South Carolina Hosts Virtual Symposium Today On Taxation, Finance, And Racial (in)Justice

The South Carolina Law Review hosts a virtual symposium today on Taxation, Finance, and Racial (in)Justice (agenda):

Keynote Speaker: Dorothy A. Brown (Emory)
Professor Brown will discuss the recent change outside of the legal academy when it comes to linking race and tax policy. She will also address the disconnect between the legal academy, federal government, and the public at large while suggesting ways in which the profession can expose and eliminate racial inequality in the application of modern federal tax laws.

Speaker: Danielle Holley-Walker (Dean, Howard)
Dean Holley-Walker will discuss the importance of having diverse lawyers in all areas of the legal profession, including tax law. She will also address how law schools and the profession can create pipelines for minority lawyers into tax law.

Panel#1: Property Tax's Lasting Control on Racial Inequities
This panel will concentrate on how local control over property tax assessment and distribution of property tax revenues contributes to racial segregation of housing markets as well as racial inequities in housing, schools, and public services. Additionally, the panel will discuss methods for the profession to address these inequalities through alternative assessment approaches.

• Carlos Avenancio-León (Indiana)
• Mark Dorosin (Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law)
• Troup Howard (Utah)
• Andrew Kahrl (Virginia)
• Clint Wallace (South Carolina) (moderator)

Carolina Tax Scholars Speaker: Camille Walsh (University of Washington)
Professor Walsh will discuss how tax policy and taxpayer identity were built on the foundations of white supremacy and intertwined with ideas of “whiteness.” She will also reveal how the idea of “taxpayer” identity contributed to the contemporary crises of public education, racial disparity, and income inequality. Through her discussion of these topics, Professor Walsh will increase lawyers’ awareness on how their clients can access certain social services.

Panel #2: Searching For and Wrestling With the Data on Race and Tax
This panel will discuss the criticisms of current acquisitions of tax data. Upon critique, the panel will suggest principles and proposals to help ensure a fairer approach to IRS audit coverage of individuals and suggest alternative methods of collecting data that diverges from the current colorblind regime.

• Jeremy Bearer-Friend (George Washington)
• Leslie Book (Villanova)
• Tessa Davis (South Carolina) (moderator)
• Phyllis Taite (Florida A&M)

Panel #3: Race, Social Capital, and Wealth in Federal Income Tax
This panel will discuss how wealth regulation has historically enforced a strict caste hierarchy based on race. In particular, it will examine how ending discrimination in tax law can inure to the benefit of not only minorities and low-income individuals but also to society as a whole.

• Derek Black (South Carolina) (moderator)
• Bridget Crawford (Pace)
• Wendy Gerzog (Baltimore)
• Goldburn P. Maynard Jr. (Indiana)
• Camilla E. Watson (Georgia)

Panel #4: Work, Race, and Tax
This panel will assess the vast racial divide among American taxpayers, specifically inmates and those affected by COVID-19. It will further propose ways in which the profession can help close the gap between universal basic income and a federal job guarantee.

• Lynn D. Lu (CUNY)
• Stephanie Hunter McMahon (Cincinnati)
• Etienne Toussaint (District of Columbia) (moderator)