Law 266.

Critical Race Theory

Fall 2015 M, T, W, 8:35A – 9:50A
Room 2448
Prof. Devon Carbado
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 3:00 pm-5:00 pm – Law 2109
Classroom: 2448
Phone: (310) 825-3365
Email: Carbado@law.ucla.edu
Instruction Ends: November, 24
Review Session: December 11 from 11:30 – 12:45
Final Exam: December 15 (morning schedule)
No class on: Monday, September 7 (Labor Day); Monday, September 21*;
Wednesday, November 4*; Wednesday, November 11 (Veteran’s
Day). (*These are classes we will need to makeup—one of which
you will make up by attending any plenary session for the CRS
Symposium and writing a one-page reaction paper).
Course Description: This course will explore emerging themes within the growing
literature of Critical Race Theory. Contrary to the traditional view of racial subordination as
solely a deviation from the liberal legal ideal, this body of work recasts the role of law as
historically central to and complicit in upholding racial hierarchy as well as other
hierarchies of gender, class and sexual orientation. In other words, CRT is interested in the
ways in which the law both creates and disrupts patterns of racial inequality. We will focus
on the origins of the literature and the contrasts between critical race theory and
liberal/conservative analytical frameworks on race and American Law and society, as those
frameworks as manifested in specific legal doctrines. We will also examine some of the
questions and criticisms raised about critical race theory, mostly though not entirely from
inside the genre, as well as the impact of the work on political and legal discourse.
Required Text: The case book for the course is RACE LAW STORIES (EDS., MORAN AND
CARBADO) (“CB”). There will also be a supplementary reader (“SR”), which will be posted
on MyLaw as a pdf. If you have any difficulty accessing this document, please email my
assistant, Ms. Susanna Pfeffer, at Pfeffer@law.ucla.edu.
Course Requirements: The final grade will be based on individual class participation, a
group exercise, and the final exam as described more fully below.
1. Attendance and participation: You are expected to be a prepared and active
participant in class discussion. Your individual participation grade will be
based on your timely attendance and engagement with the readings and
your classmates. (10% of final grade)
2. Group Project: During the semester, students will be assigned, at random, to
be part of a study group. Each study group will be assigned to lead
discussion for one class session. Your group will also be responsible for

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 providing a written analysis (at least 500 words but not more than 750) of the
materials assigned for the session. Your analyses should be copied and
distributed to your colleagues at the beginning of class on the scheduled day.
Your group should be prepared to discuss and answer questions on the
materials and to ask questions on the topics covered in the readings. You will
be graded as a group on these assignments, with all members of the group
receiving the same grade unless I hear that there is a serious imbalance in the
division of labor and assumption of responsibilities in the group. So that I
have a record of your presentation, each will be recorded. This will be used
for grading purposes only, and will not be shown to anyone without your
express authorization. (30% of final grade)
3. Final exam: The final exam will be a three hour in-class, open book
examination. (60% of final grade)

UNIT I: Contemporary Race Problems

A. Ferguson: The Ferguson Report
 Theodore Shaw, Introduction (SR-5)
 Theodore Shaw, Report Summary (SR-13)
 Theodore Shaw, Report Background (SR-19)
 Theodore Shaw, Ferguson Law Enforcement Efforts Focus On
Generating Revenue (SR-23)

B. Fourth Amendment Law

 INS v. Delgado (SR-29)
 Florida v. Bostick (SR-41)
 Whren v. United States (SR-49)

UNIT II: Foundations

A. Introduction: Epistemological Foundations & Premises
 Introduction: The Story of Law and American Racial Consciousness (CB
1-6)
 CRITICAL RACE THEORY: KEY WRITINGS, Introduction (SR-55)
 Devon Carbado, Critical What What? (SR-77)
 Juan Perea, The Black/White Binary (SR-91)
 Richard Delgado, The Imperial Scholar (SR-137)

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B. Institutionalization at UCLA
 Cheryl I. Harris, Critical Race Studies: An Introduction (SR-149)

C. The Legal Construction of Race

1. What is Race?
 Abdullahi v. Prada, 520 F.3d 710 (12008) (SR-175)
 Morton v. Mancari, 417 U.S. 535 (1974) (SR-179)
 Carole Goldberg, What’s Race Got to Do With It? (CB 237-244; 250-
263; 270-272)
 Rice v. Cayetano, 528 U. S. 495 (2000) (SR-183)
 E. Yamamoto and C. C. Betts, Disfiguring Civil Rights (CB 541- 550;
563-567)
 Saint Francis College et.al. v. Al-Khazraji, 481 US 604 (1986) (SR-197)
 Shaare Tefila Congregation v. Cobb, (1987) (SR-203)
 Hernandez v. Texas, (SR-207)
 Haney-Lopez & Michael Olivas, Jim Crow (CB 273-306)
 Ariela Gross, “The Caucasian Cloak” (SR-211)

2. Racial Categorization
 Loving v. Virginia, 381 U.S. 1 (1967) (SR-241)
 Perez v. Sharp, 32 Cal.2d 711 (1948) (SR-245)
 R.A. Lenhardt, Forgotten Lessons on Race, (CB 343)
 People v. Hall, 4 Cal. 399 (1854) (SR-257)
 Gong Lum v. Rice, 275 U.S. 78 (1927) (SR-263)
3. Racial Assignment and Documentation
 Hudgins v. Wright, 1 Hen. & M. (Va.) 134 (1806) (SR-267)
 Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Multiracialism (CB 147-163)
 Theophanis v. Theophanis (1932) (SR-269)
 United States v. Thind, 261 U.S. 204 (1923) (SR-275)
 Ozawa v. United States, 260 U.S. 178 (1922) (SR-287)
 Ian Haney-Lopez, White by Law (SR-299)
 Devon Carbado, Yellow by Law (CB 175-206; 229-235)
 United States v. Cartozian, 6 F.2d 919 (D.Or.1925) (SR-311)
 John Tehranian, Compulsory Whiteness (SR-315)
 Arthur Perkins v. Lake County Dept. of Utilities (1994) (SR-347)
 Green v. City of New Orleans (1956) (SR-361)
 Solanangel Maldonado, Race, Culture, & Adoption (SR-369)
 Jane Doe v. State of Louisiana (1985) (SR-413)
 Malone & Malone v. David Haley (SR-421)

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 4. Racial Meaning
 Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) (SR-431)
 Mendez v. Westminster (SR-445)
 Brown et. al. v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) (SR-451)
 Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003) (SR-459)
 Rachel F. Moran, The Heirs of Brown (CB 457-478; 481-490)
 Shaw v. Reno, 509 U.S. 630 (1993) (SR-471)
 D. Tokaji, Representation and Raceblindness, (CB 497-515)
 United States v. Brignoni-Ponce (SR-487)

D. Essentialism
1. Essentializing Essentialism?
 Diana Fuss, Essentially Speaking (SR-505)
2. Race Per Se Essentialism?
 Orlando Patterson, The Race Trap (SR-513)
3. Gender Per Se Essentialism?
 Angela P. Harris, Race & Essentialism (SR-515)
 Catharine A. MacKinnon, From Practice to Theory, or What is a
White Woman Anyway (SR-523)
4. Essentialism and Sexual Identity
 Russell Robinson, Marriage Equality and Postracialism (SR-529)

UNIT III: Theories and Models of Anti-Discrimination and

Racism
A. The Intent Theory
 Washington v. Davis, 426 U.S. 229 (1976) (SR-601)
 Ian F. Haney-Lopez, Equal Protection as Intentional Blindness, (SR-
611)

B. Anti-Discrimination and Colorblind Theories

 Alan Freeman, Legitimizing Discrimination (SR-623)
 Neil Gotanda, A Critique of “Our Constitution is Color-blind” (SR-
641)
 Devon Carbado & Cheryl Harris, The New Racial Preferences
(lecture)
 Dinesh D' Souza, The End of Racism (SR-697)

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 C. Psychological Theories
 Charles Lawrence, The Id, The Ego (SR-711)
 Linda Krieger, The Content of Our Categories (SR-735)
 Implicit Association Test (Implicit.Harvard.edu)
 Jerry Kang, Fair Measures (SR-739)

D. Four Structural Theories

 Omi and Winant, Racial Formation (SR-797)
 Police Violence (discussion)
 School-to-Prison Pipeline (discussion)
 Cheryl I. Harris, Whiteness as Property (SR-807)

E. Intersectionality
 Kimberlé Crenshaw, Demarginalizing the Intersection (SR-823)
 Paulette Caldwell, Intersectional Bias and the Courts (CB 571-589)
 Margaret Montoya, Mascaras, Trenzas (SR-837)
 Sumi Cho, Converging Stereotypes (SR-845)

F. Performance Theories
 Devon Carbado and Mitu Gulati, Acting White (SR-863)
 Mario Barnes & Angela Onwuachi-Willig, By Any Other Name: On
being “Regarded as,” and Why Title VII Should Apply Even if
Lakisha and Jamal are White (SR-875)

G. Cultural Theories and Responses

 Richard Ford, THE RACE CARD, Ch. 3 “The Wild Card: Racism by
Analogy” (SR-929)
 Leti Volpp, Righting Wrongs (SR-953)
 Hernandez v. New York (SR-965)
 Mari Matsuda, Voices of America (SR-973)

UNIT IV: Thematic Developments

A. Race, Nationhood and Sovereignty
 Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1856) (SR-1007)
 Ronald Sullivan, Classical Realism (CB 59-72)
 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Articles VIII & IX) (SR-1011)
 Laura Gomez, Manifest Destiny’s Legacy (SR-1013)
 Rennard Strickland, The Tribal Struggle (CB 37)

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  Pedro Malavet, The Constitution (CB 111)

B. Voice, Narrative & Experiential Epistemology

1. A Voice of Color?
 Mari Matsuda, Looking to the Bottom (SR-1045)
2. Critiques of the Use of Narrative
 Farber and Sherry, Telling Stories (SR-1055)
 Richard Posner, The Skin Trade (SR-1069)
3. Responses to Critiques
 Daria Roithmayr, Guerrillas in our Midst (SR-1073)

C. Race, Immigration and (Formal) Citizenship

 Erika Lee, Birthright Citizenship (CB 89)
 Hirabayashi v. United States, 320 U.S. 81 (1943) (SR-1087)
 Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944) (SR-1099)
 Jerry Kang, Dodging Responsibility (CB 311)

D. Race and National Security

 Leti Volpp, The Citizen and the Terrorist, (SR-1105)
 Muneer Ahmad, Racial Violence the Day after 9/11 (SR-1119)
 Amna Akbar, Policing Radicalization (SR-1135)

E. Interracial Conflict
 Richard Delgado, Linking Arms (SR-1211)

F. Intra-group Group
 Taunya Banks, Colorism (SR-1241)
 Robert Chang, Introduction, Becoming Asian American (SR-1263)
 Jim Chen, Unloving (SR-1277)

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