ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates how the critical race theory (CRT) framework can be employed to analyze educational inequity in a large urban district. It describes a CRT moment which occurred in a flurry of rhetoric surrounding school funding and consolidation in Memphis. Although this theory of socio-economic difference might, on the surface, appear plausible as an explanation of the duality of the Memphis system, a CRT perspective demands a deeper analysis of the historical and contemporary conditions that have created socioeconomic disparities. The chapter argues that the examination of this CRT moment is significant for what it reveals about the power of the realist/materialist perspective. Crenshaw argues that the continuation of material subordination is tied, in part, to the interrelated myths of equal opportunity and meritocracy. Insofar as the symbolic manifestations of subordination have been removed, whites believe that equal opportunity is the rule and that the free market operates fairly and impartially.
