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Student Work
Race, Racism and the Law
Spring, 2012

Thesis

The United States takes pride in being a melting pot where equality among citizens is considered a basic tenet in our society. The United States, however, has a history of exclusion and discrimination in its educational system. Universities were reserved for White American males only. White American women, African American men, Native American men, Latino men, and minority women have had to fight their way into universities. As a result of this history of exclusion, a problem arises with regard to institutionalized racism in American education and the curriculum in our institutions of higher learning. Students generally have very little or no knowledge of the real history of the United States, especially with regard to Native Americans, African Americans, and other minority groups. Law schools, in particular, lack a focus on civil rights, human rights, and justice. Thus, law students should be exposed to the role the law plays in perpetuating discrimination through the implementation of mandatory first-year curriculum that engages students in a critical examination of race and gender issues in American law.

 Statutes

  • 42 U.S.C § 2000d (1964). (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964)
  • 42 U.S.C § 2000e (1964). (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964)


Regulation

  • 28 C.F.R. § 50.3 (1964).

Cases

  • Alexander v. Sandoval, 532 U.S. 275 (2001)
  • Brown v. Bd. of Ed. of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kan., 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
  • Regents of U. of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978)

Law Review Articles

  • Carolyn Copps Hartley, Ph.D. & Carrie J. Petrucci, Ph.D., Practicing Culturally Competent Therapeutic Jurisprudence: A Collaboration Between Social Work and Law, 14 Washington University Journal of Law & Policy 133, (2004).
  • Cruz Reynoso, Cory Amron, Diversity in Legal Education: A Broader View, A Deeper Commitment, 52 Journal of Legal Education 491, (2002).
  • David Aaron DeSoto, Ending the Conquest Won Through Institutionalized Racism in Our Schools: Multicultural Curricula and the Right to an Equal Education, 1 Hispanic Law Journal 77, (1994).
  • Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, Racism in Higher Education, 14 University of Florida Law Journal & Public Policy 29, (2002).
  • Joe R. Feagin & Bernice McNair Barnett, Success and Failure: How Systemic Racism Trumped the Brown v. Board of Education Decision, 2004 University of Illinois Law Review, (2004).
  • Juan F. Perea, Richard Delgado, Angela P. Harris, and Stephanie M. Wildman. Thinking About Race and Races: Reflections and Responses Race and Races: Cases and Resources for A Diverse America., 89 California Law Review, (2001).
  • Morrison Torrey, Actually Begin to Satisfy ABA Standards 211(a) and 212(a): Eliminate Race and Sex Bias in Legal Education, 43 Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 615, (2008).
  • Morrison Torrey, You Call That Education?, 19 Wisconsin Women's Law Journal 93, (2004).
  • Robert A. Williams, Jr., Do You Believe in the Rule of Law?, 89 California Law Review, (2001).
  • 26 Chicana/o-Latina/o Law Review 183.

Other

  • Bradley, Karen. The Incorporation of Women into Higher Education: Paradoxical Outcomes. Sociology of Education. Vol. 73, No. 1 (Jan 2000), 1-18.
  • Hoffman, Diane M. Culture and Self in Multicultural Education: Reflections in Discourse, Texts, & Practice. American Educational Research Journal. Vol. 33, No. 3, 545-569.
  • Panter, A.T., Daye, C.E., Allen, W.R., Wightman, L.F. and Deo, M. Everyday Discrimination in a National Sample of Incoming Law Students. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education 1, 67-79.