Prof. Darrell A. H. Miller

speaker Prof. Darrell A. H. Miller

“ If you scratch the surface of almost any regulation in American history, you're going to find some racially inequitable intent, language, or effect. But that doesn't mean it's a racist law. ”

Darrell A. H. Miller writes and teaches at Duke Law School in the areas of civil rights, constitutional law, civil procedure, state and local government law, and legal history. His scholarship on the Second and Thirteenth Amendments has been published in leading law reviews such as the Yale Law Journal, the University of Chicago Law Review, and the Columbia Law Review, and has been cited by the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Courts of Appeals, the United States District Courts, and in congressional testimony and legal briefs.  With Joseph Blocher, he’s the author of The Positive Second Amendment: Rights, Regulation, and the Future of Heller (Cambridge University Press, 2018).

Talks by Prof. Darrell A. H. Miller

related talk A Race to the 2nd Amendment
A Race to the 2nd Amendment

The text of the Second Amendment is racially neutral, gun laws and regulation have a complicated connection to race and racial bias in the United States tracing back to reconstruction and slavery. In this interview,  Duke Law Professor Darrell Miller explores how the Constitutional right to bear arms intersects with race and the relationship between gun regulations and racial discrimination, both historically and today.

Professor Miller, a constitutional law scholar and co-director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law, begins by acknowledging the undeniable fact that certain regulations have explicitly targeted African-Americans. These laws, dating back to the post-Civil War era, were designed to disarm Black individuals and maintain racial hierarchies. The discussion then shifts to modern implications, where Professor Miller highlights how historical injustices can resonate in today's legal landscape. He examines the disproportionate impact of current gun regulations on minority communities, emphasizing that while laws have evolved, unbalanced enforcement can perpetuate racial disparities. However, Miller cautions against overreading this history to conclude that all gun laws are racially motivated or fundamentally undermined by it.

Throughout the interview, Professor Miller also addresses the broader constitutional implications, including the balance between individual rights and public safety. He touches on recent Supreme Court decisions that have sparked renewed scrutiny on the Second Amendment, particularly concerning race. By providing historical context and contemporary analysis, Miller offers a nuanced perspective on how race and gun rights intersect in America.