Founding Failures: How America’s Racial Caste System Has Limited Opportunities for People of Color

As guaranteed by our founding documents, white, property owning men have always enjoyed the benefit of full citizenship and participation in American society, leaving their privilege and wealth to accrue interest over generations. While other groups slowly gained some measure of equal protection of our laws, inequality was already a fundamental characteristic of our society. Racial segregation in housing and schools, persistent to this day, was created by law and reenforced through redlining, the GI Bill, and countless other laws and practices. A persistent wage gap and widening racial wealth divide has pushed the "American Dream" even further away for communities of color. How did we get here? What tools are already available to address these issues? How has the Supreme Court's insistence on "colorblind" laws exacerbated these inequalities

Welcome Remarks:
Kara Stein, Vice President of Policy & Program, ACS

Featured Speakers:
Vinay Harpalani, Associate Professor of Law, University of New Mexico School of Law
Norrinda Hayat, Associate Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Civil Justice Clinic, Rutgers Law School
Laura Sullivan, Director of Economic Justice Program, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
Lindsay Langholz, Director of Policy & Program, American Constitution Society (Moderator)