Mistaken Identity
The Supreme Court and the Politics of Minority Representation
Chapter One
[I]t is the reason, alone, of the public, that ought to control and regulate the government. James Madison, 1788
[I]n our political system it is not at all easy to have a public discussion of voting rights, at least in the context of race. Sometimes it seems as if judgments about race are analogous to theological convictions. They are not movable.... The whole area is pervaded by accusations, mischaracterizations and strange dichotomies. Cass Sunstein, 1994
For several weeks in the spring of 1993, national news coverage was dominated by the controversy surrounding Lani Guinier. Nominated by President Clinton to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Guinier drew strong criticism for her writings on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Conservatives claimed that Guinier held "breathtakingly radical" views that, if realized, would reconfigure our entire scheme of representative government. In particular, critics portrayed Guinier as a "quota queen" who wished to institute a "racial spoils system," directly assigning legisla ... read full excerpt from: Mistaken Identity: The Supreme Court and the Politics of Minority Representation ebook
