Law and Race Commons^™

Racism As "The Nation's Crucial Sin": Theology And Derrick Bell, George H. Taylor

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Part I develops Bell's thesis that racism is permanent, an ineradicable structure in American life. Bell's stance here is unrelenting and a direct and deep challenge to liberal notions of racial progress. This section draws out the social facts Bell provides about the status of Blacks in American society and examines Bell's argument for the continuing disparity between the races, particularly the claim that Whites hold on to a property in Whiteness. Part II analyzes Bell's call for action despite racism's permanence. Part III develops Niebuhr's theology of the possibility of action despite sin. Niebuhr too criticizes the liberal-and liberal …

Multiracial Identity, Monoracial Authenticity & Racial Privacy: Towards An Adequate Theory Of Mulitracial Resistance, Maurice R. Dyson

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

This Article is divided into five parts. Part I briefly places the significance of the Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger in context, particularly the implications of its recommended twenty-five year timeframe in recognizing racial diversity. Part II examines the dangerous consequences of implicit assumptions underlying the RPI. More specifically, I investigate the potential ramifications the RPI would have had upon multiple sectors of our society, including healthcare, education, and law enforcement. In the process, I attempt to demonstrate that the concept of racial privacy is a strategic misnomer intended not to protect one's privacy, but rather …

Disposable Mothers, Deployable Children, Annette R. Appell

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Review of Interracial IntimaciesL Sex, Marriage, Identity, and Adoption by Randall Kennedy

Brown As Icon, Steven L. Winter

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

The International Legacy Of Brown V. Board Of Education, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The authors describe the international legacy of Brown v. Board of Education in two discrete but related parts. First, they survey the international and domestic political contexts of the decision, which other commentators have convincingly demonstrated played a prominent role in the debates surrounding legalized segregation and in the arguments before the Supreme Court in the case itself. Important in this section is the intense and widespread international attention that was paid both to the problem of race relations in the U.S. and the decision in Brown. This background sets up the conclusions the authors draw from their survey …

Mercy Lawyers, Anthony V. Alfieri

Articles

No abstract provided.

Grutter V. Bollinger: This Generation's Brown V. Board Of Education, Michelle Adams

Articles

At first blush, Grutter appears to be a deviation from the body of the Court's recent affirmative action jurisprudence: it says "yes" where the other cases said "no." But it is not so clear that Grutter is a deviation from current law. Instead, it might be seen as consistent with it, in that the justification for the racial preference recognized in Grutter transcended the justifications offered in the previous cases, and the method used to achieve that end, "race as a factor," diffused rather than highlighted race. From this perspective, Grutter addressed several concerns that had troubled the Court for …

Critical Race Histories: In And Out, Darren L. Hutchinson

Faculty Articles

Insider critiques of CRT also require critical assessment. Recent internal critics complain that racial identity discourse, including multidimensionality theory, marginalizes more important attention to material, class, or economic issues. If their claim holds true, the material harm critics serve a vital purpose: because racial injustice causes and interacts with economic deprivation, any progressive racial justice movement should interrogate class and economic inequality concems. Nevertheless, the analysis of the material harm critics suffers because it dichotomizes class and multidimensionality. Although these critics bifurcate multiplicity and class analysis, multiplicity theories relate to class analysis in two important respects. First, poverty has multidimensional …

Rethinking Racial Profiling: A Critique Of The Economics, Civil Liberties, And Constitutional Literature, And Of Criminal Profiling More Generally, Bernard Harcourt

Faculty Scholarship

New reporting requirements and data collection efforts by over four hundred law enforcement agencies across the country – including entire states such as Maryland, Missouri, and Washington – are producing a continuous flow of new evidence on highway police searches. For the most part, the data consistently show disproportionate searches of African-American and Hispanic motorists in relation to their estimated representation on the road. Economists, civil liberties advocates, legal and constitutional scholars, political scientists, lawyers, and judges are poring over the new data and reaching, in many cases, quite opposite conclusions about racial profiling.

Le 'Droit D'Avoir Des Droits': Les Revendications Des Ex-Esclaves À Cuba (1872-1909), Rebecca J. Scott, Michael Zeuske

Articles

In Cuba, a distinctive process of gradual emancipation brought a large number of enslaved and recently-freed men and women into the legal culture. What earlier might have remained oral or physical challenges now took legal form, as slaves and former slaves built alliances with those who could assist them in their appeals. The assertions of former slaves suggest an emerging conviction of a "right to have rights", going well beyond the immediate refusal of their own bondage. In this light, the office of the notary and the courts of first instance became places where freedom itself was constituted through the …

A Glimpse Behind And Beyond Grutter, Evan H. Caminker

Articles

Many people have suggested that the recent battle over affirmative action was a defining moment for the contemporary relevance of Brown v. Board of Education and that it would determine the promise and potential for widespread societal integration. In my remarks, I want to comment upon a couple of comparisons and links between the Brown, Bakke, Grutter, and Gratz cases.

Race, Rankings, And The Part-Time Free Pass, Paul F. Kirgis

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

My primary objective in this article is to determine, at least tentatively, the extent to which law schools use the U.S. News free pass to promote diversity by way of their part-time programs. Secondarily, I hope to begin a dialog about whether this use of the free pass is a good thing, from the perspective of a proponent of greater minority representation in law schools. One view perhaps the one held by most people committed to greater law school access for minorities-is that virtually any strategy to increase minority enrollment would have merit. But use of the free pass to …

Brown Did Not Fail America, America Failed Brown, Patricia A. Broussard

Journal Publications

It is my belief that the failure of Brown v. Board of Education and the continuing problem of race in America stems from the fact that America never took ownership of the promise of Brown, and instead, viewed the decision purely in terms of desegregation, as opposed to integration. Consequently, integration has remained a concept instead of an action item. Implicit in this notion of desegregation is the idea that the races sit next to one another, while the concept of integration carries with it a much heavier burden. It appears that the races have never made a personal …

Celebrating Accomplishments In Equality, Sharon Breckenridge Thomas

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Two Wrongs Make A Right: Hybrid Claims Of Discrimination, Ming Hsu Chen

Publications

This Note reinterprets and recontextualizes the pronouncement in Employment Division v. Smith (Smith II) that exemptions from generally applicable laws will not be granted unless claims of free exercise are accompanied by the assertion of another constitutional right. It argues that when Arab American Muslims, and others who are of minority race and religion, bring claims for exemption from generally applicable laws on the basis of free exercise and equal protection principles, they ought to be able to invoke Smith II's hybridity exception, thus meriting heightened judicial scrutiny and increased solicitude from courts.

Jubilee, Ronald C. Griffin

Journal Publications

This essay chronicles the work and celebrates the achievements of blacks and others who lived in and escaped the thralldom of white supremacy.

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other: Analogizing Ageism To Racism In Employment Discrimination Cases, Rhonda M. Reaves

Journal Publications

The development of anti-discrimination law in the employment context was designed and applied with the elimination of race discrimination in mind. The expansion of anti-discrimination law to older workers has taken place within a legal system that encourages groups to present themselves as "similar to" African Americans. This article explores the difficulty of applying general anti-discrimination principles to the uniquely positioned group of older workers.

But I Thought He Had A Gun - Race And Police Use Of A Deadly Force, Cynthia Lee

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

While widespread consensus exists that racial minorities are disproportionately represented as victims of police shootings, the reason for this disproportion is hotly disputed. This paper argues that in claimed self-defense cases, race norms or racial stereotypes often operate at a subconscious level to alter police officers' perceptions of threat and corresponding decisions to use deadly force. Nevertheless, society can help encourage police officers to overcome the inevitable influence of racial stereotypes on their decisions to use deadly force in the field. Internally, police departments can work on at least three fronts to control the use of force: recruitment, training, and …

Facts And Fantasies About Uc Berkeley Admissions: A Critical Evaluation Of Regent John Moores' Reports, Asian Law Caucus

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

UC Regent John Moores recently authored a confidential draft report that purports to analyze admissions at the University of California's flagship Berkeley campus. The Moores Report is largely focused on SAT scores, particularly the admission of some applicants with SAT scores below 1000. Unfortunately, the Moores Report contributed to widespread misconceptions about comprehensive review at Berkeley, particularly regarding the admission of a small number of students with relatively low SAT scores. In reality, the data show that students admitted with relatively low SAT scores can be highly qualified for admission to Berkeley and that Berkeley admits virtually all in-state applicants …

A High Stakes Mistake: Ignoring The Iep Team's Recommendations In Implementing California's High School Exit Exams, A. Angelique Aitken

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

Although federal and California law guarantee each elementary and secondary student a "free and appropriate education," California has decided to implement high stakes exit exams that arguably deny students this right. The Individualized Education Plan team members are guardians of a child's free and appropriate education and best understand the disabled student's academic abilities and achievements. By deferring to the Individualized Education Plan team, students with learning disabilities would have equal access to learning, equal opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, and equal privileges that accompany a high school graduation.

Who Gets In? The Quest For Diversity After Grutter, Margaret E. Montoya, Athena Mutua, Sheldon Zedeck, Frank H. Wu, Charles E. Daye, David L. Chambers

Faculty Scholarship

Transcript of The 2004 James McCormick Mitchell Lecture. On March 8, 2004, the University at Buffalo Law School hosted its annual Mitchell Lecture,1 a panel discussion entitled, "Who Gets In? The Quest for Diversity After Grutter." The Mitchell Committee decided to focus this year's lecture on innovative proposals to ensure diversity in law school admissions in light of the Supreme Court's ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger, which confirmed that race and ethnicity could be taken into consideration in admission decisions for diversity purposes. Noting that much of the debate about Grutter thus far has emphasized the decision's constitutionality or its …

"We Are An Equal Opportunity Employer": Diversity Doublespeak, Cheryl L. Wade

Faculty Publications

There are too few discussions about race and race relations among corporate managers and directors. The rhetoric used in these infrequent discussions revolves around the idea of diversity in the workplace. In recent years, when speaking about employees and race issues, corporate actors have become curiously silent about discrimination and racism. This Article provides several examples of the rhetorical devices used by corporate spokespersons that ignore persisting problems with discrimination and racism by focusing solely on diversity efforts. Diversity rhetoric allows corporate managers to avoid responsibility for enduring discrimination in the workplace. Diversity efforts, without antidiscrimination efforts, increase the likelihood …

Color/Identity/Justice: Chicano Trials (Book Review), Anthony V. Alfieri

Articles

No abstract provided.

Human Rights Hero - Coretta Scott King, Stephen Wermiel

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Equivalence At Law (And Society): Social Status In Korea, Race In America, Ilhyung Lee

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Professor Lee's Article uses a comparison between the evolving role of social status in Korean society and that of race in the United States to explore Korean society and its legal system. Tracing the historical origins of status consciousness from the Confucianism of the Chosun dynasty to its vestiges in contemporary Korean society, Professor Lee notes several important parallels between social status in Korea and race in the United States. Emphasizing that there remain significant differences between the ways each functions in relation to law, Professor Lee argues that considering the two in equivalence is nonetheless analytically useful in both …

Challenging The Bounds Of Education Litigation: Castaneda V. Regents And Daniel V. California, Alan E. Schoenfeld

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

This Note argues that by combining the normative suasion of educational finance litigation with the political imperatives manifested in affirmative action law and practice, those who seek to improve the quality of secondary education and expand access to higher education would likely effect greater change than they would working independently. Under the appropriate political and legal circumstances, access to public higher education ought to be treated as something akin to a fundamental right, the unequal distribution of which constitutes a violation of equal protection for students of color and for economically disadvantaged students. Using the Castaneda and Daniel lawsuits to …

Does A Diverse Judiciary Attain A Rule Of Law That Is Inclusive?: What Grutter V. Bollinger Has To Say About Diversity On The Bench, Sylvia R. Lazos Vargas

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

This Article concludes that political dialogue engendered by controversial minority judicial nominations, like those of Miguel Estrada and Janice Rogers Brown, could be an avenue to educating the polity as to why it is important to achieve greater minority representation on the bench. The pluralistic process-based model of judging advocates that a critical mass of diverse judges be achieved, not that the minority judges be liberal rather than conservative, communitarian rather than individualist, or Democrat rather than Republican. The goal is that there be a critical mass of minority judges on benches that make decisions as a group, like circuit …

The Bottom Rung Of America's Race Ladder: After The September 11 Catastrophe Are American Muslims Becoming America's New N....S, Jonathan K. Stubbs

Law Faculty Publications

On September 11, 2001, did American Muslims become America's newest race? This essay offers preliminary observations regarding that question. ...

Degrees Of Freedom: Building Citizenship In The Shadow Of Slavery, Rebecca J. Scott

Articles

By seeing events in the past as part of a dynamically evolving system with a large, but not indefinite, number of degrees of freedom, we can turn our attention to the multiple possibilities for change, and to the ways in which societies that are initially similarly situated may go on to diverge very sharply. Thus it is, I will argue, with societies in the 19th century that faced the challenge of building citizenship on the ruins of slavery.

The "Inexorable Zero", Bert I. Huang

Faculty Scholarship

[F]ine tuning of the statistics could not have obscured the glaring absence of minority [long-distance] drivers .... [T]he company's inability to rebut the inference of discrimination came not from a misuse of statistics but from "the inexorable zero."

The Supreme Court first uttered the phrase "inexorable zero" a quarter-century ago in International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, a landmark Title VII case. Ever since, this enigmatic name for a rule of inference has echoed across legal argument about segregation, discrimination, and affirmative action. Justice O'Connor, for instance, cited the "inexorable zero" in a major sex discrimination decision upholding an …