Specific documents, issues, and controversies to be considered include the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, reconstruction, black codes, Jim Crow laws, and segregation. Students will also review laws, constitutional amendments, court cases, and social criticism addressing civil and political rights in America. Students will also read a history of the fight for equal rights in America and related scholarly commentary and fiction. Contemporary issues to be considered may include affirmative action, black reparations, racial profiling, and the "achievement gap" in education.