Racial Liberalism,LawJustice

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

The course will examine the relationship between race and liberalism in the formation of the U.S. legal system, focusing in particular on the use of law both to reinforce and repudiate legal codes and institutional practices designed to subjugate African Americans. Framed by the category of “racial liberalism,” the racialization of personhood, rights and public duties, the course will explore through court cases, trial transcripts, first-person narratives, and political philosophy how efforts to promote a color-blind society often undermined liberal theories of justice and lead to the deepening of racial and economic inequality.