In 1865, African slaves were finally made citizens of the U.S. They could finally drop

the 'slave label' and accept themselves as American African citizens or African Americans citizens.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.

Congress had the "power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article." The 14th Amendment and subsequent legislation were intended to impose a new political and economic view on a country that had, prior to the Amendment, conducted itself without much restraint. During the early periods after the 13th and 14th Amendments were passed, courts offered little assistance; thus, oppression and violations of civil rights continued. These results were not part of the Amendments' vision of the new order. This "spurious interpretation" and disregard for the Amendments' purposes continued up to, through, and beyond the passage of the 15th Amendment. As a result, the law was brought into disrepute, the Court was placed under extreme political pressure, and the personal element was highly visible in the judiciary.

The courts' refusal to uphold the intent of the legislation reinforced the African Americans' view that courts make and unmake the law at will. Many courts buckled under pressure and "adjusted[ed] constitutional provisions to the exigencies of [the] current policy." Public sentiment that was not always favorable to the African American was, nonetheless, often interspersed into final decisions. White supremacy and "white privilege serve[d] several functions ... it provide[d] white people with 'perks' that [they did] not earn and that [African Americans did] not enjoy" and still do not enjoy to date. "Whiteness as property hascarried and produced a heavy legacy .... It has warped efforts to remediate racial exploitation."

This "legacy" also affected the new African American citizens' hope that expanded educational opportunities would be available now that they were citizens. In spite of roadblocks that were set up to thwart educational opportunities, the Court determined that mandating equality of education could rectify past denials. The Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of such programs in higher education in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. In upholding the University's position, the Court specifically stated "that race can be used to remedy disadvantages cast on minorities by past racial prejudices." Since 1980, the demise of affirmative action became more evident as decisions to enforce the equal protection clause came under attack. Many middle-class Whites summarily reject all types of affirmative action programs for African Americans while selectively forgetting the reality that they did not get where they are today based on the virtues of "[m]erit-hard work, intelligence, pluck, and maybe a little luck. And while we [whites] may be sympathetic to the plight of others, we close down when we hear the words 'affirmative action' or 'racial preferences."' We worked hard, we made it on our own, the thinking goes, why don't they? After all, the Civil Rights Act was enacted almost 40 years ago." This view led to an all-out attack against affirmative action.

As a result, projections are made that affirmative action programs may not be upheld if a compelling interest is not shown. For example, a Texas law school's attempt to "remedy past discrimination (through affirmative action) in the Texas school system and to increase the diversity of the law school" was assaulted because it exemplified affirmative action. Specifically, in Hopwood v. Texas, white plaintiffs argued that the University of Texas Law School's admissions policy was using an impermissible quota system. This decision came in spite of the knowledge that the American Bar Association's "academic standards create a system that without affirmative action, would have allowed only 22 percent of the 8,375 blacks who applied to law school to be accepted at even the least selective school. The remaining 6,554 blacks would not have qualified for admission at any school." "The underrepresentation in the legal profession oppresses blacks in pervasive, insidious ways." The Court agreed that race was being used impermissibly. Fortunately, a positive change in African Americans' struggle to obtain equality in education came with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, where it held that "The Law School's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body is not prohibited bythe Equal Protection Clause, Title VI, or 1981." As a result, the Court definitively clarified the rule concerning the use of race, which was not uniform in the circuit courts. Race can be used to correct past harms as well as to provide educational benefits to minorities.

Affirmative action helps alleviate segregation in higher education. In public elementary and high schools around the nation, segregation continues to be a major issue. Sub-standard public schools contribute to ill preparedness for those students who want to attend institutions of higher learning. "Minority students in high poverty areas are not getting a quality education." Thus, a strong argument has been waged that merit should not be equated with performance on standardized tests because they are unreliable in determining who will succeed in college. Likewise, they not only prevent capable students from attending college but they also fail to accurately predict persons who will perform well in future jobs. One study has shown that Blacks' social disadvantages are reflected in low SAT scores and high school grades but do not hinder their success if they are admitted to good schools. The graduates, more often than not, take active roles in society and become important leaders both within the Black community and in society at large. Usually, the affirmative action argument normalizes and legitimizes procedures for selection that are not fair or functional. This is done in spite of the education thatBlacks receive or fail to receive in the public school systems. Blacks and other ethnic minorities are expected to compete with students who are afforded educational opportunities that were envisioned for the freed slaves, but which have not been realized to date. "Every passing day denies these children their constitutional right to a substantially equal educational opportunity" and perpetuates the imbalance in education and economic advancement.

A recent study has shown a deeper problem in the education system that creates a labeling bias which usually only affects African Americans. For example, Black boys living in wealthier communities with a majority White student body are found to be at a greater risk of having schools label them as mentally retarded and, as a result, Black boys are often sent to special education classes. After being placed in special education, African American children are far less likely to be part of the regular classes than similarly situated White children. These decisions have long-term effects that affect the employability and economic potential of Black males.

The assault on affirmative action is analogous to the government's passing laws that have the pretext of providing opportunity, yet in actuality fail to protect the pretextual opportunities. Studies have shown that "Actual performance often correlates best with on-the job training." Thepeople who do well usually learn on the job; the ones who are given the opportunity to learn on the job usually do well. Opportunity is so often what has been denied to descendents of ex-slaves. If Black students are labeled as mentally retarded, they are denied opportunities on several levels. "Assessment through opportunity to perform works better than testing for performance." Blacks have been excluded and marginalized in the workplace and in schools. This marginalization is insidious and affects all aspects of life; it prevents Blacks from becoming integral links in society, especially economically. African Americans do not enjoy equal opportunity in the U.S., which is undeniably reflected in the unemployment rate. The jobless rate for African Americans in 1998 for 20-24 year-olds was 16.8%. Although down from 24.5 percent in 198l, the prospects for employment are grim for African Americans. Even though the jobless rate has gone down, that means little to Travon Netherly, a student at L.A. Southwest College. Recently, says Travon, four of his brothers applied for a job at an Orange County amusement park. Despite the help-wanted ad in the window, all were turned away. My brothers were willing to take anything, even wear one of those Snoopy costumes, says Netherly, who bitterly adds, it don't take skills to be Snoopy.

This type of blatant rejection of young African Americans sends a clear signal that the time has come to bury the property interest in "whiteness" because it profoundly affects Blacks. Affirmative action is a "must tool" in that task. Affirmative action is consistent with equality and is essential to ridding America of the legacy of oppression against African Americans and the elimination of "whiteness as property." The U.S. government played a major role in discriminating against African Americans. Not only did the Government neglect issues that affected African Americans, it also inconsistently enforced the laws in favor of private citizens who developed elaborate plans to prevent Blacks from exercising their rights. For example, the Department of Agriculture agreed to compensate Black farmers for discrimination that the Department inflicted on them. The settlement was a result of a lawsuit that alleged that the government used more restrictive terms for loans to Black farmers than to White farmers with similar credit histories. This treatment impacted the farmers' economic situation. As a result of this discrimination, to which the government admits, the percentage of Black farmers has dropped to 1%. In the 1920's, however, 14% of the nation's farmers were Black. In spite of the settlement and its admitted discriminatory behavior, the Government is allowing its past to repeat itself as a result of the Agriculture Secretary's refusal to terminate high officials who allowed the discrimination against Black farmers to take place in the first place. Such decisions fuel antagonism and send signals to the nation's employers and private citizens thatit may be worth taking a chance on discrimination. If the Government can do it, so can others. This complacency "is going to cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. It seems that somebody should be held accountable." This failure to fully accept responsibility and dismantle the problem from its roots is analogous to what the U.S. Government is doing in its failure to address the Reparations issue in a meaningful way.

Blacks are discriminated against by both the federal and state governments, the educational system, and employers, especially in the legal arena which continues to exclude blacks en masse. Blacks are so underrepresented in the legal system today that Black lawyers are sometimes mistaken for defendants and restrained by bailiffs when they attempt to approach the bench. This is degrading to the Black lawyer and his, oftentimes, Black clients as well because it highlights the ill-treatment that highly educated, professional Blacks are also subjected to. When Black clients witness this, they have little confidence in the judges. Moreover, Blacks usually receive unequal sentences to similarly situated Whites, and bail is also granted inequitably. Judges are also part of the racism that is so overtly reflected in the courtroom: judges oftentimes "overrule juries' imposition of life sentences in favor of death sentences for Blacks who kill Whites and credit White witnesses while discrediting similar Black witnesses." In 1996, the ABA's Commission on Opportunitiesfor Minorities in the Profession stated that minorities are "experiencing legal setbacks that remind them of Plessy." "The Supreme Court of 1996 seems very similar to the court of Plessy v. Ferguson." For about thirty years, statutory protection was afforded to African Americans. "After 40 years of constitutional rulings ... in the courts, we now see a sense of fatigue. Currently, the Supreme Court is ignoring the vestiges of widespread racism in society. As a result, a trend toward re-segregation is developing. "The Country is witnessing resegregation without ever having achieved the goal of a completely desegregated society. Schools across the nation are being resegregated. "The resegregation trend picked up momentum as a result of a 1991 Supreme Court decision that authorized a return to neighborhood schools instead of busing, even if such a step would lead to segregation." This segregation or "resegregation" extends to all areas of the society: social, employment, education, and especially the legal system, which is the last of the citadels.

Perceptions of bias, especially in the legal system, are not viewed the same by Black and White Americans; a major divide exists. As late as 1999, many African Americans, especially African American lawyers, continue to believe that racial bias currently exists in the judicial system.Fifty-two percent of the Black lawyers, as opposed to six-and-one-half percentof the White lawyers believe very much that bias exists. Additionally, "[t]wo-thirds of the black lawyers, about 92 %, said that, compared to other segments of society, the justice system has the same amount of racial bias or more. Nearly half the White lawyers believe there is less." The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Equal Justice Project (EJP) highlights the importance of law schools working with the equal justice community in order to provide needed services to minorities, especially Blacks. The public interest and grassroots organizations provide a range of services to the poor and working class, many of whom are African Americans with limited resources and education. Programs like the Law School Consortium Project, the famed Innocence Project, which provides services to people that claim unjust convictions, the Equal Justice Centers at the University of California at Berkeley, Santa Clara Law School, and the University of Seattle have also created centers to help with equal justice activities in their schools and communities to provide services and support for African Americans who have been denied adequate legal representation based on economic and other factors. These programs indictate that major problems persist in America, and that they are inextricably tied to race. They are not only based on economic inequality but also based on inequality in the justice system and lack of representation therein. Many African Americans are profiled based on race. Skin color has been amajor issue in recent police shootings and other profiling related cases. African American arrests resulting from profiling cases are usually drug related. Black and White drug arrests are comparable; nonetheless, Blacks are more often jailed than their White counterparts for the same offense.

Massive changes have taken place since 1868, when citizenship brought hope of a better day and better treatment. This hope was fueled by the prospect of perhaps being able to vote now that citizenship had been bestowed on "ex-slaves."