Race and the Constitution

Four Saturdays, January 20 - February 10
10:30AM -12:30PM Pacific Time

Corte Madera Store - $295

The issue of race continues to divide our nation. Since the founding of our republic, the Constitution and its interpretation by the Supreme Court has both reflected and shaped the struggle over racial justice. This class is a broad survey that will explore that history beginning with the drafting of the Constitution. We will discuss selected Supreme Court decisions on slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment, segregation, integration, criminal justice, and affirmative action. 

Join Joel Paul, a constitutional law professor and author, for a lively wide-ranging discussion of the legal struggle for racial justice in our country.

* No prior knowledge of law or legal history is required. Reading material will be provided. 

Joel Richard Paul is the Hon. Raymond Sullivan Professor at the University of California Law School, San Francisco where he teaches constitutional law and history. He has also taught on the law faculties of Berkeley, Yale, the University of Connecticut, Leiden University (Netherlands), and American University. His most recent books are INDIVISIBLE: Daniel Webster and the Birth of American Nationalism, WITHOUT PRECEDENT: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times, and UNLIKELY ALLIES: How a Merchant, a Playwright and a Spy Saved the American Revolution, which was named one of the best books of 2009 by The Washington Post.