Discussion (1L): Race and Urban Law in the Bay Area

From the Black Power movement for self-governance that formed East Palo Alto to the battle to preserve the history of the "Little Manila" neighborhood in Stockton, from the anti-gentrification politics of San Francisco's historically Latinx Mission District to the settlement struggles of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees in San Jose, the history of the Greater Bay Area offers a moving picture of the hardships and heritage of American diversity. Some readings and visual media in the class will draw on place-specific legal histories of discrimination, organizing, and reform in Bay Area cities/neighborhoods. Other thematic readings will focus on racial/ethnic discrimination in housing and land ownership; incorporation movements to form majority-minority cities; Latinx and Asian-American migration into post-industrial cities; neighborhood improvement efforts in segregated enclaves; and efforts to lead or resist local political change. Students will leave the course with a richer sense of their home region during law school, as well as a broader picture of "law" that includes local administrative proceedings, municipal codes, civil and criminal law enforcement practices, and taxes/spending decisions. This discussion seminar will meet four times during the Fall quarter. Meeting dates and times to be arranged by instructor. Elements used in grading: Attendance and class participation.