"Race and Racism in American Law"  explores the cutting edges of theory with respect to race, giving central attention both to the continuity across history of certain understanding of race and the evolution of those understanding. The course provides a introduction to the particular history of the four major minority racial groups and through that introduction it explores the long legal history of minorities in America. Much of this legal history is often ignored in discussion of race. It also examines how the law helped define and create "the white race". This course explores themes of race and racism in a variety of doctrinal contexts.

Course Outline:

• Defining Race and Racism 
  • Defining Race
  • Defining Racism
  • Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination
• American Indians/Inuits/ 
  • Conquest and the Doctrine of Discovry
  • Federal Indian Policy
  • Self-Determination
  • Cultural and Religious Preservation
  • Treaty Enforcement
• African/Black Americans 
  • Slavery
  • Reconstruction
  • Jim Crow
  • Civil Rights Era
  • Reparations
• Latinos/as Americans
  • Conquest of Mexico and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
  • Segregation
  • Mexican Labor and Bracero Programs
  • Puerto Rico and Citizenship
  • English Only and Official Language
• Asian  American 
  • Immigration and Chinese
  • Economic Discrimination 
  • Alien Land Act Laws
  • Internment of Japanese
  • Model Minority
• Native Hawaiians and Pacific Americans
  • Sovereignty Issues
• European /White Americans
  • Defining Whiteness
  • Racial Classification Cases
  • Assimilation: Italian, Irish, Jews
• Immigration 
  • Chinese Exclusion Act
  • Current Immigration Issues
  • Refugees
• Developing Notions of Equality 
  • 14^th Amendment
  • Title VII
  • Affirmative Action
• Voting, Participation in Democracy and Politics 
  • Political Power
  • Gerrymandering
  • Voting Matters
• Residential Segregation and Housing
• Education and Race
• Racism and Freedom of Expression 
  • Hate Speech
  • "Official English"
  • Political speech and Protest
• Race, Sexuality and the Family
  • Sexuality
  • Marriage
  • Adoption and Foster Care
• Health and Health Care
• Race and the Legal System
• Race and Crime 
  • Sentencing
  • Death Penalty
  • Profiling
• Responses to Race and Racism

Course Grades:

• Class Participation                                    35%
• Reflection Papers                                      35%
• Annotated Bibliography                          30%

Same level:

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