Law and Race Commons^™

Our First Unisex President?: Black Masculinity And Obama's Feminine Side, Frank Rudy Cooper

Scholarly Works

People often talk about the significance of Barack Obama's status as our first black President. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, however, a newspaper columnist declared, "If Bill Clinton was once considered America's first black president, Obama may one day be viewed as our first woman president." That statement epitomized a large media discourse on Obama's femininity. In this essay, Professor Frank Rudy Cooper thus asks how Obama will influence people's understandings of the implications of both race and gender.

To do so, he explicates and applies insights from the fields of identity performance theory, critical race theory, and masculinities studies. …

A House Divided: The Invisibility Of The Multiracial Family, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Jacob Willig-Onwuachi

Faculty Scholarship

This Article is an invited special projects paper for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. It examines how society and law work together to frame the normative ideal of intimate couples and families as both heterosexual and monoracial. This Article sets out to accomplish three goals. First, it examines the daily social privileges of monoracial, heterosexual couples as a means of revealing the invisibility of interracial marriages and families within our society. Specifically, Part II of this Article uses the work of Professor Peggy McIntosh to identify unacknowledged monoracial, heterosexual-couple privileges and list unearned privileges, both social and legal, …

Embracing Diversity Through A Multicultural Approach To Legal Education, 1 Charlotte L. Rev. 223 (2009), Julie M. Spanbauer, Katerina P. Lewinbuk

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Judicial Review As Soft Power: How The Courts Can Help Us Win The Post-9/11 Conflict, Dawinder S. Sidhu

Faculty Scholarship

This Article seeks to answer these questions. In this Article, I will argue that the American response to Islamic terrorist factions must move outside the military sphere in which battles are fought between arms and men to a more conceptual contest for hearts and minds, where the ammunition in this abstract war will be fundamental American principles, particularly a constitutional commitment to the rule of law, and where advancements in the war will be based on incrementally increased attraction to America. This approach will speak to one’s will and conscience in an effort to secure a more lasting respite from …

On Appeal: Reviewing The Case Against The Death Penalty, Dawinder S. Sidhu

Faculty Scholarship

There is perhaps a no more divisive and significant issue in the United States than that of capital punishment./ The debate over the death penalty is of vital import and intrigue because it involves death, the termination of an individual's known existence. Not only does the death penalty involve death, but more properly, it involves the deliberate taking of life.3 It is precisely because the death penalty involves the willful extermination of human life that the debate must be thoroughly examined. This article attempts to add this needed clarity by evaluating the various arguments against the death penalty.

Wartime America And The Wire: A Response To Posner’S Post-9/11 Constitutional Framework, Dawinder S. Sidhu

Faculty Scholarship

This article challenges Not a Suicide Pact by using a single component of practical experience that has factored into legal reasoning: television. In particular, it will invoke various themes from The Wire—an HBO series that explores the relationship between the drug trade and law enforcement in Baltimore, Maryland—to demonstrate the problematic nature of the aforementioned arguments set forth in Posner’s book.

A 'Ho New World: Raced And Gendered Insult As Ersatz Carnival And The Corruption Of Freedom Of Expression Norms, Lolita Buckner Inniss

Publications

Carnivalization, a concept developed by literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin and later employed in broad social and cultural contexts, is the tearing down of social norms, the elimination of boundaries, and the inversion of established hierarchies. It is the world turned upside down. Ersatz carnival is a pernicious, inverted form of carnival, one wherein counter-discourses propounded by outsiders are appropriated by elites and frequently redeployed to silence and exclude those same outsiders. The use of the slur "'ho" by gangsta' rappers in the performance of songs that articulate a vision of urban culture is an example of carnivalization. Thus, when words …

Critical Race Feminist Bioethics: Telling Stories In Law School And Medical School In Pursuit Of "Cultural Competency", Deleso Alford Washington

Journal Publications

This article examines how slavery and the concept of race intersect with gender to construct a distinct notion of science and technology that has been historically marginalized at best. The particular aspect of "science" that is explored is the development of the medical specialty of gynecology in the United States. The focal point of this article is to explore a means to address the impact of continuing to tell the narrative on the development of the medical specialty of gynecology in the United States without the benefit of a "herstorical" lens.

The Anatomy Of A "Pantsuit": Performance, Proxy And Presence For Women Of Color In Legal Education, Deleso Alford Washington

Journal Publications

This essay is intended to begin a dialogue on how the presence of women of color standing at the intersection of gender, race and class can don a pantsuit or not and still experience under-discussed social realities that influence the attainment of 21st Century leadership roles in the legal academy.

Rebalancing The Scales: Restoring The Availability Of Disparate Impact Causes Of Action In Title Vi Cases, Victor Suthammanont

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Hangman's Noose And The Lynch Mob: Hate Speech And The Jena Six, Jeannine Bell

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Taking the hangman's noose hanging in Jena, Louisiana in 2006 as a starting point, this Article begins by placing the hanging of a noose in historical context. The Article then proceeds to explore contemporary manifestations of noose hanging in the workplace, in schools and other settings. The Article examines noose hangings that occurred around the country since the display in Jena to explore the social meaning of a noose. Also examined are media constructions of noose hanging and the perception that some Blacks targeted by noose hanging have had of these incidents. The article concludes with a victim based reasonable …

When Something Is Not Quite Right: Considerations For Advising A Client To Seek Mental Health Treatment, Carol M. Suzuki

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

This article explores the important role that lawyers are afforded in evaluating the mental health concerns of clients. The article advocates that, where a lawyer has concerns about the mental, cognitive, or emotional health of a client, the lawyer should counsel the client to consider seeking appropriate mental health treatment. While acknowledging that counseling a client to seek mental health treatment is not an intuitive aspect of providing legal services, the article argues that humanitarian concerns, as well as the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility allow, and in some situations perhaps require, a lawyer to consider providing such a referral. …

Transitions To Justice: Prisoner Reentry As An Opportunity To Confront The Counteract Racism, Adrienne Lyles-Chockley

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

This article discusses the issues facing formerly incarcerated individuals upon reentry from prison into their communities, focusing primarily on the unique challenges faced by African-American males. The article first highlights the strong correlation between incarceration and race: People of color make up a disproportionate percentage of the U.S. prison population, are more likely to receive harsh prison sentences, and are less likely to be found eligible for parole. The article focuses specifically on the challenges facing African-American males as they exit prison and attempt to reenter a society where they will face institutional racism in multiple forms and on multiple …

San Fransisco Public Housing As An Avenue For Empowerment: The Case For Spirited Compliance With Tenant Participation Requirements, Nicole Schmidt

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

This note examines the spirit and letter of statutes aimed at improving the state of public housing in America, focusing on the realities of the San Francisco Housing Authority's jurisdiction. The Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 devolved responsibility for public housing administration to local housing authorities and in turn required that each jurisdiction submit an Annual Plan detailing all aspects of the local housing programs. In addition, the Act required that Resident Advisory Boards be established to gather information and concerns from tenants and present them to local authorities for consideration and comment. The vague language of …

Mean Streets: Violence Against The Homeless And The Makings Of A Hate Crime, Raegan Joern

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

In 1999 the National Coalition for the Homeless began to document incidents of hate crime and violence against homeless people in an annual report. The statistics and stories in these reports demonstrate a disturbing rise in violent attacks and murders of homeless people across the country. This note argues that these attacks, whereby the perpetrator targets the victim because he or she is homeless, meet the legal definition for a bias motivated or hate crime. Bias motivated crimes against the homeless are bred in a social context that devalues homeless people's lives and pinpoints them as appropriate targets for violence. …

Queer Legal Victories: Intersectionality Revisited, Darren Rosenblum

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

In my 1995 article "Queer Intersectionality and the Failure of Lesbian and Gay ‘Victories,’” I merged queer and intersectionality theories to critique four lesbian and gay legal “victories.” I argued that queer identity intersected with other identity characteristics, yielding queer communities whose diverse needs reflect their various class, race, gender, and sex identifications. This intersectional perspective led me to view these decisions as victories for only a privileged subset of queer communities that, "but for" their gay or lesbian identity, conform to the "American dream" (De Lauretis 1991; Robson 1992). The United States' juridical heterosexism stifled the progressive potential …

The Declining Significance Of Presidential Races?, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Osamudia R. James

Articles

No abstract provided.

Performing Discretion Or Performing Discrimination: Race, Ritual, And Peremptory Challenges In Capital Jury Selection, Melynda J. Price

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Research shows the mere presence of Blacks on capital juries-- on the rare occasions they are seated--can mean the difference between life and death. Peremptory challenges are the primary method to remove these pivotal participants. Batson v. Kentucky developed hearings as an immediate remedy for the unconstitutional removal of jurors through racially motivated peremptory challenges. These proceedings have become rituals that sanction continued bias in the jury selection process and ultimately affect the outcome of capital trials. This Article deconstructs the role of the Batson ritual in legitimating the removal of African American jurors. These perfunctory hearings fail to meaningfully …

Policing, Place, And Race, Bennett Capers

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Beginning Of A New Age?: The Unconscionability Of The "360-Degree" Deal, Ian Brereton

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Neo-Colonialism, Same Old Racism: A Critical Analysis Of The United States' Shift Toward Colorblindness As A Tool For The Protection Of The American Colonial Empire And White Supremacy, Marissa Jackson Sow

Law Faculty Publications

In the 1950s, Franz Fanon boldly asserted: "There is a fact: White men consider themselves superior to black men." Over five decades later, a majority of white Americans would deny this, but such heartfelt denials are often betrayed by social realities. The difficulties many African Americans  experience in their private lives because of their racial identities became a topic of public debate during the course of Barack Obama' s historic candidacy for President of the United States. Then-Senator Obama was largely dismissive of the racism directed toward him during his campaign, and often refused to combat it in a straightforward …

Reflections On Recommendation 12, Naiomi Metallic

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This article focuses on the Marshall Commission Report’s specific recommendation for increased representation of racialized persons within the judiciary.

The Hemingses Of Monticello, Stephen Ellmann

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

A 'Ho New World: Raced And Gendered Insult As Ersatz Carnival And The Corruption Of Freedom Of Expression Norms, Lolita Buckner Inniss

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Carnivalization, a concept developed by literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin and later employed in broad social and cultural contexts, is the tearing down of social norms, the elimination of boundaries and the inversion of established hierarchies. It is the world turned upside down. Ersatz carnival is a pernicious, inverted form of carnival, one wherein counter discourses propounded by outsiders are appropriated by elites and frequently redeployed to silence and exclude those same outsiders. The use of the slur 'ho by gangsta' rappers in the performance of songs that articulate a vision of urban culture is an example of carnivalization. However, when …

Reinventar La Esclavitud, Garantizar La Libertad: De Saint-Domingue A Santiago A Nueva Orleáns, 1803-1809, Rebecca J. Scott

Articles

From French and Creole to Spanish, the domain of the Napoleonic Empire to the king of Spain, crossing the strait separating the French colony of Saint-Domingue and the Spanish colony of Cuba entailed a change of language and government. Some 18,000 people made that transition between the spring and summer of 1803 during the Revolutionary War in Saint-Dominque. Six years later, many crossed the Gulf of Mexico from Cuba to New Orleans and the recently acquired Louisiana Territory under the authority of a territorial governor and the United States Congress. What would these crossings lead to for those who had …

She...Refuses To Deliver Up Herself As The Slave Of Your Petitioner': Émigrés, Enslavement, And The 1808 Louisiana Digest Of The Civil Laws (Symposium On The Bicentennial Of The Digest Of 1808--Collected Papers), Rebecca J. Scott

Articles

Philosophically and juridically, the construct of a slave-a "person with a price"--contains multiple ambiguities. Placing the category of slave among the distinctions of persons "established by law," the 1808 Digest of the Civil Laws Now in Force in the Termtoiy of Orleans recognized that "slave" is not a natural category, inhering in human beings. It is an agreement among other human beings to treat one of their fellows as property. But the Digest did not specify how such a property right came into existence in a given instance. The definition of a slave was simply ostensive, pointing toward rather than …

Latina/Os' And Latina/O Legal Studies: A Critical And Self-Critical Review Of Latcrit Theory And Legal Models Of Knowledge Production, Margaret E. Montoya, Francisco Valdes

Faculty Scholarship

For the twelfth time in as many years, the LatCrit community convened its annual conference to underscore the importance of location and locality in the work that we do. The conference theme's framing around Critical Localities: Epistemic Communities, Rooted Cosmopolitans and Knowledge Processes not only focused our collective attention on questions of epistemic community and intellectual (as well as physical) location, but also invited reflection on the meanings we inscribe onto the positions we elect to stake out for ourselves and our work in light of the options and traditions that serve as background. The "Critical Localities" theme invites an …

Social Factoring The Numbers With Assisted Reproduction, Bridget J. Crawford, Lolita Buckner Inniss

Publications

In early 2009 the airwaves came alive with sensational stories about Nadya Suleman, the California mother who gave birth to octuplets conceived via assisted reproductive technology. Nadya Suleman and her octuplets are vehicles through which Americans express their anxiety about race, class and gender. Expressions of concern for the health of children, the mother's well-being, the future of reproductive medicine or the financial drain on taxpayers barely conceal deep impulses towards racism, sexism and classism. It is true that the public has had a longstanding fascination with multiple births and with large families. This is evidenced by a long history …

Created In Its Image: The Race Analogy, Gay Identity, And Gay Litigation In The 1950s-1970s, Craig J. Konnoth

Publications

Existing accounts of early gay rights litigation largely focus on how the suppression and liberation of gay identity affected early activism. This Note helps complicate these dynamics, arguing that gay identity was not just suppressed and then liberated, but substantially transformed by activist efforts during this period, and that this transformation fundamentally affected the nature of gay activism. Gay organizers in the 1950s and 1960s moved from avoiding identity-based claims to analogizing gays to African-Americans. By transforming themselves in the image of a successful black civil rights minority, activists attempted to win over skeptical courts in a period when equal …

Procedural Extremism: The Supreme Court's 2008-2009 Labor And Employment Cases, Melissa Hart

Publications

It has become nearly a commonplace to say that the Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts is a court of “incrementalism.” The 2008 Term, however, featured several opinions that showcase the procedural extremism of the current conservative majority. In a series of sharply divided decisions, the Court re-shaped the law that governs the workplace - or more specifically the law that governs whether and how employees will be permitted access to the courts to litigate workplace disputes. At least as important as the Court’s changes to the substantive legal standards are the procedural hurdles the five …