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  • Regulating Target Marketing and Other Race-Based Advertising Practices

    Recognizing the significant role that advertising plays in American life, this article examines the phenomenon of race-based targeted marketing as a contributing factor to the racial tension of our media age and evaluates the role of government regulation in preventing the dissemination of racist messages through advertising. In Part I, the article first looks at the evolution of "mass" marketing into today's standard use of targeted marketing techniques, and especially how those techniques can sometimes have racist effects. In Part II, the article discusses both measurable and esoteric harms of cultural racism. Part III examines existing laws designed to regulate advertising generally and specific laws that reach discriminatory advertising for particular products and services. Part IV specifically analyzes the Federal Trade Commission's existing authority to regulate unfairness in advertising as it might be used to prevent advertising with racist effects. Finally, recognizing the difficulty of governmental intervention in the marketplace, this article suggests guidelines for use by advertisers who affirmatively wish to avoid advertising practices that cause racist harms.

  • Prologue: Brief of Amici Curiae on Behalf of a Committee of Concerned Black Graduates of ABA Accredited Law Schools: Vicky L. Beasley, Devon W. Carbado, Tasha L. Cooper, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Luke Charles Harris, Shavar Jeffries, Sidney Majalya, Wanda R. Stansbury, Jory Steele, Et Al., In Support of Respondents

    The brief of Amici Curiae on Behalf of a Committee of Concerned Black Graduates of ABA Accredited Law Schools in Grutter v. Bollinger was written so as to intervene and to assist in the refraining of the public debate surrounding minority admissions programs in institutions of higher education.

  • Brief of Amici Curiae on Behalf of a Committee of Concerned Black Graduates of ABA Accredited Law Schools: Vicky L. Beasley, Devon W. Carbado, Tasha L. Cooper, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Luke Charles Harris, Shavar Jeffries, Sidney Majalya, Wanda R. Stansbury, Jory Steele, Et Al., In Support of Respondents

    In the Supreme Court of the United States. Barbara Grutter V. Lee Bollinger

  • Locked in Inequality: The Persistence of Discrimination

    In this Article, the author argues that the practice of charging school fees to attend public school is an example of locked-in discrimination that persists over time, even in the absence of intentional discrimination. Exploring the lock-in model of discrimination in the unique context of South Africa, Roithmayr makes two central points. First, discriminatory practices often become locked into institutional structures because high switching costs-the costs of moving from a discriminatory practice to an inclusive one—make it too difficult for an institution to discontinue discriminating. Even when institutional actors are fully committed to eradicating racial disparity, they may be constrained from doing so by high switching costs. Second, contemporary antidiscrimination law in the U.S. may be particularly ill equipped to deal with locked-in discrimination. U.S. equal protection jurisprudence only prohibits discrimination that can be traced to an individual or group of individuals who intend to discriminate, and does not address locked-in discrimination that persists even after institutional actors no longer intend to discriminate.

  • Power, Possibility and Choice: The Racial Identity of Transracially Adopted Children

    Review of The Ethics of Transracial Adoption by Hawley Fogg-Davis

  • Abandoning the PIA Standard: A Comment on Gila V

    Part I of this Note examines the development of Indian reserved water rights, and the practicably irrigable acreage method of quantifying those rights, as defined by the Court. Part II describes the arguments of state and private interests that oppose broad Indian water rights. Part III discusses Gila V, including the Arizona Supreme Court's rationale for abandoning the standard set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court and the standard for quantifying Indian reserved rights that the court applied in its place. Part IV analyzes the Arizona Supreme Court's justifications for abandoning the standard, and considers alternate grounds for the decision. Ultimately, this Note concludes that the Arizona Supreme Court misinterpreted precedent and wrongfully rejected the standard established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Arizona I and Arizona II. Thus, Gila V should be viewed as an abrogation of the established standard for defining Indian water rights and not serve as precedent.

  • “The Implicit Association Test”: A Measure of Unconscious Racism in Legislative Decision-Making

    This Article argues that the Court will not fulfill the promise of the Equal Protection Clause unless the Court adapts its vision of antidiscrimination to account for the complex nature of discrimination. Imagine that we could measure unconscious discrimination. If so, then we could broaden the concept of purposeful discrimination to include the measurement of a legislator's reliance on unconscious racial stereotypes. Such a measuring device may already exist: The Implicit Association Test (IAT), a computer-based test developed by Yale and University of Washington psychologists. Researchers do not yet know how well the IAT can uncover racial stereotypes; however, if the IAT could discern the state of mind of decision-makers, it could enable all acts of race-dependent decision-making to be subject to pre-scrutiny analysis under the Equal Protection Clause. Currently, facially race-neutral statutes are practically impervious to constitutional challenges by aggrieved plaintiffs, because discriminatory intent often cannot be "located" by the Court. This barrier has continued to shield legislators from judicial scrutiny. The IAT could "smoke out" illegitimate purposes by demonstrating that the classification does not in fact serve its stated purpose.

  • Strategic Voting and African-Americans: True Vote, True Representation, True Power for the Black Community

    As long as American politics remain securely bound to the two-party system, Blacks will remain a voting block; a block that may shift, but a block nonetheless. And although this appears to be to our strategic disadvantage, allowing conviction to direct us, as well as a deep respect for the intense struggle for the franchise, will forever be a noble posture.

  • Sexual Violence as Genocide: The Developing Law of the International Criminal Tribunals and the International Criminal Court

    This note will explore the treatment of the two primary violent sexual acts, rape and forced pregnancy, in modern international criminal law; more specifically in its treatment as genocide. The woman as an individual is the primary sufferer of sexual violence during armed conflict, however sexual violence is a calculated means by which perpetrators seek to destroy an entire ethnic group. Sexual violence is both an attack against the woman and an attack against the ethnic group, and should be prosecuted as such. While crimes against individuals are best prosecuted as crimes against humanity or under domestic law, crimes committed against ethnic groups, separate from the individual underlying act, should be prosecuted as genocide.

  • Land and Liberation: Lessons for the Creation of Effective Land Reform Policy in South Africa

    Based upon the premise that land reform is essential to creating socio-economic equality, easing racial tensions and stemming the tide of violence in South Africa, this note will provide suggestions for effective land reform policy. To accomplish this, this Note will examine the paths taken by several other transitional African governments in land reform policy. It will attempt to extract practical lessons from their experiences and apply them towards the development of effective land redistribution policy in South Africa. Part I of this note will provide a historical overview of colonialism and land law in Africa. Part II will examine the postcolonial land reform policy in Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe and part III will attempt to extract lessons from the experiences in these countries. Part IV will seek to apply these lessons towards the development of effective land reform policy in South Africa. Finally, Part V will again stress the need for land reform as a means of creating economic equity and racial harmony.