ABSTRACT
What do racial and gender equality require? Do women live in a world of male domination and oppression? In an ideal society, how would people think about racial and ethnic differences? Essays in this chapter offer a variety of perspectives on these controversial and much-discussed issues. We start with Brown v. Board of Education, the famous decision that rejected the idea of “separate but equal” as it applied to the long-standing practice of racial segregation. The next reading examines how we should think about the challenges that inner cities face. This chapter also considers two Supreme Court cases on affirmative action in higher education and an analysis of reverse discrimination. The next readings in this chapter are perhaps the most important early work on women’s rights and equality. Other readings explore the strengths and weaknesses of this early vision of sexual equality, including the alternative “dominance” approach advocated by some feminists and the connections between neutrality and sexual equality. The essays also discuss how an ideal society should treat such differences. Should identity politics be encouraged or should law be color blind?
