Memoir as Resistance: A Critical Race Theory Analysis of Patrisse Khan-Cullors’ When They Call You a Terrorist
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1512.24Keywords:
racial oppression, systemic injustice, counter-storytelling, auto-ethnographyAbstract
In the contemporary United States, African Americans continue to confront systemic injustice and marginalisation despite significant advances in civil rights. These inequities are definitive outcomes of a racialized history marked by slavery, colonisation and structural inequality. This study examines the multifaceted nature of racial oppression by analysing Patrisse Khan-Cullors's poignant memoir, When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir (2018), as both a personal testimony and a sociological critique of modern-day Black oppression in the United States. Grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT), the analysis foregrounds key constructs such as the social construction of race as a tool of power, intersectionality as a framework for understanding overlapping oppressions, the cumulative impact of microaggressions, the transformative power of counter-storytelling, and the entrenched character of structural racism. By treating memoirs as a lived archive, this research demonstrates how CRT provides an effective analytical lens for understanding race as a fundamental organizing principle that normalises systemic inequality and exclusion. Thus, the paper ultimately argues for comprehensive systemic reform, asserting that addressing broader patterns of racial injustice requires not only the dismantling of oppressive structures, but also the establishment of new frameworks that foster genuine inclusion and liberation. Furthermore, the research employs an auto-ethnographic approach to centre marginalised voices and challenges the oppressive structures and dominant narratives while advocating for an emancipatory change.
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