P 1
p ce, to improve their own lot on
earth?
Th itu tion i chilling anta y.
, But for Derric Bell, th promin nt
civil rights activi t and fornier Har
vard Law School Profes or, the
danger i very real. In "Face at the
Bottom: The Permanence of Raci m
(B ic Boo ,September 23, 1992),
Bell use allegory and historical ex-
mple to rgue that raci m h al
ways been an integral. permanent
nd inde tructible component of
American ociety.
In nine metaphorical sketches, _
Bell e min the continuing mes
merizing effec of race on whites
who view BI cks a a danger even a
the gap in wealth and status between
the m es of whites and those on the
top becomes even wider.
L W BA NING overt dis
crimination foster complacency
rather than compliance, while racism
continues - a sinister, unack
nowtedged force - keeping African
Americans at the bottom of society's
well.
DeWs l�tscal9'Pllc vt Ions are
stunning: Atla . min from the
ocean, providing hope for an African
American homeland; White Citizens
for Black Survival, a group training
in warfare and building underground
shelters in preparation for a Black
holocaust; the constitutional rights
of African-Americans sacrificed, as
U.S. leaders devise a way to trade
Blacks to space for goods.
These fables are balanced by
stone of individual people and the
complexity of human relationships,
acro and within racial boundaries.
Issues of Black tokenism and the
threat of Black conservatives like
Supreme Court Justice Clarence
Thomas, are debated \Vith provoca
tive results.
Geneva Crenshaw, the fictional
heroine of Bell '5 acclaimed And We
Are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest
for Racial Justice (Basic Books,
1987), returns in Faces At The Bot
tom Of The Well to state that racial
justice is impossible to achieve in 'a
fundamentally racist society, and
that traditional civil rights strategies
have fai led.
Until the majority of whites ee
their own well-being threatened by
racism, it will simply be easier to
ignore its existence. Bell, in this
powerful and moving book, allows
no one to rest with a clear con
science. Only by confronting the ex
istance of the enemy facing Blacks,
Bell urges, can African Americans
find courage in defiance, and hope
for the future.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Derrick Bell, a visiting professor
at New York University Law School,
was di missed by Harvard Univer
sity from his position as Weld
Profes or of Law for refusing to end
his two-year leave protesting the ab
sence of minority women on the law
faculty.
Advance Praise For "Faces At
The Bottom or The Wall"
"Derrtc Bell i one of our
. movement's giants, one of our true
heroes. He follows in the tradition of
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson
Mandela in his courageous lifetime
commitment to ocial and racial jus
tice. As a wri ter and a teacher he
conveys profound insights that can
only come from a life devoted to a
higher and better vision for
humankind. He is willing to share
hi i dom- eo
pt."
-REV. JES
r ign tion.
H rvard ' pre ident, eil
Rud nstin re ched imil r con-
I ion. Bell requ ed nd received
n inform I he ring before Harv rd
University' governing bo rd, but
that body upheld the pre ident'
deci ion. Bell, who pent 16 years
t ching constitution I I w t H r
v rd, i not itting on his ha
Currently h i a vi iting profe -
or at New York Unive ity Law
School, and i excited about the
relea e of hi econd boo of
NGS
lve to c- Chair, fro-Am rican Stud; s
D part, en:
Harvard Univer iry
experiment re
conceived, compellin
ettled view. Thi i
readers will w nt to fling eros the
room-or pore over with iduous
care. That reader would be left
indifferent, ho ever,
unimaginable."
·HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.
W.E.B. Dubois Professor of the
Humanities
Re d ' Face t the Bottom of the
Well' twice. Re d it fi t be
will e pi in to you with pitH
and with wonderful th
record nd ed pence of
in thi country. Read it in bee
it will for you to thin for you
whether the future i grave Der-
rick Bell' movin rgument irn-
pli . Each time you d it, you will
know that Derrick Bell is not only
te cher, but I 0 poet; not only
philo opher, but also an arti t."
it. "
1
M
LI IT. D TRI. L 0
11.40'0 R
RTON.* .
•
it i occurin ."
Bell exp nded the pr ctice of
utilizin hypothetical f ct ituations,
taple of cl room te ching in
rno t I w chools, in order to provide
different perspective on n i ue.
"B ic truths," Bell contend , "p r
ticul rly hen ddre ing emotion
lly charged ubjects like ce, are
e ier to ddre using fictional et
ting ,"
Part Two Continued Next Week!
-HON A. LEON HIIGAN·
BOTHAM,JR.
Cir it Court Judge, U.S. Court
of Appeals
Prof or of Law
Univ r ity 0 Wi con in Law
School
"Derrick Bell makes it clear that
crucial part of each of us, white and
Black, will be lost at the bottom 0
the well a long as racism remains a
pillar of American society. We will
be better people after reading this
W WITH D R-
by Herb Boyd
Whether challenging the
hidebound tradition of a law faculty,
on the ramparts of th civil rights
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