Black Americans and the Law
The history of American slavery highlights the role of
white people in codifying racism into law. The chattel slavery system was
race-based, with laws designed to control enslaved people targeting Black
people. The Casual Killing Act of 1699, passed in Virginia, made it legal for
masters to kill their slaves at will in the process of inflicting punishment.
This law distinguished between the punishment of Black enslaved people and
White indentured servants, allowing Black people to be killed casually by
enslavers without fear of reprisal. This racist blame-the-victim culture
attempts to explain away the brutality experienced by Black people and
normalize violence. American policing, which punishes non-compliance with
brutality or death, dehumanizes Black people and prevents them from resisting
the fight-or-flight response.
According to Berkeley Law, American jurisprudence and
law have profoundly shaped, defined, and constrained the lives of Black people
for over 400 years. Racial inequality has extremely deep roots in American
society, and our Constitution, statutes, court cases, and regulations not only
bear witness to this, but are often the source of it. This timeline provides an
overview of […]
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