The 1790 Naturalization Act, the first U.S. citizenship law, reserved the privilege of becoming an American to "Free White Person[s].” Join us for a discussion of its lasting impact on the United States and its people. Friday, September 22, 2023, 12 – 3pm. King Hall, Room 1301. Lunch Provided. Join the Livestream here. Co-Sponsored by Aoki Center, UC Davis School of Law, Free People of Color - UC Davis Department of History. Paper and Response Essays to be published in the William and Mary Law Review.
Moderator, Giselle Garcia, J.D. Aoki Center Legal Fellow
Opening Remarks by Kevin R. Johnson, Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies, UC Davis School of Law. "The 'Free White Persons' Clause of the Naturalization Act of 1790 as Super-Statute"
Bethany Berger, Wallace Stevens Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law. "Separate, Sovereign, and Subjugated?: Native Citizenship and the 1790 Trade and Intercourse Act"
Ming Hsu Chen, Harry & Lillian Hastings Research Chair; Faculty-Director, Center for Race, Immigration, Citizenship & Equality. "The Road Not Taken: A Critical Juncture in Racial Preferences for Naturalized Citizenship"
Rose Cuison-Villiazor, Professor of Law and Chancellor's Social Justice Scholar; Director, Center for Immigration Law, Policy and Justice, Rutgers Law School. "Occupying Liminal Space: Remedying the Racial Exclusion of Interstitial Citizens"
Amanda Frost, John A. Ewald Jr. Research Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law. "Schizophrenic Citizenship"
Please contact Nina Bell at nbell@ucdavis.edu with any questions.
