Abstract
Excerpted From: Janet W. Steverson, Oregon's History of Using the Law to "Stack the Deck" in Favor of White Males, 29 Lewis & Clark Law Review 807 (2026) (166 Footnotes) (Full Document).
The United States Department of Education (DOE) asserted that "[e]ducational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon 'systemic and structural racism."' Further, President Trump has asserted that
Illegal DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] and DEIA [diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility] policies not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, they also undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement.
One would think that the DOE and the President would know this country's history and understand that, "traditionally," the United States gave advantages to some white males and that those white males earned those advantages through their gender and skin color rather than through hard work, excellence, or individual achievement. Although the United States has passed constitutional amendments and civil rights laws to prevent the advantaging of white males and the disadvantaging of "others," such laws have not and cannot erase the compounding effects of years of historical advantage.
Given that the DOE and President Trump apparently do not know this history, this Essay will demonstrate how just one state, the State of Oregon, used exclusionary laws to advantage one group over another on the basis of race and gender. In addition, it will demonstrate how that exclusionary history continues to provide advantages to some members of one group, while detrimentally impacting other groups. Part I of this Essay will explain why we as a society need to understand this exclusionary history. Part II will then define particularly relevant terms to ensure that the reader understands how the Author is using such terms. Finally, Part III will support the Essay's thesis by outlining the specific laws that gave unearned advantages to white males.
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We are all part of a great quest. One day, we will learn the history of Oregon and the United States in all its sadness and its glory. We will see that the history involves all peoples of the United States, including white males, but not excluding all others. As part of that quest, we must understand and reckon with our past. This Essay is a small step on that quest. A small attempt to help achieve a successful and happy end to the quest.
Douglas K. Newell Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Faculty Development at Lewis & Clark Law School. The Author thanks research assistants Hannah Eaton-Brenner, Laura Hanson, Isabel McFadden, and Trevor Maxwell; former student Celeste Williams; Walidah Imarisha; Judge Adrienne Nelson; Renee Watson; Jessica Asai; Jonathan Butler; Althea Gregory; Cheryl Brooks; and Professor Juliet Stumpf.
