LAW 7084

Asian Americans and the Law

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2024-2025.

Asian Americans have played a prominent role in America's legal history. Despite their small numbers, Asian Americans have been at the center of many legal controversies -- some historic that involved issues still of relevance today and some contemporary that present challenging and contentious questions. The objective of this course is to examine the legal history of people of Asian descent in the United States. The method of the class is to focus on primary legal sources: the Constitution, statutes, regulations, and judicial decisions, to trace this history and the themes it reveals. The seminar will be divided into four units, each to be covered over approximately three classes. We begin in Unit 1 with "Arrival, Exclusion, and Citizenship" -- the arrival of Asians in America and the first immigration statutes, the exclusion laws, the recent travel ban, and the question of citizenship. In Unit 2, we examine "Historical Discrimination" -- early violence against Asian Americans and efforts by state and local governments to regulate Asians in the United States. In Unit 3, we turn to "Internment and Redress and Reparations" -- the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the efforts to obtain redress and reparations. Finally, in Unit 4, we consider "Contemporary Issues" -- profiling and the question of "spies," employment discrimination and the so-called "Bamboo Ceiling," education and the thorny issue of reverse discrimination, the concept of the model minority, and contemporary violence against Asians, including during the pandemic. The last class will be reserved for summation and concluding discussions about the themes of the class.

When Offered Fall.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: LAW 5021. 

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