Race and the Law Series: Race and the Constitution

In this virtual lecture, part of the University of Colorado Law School's Race and the Law series, Professor Helen Norton examined different interpretations of the Equal Protection Clause and their impact on racial inequality. It wasn't until the Fourteenth Amendment's ratification in 1868 that the Constitution included an explicit textual commitment to equality. Contemporary debates over the meaning of the constitutional term "equal protection" often turn on the choice between anti-subordination understandings of equality law (think, for example, of Justice Harry Blackmun's statement that "In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way") and anti-classification approaches (recall, for instance, Chief Justice John Roberts' statement that "The way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race"). This talk will examine when and how the distinction between these approaches makes a difference in courts? and policymakers? ability to address structural inequality.

Event Details

Speakers	Helen Norton, Professor and Ira C. Rothgerber, Jr. Chair in Constitutional Law