equal protection clause of the 14th amendment

As a result, the framers repeatedly rejected proposals that would have prohibited racial discrimination, and nothing else. With the Equal Protection Clause, “he framers wrote the constitutional guarantee broadly to ensure, for example, that white unionists in the South as well as Asian immigrants in the West were protected from arbitrary and invidious discrimination. In more recent history, Asian Americans have been labeled the “ model minority,” largely in an attempt to minimize the systemic impact of ongoing racism toward Black Americans and the legacy of slavery.Īs the Constitutional Accountability Center’s David Gans wrote in Perfecting the Declaration: The Text and History of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the 14 th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause was written into the Constitution “to guarantee equality to all persons, bringing the Constitution back in line with the Declaration of Independence” following “a century in which the Constitution sanctioned slavery.” While certainly the 14 th Amendment was written to reckon with America’s history of slavery, Asian Americans were also part of its story. Asian Americans have long been cast as the “other,” to be feared and blamed for taking jobs or other resources from white Americans. For instance, in the Chinese massacre of 1871, after the 1870 passage of a Naturalization Act that prohibited Chinese immigrants from becoming naturalized American citizens, at least 17 Chinese people were lynched by rioters after a white man had been murdered. Since their arrival in larger numbers in the 19 th century, Asian Americans have experienced deep hatred and violence directed at them. Hatred towards Asian Americans did not just begin with Donald Trump and his supporters who blame them for the coronavirus. In fact, Asian Americans have played important roles in demanding their rights be respected, particularly through the promises of the 14 th Amendment. At the same time, Asian Americans have long been part of America’s story and the Constitution promises Asian Americans equality and justice, as it does for all in America. Unfortunately, violence against Asian Americans has a long history in this country. We keep learning of incident after horrific incident where Asian Americans have been violently targeted simply for being Asian American. Mass shootings and frequent attacks have brought violence against Asian Americans to the forefront of our national attention.

Equal protection clause of the 14th amendment