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Fall 2021 Course

From Protest to Law: Triumphs and Defeats in Struggles for Racial Justice, 1950-1970

Prerequisite: None

Exam Type: No Exam The requirement for the course are five six to eight page papers that react to readings and lectures.

This course will examine changes in law wrought by protests against racial injustice that erupted in the mid twentieth century. The principal topics will include disputes over segregation (see, e.g. Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia), invidious private racial discrimination (see, e.g. the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968), and racial disfranchisement (see e.g. the Voting Rights Act of 1965). Considerable attention will be focused on lawyers and judges who played key roles in the drama of the Second Reconstruction.