ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests a line of analysis that explores the relationship between racial liberalism, a connected body of ideas about race, racism, and racial justice, and the trajectory of federal equal protection doctrine. It offers a sketch of the evolution of equal protection doctrine in school desegregation cases, one colored by a focus on the significance of racial liberalism in shaping the path of the law. The chapter argues that a doctrinal "closing down" of possibilities began with Green and was fully completed before Milliken. It suggests that conservatives opposed to racial reform easily coopted and reframed liberals' moral and legal arguments. The chapter traces the Supreme Court's school desegregation jurisprudence from Brown to Parents Involved in Community Schools (PICS) and connects it to racial liberalism, and turns to the search for alternative arguments and strategies. It suggests that the remaining proponents of school desegregation should look first to the contributions of their most powerful critic for insights.
