Racial Disparity
Racial disparity refers to the imbalances and incongruities between the treatment of racial groups, including economic status, income, housing options, societal treatment, safety, and myriad other aspects of life and society. Contemporary and past discrimination in the U.S., and globally, has profoundly impacted the inequalities seen in society today. This section highlights resources covering racial disparity in our society, with a focus on questioning the foundations of racial disparity and providing access to information to develop possible solutions.
Books (available at HUSL Library)
The New Jim Crow by Call Number: HV9950 .A437 2010Publication Date: 2010This book describes racial disparities and discrimination in the U.S. criminal justice system. The tenth anniversary edition includes a new preface from the author. “Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads... and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list."
Critical Race Theory by Call Number: KF4755 .B75 2019Publication Date: 2018This book discusses the development and application of critical race theory (CRT) in the legal context. “Part I provides a history of CRT... Part II introduces and explores...institutional/structural racism, implicit bias, microaggressions, racial privilege, the relationship between race and class, and intersectionality. Part III builds on Part II’s...by exploring the intersection of race with a variety of other characteristics...Part IV analyzes...racial disparities in health, affirmative action, the criminal justice system, the welfare state, and education.”
Unequal Profession by Call Number: KF272 .D47 2019Publication Date: 2019This book compares the personal experiences of women of color professors with those of white women, white men, and other men of color who serve as faculty and administrators in American law schools. This book analyzes how racial and gender biases have become pervasive in hiring, colleague interaction, promotion, and the legal education taught within law schools today.
White by Law by Call Number: KF4755 .H36 2006Publication Date: 2006Haney-Lopez’s book is the critical race cornerstone. It discusses how race is a social construct and analyzes the intersection of race and law. “Ten years later, Haney López revisits the legal construction of race, and argues that current race law has spawned a troubling racial ideology that perpetuates inequality under a new guise: colorblind white dominance.”
Articles
- Lucius T. III Outlaw, Unsecured (Black) Bodies: How Baltimore Foreshadows the Dangers of Racially Targeted Dragnet Policing Let Loose by Utah v. Strieff, 50 N.M. L. Rev. 25 (2020)."This article strives to add to the growing criticism of Strieff in three ways. First, it adds to the chorus of work exposing and criticizing the flawed legal reasoning of the majority opinion.' Next, by using Baltimore, Maryland's recent policing history, this article shows how racially targeted dragnet policing was already a fact of life pre-Striefffor many black residents of our cities, and how this discriminatory policing tactic is fortified and encouraged by Strieff Finally, this article explains why Justice Thomas's claim that his opinion will not lead to increased invidious dragnet policing because of the threat and availability of civil liability is misguided and divorced from reality."
- Rutgers Center for Security, Race and Rights, Race and Racism in Higher Education: Annotated Bibliography of Articles and Reports (2020).An annotated bibliography comprised of law review articles, social science articles, and policy reports on race and racism in higher education.
- Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Case for Reparations, The Atlantic (June 2014) (last visited July 21, 2020).This article highlights socioeconomic racial disparities throughout U.S. history.
- Jonathan Simon, Racing Abnormality, Normalizing Race: The Origins of America's Peculiar Carceral State and its Prospects for Democratic Transformation Today, 111 Nw. U. L. Rev. 1625 (2017).This article discusses how the normalization of incarcerating communities based on race disrupts communities. This article analyzes how policing becomes a way of utilizing state power to correct and deter elements of society that seem out of place or outside the norm.
- Justin Hansford & Meena Jagannath, Ferguson to Geneva: Using the Human Rights Framework to Push Forward a Vision for Racial Justice in the United States after Ferguson, 12 Hastings Race & Poverty L.J. 121 (2015).This article outlines "Ferguson to Geneva," an advocacy effort that framed abuses of marginalized communities in the U.S. as human rights violations and that submitted a report to the United Nations Committee Against Torture in 2014.
- Danielle Holley-Walker, Defining Race-Conscious Programs in the Fisher Era, 57 Howard L.J. 545 (2014)."This Essay will explore whether Fisher changed the landscape in Equal Protection Clause cases related to race-conscious admissions programs."
- Ian Haney-Lopez, Intentional Blindness, 87 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1779 (2012).This article discusses colorblindness as a limiting factor in realizing the promises and guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment. Focusing on the Supreme Court’s search for discriminatory intent, the article analyzes how blindness as to the color of litigants ultimately impedes the pursuit for justice.
- Danielle Holley-Walker, Race and Socioeconomic Diversity in American Legal Education: A Response to Richard Sander, 88 DENV. U. L. REV. 845 (2011)."In this essay, I will argue that socioeconomic status (SES) diversity is an important goal for law schools to aspite to, and class-based efforts to increase law school diversity should be used in conjunction with ongoing race-conscious admissions policies."
- e. christi cunningham, Exit Strategy for the Race Paradigm, 50 Howard L.J. 755 (2007).This article defines and analyzes the race paradigm and offers wholism as a way to approach ongoing racism.
- W. Sherman Rogers, The Black Quest for Economic Liberty: Legal, Historical, and Related Considerations, 48 Howard L.J. 1 (2004)."This Article attempts to explain the lower economic status of black Americans in comparison to the white population in light of legal, historical, sociological, political, and economic considerations related to America's legacy of slavery, segregation, and rampant discrimination against blacks."
- Lenese C. Herbert, Bete Noire: How Race-Based Policing Threatens National Security, 9 Mich. J. Race & L. 149 (2003)."Part I discusses the origins of the Fourth Amendment right to be let alone. Part II notes the seminal exclusion of African Americans when contemplating and constructing Fourth Amendment guarantees...Part III asserts that over-policing innocent Americans based on their race renders the American polity defacto segregated and illegitimately creates two societies: 'American' and 'not.'...Part IV explores how race-based policing creates identity, often within the crucible of violence...This Article therefore concludes by warning that, unless the Court intervenes, race-based policing of African Americans4 thwarts the United States' efforts to combat terrorism and foster world peace."
- e. christi cunningham, Identity Markets, 45 How. L.J. 491, 507 (2002).This article defines identity markets and discusses the implications of their existence within current labor markets.
- Angela Harris, Equality Trouble: Sameness and Difference in Twentieth Century Race Law, 88 C.L.R. 1923 (2000).This article discusses the application of laws based on concepts of sameness and the differences between races and communities. It tackles issues such as color blindness, over application, and other inequitable means that exacerbate inequalities based on race.
- Alice Gresham Bullock, Challenges Facing the Profession: Perceptions of Divided Justice, 33 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 1 (1999).Discusses perceptions of the efficacy (or lack of efficacy) of the U.S. legal system, particularly along racial lines.
- Harold A. McDougall, Gentrification: The Class Conflict over Urban Space Moves into the Courts, 10 Fordham Urb. L.J. 177 (1981)."This Article examines four attempts to block the construction or financing of HUD projects in neighborhoods transformed by gentrification."
- Lisa A. Crooms-Robinson, Is the Third Time the Charm? Reconstructing Personhood and Reimagining “We the People”This article questions and discusses the phrase "We the People" from the U.S. Constitution. It argues "we" positions an "other" or "they," and that "[t]he 694,280 enslaved Africans accounted for in the 1790 census were the paradigmatic 'they' to the people’s 'we.' Blackness marked those who, though never intended to be included in 'we,' were useful as the 'they' against which 'we' gained its full meaning."
Databases
- ABA Civil Rights and Social Justice COVID-19 Series This link opens in a new windowThe Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice has developed a multi-part webinar series exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic highlights critical legal issues of criminal justice, civil rights, human rights, and economic concerns, to name only a few. In these free webinars, panelists will address the deepening crises in our collective pursuit of advancing law and justice.
- COVID-19: Advancing Rights and Justice During a Pandemic This link opens in a new windowCOVID-19 Columbia and Duke Law Virtual Event Series.
- Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies This link opens in a new windowThis is a difficult moment for the world and the United States, and for Black communities in particular. The Joint Center is working closely with several other Black organizations to ensure that the challenges facing Black communities are considered and adequately addressed in COVID-19 policy decisions.
- Resource Center: 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) This link opens in a new windowAmerican Imigration Lawyers of America COVID-19 Resource Center. Practice alerts and information relating to the practice of Immigration Law during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frequently updated.
- TransformHarm This link opens in a new windowTransformHarm.org is a resource hub about ending violence. It offers an introduction to transformative justice.
- The Race, Research & Policy PortalThe web portal, hosted by The Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, provides searchable summaries of research on diversity, racial equity, and antiracist organizational change in a wide variety of settings.
Organizations
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American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
The ACLU is one of the nation's oldest organization championing for civil liberties. The ACLU's national website includes information on the organization's affiliates, how to get involved, as well as information about racial justice, prisoner's rights, criminal reform, immigration rights, and LGBTQ+ rights. -
The Innocence Project
The Innocence Project is an organization dedicated to helping undo wrongful convictions and mass incarceration in the United Staes. The website shares news, information on how to get involved, and other services provided by the organization. -
Poor People's Campaign
The Poor People's Campaign is an American anti-poverty campaign advocating for better societal treatment of marginalized persons at the intersection of class, race, and other identities. -
The Sentencing Project
The Sentencing Project is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to sentencing reform and the application of alternatives to incarceration. Through its research on criminal justice issues, the organization runs a variety of programs and events. The Sentencing Project's "Reducing Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System" manual provides a detailed discussion about racial disparity, especially in regards to the United States legal system, and how to remedy it. -
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)
The SPLC was founded in 1971 to combat institutional racism and hate remaining from Jim Crow. The organization has since grown to combat other forms of hate, including hate against immigrants, children, the LGBT community, the poor, and the incarcerated.
Websites
- Equal Justice Initiative“The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.”
- Police Scorecard--Campaign ZeroThis website examines different abuses of police power across California utilizing a mix of official and citizen-produced data. “It was built using data from California's OpenJustice database, public records requests, national databases and media reports.”
- INEQUALITY.orgThis website tracks inequality at the intersection of multiple identities, with sections on racial economic inequality, statistics on the current state of race and wealth, and solutions to resolve the disparities.
- Medium.com--Resource Guide: Prisons, Policing, and PunishmentA list containing resources about basics of mass criminalization, prison and police abolition, criminalization of blackness, sexual violence and anti-carceral feminism, community accountability, restorative justice, and intersections between criminalization and climate justice, immigration, and LGBTQ justice.
- Racial Disparities in Police Arrests MapThis map show county by county the extent to which Black Americans are arrested at a higher rate than White Americans, as well as data on the arrests of Asian Americans and American Indians.
- Law360 Access to JusticeCollection of legal analysis and news articles by leading lawyers covering access to justice issues across the United States.
Blogs
- ACLU News And Commentary
This blog is a collection of commentary and news articles about civil rights issued by the ACLU. - Harvard Civil Rights -- Civil Liberties Law Review Amicus Blog
This blog is produced by the Harvard Civil Rights - Civil Liberties Law Review and focuses on creates commentary on appellate cases related to civil rights issues.
Videos
NowThis News, Dr. Fauci on Health Disparities in Coronavirus Cases for African Americans (2020)
This timely three minute video describes, in Dr. Fauci's own words, how death disparities in access to medical care and national policy have exacerbated the impact of Covid-19.
Equal Justice Initiative, Terror Lynching in America (2016)
This five minute video narrated by Bryan Stevenson examiners ned the history of lynching and racial violence in America, using stunning illustrations.
Equal Justice Initiative, Slavery to Mass Incarceration (2015)
This six minute video narrated by Bryan Stevenson outliers the history of slavery in America and the evolution into a system of mass incarceration, using stunning illustrations.
PBS NewsHour, Ta-Nehisi Coates on Discussing Racism Directly, Honestly (2015)
This three minute video, narrated by Ta-Nehisi Coates, briefly explains issues of systemic racism stemming from white supremacy in American society.
The Atlantic, The Enduring Myth of Black Criminality (2015)
This three minute video, narrated by Ta-Nehisi Coates, examines stereotypes of Black criminality on their impact on mass incarceration, using striking graphics.
© Howard University School of Law Library. Questions about this guide should be directed to reference@law.howard.edu.