Among the features that have made this text a success with both students and instructors through five editions over 35 years:
Clear and readable text along with a participatory approach that encourages discussion of unresolved and perhaps unresolvable racial issues.
Interdisciplinary excerpts from historical, sociological, and psychological publications that provide comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the subject and in this edition pose the question of the law s limitations in remedying current racial barriers.
Creative hypothetical exercises for possible briefing and argument to the class by student advocates. The presentations promote a learning by teaching experience that enables students to realize the complex nature and consequences of racism in the United States
Commentary on the Supreme Court's conception of a "color-blind" society and its adverse effects on school desegregation, voting, employment, and affirmative action.
Alternatives to integration in achieving the goal of equal educational opportunity.
The absence or inadequacy of racial barriers facing Latino, Asian and Native American citizens.
Discussion of Professor Lani Guinier's advocacy of proportional representation over majority-minority districts.
The uses of nooses as racial intimidation symbols replacing flaming crosses.
Racial priorities in Hurricane Katrina s rescue and recovery policies.
The legal ramifications of the disproportionately high percentage of blacks and Hispanics in American prisons.
Legal and social barriers to blacks and Latinos seeking to challenge employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.
The growing acceptance and continued hostility to interracial sex and marriage.
The vulnerability of black and Latino buyers to consumer schemes and sub-prime mortgages.
The limited value of racial protests during a time of war and national crisis.
Fully updated, the Sixth Edition includes:
Increased citation to and discussion of law review articles that offer new and perhaps controversial perspectives, which Professor Bell utilizes to provide divergent views and thus better provoke class discussion and independent student thought
Summaries of new Supreme Court cases
A new hypothetical problem that deals with using non-racial criteria to create school diversity
New sections on the adverse impact of immigration on black employment and the impact of unemployment on prison rates
Race, Racism, and American Law, Sixth Edition, compiled and published initially in 1973 by Derrick Bell, in this latest addition continues its position as an essential tool to any course addressing the reasons why race remains a key to America s economic, political and social functioning. If you aren t already using this text, request an examination copy today.
