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Full-Text Articles in Law and Race
Indefinite Detention, Colonialism, And Settler Prerogative In The United States, Natsu Taylor Saito
Indefinite Detention, Colonialism, And Settler Prerogative In The United States, Natsu Taylor Saito
Natsu Taylor Saito
The primacy accorded individual civil and political rights is often touted as one of the United States' greatest achievements. However, mass incarcerations of indefinite duration have occurred consistently throughout U.S. history and have primarily targeted people of color. The dominant narrative insists that the United States is a political democracy and portrays each instance of indefinite detention in exceptionalist terms. This essay argues that the historical patterns of indefinite detention are better explained by recognizing the United States as a settler colonial state whose claimed prerogative to expand its territorial reach and contain/control populations over which it exercises jurisdiction inevitably …
Tales Of Color And Colonialism: Racial Realism And Settler Colonial Theory, Natsu T. Saito
Tales Of Color And Colonialism: Racial Realism And Settler Colonial Theory, Natsu T. Saito
Natsu Taylor Saito
More than a half-century after the Civil Rights Era, people of color remain disproportionately impoverished and incarcerated, excluded and vulnerable. Legal remedies rooted in the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection remain elusive. This article argues that the “racial realism” advocated by the late Professor Derrick Bell compels us to look critically at the purposes served by racial hierarchy. By stepping outside the master narrative’s depiction of the United States as a “nation of immigrants” with opportunity for all, we can recognize it as a settler state, much like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It could not exist without the occupation …