Nazi-like supporters of State-Sponsored terrorism against Americans of Color and future attempts at insurrections of our democracy.
The benchmark of a civilized society is the quality of its justice, and how it treats its most vulnerable.
"We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." -Elie Wiesel
When white America catches a cold, black America has pneumonia. It's called the 'American dream' because you have to be asleep to believe it, white to experience it, or 'woke' to realize it's just a dream. Eracism! The goal is to make Anti-Racism systemic. You can't shame racist Whites hate towards humanity. Shame only works against a moral people with a conscience. Until the color of white skin is the target, whites will never understand, which is why I refuse to waste an iota of my time or energy trying to help whites wake.
There are four boxes to be used to neutralize White Supremacy: The soapbox, the ballot box, the jury box, and the box of ammo. Preferably used in that order, but out of order, if you must.
Copyright ©2024 Michael A Van Allen- All Rights Reserved.
Do not sell my personal information.