A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. is Public Service Professor of
Jurisprudence at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University, and Of Counsel to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, &
Garrison. He was formerly Chief Judge on the United States Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit, and is a recipient of the
Presidential Medal of Freedom. His landmark volume, In the Matter
of Color, won the American Bar Association's Silver
Gavel Award and the National Bar Association's Literary Award.
"By showing us how profound our struggle has been, and how far we
have come, Higginbotham also has shown by implication how difficult
the struggles ahead are bound to be."--Emerge
"A carefully researched and impressively documented
book...Insightful."--The New York Times Book Review
"An important exploration of some of the most critical and
difficult terrain in American history."--The Washington Times
"Shades of Freedom is Leon Higginbotham's masterpiece. It exhibits
a towering intellect, a peerless capacity for potent articulation,
an unbending integrity and rich reservoirs of deep compassion all
coalescing in a dance of incredible beauty and energy."--Justice I
Mahomed, Chief Justice of Namibia, Chairperson of the South African
Law Commission, Deputy President of the Constitutional Court of
South Africa
"Every course in American history must now include as required
reading Judge Higginbotham's superb treatment of the legal process
from 1619 to the modern era. In Shades of Freedom, as the author
concentrates on 'The Precept of Inferiority,' the first of ten
precepts which will portray the historical treatment of blacks in
America, we are exposed to a kaleidoscope of official
conduct--legislative, executive, but especially judicial--that must
not be
glossed over as a series of past events, but preserved and
understood as true recordation of our history."--Ruggero J.
Aldisert, Senior Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for
the Third Circuit
"In 1978, Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., published In the Matter
of Color, a meticulous examination of how white Americans used law
in aid of slavery in the Colonial period. It was a pathbreaking
scholarly achievement. 18 years later, judge-turned-professor
Higginbotham has produced an impressive sequel to his earlier work.
It was worth the wait. Shades of Freedom starts the process (at
least one further volume is in early prospect) of
bringing the tangled tale of race and law--and of the overarching
cultural precepts which govern their interaction--up to
date."--Lewis H. Pollak, U.S. District Judge
"One of the nation's leading constitutional scholars demonstrates,
with a powerful command of history, the corrosive effects that
centuries of racism have had on American justice. Judge
Higginbotham's book is a milestone in the continuing effort to
understand the manner in which racism has compromised the capacity
of law to achieve equal justice for every citizen."--James O.
Freedman, President, Dartmouth College
"Leon Higginbotham's Shades of Freedom is a testament to the great
tradition of liberal jurisprudence that characterized the crucial
legal aspect of the civil rights movement. Alone among the legal
minds that comprised that movement, Judge Higginbotham has
chronicled the long history of the idea of race in legal discourse,
establishing himself as the major scholar of this field, as well as
the logical heir of Mr. Justice Thurgood Marshall on the
Supreme Court."--Henry Louis Gates, Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois Professor
of the Humanities, Harvard University
"Judge Higginbotham's book is customarily well researched,
extensively documented, persuasively written, and offers compelling
insights on the painfully slow process of racial progress in
America. While W.E.B. Du Bois reminded us that the problem of the
twentieth century is the problem of the color line, Judge
Higginbotham has documented Du Bois's prophecy in Shades of
Freedom, the seminal work on race in the legal system for the
twenty-first
century."--Charles J. Ogletree, Professor of Law, Harvard Law
School
"In his powerful treatise, Judge Higginbotham has exposed both the
pathology and the potential of the law in either eliminating or
perpetuating racial injustice. He has written with the eloquence of
a Martin Luther King, the scholarship of a W.E.B. Du Bois, and the
superb legal craftsmanship and wisdom of Chief Justice Warren and
Thurgood Marshall. For all individuals who believe that history is
relevant, Shades of Freedom must be read and reflected
on. A must-read book for every generation of Americans."--Kweisi
Mfume, President & CEO, NAACP
"Shades of Freedom is a worthy successor to In the Matter of Color.
With eloquence and authority, Judge Higginbotham chronicles and
analyzes the long, sordid history of the use of law in establishing
and maintaining a system in which 'Equal Justice Under Law' is a
mockery of the actual practice. Anyone interested in race in
America should read this important book."--John Hope Franklin,
James B. Duke Professor of History Emeritus, Duke
University
"Shades of Freedom magnificently reflects on the systematic denial
and betrayal of our past and present rights to full liberty and
justice, while providing a sobering and disturbing prognosis of our
future progress in achieving our full Constitutional guarantees. It
superimposes a historical mosaic of denial and unkept promises. The
Judge brilliantly chronicles the insidious patterns of racism that
have always short-circuited our quest for
unconditional freedom, as embraced by America's most enduring
concept 'We the People.' In Shades of Freedom, as in In the Matter
of Color, Judge Higginbotham passionately sounds the trumpet for a
Rainbow of Freedom for 'We
the People.'"--Dr. C. DeLores Tucker, President/Founder, The
Bethune-Du Bois Fund
"Judge Higginbotham is once again the smithy, wielding, as a mighty
hammer, his powerful intellect, scholarship, historical, and logic,
in the forge of justice, seeking to reshape on the anvil of the
Constitution, minds badly twisted by racism. In this classic work,
Shades of Freedom, Higginbotham takes his readers through
historical and social time zones with their sunlight and shadows,
showing forward movement and retreat. Given the confused state
of
race relations today this remarkable book could not be more
timely."--Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones, United States Court of
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
"Higginbotham's masterful work is a compelling and convincing
examination of how the law developed the official American doctrine
of racial inferiority."--Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
"Once again, this great freedom fighter, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.,
has masterfully presented a remarkable and refreshingly honest
assessment of the role of race in American society and law. With
great clarity and perception, Higginbotham exposes underlying
cultural assumptions of inferiority and the impact such assumptions
have on our collective progress. Shades of Freedom is aptly
entitled because in describing the vast spectrum of freedoms
enjoyed
by African Americans today, it serves as a poignant reminder that
there are many miles yet to travel on the road to freedom and
equality."--Honorable Damon J. Keith, United States Court of
Appeals for the Sixth
Circuit
"In my lifetime, two giants of the bench did not make the Supreme
Court: Learned Hand and Leon Higginbotham. Now one has written a
book that you would expect from him: eloquent, scholarly,
compassionate, and a ringing call for justice."--Senator Paul
Simon
"In Shades of Freedom one of our greatest legal minds makes a
powerful case for turning the use of law to the service of justice.
Judge Higginbotham carefully explains the role of law in
reinforcing the concept of African American inferiority since the
colonial period."--Mary Frances Berry, University of Pennsylvania,
and Chairperson, United States Commission on Civil Rights
"Eighteen years is a long time to hold one's breath, but it has
been worth the pain and effort. Shades of Freedom is in its own way
as remarkable a book as Leon Higginbotham's magnificent In The
Matter of Color. It reflects the same mastery of historical
research, passion for equality and the rule of law, and judicial
temperament. With the publication of this volume, Judge
Higginbotham confirms my judgement that he is our leading
judicial
scholar, and my hope that, with his leadership, this nation will
resume its progress toward equal protection of the law for
all."--Stanley N. Katz, President, American Council for Learned
Societies, and Professor, The
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs,
Princeton University
"After groundbreaking work In the Matter of Color, which covered
racism, slavery and the law in colonial America, in Shades of
Freedom, the author provides a thorough account of the interaction
between the law and racial oppression from colonial times to the
present."--JFK School of Government
"By showing us how profound our struggle has been, and how far we
have come, Higginbotham also has shown by implication how difficult
the struggles ahead are bound to be. The major lesson of this book
is that it is folly to go into those struggles without a sound
knowledge of our cultural and legal history. If we heed
higginbotham--a wise teacher as well as a great judge--we shall not
face the future unarmed."--Roger Wilkins in Emerge
Shades of Freedom is a carefully researched and impressivly
documented book. It contains insightful chapters on the ancestry,
ideology and politics of the idea of racial inferiority as well as
thought sections of the Supreme Court's legitimization of
racism...Mr. Higginbotham writers clearly, briskly and with
controlled passion. And he writes with power and style."--The New
York Times Book Review
"On the whole, particularly for those who believe the U.S. Supreme
Court has been a longtime friend of African-Americans, this book
offers a sobering perspective. The author marshals as impressive
volume of cases that could easily lead the reader to despair that
the United States will ever become a fair multicultural
society.Yet, this is a book for optimists."--The National Law
Review
"Mr. Higginbotham's concern with the idology of black inferiority
and its influence on American law has led him on an important
exploration of some of the most critical and difficult terrain in
American history."--The Washington Times
"Shades of Freedom enriches our understanding of the history that
we canot escape and encourages us to take responsibility for our
future."--Judith A. Hagley
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