Lawyers, Judges, and Law Enforcement Officers have often used legal justifications for the abuse of power, particularly against Black and Indigenous populations throughout the history of the United States. While there are some today in “popular culture politics” who would like to ignore or even erase this history, the sources are easy enough to find and read, and include many notable abolitionists, anti-slavery judges, and other allies engaged in a complicated and problematic historical struggle. One principle that has emerged from these efforts of struggle is the concept of law as a double-edged sword – something that cuts as a form of domination but also cuts back as a form of resistance. The argument goes that if politicians, business organizations, and even religious leaders were corrupted, people could still use legal principles to argue for equity, basic fairness, social responsibility, and perhaps even truth.

As someone who has been raised in the cultural traditions of white-Anglo- Saxon-protestant men, I have benefitted a great deal from institutional and ideological biases that encourage folks in positions of authority and privilege to give me the benefit of the doubt and assistance based on these shared norms. Far too often, these same benefits have been kept from excluded groups of people. In response, I have spent over 20 years working to uncover my own biases, interrogate and navigate through those within a system that promotes exclusions and superiorities, and to consider what I can do, with others, to reduce the harms caused by such a system. One of those tools is to re-examine traditional learning materials and ensure that facts are presented without white washing, and to provide representations of resistance and social group success of those who have been excluded from traditional white spaces. The second tool is to encourage you to develop and share your own agency as you learn about the legal structures around you and to encourage full participation in course work.

I have also benefited from the courageous work of scholars who have, for decades, engaged in critical, real research into the cause of systemic discrimination and the role the Courts and Legal System play in maintaining inequality. Many scholars have built upon the foundational work of early critical race theorists and have examined consistent trends of discrimination and exclusion documented over hundreds of years. Some of these are provided through the readings and I welcome you to bring in your own sources and representations as well.