Patricia J. Williams

Looks at racism in America, describes examples of its everyday occurrence, and discusses its implications for the practice and teaching of law

The Alchemy of Race and Rights

Andrew Ross

Manning Marable

Nellie Y. McKay

Cornel West

Nell Irvin Painter

Kendall Thomas

Kimberlé Crenshaw

Homi K. Bhabha

Michael Thelwell

Margaret A. Burnham

Paula Giddings

A. Leon Higginbotham

Claudia Brodsky Lacour

Wahneema H. Lubiano

Gayle Pemberton

Christine Stansell

Carol Miller Swain

Eighteen essays by prominent scholars reflect on the cultural, historical, political, personal, legal, sexual, and linguistic implications of the Thomas hearings and Hill's accusations

Essays on Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, and the Construction of Social Reality

Race-ing Justice, En-gendering Power

Presents five lectures in which the author asks how we might achieve a world where color doesn't matter, drawing on psychological theories of projection as a possible first step towards a solution

The Paradox of Race

Seeing a Color-Blind Future

Notes on Race, Human Bodies, and the Spirit of the Law

Miracle of the Black Leg

Open House of Family, Friends, Food, Piano Lessons and the Search for a Room of My Own

James L Dohr Professor of Law Columbia Law School Patricia J Williams

"Jamaica is the land where the rooster lays an egg...When a Jamaican is born of a black woman and some English or Scotsman, the black mother is literally and figuratively kept out of sight as far as possible, but no one is allowed to forget that white father, however questionable the circumstances of birth...You get the impression that these virile Englishmen do not require women to reproduce. They just come out to Jamaica, scratch out a nest and lay eggs that hatch out into 'pink' Jamaicans." --Zora Neale Hurston We may no longer issue scarlet letters, but from the way we talk, we might as well: W for welfare, S for single, B for black, CC for children having children, WT for white trash. To a culture speaking with barely masked hysteria, in which branding is done with words and those branded are outcasts, this book brings a voice of reason and a warm reminder of the decency and mutual respect that are missing from so much of our public debate. Patricia J. Williams, whose acclaimed book The Alchemy of Race and Rights offered a vision for healing the ailing spirit of the law, here broadens her focus to address the wounds in America's public soul, the sense of community that rhetoric so subtly but surely makes and unmakes. In these pages we encounter figures and images plucked from headlines--from Tonya Harding to Lani Guinier, Rush Limbaugh to Hillary Clinton, Clarence Thomas to Dan Quayle--and see how their portrayal, encoding certain stereotypes, often reveals more about us than about them. What are we really talking about when we talk about welfare mothers, for instance? Why is calling someone a "redneck" okay, and what does that say about our society? When young women appear on Phil Donahue to represent themselves as Jewish American Princesses, what else are they doing? These are among the questions Williams considers as she uncovers the shifting, often covert rules of conversation that determine who "we" are as a nation.

The Rooster's Egg

In 1960, in the small town of Allenville, Mississippi, Cerena Wailes' world had turned upside down. This bubbly, vibrant eight year old African American little girl was a product of incest, molestation and rape, all the acts took place within her family. Although her family was dysfunctional, they had a strong Christian background. Cerena, better known as, CeeCee, didn't understand why God would allow these terrible acts to happen to her. The senseless acts were done to her until the age eighteen. She carried the emotional scars of rejection, unforgiveness, hatred, abandonment, low-self esteem, bitterness and pain. SHe couldn't love anyone else, because she didn't love herself. She would sabotage friendships and relationships, fearing they had a motive in getting close to her. Later in life, she accepted Jesus Christ into her life and began to walk in her calling, but yet she was preaching from a place of pain and she was damaged but not delivered. See how her story unfolds.

Change Begins with a Whisper

The Nation columnist shares insights from her life as a lawyer, scholar, and mother, tackling such touchy subjects as racial stereotypes, Oprah Winfrey, notions of feminine beauty, and much, much more. Reader's Guide available. Reprint.

Of Family, Friends, Food, Piano Lessons, and the Search for a Room of My Own

Open House

Patricia J. Williams

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