AFRAS 380-1:

Blacks and the American Justice System

Professor Francis Njubi Nesbitt
Room: AH-4131: MWF 11-11:50 a.m.
Office Hours: Mondays 1-3 p.m.

This course examines the legal construction of race and ethnicity in the United States. It explores the writings of scholars influenced by the civil rights movement, Black Power and critical race theory. The aim of the course is to interrogate the intersections among race, racism and power and place the law in a broader context that includes politics, economics and history. There are two main objectives. The first is to understand the regime of white supremacy in the United States, its subordination of people of color and the relationship between that structure and cherished ideas of "rule of law" and "equal protection." The second is to examine practical efforts to do something about the link between racism and law as expressed in African American social movements. The writers we will examine reject the notion that scholarship should be "neutral" and "objective." They question the very foundation of the liberal order, including theories of equality, individualism, rationalism and Constitutional neutrality. These scholars not only try to understand our social situation but strive to change it; they set out not only to ascertain how society is organized, but to transform it for the better.

Texts:
Leon Higginbotham. Shades of Freedom. (Required)
Marc Mauer. Race to Incarcerate. New York: The New Press, 1999. (Required)
Randall Robinson. The Debt What America Owes Blacks. (Required)
Vincent Bugliosi. The Betrayal of America. New York: Nation Books, 2001. (Required)
Kimberle Crenshaw, Neil Gotanda, Gary Peller, Kendall Thomas, eds., Critical Race Theory. New York: The New Press, 1995 (optional)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Attendance
This course will combine online and regular class activities. All students must enroll in the Blackboard course at http://courses.sdsu.edu during the first week of the semester. Students must also attend all lectures. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class period. Each unexcused absence after the third will reduce the final grade by five points.

Short essays
Students will write 5 short essays (2 pages minimum) on topics assigned by the instructor. These periodic essays will include book reports, news analyses and reading responses.

Examinations
There will be three tests and several reading quizzes covering all course materials including lectures, readings, discussions and films. Students should bring their own "blue books" to class on examination day. There will be no make-ups for missed tests or quizzes.

Term paper
Each student should pick a topic discussed in class and write a six- to eight-page term paper. The instructor must approve the paper topic by week five. A class presentation of the paper is due at the end of the semester.