Instruction
In Tim Wise's documentary, White Like Me, law is fundamental to how he understands the foundation of white privilege in the United States. By way of example, Wise asks viewers to consider the first law passed by Congress after ratifying the Constitution: the Naturalization Act of 1790. This law made only free white persons full citizens of the United States. The law breathed power into race, solidifying whites at the apex of social and political hierarchy in the United States.
When one brings focuses on law and society together, in conversation with each other, informing each other, as Wise seems to do (i.e. the social effects of law, and vice versa, the way law uses the social), how does the way in which you understand and define power shift? What are you able to observe and consider about power when applying a law and society perspective?
Give examples.
Write three paragraphs; comment on other students' submissions, please.