NYU prof laments society's racial divide

As a visiting professor from New York University Law School, Derrick Bell is known for his uncompromising honesty and progressive views on issues of race and class in American society. Speaking at the Penn Law School, Bell lived up to his reputation for the outspoken, delivering a candid lecture entitled "Higginbotham's Legacy: A Help or Harm in the Racial Struggle?" The event was the Law School's A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. Memorial Lecture, in honor of the late federal judge, legal scholar, visiting Penn Law School professor and University Trustee. Each year, the school invites a judge, lawyer or scholar that exemplifies the Higginbotham's ideals to speak on issues that engage current problems. Bell highlighted the factors that impede African-American equality today in his hour-long speech, while examining racism throughout the country's history. He began by honoring the achievements of his late friend Higginbotham, who died in January. "His commitment to racial justice was fierce and uncompromising," Bell said. "He put his life on the line, was a fighter and serves as a model to myself and to others." The lecture included introductory remarks by African American Studies Program Director Herman Beavers, Interim Law School Dean Charles Mooney and Law Professor Anita Allen-Castellitto. In introducing Bell, Mooney said, "There is no better way to honor Higginbotham. He taught that seeking justice requires the courage to speak and act out." Throughout his prolific career as a lawyer, activist, teacher and writer, Bell has been a compelling voice on race in the United States. He became the first tenured black professor at Harvard Law School in 1971 and relinquished the position in 1992 in protest of the absence of women of color on the faculty. In his speech, he emphasized the permanence of racism in our society. "The role of race is terribly fixed in our society," Bell said. "But it doesn't change our obligation to look for its evil, why it occurs, and to do something about it." Drawing from examples as far back as the early colonial period to the Jim Crow laws and more recently, affirmative action, Bell cited the difficulty of hailing racial progress, instead describing the process as "cyclical." Bell was also highly critical of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. "His appointment to the Supreme Court shows the little regard for those who believe in racial justice through law," Bell said. The audience of about 50 to 60 people reacted favorably to Bell's lecture. "I thought he spoke to the truth, showed a masterful use of language and kept people engaged and listening by the way he spoke," Education Professor Diana Slaughter-Defoe said. In closing, Bell cited the role of whites in minimizing the effects of racism in our society. "I am looking for white leadership to lead whites away from white privilege," Bell said. "They need to define what it means to be white while acknowledging those characteristics as permanent."