History of ideas, and importance of, "race" as a concept in the United States?
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Question: How present is/was in the US legislation the concept of “race” and why?
Very very present.
The first line of the first piece of legislation passed by the Continental Congress July 4th 1776, the Declaration of Independence is partially about race.
Declaration of Independence of the United States We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Slavery was the big unanswered dispute which the founding fathers of the United States left for the next generation to solve. Slave issues formed a shadow over much of United States legislation for the first 100 years of the republic. Southern slave states formed a power block in the Senate where they could block most legislation which they deemed threatened the institution of slavery. The dispute over slavery ultimately lead to the United States Civil War (primary cause at the minimum). Post Civil War US legislation was used to try to secure voting rights and other constitutional rights for former slaves.
Race was also written into the United States Constitution initially to maximize southern representation in Congress by counting slaves as 3/5th of a person.
Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
Slaves represented a vast minority in some southern states and a majority in others. The south was keen to gain representation for them while still not acknowledging them as people. The Northern founding fathers demonstrated the absurdity of the Southern argument by requesting voting representation in congress for chairs and other pieces of furniture given up to that point the South wanted slaves considered as property. Ultimately the 3/5th compromise was reached.
After the Civil war in 1865 Constitutional amendments were added to try to protect the rights of former slaves in the south. To secure for them voting rights and constitutional rights by making these federal responsibilities too. This worked for a time under reconstruction but were ultimately still being fought for in the civil rights movement headed by Martin Luther King in the 1960's.
The Fourteenth Amendment explicitly prohibits states from violating an individual's rights of due process and equal protection. Equal protection limits the State and Federal governments' power to discriminate in their employment practices by treating employees, former employees, or job applicants unequally because of membership in a group, like a race, religion or sex. Due process protection requires that employees have a fair procedural process before they are terminated if the termination is related to a "liberty," like the right to free speech, or a property interest.
Amendment XV Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Beyond the Declaration of Indepence and the US Constitution both foundational documents in the United States Legal System. There are numerous laws and legislation on the books today which protect the rights of minorities. Some congressional acts even grant special privileges to minority races like the 8A program which recognizes special rights for businesses and gives them preferential treatment in bidding on government contracts. Other special rights include preferential treatment when applying for Universities which receive federal money, and preferential treatment when applying for federal jobs.
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