ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that certain groups have been treated differently in our legal system based on their race or ethnicity. It considers the key values in the foundation of the US Constitution, including citizenship and suffrage, and their application to the nation’s original minorities. Gunnar Myrdal argues that the contradiction within American society between an allegedly strong commitment to democratic values on the one hand and the presence of racial oppression on the other creates a moral dilemma for white Americans and is the root of the US race relations problems. Race—initially construed in terms of white, black, and Indian—has never been a benign concept in the United States. With the institution of slavery and the mass importation of black slaves, whites began to fear the mixture of races and to be concerned that growing numbers of blacks would rebel against the institution of slavery. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
