S. Asian Americans and the Law

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, both historical controversies involving issues still of relevance today and contemporary cases that present challenging and contentious questions. This course will examine the legal history of people of Asian descent in the United States, with a 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. We begin 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. We then turn to "Historical Discrimination": early violence against Asian Americans and the treatment of Asians in the United States by the states and federal governments in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Next, we consider "Internment and Redress and Reparations": the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the efforts to obtain redress and reparations. Finally, we consider "Contemporary Issues": including profiling and the question of "spies," employment discrimination and the Bamboo Ceiling, the concept of the model minority, education and the thorny issue of reverse discrimination, the administration of justice, and contemporary violence, including during the pandemic.