Dred Scott case isn't a ghost; stereotypes of inferiority are still felt in the courts

Feb. 12, 2007 -- March 2007 marks the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court's momentous Dred Scott decision that denied full American citizenship to African-Americans and gave legal sanction to a racial hierarchy that would undermine the most basic principles of American justice.

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"This anniversary will undoubtedly be a moment of deep national reflection on enduring issues of race and justice and is a reminder of the persistence of so-called 'badges of slavery' making the 13th Amendment an unfulfilled promise, and the 14th and 15th Amendments incomplete," says David Konig, Ph.D., professor of law in the School of Law and of history and African & African American studies, both in Arts & Sciences, at Washington University in St. Louis.

The decision shook the entire nation when it was announced, and its aftershocks reverberated until the end of the Civil War.

"St. Louis witnessed a remarkable historical event," says John Baugh, Ph.D., Washington University's Margaret Bush Wilson Professor and director of African & African American studies in Arts & Sciences.

"Harriet and Dred Scott attempted to seek equal justice through peaceful means through the U.S. Courts. White St. Louisans of that era voted to give them their liberty, demonstrating that citizens of that era — regardless of race — were seeking to advance racial reconciliation in America."

Unfortunately, the Scott's 11-year legal battle that began in 1846 when they filed suit for their freedom in the St. Louis Circuit Court, ended in the U.S. Supreme Court, which issued its 1857 landmark decision declaring that Dred Scott remain a slave.

'Legacy of the Scotts' struggle'

According to Konig, the "stereotypes of inferiority still make themselves felt in today's courts."

"The Dred Scott case isn't a ghost," Konig says. "We haven't outgrown implicit embedded cultural forces from Dred Scott. They act on the law, they penetrate the law, and they come through the law to enforce stereotypes. The current immigration debate is just one example."

Baugh notes that the Scott trial has global relevance to anyone concerned with equality.

"It far exceeds the experience of slave descendants in the United States, although it is an iconic example of the historical injustice suffered by U.S. slaves and their descendants," he says.

"The Scott case confirmed that America was once a nation where racial discrimination, supported by legal statute, defied the doctrine of equal opportunity and justice for all that has been the beacon of American liberty to those whose ancestors came to America of their own volition," says Baugh. "Slaves were denied access to justice, and the Scott decision attempted to codify racial inequality, albeit in direct defiance of the colorblind vision that Dr. King expressed in his unfulfilled dream of American racial equality."

In honor of this landmark case, Washington University will host a conference, titled "The Dred Scott Case and Its Legacy: Race, Law, and the Struggle for Equality," from March 1-3.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will bring together leading law, history and culture experts as well as judges and descendents of Dred and Harriet Scott.

"This symposium, devoted to the continuing legacy of the Scotts' struggle, hopes to examine the legal background of the case and its legacy, both of which involve the uncertain and problematic role of the law in addressing fundamental questions of justice, racism and inequality," says Konig.

"It will inquire into the legal strategies of black and white abolitionists before 1857 as well as the efforts of civil rights attorneys to make meaningful the full legal citizenship that the decision denied. Its concerns will, therefore, be contemporary as well as historical, combining the perspectives of many disciplines to examine the historical roots of legal inequality and to understand the power of its persistence."

Conference materials, including an agenda, a list of sponsors and registration information, are available at http://artsci.wustl.edu/~acsp/dred.scott or http://law.wustl.edu/centeris/index.asp?ID=5296.

In addition, visit University Libraries' digital collections Web site to view 170 pages of court documents chronicling Dred and Harriet Scott's unsuccessful fight to gain freedom from slavery. This site is a collaboration between Washington University, the St. Louis Circuit Court and the Missouri State Archives.