American Constitutionalism in Historical Perspective (packet)

Precedents used in remarkable way: Diff than Strauder (total deprivation of jury rt) and Yick Wo (total deprivation of rt to be in certain business) but this is saying that everyone gets their rt to go to school but just says that its separate. Not diff from Amish wanting to be separate to preserve own religion but AA have different history than Amish. D/n distinguish between voluntary and forced separation.

Deep racism read into Constitution P. 672: Ct confuses culture and nature. Circumstances under what we compel AA to live is in their nature. Naturalizes racial injustice. Social Darwinism of period is obvious, deep racism.

Harlan dissent: notes that the majority is actively constructing racism.

Background to Brown: Radical abolitionist’s criticism: Suspectness prong comes from suspicion of this rationalization of stereotypes Leading AA critics of slavery/apartheid

1. 
   Frederick Douglas: root of American prob was confusion of nature and culture
   
2. 
   Harriet Jacobs: slavery bad esp for black women b/c was massive sexual exploitation
   
3. 
   Franz Boez: Astonished to find pathology of racism in US on ppl of color instead of Jews. He has a massive influence on WEB DuBois who does cultural anthropology of Americans and writes historical narrative which takes AA experience seriously. Emergence of AA’s critical voice that critiques experience that burdens them.
   
   1. 
      Harlem Renaissance: AA find voice telling us what its like to live under racism; destroys possibility of being perceived as an individual.
      
   2. 
      Richard Wright and James Baldwin: write as moral individuals
      
   3. 
      Zona/Toni Morrison: black women authors
      
   4. 
      Jazz: American art; voice from black experience
      
4. 
   NAACP: founded in NY by blacks and Jews in response to lynching patterns in South. Brown is final stage of NAACP’s strategy. Args made by Thurgood Marshall who wanted unanimous decision b/c thought was crucial in order to enforce it against So.
   
5. 
   Swede, Gunner Mergle writes book: American Dilemma: summarizes hypocrisy of US: devoted to human rts but racist. Written 1944, when US was at war w/ Ger., contradiction when US defeats racist country when they themselves are racist. Influential w/ Brown