PRAISE FOR MERIT AND GRACE

"If 'hope is the thing with feathers,' then Barbara Chung's latest book is a nest for all of humanity. Merit and Grace miraculously intertwines expert legal analysis with a beautiful poetic vision of what makes us human. Lodged in the context of serious contemporary challenges to birthright citizenship, the book through the logic of its lyricism shows that those challenges are founded on a cynical, atomistic, and zero sum game notion of personhood that is contrary to the truth at the heart of our shared experience. The poetry is so beautiful as to inspire awe. And the vision that emerges from each of the twelve poems is so compelling as to inspire uplift. This is a timely and timeless work of art with 'ah! bright wings.' "

 

— Dean Michael Kaufman, Santa Clara University School of Law​

​

DESCRIPTION

In June 1982, the Supreme Court held in Plyler v. Doe that all children in the United States have a constitutional right to access free public education, regardless of their immigration status or the immigration status of their parents. The Plyler ruling overturned education laws in the state of Texas that permitted local school districts to exclude undocumented immigrant children from their public schools.

​

Merit and Grace, a poem cycle by Barbara Chung, explores the stories of the people involved in Plyler v. Doe, the legal and moral underpinnings of the Supreme Court’s decision, and the larger issues about immigration, education, and political will implicated by the case. The poems consider the truths revealed by Plyler about our values and our ideas of justice, and how these shape our choices about who we should care for and why.

​