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Virginia Slave Law states that free vs enslaved status is determined by the status of the mother therefore any child of an enslaved woman would become a slave themselves.

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The Virginia Slave Code codifies slavery. This code consists of several major parts: 1. All non Christian servants entering the United States are to be slaves. 2. Slaves are real estate/property. 3. Masters may kill slaves as punishments and will not be found guilty 4. Both slaves AND freed black people are forbidden from physically assaulting white people (punished by death) 5. Denies slaves the right to bear arms 6. Denies slaves right to leave country without written permission.

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Following the ratification of the Constitution and the establishments of the US as as country citizenship vs. was defined for the first time. The conditions to be made citizen were defined as a free white man who owns property. Those who fit this status are automatically given citizenship after 2 years. Women, indentured servants, POC were excluded from citizenship (especially significant establishment as this means that terms for being "American citizen" are formally based on skin color)

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Following the Louisiana Purchase the government attempted to move Native people west of the Mississippi ultimately resorting to to violence -massacring the Creek tribal people who resisted ceding their land. Then as president Andrew Jackson,(who formerly lead this assault), signed the Indian Removal Act which essentially began the forced removal of Native people into these allotted territories (known as the Trail of Tears). The Indian Removal act was followed shortly thereafter by more legislation that again asserted control over the Native people forcing them into even narrower boundaries of reservations so that white people could expand west ("Manifest Destiny")

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This treaty ended the Mexican American war and redefined the boundaries of Mexico/America. This incoporated over 500,000 square miles of land into the US (AZ, CA, UT, NV, NM, TX and western CO). Though this treaty seems to grant citizenship rights (and freedom to choose Mexican/American citizenship) and property rights to Mexican's who lived in these areas soon after US expansion though many were driven from land by white mobs, and were ultimately subjected to white domination and classified as "foreigners". Though the treaty is bilingual the result was a process towards "English Only" which eventually extended to education despite segregated public schools.

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The 13th Amendment to the Constitution is the expanded and legalized indoctrination of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation- an address given during the Civil War which made free all enslaved people in Confederate states. The 13th amendment eventually passed (2 years after Emancipation Proclamation) as the Civil War was ending. It abolishes slavery/involuntaryservitude in the US/Us territories.

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Referred to as the "Asian Exclusion Act " the Page act is the first prohibitive immigration law. It made illegal the recruitment of immigrants from "Oriental" countries for labor or "immorality". This immorality clause is in reference specifically to Chinese women who were racially stereotyped as being promiscuous and spreading STIs. This law is essentially latching on to one of many Anti-Asian racist attitudes which erupted following the influx of immigration from Asian countries specifically China in the 1850's.

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In response to Reconstruction and the 14th Amendment- Southern legislatures enacted laws which enforced segregation( referred to as "Jim Crow laws") justifying them as "separate but equal". In Plessy v Ferguson the Supreme Court gave constitutional sanction to these laws siding 7-1 with Louisiana Judge (Ferguson) who dismissed the case brought up by Homer Plessy. Plessy, a mixed race man, who argued that "separate but equal" law was unconstitutional following his removal from the white passenger train car.

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Following the incorporation of Puerto Rico as a US territory which went into affect as the Treaty of Paris was signed, the 1917 Jones act "imposes citizenship and the obligation to serve in the US Military but denies Puerto Rican's the right to vote in national elections" (Tatum 287).

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New Deal policies attempting to reform the US economy ultimately harmed black people- "first fired, last hired"
-The National Industrial Recovery Act- made it illegal to hire people who "weren't worth the minimum" wage/lacked skill, this results in 500,000 black people losing jobs
-Agricultural Adjustment Act cut food production and increase food prices- less work for thousands of poor black farm workers while also strapping them with inflated costs
-Wagner Act- Union employee representation power/dominant unions discriminated against black people
-TN Valley Authority- intentional flooding removes over 15,000 people from land where they worked/lived, only those who owned this land were entitled to settlements- black tenants who lived/farmed here were not
-Spending programs funneled to East/Western states (not benefitting millions of black people who lived in the south)

https://www.cato.org/commentary/why-did-fdrs-new-deal-harm-blacks

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following previous New Deal programs the 1934 National Housing Act was created in an effort to make home ownership more accessible to lower income Americans. This lead to the establishment of the Home Owner's Loan Corporation (HOLC). The HOLC is responsible for the creation of "residential security maps" wherein land is categorized on racist basis as different zones (indicated by the presence of POC). POC are then barred from mortgages/loans and property while white American suburbs are created and white wealth generational increases. It is STILL to do much harder for a black person to get a fair home loan and the property value discrepancy between redlined areas directly affects education (as property value corresponds with school funding) and health because urban favored the white areas creating food deserts and polluted conditions in predominantly POC neighborhoods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5FBJyqfoLM

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Informally known as the GI bill this created a program meant to assist all veterans with education/employment. However due to segregated education there were very few Black Colleges (not enough to accommodate this demands), and the jobs assigned to POC upon returning from WWII correlated with the roles they had been assigned in the military (which was racially discriminatory). "white men came home and became builders, welders, and mechanics and men of color came home and became dishwashers or cooks. And that has been a multi-generation situation for their families"- Deena Hayes Greene http://www.sceneonradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/SeeingWhite_Part13Transcript.pdf

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Supreme Court decides that laws segregating public school education are unconstitutional (even if schools are "equal in quality). This then partially overturns Plessy v Ferguson decision (which found seperate but equal laws NOT in violation of constitution). This began the process of "integration" though a formal process for this was not spelled out in the ruling, and it was met with much hateful resistance from many white people in the South. Brown v Board of education's re -evaluation of the 14th amendment was ultimately a major catalyst for the Civil Rights movement.

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Following years of Civil Rights movement organizing- from the outrage following the murder of Emmet Till, Rosa Parks and the bus boycott, the formation of the SCLC, sit-ins, the murder of Medgar Evers, and the march on Washington- The Civil Rights act was passed which made illegal any segregation in public facilities, or discrimination in employment. The prohibited discrimination is defined as "on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin".

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The American Indian Movement (AIM) formed united around the goal of Native American sovereignty. AIM united tribes nationally and internationally, and emphasized the importance of Native cultural preservation/revival after generations of forced "americanization". AIM united in protest over treaty violations, the Indian Reorginization Act/BIA (which had stripped tribal government autonomy), police brutality, the prohibition of Native religion, forced sterilization and loss of child custody, oppressive reservation/ economic condition etc. Two legal results of AIM is the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act which passed in 1975 and The Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978). This act allowed Native people to operate their own schools and was meant to restore greater control over government programs intended to serve Native communities. The Indian Religious Freedom Act extended religious freedom to Native people and legal protection to ceremonies that were previously illegal.

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Supreme Court rejected "societal discrimination as an ageless injury" when Bakke challenged the racial quotas set forth by the affirmative action program of the University of California. This is one of multiple legal challenges to affirmative action and is of particular importance as it relates to recognizing (or not recognizing)  affirmative action/reparations as racial justice.

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1984- Comprehensive Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (the War on Drugs)

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1984- Comprehensive Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (the War on Drugs)

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First major of many policies posed as "tough on crime" that were truly a "racially motivated crusade to criminalize Blacks and the anti-war left." (Taifa 2021). This act eliminated the federal parole system and was shortly thereafter followed by the Anti Drug Abuse Act which increased mandatory minimum sentences and flooded the prison systems with first time/non-violent offenders often convicted on charges of possession and subject to racial profiling of expanded police presence.

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1986- Immigration Reform and Control Act

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1986- Immigration Reform and Control Act

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The Immigration Reform and Control Act provided pathway to citizenship for previously undocumented immigrants (though they were to pay a fine and back taxes for the time that they had been in the country illegally). 2.7 million people became citizens and this encouraged much greater socio economic mobility for immigrants who had previously relied on exploitative low wage jobs in fear of deportation. They were now able to work higher wage jobs, seek further education, open banks accounts, own home/businesses, be involved in government etc.

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2012- Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy

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2012- Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy

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"The policy allows young people who entered the country without authorization before the age of sixteen and have lived in the US continually since 2007 the opportunity to work and go to school without fear of deportation" (Tatum 92). This policy does not grant citizenship but its protection from deportation and provides opportunity for higher education, health insurance, and greater financial well being. DACA presents opportunities for greater progress in immigration reform that could ultimately make many people eligible for legal status.

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2013- Black Lives Matter movement originated  

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2013- Black Lives Matter movement originated  

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Following the murder of Trayvon Martin (and acquittal of George Zimmerman) Black Lives Matter organization was formed by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. The movement grew rapidly in 2014 following the murder of Michael Brown and Eric Garner which sparked national protest and organization lead by the official Black Lives Matter foundation. Black Lives Matter is primarily concerned with racially motivated violence and police brutality but extends beyond this to represent a larger call for black liberation and an end to structural racism.