The Rhetoric of Colorblind Constitutionalism: Individualism, Race and Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky

38 Pages Posted: 28 Sep 2008 Last revised: 4 Jul 2009

See all articles by Enid F. Trucios-Haynes

Enid F. Trucios-Haynes

University of Louisville - Louis D. Brandeis School of Law

Cedric Merlin Powell

University of Louisville - Louis D. Brandeis School of Law

Date Written: July 30, 2008

Abstract

The Court, in its race jurisprudence, has employed a narrative structure of Rhetorical Neutrality, an approach that "privileges individualism over the substantive claims of historically oppressed groups." The Louisville school case represents the Court's colorblind constitutionalism: history and context are ignored, the Fourteenth Amendment is reinterpreted so that race-conscious remedial approaches are rejected, and the present day effects of past discrimination are explained in neutral terms that perpetuate systemic discrimination. Drawing on demographic data and constitutional theory, this Article argues for a doctrinal approach that restores the substantive content of the Fourteenth Amendment. It rejects colorblind constitutionalism and its underlying neutral rhetoric.

Keywords: colorblind constitutionalism, Fourteenth Amendment, race, affirmative action, school desegregation, integration, Constitutional Law

Suggested Citation

Trucios-Haynes, Enid F. and Powell, Cedric Merlin, The Rhetoric of Colorblind Constitutionalism: Individualism, Race and Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky (July 30, 2008). Penn State Law Review, Vol. 112, No. 4, 2008, University of Louisville School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series No. 2009-02, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1188662

Enid F. Trucios-Haynes

University of Louisville - Louis D. Brandeis School of Law ( email )

Wilson W. Wyatt Hall
Louisville, KY 40292
United States

Cedric Merlin Powell (Contact Author)

University of Louisville - Louis D. Brandeis School of Law ( email )

Wilson W. Wyatt Hall
Louisville, KY 40292
United States

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