Critical race theory holds that racism is central to the United States from its founding and that our institutions and social relations are responsible for reproducing it. Because racism is baked in, as it were, addressing its negative effects requires that would-be reformers identify what in the structures of institutions like the law and education keep producing unequal outcomes for people of color and white people, not just the actions of individual racists.

This perspective on what the United States is runs counter to a more liberal tradition that sees the United States as a country that makes steady progress toward living up to ideals of equality by uprooting racism, which supposedly departs from cherished American ideals. Bell himself as well as Kimberlé Crenshaw, Mari Matsuda, Richard Delgado, and others referenced liberally throughout Faces at the Bottom of the Well are important contributors to this approach to understanding race and the law. Bell’s central argument that racism is a permanent feature of the United States is based upon critical race theory.

Racial standing is an important part of the rhetorical situation when African Americans speak about racism and matters that directly impact their wellbeing; while “standing” in a legal sense refers to whether a person has an interest—possible harm or potential benefits—in a matter before a court, racial standing refers to how white audiences use a racial lens to discount or give credibility to the speech of African Americans.