About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

35 Santa Clara L. Rev. 881 (1994-1995)
Language and Silence: Making Systems of Privilege Visible

handle is hein.journals/saclr35 and id is 899 raw text is: ESSAY LANGUAGE AND SILENCE: MAKING SYSTEMS OF PRIVILEGE VISIBLE Stephanie M. Wildman* with Adrienne D. Davis** A colleague of mine once had a dream in which I ap- peared.' My colleague, who is African-American, was strug- gling in this dream to be himself in the presence of a mono- lithic white maleness that wanted to oppress my friend and deny his intellect, his humanity, and his belonging in our community. In his dream, I, a white woman, attempted to © 1995 Stephanie M. Wildman * Professor of Law, USF School of Law; J.D. Stanford Law School, 1973; A.B. Stanford University, 1970. I acknowledge an intellectual debt to two colleagues, Adrienne Davis and Trina Grillo. The three of us worked together for almost two years, writing several working papers examining privilege and subordination. The with designation for authorship of this essay reflects Davis' contribution in paragraphs concerning Isms language and categories, which we wrote to- gether for the working papers. The I in this essay refers to me. Thanks to the community of people who have made my work possible, particularly Mar- galynne Armstrong, Marsha Berzon, Laura Brown, Phyllis Bursh, Linda Clardy, June Carbone, Walter Cohen, Adrienne Davis, Richard Delgado, Mary Dunlap, Trina Grillo, Beverly Horsburgh, Francie Kendall, Julian Kossaw, Ja- net Lee, Charles Lawrence, Christine Littleton, Martha Mahoney, Charles Reich, Margaret Russell, Wil Rumble, Lee Ryan, Marian Shostrom, Jean Stefancic, Michael Tobriner, Catharine Wells, and Eric Wright. A special thank you to St. Thomas University School of Law, where an ear- lier version of this essay was presented as the 1994 Distinguished Lecture. A small portion of this essay appears in CRITICAL RACE THEORY: THE CUTrING EDGE (Richard Delgado, ed., 1995). Another version of this essay will appear in STEPHANIE M. WILDMAN WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY MARGALYNNE ARMSTRONG, AD- RIENNE D. DAVIS, AND TRINA GRILLO, PRIVILEGE REVEALED: How INVISIBLE PREFERENCE UNDERMINES AMERICA (NYU Press, forthcoming 1996). ** Associate Professor of Law, American University, Washington College of the Law; J.D. Yale Law School, B.A. Yale University. 1. Charles R. Lawrence, III, A Dream: On Discovering the Significance of Fear, 10 NOVA L.J. 627 (1986), republished in Charles R. Lawrence, III, The Word and the River: Pedagogy as Scholarship as Struggle, 65 S. CAL. L. REV. 2231, 2231-2236 (1992). 881

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most