Murray on Trump's Wall @LoyolaLawSchool

Yxta Maya Murray, Loyola (Los Angeles) Law School, is publishing A Modest Memo in the Michigan Journal of Race & Law. Here is the abstract.

A Modest Memo is a satire in the form of a legal memo written for President-Elect Donald Trump circa November 2016. It counsels Mr. Trump to obtain Mexican funding for a U.S.-Mexico “Wall” via United Nations Security Council sanctions. These sanctions would freeze remittances (that is, “hold them hostage”) until Enrique Peña Nieto wired the U.S. sufficient monies for construction. The memo, which is entirely the product of my imagination and legal study, contemplates one of the many possible worst case scenarios threatened by the Trump presidency. Through the arts of law and literature, I aim to show how the rule of law may so easily buckle and splinter beneath the increasing tide of U.S. as well as global nationalism and racism. I take inspiration, of course, from Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal (1729), as well as the legal-literary experiments found in Derrick Bell’s Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism (1993) and Richard Delgado’s Storytelling for Oppositionists and Others: A Plea for Narrative, 87 Michigan Law Review 2411 (1989).

Download the essay from SSRN at the link.

Evaluating and Appreciating Critical Race Theory and Hip-Hop: The Contributions of Richard Delgado and Ice Cube

andre douglas pond cummings, Indiana Tech Law School, is publishing Richard Delgado and Ice Cube: Brothers in Arms in volume 33 of Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice (2015). Here is the abstract.

Critical Race Theory as a movement is best understood through the lens of founding voice Richard Delgado. Delgado’s prolific and fearless writings have inspired thousands and launched theories that have literally changed the course of race law in the United States. In fact, two explosive movements were born in the United States in the 1970s. While the founding of both movements was humble and lightly noticed, both grew to become global phenomena that have profoundly changed the world. Founded by prescient agitators, these two movements were borne of disaffect, disappointment, and near desperation — a desperate need to give voice to oppressed and dispossessed peoples. America in the 1970s bore witness to the founding of two furious movements: Critical Race Theory and hip-hop.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) was founded as a response to what had been deemed a sputtering civil rights agenda in the U.S. Driven primarily by law professors of color, it targeted the law by exposing the racial inequities supported by U.S. law and policy. Hip-hop, on the other hand, was founded by emerging artists, musicians, and agitators in the South Bronx neighborhoods of New York City, primarily driven by young African American disaffected youth, as a response to a faltering music industry and abject poverty. While these two movements, Critical Race Theory and hip-hop, seem significantly separated by presentation, content, and point of origin, they share startling similarities. Among the many similarities between Critical Race Theory and hip-hop, the closest link is the use of narrative in response to racism and injustice in a post-civil rights era. Further, Critical Race Theory and hip-hop share a fundamental desire to give voice to a discontent brewed by silence, and a dedication to the continuing struggle for race equality in the United States. Both Critical Race Theory and hip-hop strive toward their mutual goals of radical realignment and societal recognition and change of race and law in America.

One of the most important voices in the nascent days of the CRT movement was founding voice Richard Delgado, who along with Derrick Bell, introduced the world to CRT. Delgado published the explosive articles "The Imperial Scholar" and "A Plea for Narrative." Delgado’s early CRT publications represented an effort to educate and enlighten the civil-rights generation, emerging scholars of color, and the rest of the legal world to the inequities and discrimination inherent in a legal system that systematically disadvantages minority citizens in the U.S. Delgado’s voice was so important during the founding of CRT that he is revered today as a true pioneer in race jurisprudence in the United States.

Similarly, no early hip-hop voice seized the attention of both fans and critics alike the way that Ice Cube and N.W.A. did when “Straight Outta Compton” shocked the nation at its release. When Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, and DJ Yella (as N.W.A.) released "Straight Outta Compton," the album dropped profoundly on the consciences of inner-city youth, the nation, and eventually, the globe. Never before had such an intensely angry, ferocious, rebellious record been released and embraced by the consuming public. Cuts like "Fuck tha Police," "Gangsta Gangsta," and "Straight Outta Compton" resonated with inner-city youth.

Both Ice Cube and Richard Delgado furiously challenged convention and status quo America.

A Bibliography of Derrick Bell's Works

As promised, a bibliography of Derrick Bell's books and articles, prepared by Kevin Baggett, Circulation Librarian at the LSU Law Center Library. Posted with permission.

Derrick A. Bell Bibliography

Books

1. Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1992

2. Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

3. And We Are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest for Racial Justice. New York: Basic Books, 1987.

4. Confronting Authority: Reflections of an Ardent Protester. Boston: Beacon Press, 1994.

5. Shades of Brown: New Perspectives on School Desegregation. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1980.

6. The Age of Segregation: Race Relations in the South, 1890-1945: Essays (Co-author Robert J. Haws). Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1978.

7. Ethical Ambition: Living a Life of Meaning and Worth. New York: Bloomsbury: Distributed by Holtzbrinck Publishers, 2002.

8. Gospel Choirs: Psalms of Survival for an Alien Land Called Home. New York. NY: Basic Books, 1996.

9. Afrolantica Legacies. Chicago: Third World Press, 1998.

10. Race, Racism, and American Law. Boston, Little, Brown, 1973.

11. The Derrick Bell Reader (Co-authors Richard Delgado, Jean Stefancic). New York: New York University Press, 2005.

12. Civil Rights – Leading Cases. Boston: Little, Brown, 1980.

13. And We Are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest for Racial Justice. New York, Basic Books, 1989.

14. Constitutional Conflicts: Cincinnati: Anderson Pub. Co., 1997.

15. Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1992.

16. Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

17. And we are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest for Racial Justice. New York, Basic Books, 1987.

18. Confronting Authority: Reflections of an Ardent Protester. Boston: Beacon Press, 1994.

19. Shades of Brown: New Perspectives on School Desegregation. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1980.

20. The Age of Segregation: Race Relations in the South, 1890-1945: Essays (Co-author Robert J. Haws). Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1978.

21. Ethical Ambition: Living a Life of Meaning and Worth. New York: Bloomsbury: Distributed by Holtzbrinck Publishers, 2002.

22. Gospel Choirs: Psalms of Survival for an Alien Land Called Home. New York. NY: Basic Books, 1996.

23. Afrolantica Legacies. Chicago: Third World Press, 1998.

24. Race, Racism, and American Law. Boston, Little, Brown, 1973.

25. Civil Rights – Leading Cases. Boston: Little, Brown, 1980.

26. Constitutional Conflicts: Cincinnati: Anderson Pub. Co., 1997.

27. When Race Becomes Real: Black and White Writers Confront Their Personal Histories (Co-Author Bernestine Singley). Chicago, Ill.: Lawrence Hill; Lancaster: Gazelle, 2004.

28. Civil Rights in 2004: Where Will We Be? College Park, Md.: Center for Philosophy and Public Policy, 1985.

29. The African American Law School Survival Guide: Information, Advice, and Strategies to Prepare You for the Challenges of the Law School Experience (Co-author Evangeline M. Mitchell). Houston, Tex.: Hope’s Promise Pub., 2006.

30. Ask Your Mama; 12 Moods for Jazz (Co authors Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad, and others). New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Art Farm West, 2009, 1961.

31. In Defense of Minority Admissions Programs: A Response to Professor Graglia (co-author Lino A. Graglia). Philadelphia, 1970.

Articles

Bell, Derrick A., Jr.. 2007. "A Prophesy for Effective Schooling in an Uncaring World." Boston College Third World Law Journal 27, no. 1: 1-12.

Bell, Derrick A.. 2004. "The Unintended Lessons in Brown v. Board of Education." New York Law School Law Review 49, no. 4: 1053-67.

Bell, Derrick A.. 2000. "Wanted: a white leader able to free whites of racism.." U.C. Davis Law Review 33, no. 3: 527-44.


Bell, Derrick A.. 2000. "Brown v. Board of Education {74 S. Ct. 686 (1954)}: forty-five years after the fact." Ohio Northern University Law Review 26, no. 2: 171-81.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1999. "“Here come de judge”: the role of faith in progressive decision-making." The Hastings Law Journal 51, no. 1: 1-16.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1999. "A colony at risk." Touro Law Review 15, no. 2: 347-9.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1999. "The power of narrative." Legal Studies Forum 23, no. 3: 315-48.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1999. "Getting beyond a property right in race." Washington University Journal of Law and Policy 1: 27-36.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1998. "Constitutional conflicts: the perils and rewards of pioneering in the law school classroom." Seattle University Law Review 21, no. 4: 1039-51.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1997. "California's Proposition 209: a temporary diversion on the road to racial disaster." Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 30: 1447-64.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1997. "A gift of unrequited justice." Howard Law Journal 40, no. 2: 305-13.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1996. "Racial libel as American ritual." Washburn Law Journal 36: 1-17.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1996. "A pre-memorial message on law school teaching." New York University Review of Law and Social Change 23, no. 2: 205-15.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1995. "Black history and America's future." Valparaiso University Law Review 29: 1179-91.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1995. "1995 commencement address—Howard University School of Law." Howard Law Journal 38: 463-71.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1995. "The triumph in challenge." Maryland Law Review 54: 1691-9.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1995. "Who's afraid of critical race theory?." University of Illinois Law Review 1995: 893-910.

Bell, Derrick A. and Linda Singer. 1993. "Making a record." Connecticut Law Review 26: 265-84.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1993. "Diversity and academic freedom." Journal of Legal Education 43: 371-9.

Bell, Derrick A. and Erin Edmonds. 1993. "Students as teachers, teachers as learners." Michigan Law Review 91: 2025-52.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1993. "The racism is permanent thesis: courageous revelation or unconscious denial of racial genocide." Capital University Law Review 22: 571-87.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1993. "An epistolary exploration for a Thurgood Marshall biography." Southern University Law Review 20: 83-105.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1993. "Political reality testing: 1993." Fordham Law Review 61: 1033-43.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1993. "Learning the three “I's” of America's slave heritage." Chicago-Kent Law Review 68: 1037-49.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1993. "The permanence of racism." Southwestern University Law Review 22: 1103-13.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1992. "The Racial Preference Licensing Act. A fable about the politics of hate." American Bar Association Journal 78: 50-5.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1992. "Racial realism." Connecticut Law Review 24: 363-79.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1992. "Reconstruction's racial realities." Rutgers Law Journal 23: 261-70

Bell, Derrick A.. 1991. "Racism is here to stay: now what?." Howard Law Journal 35: 79-93.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1991. "Foreword: the final Civil Rights Act." California Law Review 79: 597-611.

Bell, Derrick A., Tracy Higgins and Sung-Hee Suh. 1990. "Racial reflections: dialogues in the direction of liberation." UCLA Law Review 37: 1037-100.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1990. "After we're gone: prudent speculations on America in a post-racial epoch." Saint Louis University Law Journal 34: 393-405.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1989. "Racism: a prophecy for the year 2000." Rutgers Law Review 42: 93-108.


Bell, Derrick A.. 1989. "Xerces and the affirmative action mystique." The George Washington Law Review 57: 1595-613.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1989. "The final report: Harvard's affirmative action allegory." Michigan Law Review 87: 2382-410.


Bell, Derrick A.. 1988. "White superiority in America: its legal legacy, its economic costs." Villanova Law Review 33: 767-79.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1988. "The republican revival and racial politics." The Yale Law Journal 97: 1609-21.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1988. "The constitution at 200: reflections on the past—implications for the future." New York Law School Journal of Human Rights 5: 331-44.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1986. "The dilemma of the responsible law reform lawyer in the post-free enterprise era." Law & Inequality 4: 231-43.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1986. "Strangers in academic paradise: law teachers of color in still white schools." University of San Francisco Law Review 20: 385-95.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1986. "Application of the “tipping point” principle to law faculty hiring policies." Nova Law Journal 10: 319-27.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1985. "The Supreme Court, 1984 term—foreword: the civil rights chronicles." Harvard Law Review 99: 4-83.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1984. "An American fairy tale: the income-related neutralization of race law precedent." Suffolk University Law Review 18: 331-45.


Bell, Derrick A.. 1984. "A tragedy of timing." Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 19: 277-9.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1984. "A holiday for Dr. King: the significance of symbols in the black freedom struggle." U.C. Davis Law Review 17: 433-44.

Bell, Derrick A., Alan Freeman, Monroe Fordham and Sidney Willhelm. 1984. "A hurdle too high: class-based roadblocks to racial remediation: a panel." Buffalo Law Review 33: 1-34.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1983. "A school desegregation post-mortem." Texas Law Review 62: 175-90.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1981. "Private clubs and public judges: a nonsubstantive debate about symbols." Texas Law Review 59: 733-54.

Freeman, Alan, Derrick A. Bell and Henry McGee. 1981. "Race, class, and the contradictions of affirmative action." The Black Law Journal 7: 270-89.

Bell, Derrick A.. 1981. "Law school exams and minority-group students." The Black Law Journal 7: 304-13.

A Giant Passes From the Scene

Derrick Bell, the first tenured African-American professor at Harvard Law School, died Wedneday at the age of 80. According to this article, published today in the New York Times, Professor Bell suffered from carcenoid cancer. Professor Bell also taught at New York University Law School and was Dean of the University of Oregon Law School. Early on, Professor Bell espoused the use of narrative and allegory to explain the workings of law and he became one of the founders of the critical race studies movement. His contributions are many, and he will be missed.


More here from The Root, here from National Visionary Leadership Project.

I will post a bibliography of Professor Bell's works sometime in the next few days.