Race, Racism, and American Law

Bell (law, New York U.), in the newest edition of his work, continues his project of explaining "the law's role in concretizing racial difference, maintaining racial inequality, and reifying the status quo." He has updated a significant portion of the material, including the first chapter, introduced in the last edition, on the "nomenclature of race," which discusses the theoretical underpinnings of the emergence of race and racial meaning in the United States. Among the topics discussed in his treatment of race and American law are the use of "color-blind constitutionalism" to attack affirmative action; the use of history to legitimate American racial legal policy; developments in the areas of public accommodations, housing, and employment; discrimination in the administration of justice (including the death penalty); the state of the right to vote; and the impact of anti-racist and pro-racist protest on the law. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).