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Full-Text Articles in Law
A Post-Race Equal Protection?, Trina Jones, Mario L. Barnes, Erwin Chemerinsky
A Post-Race Equal Protection?, Trina Jones, Mario L. Barnes, Erwin Chemerinsky
Faculty Scholarship
Most vividly demonstrated in the 2008 election of the first African-American President of the United States, post-race is a term that has been widely used to characterize a belief in the declining significance of race in the United States. Post-racialists, then, believe that racial discrimination is rare and aberrant behavior as evidenced by America’s pronounced racial progress. One practical consequence of a commitment to post-racialism is the belief that governments - both state and federal - should not consider race in their decision making. One might imagine that the recent explosion in post-racial discourse also portends a revised understanding of …
“Equal Citizenship Stature”: Justice Ginsburg’S Constitutional Vision, Neil S. Siegel
“Equal Citizenship Stature”: Justice Ginsburg’S Constitutional Vision, Neil S. Siegel
Faculty Scholarship
In this essay, Professor Siegel examines the nature and function of constitutional visions in the American constitutional order. He argues that Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg possesses such a vision and that her vision is defined by her oft-stated commitment to “full human stature,” to “equal citizenship stature.” He then defends Justice Ginsburg’s characteristically incremental and moderate approach to realizing her vision. He does so in part by establishing that President Barack Obama articulated a similar vision and approach in his Philadelphia speech on American race relations and illustrated its capacity to succeed during the 2008 presidential election.