Making the MexiRican City
To commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month, this week's review analyzes the community-building and activist practices Mexican and Puerto Rican migrants employed in 20th-century Michigan.
Posted on in Review of the Week
Post-Racial Constitutionalism and the Roberts Court
This week's review applies a critical race theory lens to the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts, examining the impact of Roberts's position of neutrality on cases related to race.
Posted on July 3, 2023 in Review of the Week
Post-Racial Constitutionalism and the Roberts Court: Rhetorical Neutrality and the Perpetuation of Inequality
Powell, Cedric Merlin. Cambridge, 2022
250p bibl index, 9781108839945 $110.00, 9781108881210
A truly deep, complex consideration of the current Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts, Post-Racial Constitutionalism and the Roberts Court provides a critical race theory examination of the Roberts Court with particular attention to notions of inequality. Powell (law, Univ. of Louisville) explores the doctrine leading to some of the most important cases in contemporary times. Across eight short chapters, he exposes how the Roberts Court has ignored or inconsistently considered issues of race. The book is especially powerful because it provides context for the history of race and jurisprudence. Giving Reconstruction its due place, Powell helps show how influential previous cases were on society and how the Roberts Court’s inaction is exponentially significant. The conclusion is a must read for every scholar of law considering the next steps for the role of law in issues of race. Powell’s work is powerful for laying a historical foundation and using examples to show how that foundation has impacted jurisprudential thought. Post-Racial Constitutionalism and the Roberts Court is recommended for all readers interested in criminology, law, sociology, criminal justice, and history. Researchers can quickly see that there simply is not another book quite like this, making Powell’s work groundbreaking.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and professionals.
Reviewer: A. R. S. Lorenz, Ramapo College
Interdisciplinary Subjects: Law & Society, Racial Justice
Subject: Social & Behavioral Sciences – Political Science – U.S. Politics
Choice Issue: Jul 2023
Enjoy this week’s review? Check out more reviews of related titles:
- Everyone’s Democracy: Confronting Political Inequality in America
- Turn on the Words: Deaf Audiences, Captions and the Long Struggle for Access
- Re-Union: How Bold Labor Reforms Can Repair, Revitalize, and Reunite the United States
- The $16 Taco: Contested Geographies of Food, Ethnicity, and Gentrification
- The Anger Gap: How Race Shapes Emotion in Politics
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