A Community of Equals

by FISS, OWENDANTICAT, EDWIDGE

• ISBN13: 9780807004371
• ISBN10: 0807004375
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1999-05-01
• Publisher: Beacon Press

Summary

The acute desire to close American borders to new arrivals, mostly persons of color from developing countries, has surfaced in school board gatherings, town hall meetings, gubernatorial races, even presidential elections. . . . Does America still see itself as the 'land of immigrants'? Why not . . . invest in the survival and progress of all immigrants?--Edwidge Danticat, from the Foreword In this timely book, Owen Fiss examines the paradox of new immigrants being stripped of their rights within a democracy committed to equality. Arguing that it is in the interest of all of us-citizens and citizens-to-be-to live up to the promise of our Constitution, Fiss challenges the courts to invoke the courage they once brought to landmark civil rights cases and to apply it now to preserve a community of equals. Distinguished scholars and activists respond and debate the implications of Fiss's argument. The New Democracy Forum is a series of short paperback originals exploring creative solutions to our most urgent national concerns.

Author Biography

Owen Fiss is Sterling Professor of Law at Yale University. His most recent books are Liberalism Divided and The Irony of Free Speech.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Edwidge Danticat
Editors' Preface	xiii
Joshua Cohen
Joel Rogers
I
The Immigrant as Pariah	3	(22)
Owen Fiss
II
Let the People Decide	25	(5)
Richard B. Freeman
First Class	30	(6)
T. Alexander Aleinikoff
Caste Recast	36	(7)
Rogers M. Smith
Let Them Vote	43	(9)
Jennifer Gordon
A Right to Dignity	52	(6)
Ulrich Preuss
Beyond Borders	58	(5)
Iris M. Young
A Moral Responsibility	63	(6)
Robin West
Open Borders	69	(5)
Mark Tushnet
Messy Realities	74	(10)
Myron Weiner
Getting Policy Wrong	84	(7)
Jagdish Bhagwati
Rights or Privileges?	91	(6)
Muzaffar Chishti
III
Reply: A Third Reconstruction?	97	(6)
Owen Fiss
Notes	103	(2)
About the Contributors	105