The first group comes under queer theory, where liberation means category-busting. A male person who identifies as a woman is striking a blow against ‘cisheteronormativity’ – the assumption that being non-trans and straight is the norm. In critical race theory, however, all white people are taken to hold privileged positions in a societal network of power, and whiteness is inherently racist. People cannot be permitted to identify out of their racial groups, since that would enable white people to identify out of acknowledging their racism and atoning for it with anti-racist work.
