Law and Race Commons^™

Bakke: A Compelling Need To Discriminate, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

Two of America's most cherished values collided head-on a few months ago, when the U.S. Supreme Court began to come to grips with the most significant civil rights suit since the school desegregation cases of 1954. Arrayed on one side is the principle of governmental "color-blindness," the appealing notion that the color of a person's skin should have nothing to do with the distribution of benefits or burdens by the state. Set against it is the goal of a truly integrated society, and the tragic realization that this objective cannot be achieved within the foreseeable future unless race and color …

Illusion And Contradiction In The Quest For A Desegregated Metropolis, Henry Mcgee

Faculty Articles

A decade of litigation in which the central issue of discrimination essentially was uncontested thus far has failed to disestablish racial segregation or produce desperately needed low-income housing for Chicago blacks. Recently, the unconcluded litigation has produced a unanimous United States Supreme Court decision exposing suburban racial sanctuaries to the possibility of integrated public housing units. Although the first-named plaintiff in the suit, Dorothy Gautreaux, did not survive the decision, the extent of her posthumous triumph is the central theme of this article. Although Gautreaux superficially indicates that a federal judge has the power to desegregate federally subsidized housing and …

Proportional Representation By Race: The Constitutionality Of Benign Racial Redistricting, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Wilson raises two questions that are basic to the use of "benign" racial classifications in drawing legislative districts. First, is there a constitutional right to proportional representation and, second, if there is no such right, are there circumstances under which a scheme devised to provide proportional representation is constitutionally permissible. This Note will demonstrate that, while the Supreme Court recognizes the constitutional right of each individual to participate on an equal basis in the community's political process and to enjoy an undiluted vote, it denies any constitutional right of groups to proportional political representation. It will then show that the …

Affirmative Action: Hypocritical Euphemism Or Noble Mandate?, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was adopted in an atmosphere of monumental naivete. Congress apparently believed that equal employment opportunity could be achieved simply by forbidding employers or unions to "discriminate" on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin," and expressly disavowed any intention to require "preferential treatment." Perhaps animated by the Supreme Court's stirring desegregation decisions of the 1950's, the proponents of civil rights legislation made "color-blindness" the rallying cry of the hour. Today we know better. The dreary statistics, so familiar to anyone who works in this field, tell the story. …

Power(Lessness) And Dispersion: Comments On Chester Mcguire's The Urban Development Act Of 1974, Community Development Funds And Black Economic Problems, Henry Mcgee

Faculty Articles

Professor McGee discusses Chester McGuire's comprehensive, provocative and good-humored assessment of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (HCDA). McGuire suggests both ominous and benign trends in the shift of political power and allocation of material resources in the United States. In analyzing the McGuire’s assessment of the HCDA, Professor McGee addresses how the act affects minority groups, particularly Black Americans.

Preferential Remedies For Employment Discrimination, Harry T. Edwards, Barry L. Zaretsky

Michigan Law Review

A basic thesis of this article is that much of the current concern about alleged "reverse discrimination" in employment ignores the reality of the situation. In Part I it will be contended that although color blindness is a laudable long-run objective, it alone will not end discrimination; thus, it will be argued that some form of "color conscious" affirmative action must be employed in order to achieve equal employment opportunity for minorities and women. The most effective form of affirmative action is temporary preferential treatment, and it will be asserted in Part II that such relief can be justified under …

Robert M. O'Neil's Discriminating Against Discrimination: A Review, Karen Ruse Strueh

IUSTITIA

It is difficult these days to find anyone who will deny that racial minorities have been discriminated against in the area of educational opportunities. Few will deny the desirability of enhancing these opportunities and increasing the number of minority persons in the various professions. But very few will agree on the means that are appropriate to accomplish this desirable end. Robert O'Neil has tackled the awesome task of pinpointing and evaluating the policy considerations that affect the tough choices involved in formulating standards for admissions to professional school programs that will promote academic quality but at the same time allow …

Immunity Under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, Ernest B. Fullwood

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rural Land Banking: The Canadian Experience, John Mcclaughry

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Benign Discrimination In Employment Viewed As Protection Of The Restitution Interest Of Minority Persons, Jack H. Glymph

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Burden Of Brown On Blacks: History-Based Observations On A Landmark Decision, Derrick A. Bell Jr.

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Metroploitan Desegregation In The Wake Of Milliken--On Losing Big Battles And Winning Small Wars: The View Largely From Within, Robert Allen Sedler

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Racial Preferences In Higher Education: Political Responsibility And The Judicial Role, Terrance Sandalow

Articles

Controversy continues unabated over the question left unresolved by DeFunis v. Odegaard: whether in its admissions process a state law school may accord preferential treatment to certain racial and ethnic minorities. In the pages of two journals published by the University of Chicago, Professors John Hart Ely and Richard Posner have established diametrically opposed positions in the debate. Their contributions are of special interest because each undertakes to answer the question within the framework of a theory concerning the proper distribution of authority between the judiciary and the other institutions of government. Neither position, in my judgment, adequately confronts the …

Employer Racial Discrimination: Reviewing The Role Of The Nlrb, Lawrence F. Doppelt

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The NLRB and various commentators rely upon three basic legal arguments in rejecting this interpretation: first, the EEOC, and not the NLRB, is the sole and proper agency for litigating racial issues; second, employer racial discrimination does not interfere with the protected rights of employees under the Act, and third, it is not, and never was, Congress' intent in passing the Act to bring racial discrimination within its purview. Unquestionably, each of these legal arguments has, or at some time had, surface appeal, and, at one time, considerable force. The great mass of legal commentary supports at least one of …

The Protection Of Respect And Human Rights: Freedom Of Choice And World Public Order, Myers Mcdougal, Harold Lasswell, Lung-Chu Chen

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Judicial Scrutiny Of "Benign" Racial Preference In Law School Admissions, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

Racial preferences for blacks generate ambivalence in those who care about racial equality and also believe that individuals should be judged "on their own merits." This ambivalence is reflected in divergent "equal protection" values, the value of eliminating barriers to equality imposed on minority groups and that of distributing the burdens and benefits of social life without reference to arbitrary distinctions. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that after Marco DeFunis, Jr. challenged the constitutionality of racial preferences for admission to a state law school, the Supreme Court's resolution of the issue was awaited with intense interest and some trepidation. For …

Negro Demonstrations And The Law: Danville As A Test Case, James W. Ely, Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

In at least some measure, the Negro demonstrations of the 1960's were an attempt to create tensions and intimidate the white public into taking actions favored by the black minority, or, that failing, to provoke such a savage reaction from the whites as to arouse national public opinion. Violence and threats of violence were an integral part of this strategy. It is to the credit of Virginia leaders at all levels that they recognized this overt threat and refused to yield to extra-legal tactics. One of the most unhappy legacies of the 1960's was the wide-spread notion that questions of …

The Equal Rights Amendment As An Instrument For Social Change, Lynn Andretta Fishel, Clarine Nardi Riddle

IUSTITIA

"The Equal Rights Amendment: Will it do so little, we don't need it -or so much, we shouldn't have it?"

The paradox stems from the arguments of the groups who oppose the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). On one hand, they claim that the 14th Amendment and Title V1II provide all the tools women need, so the ERA won't be able to accomplish anything uniquely significant. On the other hand they contend, with even greater fervor, that the ERA will be so powerful it will destroy the fabric of society. The paradox is not altogether ludicrous, however, when it is recognized …

History And Role Of Black Law Schools, Harold R. Washington

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Equal Protection, Affirmative Action And Racial Preferences In Law Admissions: De Funis V. Odegaard, Arval A. Morris

Washington Law Review

The purpose of this article is to explore the constitutional dimensions of the equal protection problem presented by a law school's voluntary adoption of racial classifications in a preferential admissions policy, and to do so, in part, by focusing on the recent case of De Funis v. Odegaard.

Protest: A Forensic Concept, L. Michael Kosanovich

IUSTITIA

Today's police administrators need administrative policy statements that can be easily followed by individual officers in reacting to civil disorders.' Historical analysis reveals a system in which the police have deepened racial divisions in the United States by failing to cope with problems in ghetto areas. Employing careless policies, sometimes initiated by the police chief and other times initiated by the individual officer, the police have shown weaknesses in two major areas. First, the police have no established procedures to follow when civil disturbances erupt. Second, the police have over-reacted to civil disturbances, apparently manifesting anti-black fury by means of …

America And Reconsruction, Thomas B. Grier

IUSTITIA

Reconstruction has variously been termed "repressive. . . uncivilized" and "a sordid time" as well as "a noble experiment." Reflected in those judgments of the era is the dispute over the effects of Reconstruction. To be more correct, one might say that there has been much conjecture in determining what, in fact, Reconstruction was. Questioned also has been the role of the black man during the period; much of what he did, or was responsible for, has, like Reconstruction itself, been subject to many and varied accounts and evaluations. The intent of this paper is to examine several volumes concerned …

Higher Education: The Black Professional, Donald H. Godbold, Andrew Goodrich, William Moore, Jr.,

IUSTITIA

The black professional in the community college is a catalog of contradictions. His or her condition can only be described as tragic; and his or her plight is a travesty on the philosophy of the two-year college. The preliminary findings of one study in progress note that nearly half (409 or 47 per cent) of the 865 two-year institutions included in the sample do not have a single black faculty member or administrator. Eighty-nine of the remaining 456 colleges have only one black staff member. Similarly, there are a number of community colleges located in areas heavily populated by blacks …

Affirmative Action: Quotas And Traditional University Standards With Particular Emphasis On The Role Of The Department Chairman, William D. Wheeler

IUSTITIA

The higher educational institution is often an exclusive citadel. Students are selected after close scrutiny of past achievements. Teachers as merchants of ideas, virtues, and cosmic thoughts are invited to membership only after certain academic passports have been acquired. These eligibility criteria are established by the faculty who, presumably, are the only ones capable of assessing reasonable standards for those seeking admission. Colleges and universities are closed sub-communities. They practice discrimination while giving lip service to liberal thought, knowledge, and enlightenment. It comes, therefore, as little surprise to clear thinkers that the house of intellect leads the parade of culprits …

The New Prisoner, Martin Sostre

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

An End, And Perhaps A Beginning, Tom C. Clark

Vanderbilt Law Review

As one who has devoted his professional lifetime, now in its fifty-first year, to the development of procedures and techniques for the improvement of the administration of justice, I say that there is no substitute for the original research furnished by the Race Relations Law Survey in the race relations field. It has made the most practical contribution to the improvement of race relations of any publication. One might compare this contribution to that of our law clerks here on the Court, who research and report on state and federal decisions previously made on a given topic. However, the Survey …

Race, Housing, And The Government, Nancy E. Leblanc

Vanderbilt Law Review

The problem of race and housing is complicated and limited by several factors not present in other racially controversial areas. First,the limited supply of decent housing forces the exercise of some selection in allocating existing housing resources. Second, housing is relatively fixed in nature and has a long usable life. Third, housing constitutes part of a neighborhood or a community--a total fabric of living. Finally, because of the individual nature of most transactions of buying or renting--except when a suburban tract or a new apartment house is concerned--enforcing the laws prohibiting racial discrimination in housing is very difficult. Analyzing each …

Packer & Ehrlich: New Directions In Legal Education, Richard C. Maxwell

Michigan Law Review

A Review of New Directions in Legal Education by Herbert L. Packer and Thomas Ehrlich

Roe V. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)

Research in Virgil Hawkins' World of Print--Historical Print Research Project No. 1: Abortion

A pregnant single woman brought a class action suit challenging the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws, which proscribed procuring or attempting an abortion except on medical advice for the purpose of saving the mother's life. The Court held that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.

Constitutional Approaches To Metropolitan Planning, John W. Ragsdale Jr

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.