In critical race theory, the black–white binary is a paradigm through which racial history is presented as a linear story between White and Black Americans.
[4] The black-white binary is a product of white socialization and reduces race relations to an oppressor/oppressed dichotomy.
[1] Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic propose a criticism of the black–white binary in an introductory book on critical race theory, arguing that because anti-discrimination law is designed with African American civil rights in mind, it fails to address the forms of discrimination that non-Black people of color experience.
[6] This legal blind spot, they argued, leaves non-Black racial minorities less protected by civil rights laws.
To address the issues that stem from the black-white binary, it is believed to be important for a "coalition of forces" to work towards racial justice.