Examining race on trial in America

Panel discusses Prof. Gross’ book What Blood Won’t Tell —By Kelly Kidwell Over the past two centuries, American courts have been host to racial identity trials, determining a person’s race in order to establish his or her rights and privileges in the United States. USC Law Professor Ariela Gross’ latest book, What Blood Won’t Tell: A History of Race on Trial in America, provides a history of these trials. According to Gross, the outcome of race trials often depended less upon blood percentage or ancestry than on the way people presented themselves. On March 5, Gross was joined by three professors to discuss her book and answer questions about its subject. The panel included Katherine M. Franke, professor of law at Columbia University, George Sanchez, professor of American studies and ethnicity and history at USC, and Rebecca J. Scott, professor of history and law at the University of Michigan. “I’m honored to have three giants in the field engaging with the book,” Gross said. “I hope it will be part of our continuing conversation about race in America.” The panelists praised Gross for expanding her discussion of race to include Mexicans, Hawaiians, Asians, black Indians and other groups. “What Blood Won’t Tell is one of the most comprehensive studies of race that I have recently read,” said Sanchez. “What makes it so comprehensive is the expansive use of race beyond the black/white dynamic.” Scott discussed the book’s explanation of the definition of race in America. “Ariela argues that the largely circular definition of race isn’t simply illogical, its circularity is part of a larger scheme of making race self-evident,” said Scott. “Its circularity was meant to be proof of its obviousness, even when, in some cases, it had to be adjudicated.” To read more about Gross’ book, or to watch an interview with Gross, click here.