For Equals Only

Tina Fernandes Botts is assistant professor of philosophy at California State University, Fresno.

• IntroductionChapter SummariesChapter 1: Scholarly BackdropLegal HermeneuticsCritical Philosophy of RaceCritical Race TheoryOrigins: The Work of Derrick BellCritical Race Theory and EqualityChapter 2: Equal Protection and Racialized PersonsThe Rise of Separate But Equal DoctrineWhat is Equal Protection?Racial Discrimination Per Se Begins: Japanese Americans after WWIISocial SegregationSeparate as InferiorSeparate But Equal OverturnedRacial Classifications and MarriageDiscriminatory Intent vs. Discriminatory ImpactBakke: Racial Discrimination Per Se is FormalizedPost-Bakke Fall-OutConcluding ReflectionsChapter 3: The Concept of Race and Equal Protection LawThe Supreme Court’s Switch from Sociocultural/Sociohistorical Race to Biological RaceThe Academic Switch from Biological Race to Sociocultural/Sociohistorical RaceA Change in Understanding of the Problem of Racial DiscriminationConcluding ReflectionsChapter 4: The Concept of Equality and Equal Protection Law

Racial injustice represents more than lapses in legal compliance but rather a system of marginalization rooted in our history and social habits. In For Equals Only: Race, Equality, and the Equal Protection Clause, Tina Botts sharply analyzes the equal protection clause in the fourteenth amendment in light of our history of racial marginalization to argue that our reliance on it needs to shift towards responding to inequalities as social and historical rather than as simply legal. In doing so, Botts urges us to think about the equal protection clause as intended for addressing disparities in social status and standing rather than as a tool for individual cases of discrimination. For Equals Only arrives at a moment of reinvigorated debates around the role of the state in perpetuating racial injustice and helps clearly articulate what we most need to know about our collective duties to black citizens.