Sanctuary and Surviving Eras of Racial Terror

This symposium examines sanctuary as both a legal practice and a tradition of collective resistance to racialized state violence. From the Underground Railroad to sanctuary churches, municipalities, and school districts that resist state surveillance, sanctuary has long operated as a refusal to legitimize racial domination. We are interested in how sanctuary practices have shaped the very concept of legality, influencing the boundaries of belonging and constraining state power through collective action. Anchored in the Black Radical Tradition and informed by a broad history, the symposium traces how communities have built refuge in moments of intense racial persecution.

Finally, we ask what these histories can teach us about designing and defending sanctuary today, as racialized myths—such as “white replacement” narratives or the specter of “narcoterrorism”—are mobilized to manufacture consent for repression. By bringing together scholars, lawyers, and activists, we will map the legal and political limits of sanctuary and better understand the collective power we have to protect one another today.

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Host or Publisher Berkeley Journal of Black Law and Policy