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22 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 401 (1987)
Alchemical Notes: Reconstructing Ideals from Deconstructed Rights

handle is hein.journals/hcrcl22 and id is 407 raw text is: ALCHEMICAL NOTES: RECONSTRUCTING IDEALS FROM DECONSTRUCTED RIGHTS Patricia J. Williams* I. A Bit of CLS Mythodology THE BRASS RING AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA A. The Meta-Story Once upon a time, there was a society of priests who built a Celestial City whose gates were secured by Word-Combination locks. The priests were masters of the Word, and, within the City, ascending levels of power and treasure became accessible to those who could learn ascendingly intricate levels of Word Magic. At the very top level, the priests became gods; and because they then had nothing left to seek, they engaged in games with which to pass the long hours of eternity. In partic- ular, they liked to ride their strong, sure-footed steeds, around and around the perimeter of heaven: now jumping word-hurdles, now playing polo with the concepts of the moon and of the stars, now reaching up to touch that pinnacle, that fragment, that splinter of Refined Understanding which was called Super- standing, the brass ring of their merry-go-round. In time, some of the priests-turned-gods tired of this sport, denounced it as meaningless. They donned the garb of pilgrims, seekers once more, and passed beyond the gates of the Celestial City. In this recursive passage, they acquired the knowledge of Undoing Words. Beyond the walls of the City lay a Deep Blue Sea. The priests built themselves small boats and set sail, determined to explore the uncharted courses, the open vistas of this new and undefined domain. They wandered for many years in this man- ner, until at last they reached a place that was half-a-circum- * Associate Professor of Law, CUNY Law School at Queens College. I am deeply indebted to the following people: my sister Carol Williams, whose research into our family's history gave me the idea for this piece; Richard Delgado, whose enthusiasm kept me going; the uniquely wonderful community of CUNY, past and present, faculty, students and staff; and, of course, Derrick and Jewell Bell, teachers, friends and inspiration to the many of us who are their students.

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