Signifying on Passing: (Post) Post-Racialism, (Post) Post-Modernism, and (Post) Post-Marxism

The social and legal relevance of racial passing appears to be fading as we ostensibly enter a color-blind, post-race era. During the "Age of Obama," the notion of passing in our multi-racial society seems to many to be antiquated and unnecessary. As the nation has moved beyond state-sanctioned racial discrimination, many believe that the country also has moved beyond the need for a legal dialogue on racial passing and ambiguity. This "retreat from race," exemplified in part by the apparent declining significance of racial passing, proclaims that the state no longer should consider race when interpreting the law or incorporating democratic values of equality and opportunity. This Essay, however, argues that the continued phenomenon of racial passing can be utilized as a conceptual vehicle to destabilize and de-legitimatize the post-racial agenda

Signifying on Passing: (Post) Post-Racialism, (Post) Post-Modernism, and (Post) Post-Marxism

The social and legal relevance of racial passing appears to be fading as we ostensibly enter a color-blind, post-race era. During the "Age of Obama," the notion of passing in our multi-racial society seems to many to be antiquated and unnecessary. As the nation has moved beyond state-sanctioned racial discrimination, many believe that the country also has moved beyond the need for a legal dialogue on racial passing and ambiguity. This "retreat from race," exemplified in part by the apparent declining significance of racial passing, proclaims that the state no longer should consider race when interpreting the law or incorporating democratic values of equality and opportunity. This Essay, however, argues that the continued phenomenon of racial passing can be utilized as a conceptual vehicle to destabilize and de-legitimatize the post-racial agenda

The First Principles of Standing: Privilege, System Justification, and the Predictable Incoherence of Article III

This Article examines the indeterminacy of standing doctrine by deconstructing recent desegregation, affirmative action, and racial profiling cases. This examination is an attempt to uncover the often unstated meta-principles that guide standing jurisprudence. The Article contends that the inherent indeterminacy of standing law can be understood as reflecting an unstated desire to protect racial and class privilege, which is accomplished through the dogma of individualism, equal opportunity (liberty), and "white innocence." Relying on insights from System Justification Theory, a burgeoning field of social psychology, the Article argues that the seemingly incoherent results in racial standing cases can be understood as unconscious attempts to preserve the status quo. The Article proposes moving "beyond the transcendental nonsense" of standing doctrine and its inevitable replication of economic and racial privilege by completely eliminating all standing limitations to the access of justice

Historical influence of soil and water management on sediment and carbon budgets in the United States

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Applied Geochemistry 26 (2011): S259, doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2011.03.118.The documented history of US soil and water management provides a unique opportunity to examine soil and sediment C storage under conditions of changing management practices. Historical acceleration of erosion due to cultivation has been moderated by improved soil management. Increased construction of dams and locks has expanded areas of aquatic sedimentation in reservoirs and ponds. Enhanced historical sediment deposition rates have been documented in lakes and estuaries. All of these changes have an impact on terrestrial C storage and turnover. The present-day C budget associated with erosion and burial cannot be determined without quantifying the time-dependent changes due to past and present soil and water management

Signifying on Passing: (Post) Post-Racialism, (Post) Post-Modernism, and (Post) Post-Marxism

The social and legal relevance of racial passing appears to be fading as we ostensibly enter a color-blind, post-race era. During the “Age of Obama,” the notion of passing in our multi-racial society seems to many to be antiquated and unnecessary. As the nation has moved beyond state-sanctioned racial discrimination, many believe that the country also has moved beyond the need for a legal dialogue on racial passing and ambiguity. This “retreat from race,” exemplified in part by the apparent declining significance of racial passing, proclaims that the state no longer should consider race when interpreting the law or incorporating democratic values of equality and opportunity. This Essay, however, argues that the continued phenomenon of racial passing can be utilized as a conceptual vehicle to destabilize and de-legitimatize the post-racial agenda

The First Principles of Standing

This Article examines the indeterminacy of standing doctrine by deconstructing recent desegregation, affirmative action, and racial profiling cases. This examination is an attempt to uncover the often unstated meta-principles that guide standing jurisprudence. The Article contends that the inherent indeterminacy of standing law can be understood as reflecting an unstated desire to protect racial and class privilege, which is accomplished through the dogma of individualism, equal opportunity (liberty), and “white innocence.” Relying on insights from System Justification Theory, a burgeoning field of social psychology, the Article argues that the seemingly incoherent results in racial standing cases can be understood as unconscious attempts to preserve the status quo. The Article proposes moving “beyond the transcendental nonsense” of standing doctrine and its inevitable replication of economic and racial privilege by completely eliminating all standing limitations to the access of justice