Friday, April 25, 2014

Jones on the Supreme Court's Decision in Schuette: The Problem of Mixed-Race People

Martha S. Jones (University of Michigan) has an opinion piece on CNN that brings her historical research to bear on the Supreme Court's recent decision in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. Here's an excerpt from the opening paragraphs:
In Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the plurality, cast doubt upon the court's capacity to deliberate over race cases -- and mixed-raced people were said to be the culprits. 
Kennedy wrote that "not all individuals of the same race think alike." Fair enough. But then he went on to suggest that mixed-race people confound the court's capacity to "define individuals according to race."
. . .  
Kennedy's view feels familiar: There is nothing new about regarding mixed-race people as a problem in the United States.
Read on here.