While liberals see instances of oppression as shameful flaws in an otherwise noble project, Critical Theorists see instances of oppression as evidence of the country’s true nature and founding purpose. Derrick Bell, a former Harvard legal scholar and a key figure in the formation of critical race theory, developed what he called the “interest conversion principle.”14 Bell believed that progress for Black Americans happened only when the progress served white interests, and that the progress would be taken away as soon as it no longer fit with the self-interested white agenda.
