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8 Harv. Blackletter J. 61 (1991)
Critical Race Law and Affirmative Action: The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

handle is hein.journals/hblj8 and id is 69 raw text is: CRITICAL RACE LAW AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: THE LEGACY OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. Anthony Cook* On the 21st of January many of us celebrate and honor the sacrifice and legacy of a man whose vision literally transformed the sociopolitical landscape of America-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.-African-American protester, philosopher, and prophet-master of nonmaster narrative, pragmatic revolutionary, and legal reformer. His stories of human hope and pain flowed like tributaries from the suffering and oppression of Black people, yet they connected with other stories of suffering that also travelled through the straits of the American experience into the gulf of common concern. King's brilliance was his ability to grasp the essence of that common experience and articulate it in such eloquent and com- pelling language-language that stirred the conscience and moved the spirit to act. For this author, King's orientation and approach are illus- trative of the Critical Race Law whose aims and purposes this artide hopes to elucidate. Part I provides a definition of Critical Race Law. Part II illuminates the problems with which Critical Race Law grapples by examining the commitment of what now may be a majority of the Supreme Court, to the formal equality of color-blindness. Part III calls on King's legacy as an illustration of Critical Race Law's orientation, mode of critique, and normative project. Finally, Part IV returns to a case study of affirmative action through an examination of Metro Broad- casting v. Federal Communications Commission.' Here, the author argues that the insights gleaned from King's legacy suggests that one should reinterpret the categories of affirmative action in terms of the more concrete and historical struggles over identity, power, and self-deter- mination. *Fellow in the Program of Ethics and the Professions, Harvard University; Associate Professor of Law, Georgetown Law Center; A.B. Princeton University, 1982; J.D. Yale Law School, 1986. This Article is based upon a speech delivered at the American Association of Law Schools Conference, held in Washington, D.C. in January 1991. The speech and article are attempts to further explore the implica- tions of King's theology and social vision, discussed in a previous article by the author, see infra note 11, for the emerging field of jurisprudence called Critical Race Law. The author is deeply indebted to Kimberle Crenshaw, Pat Williams, Mari Matsuda, Richard Delgado, Derrick Bell, Charles Lawrence, Alex Johnson, Gary Peller, Cornel West, Martha Minow, Gerald Torres, and Frank Michelman. The fruits of their labors are present throughout this attempt to understand and make understandable to others this vibrant field of jurisprudence. 1. 110 S.Ct. 2997 (1990).

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