Words Are Acts: Critical Race Theory as a Rhetorical Construct

Critical Race Theory (CRT), an attempt by minority group law professors to improve the position of nonwhites with respect to law and society, has been widely publicized in the 1990s. Basing their theory on a communication model, some members of the group have implemented hate speech codes in the nation's colleges, whereas others have written dialogues, science fiction, myths, and parables in an attempt to capture a wider audience for ''voices from the bottom.'' In this article, a rhetorical model of the movement is developed in terms of three stages identified by the author as naming, instituting, and enforcing. The rhetoric of the Critical Race movement is then analyzed as a response to civil rights abuses, and the model reevaluated.