On February 6, 2025, the AmerikaHaus NRW e.V. in cooperation with the Friedrich-Naumann Foundation and the Volkshochschule Köln hosted a Black History Month event on “Critical Race Theory Across Borders.” The discussion featured insights from Michael L. Thomas, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam, and Benedict Kenyah-Damptey, a PhD candidate in philosophy at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf.

Michael Thomas traced the origins of CRT as a tradition of critical thinking, which posits material history against ideal theory, and as a branch of legal theory, which highlights how legal systems sustain racial inequality. He emphasized that race is understood as a social construct in the United States and examined historical examples, such as Brown v. Board of Education, to illustrate systemic racism’s persistence. A foundational figure in legal CRT was Derrick Bell, the first tenured African American professor at Harvard Law School, whose work on interest convergence became one of CRT’s major tenets. He argued that progress toward racial justice was only made when it converged with the interests of white people.

Benedict Kenyah-Damptey offered a comparative perspective, focusing on the concept of “Rasse” in Germany. He noted that discussions about race in Germany gained renewed attention following the death of George Floyd in the U.S., prompting introspection about systemic racism within German society. His research compared how race is discussed in Germany and the United States, revealing that Germans commonly associate “Rasse” with Nazi ideology (especially the notion of Aryanism), whereas Americans engage with it in contemporary social justice contexts, confirming Michael Thomas’ analysis.

The event concluded with a dialogue between our panelists and the audience on the applicability of CRT’s insights within the German context. They emphasized the importance of context-specific approaches to addressing racism, acknowledging that strategies effective in the U.S. may require adaptation to resonate within German society. One pressing topic was the debate on whether German anti-racist movements should retain, reshape, or abandon the term “Rasse” altogether, considering its fraught historical connotations. While they found that a different term may be needed, both speakers stressed the necessity of talking about race in order to make progress towards racial justice. They argued that we should have this conversation in the public sphere with significant attention given to marginalized communities.

We cordially thank our panelists Michael Thomas and Benedict Kenyah-Damptey for sharing their research and insights with us on this multilayered and transatlantic issue. Many thanks also to our cooperation partners and to the Federal Foreign Office for kindly supporting this event.