Judicial aspects of race in the United States

Legislation seeking to direct relations between racial or ethnic groups in the United States has had several historical phases, developing from the European colonization of the Americas, the triangular slave trade, and the American Indian Wars. The 1776 Declaration of Independence included the statement that "all men are created equal", which has ultimately inspired actions and legislation against slavery and racial discrimination. Such actions have led to passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

The first period extended until the American Civil War and the Reconstruction era, the second period spanned the nadir of American race relations period until the early 20th century, and the last period began with World War II and the civil rights movement, which led to the repeal of racial segregation laws. Racial legislation has been intertwined with immigration laws, which sometimes included specific provisions against particular nationalities or ethnicities, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and the 1923 United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind case in the U.S. Supreme Court. Race remains an active area of contention with police killings disproportionate to the racial distribution of the U.S. population; whites are under-represented and blacks are over-represented.^[1]