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9 Harv. Blackletter J. 27 (1992)
Teaching Criminal Law: Objectivity in Black and White

handle is hein.journals/hblj9 and id is 31 raw text is: TEACHING CRIMINAL LAW: OBJECTIVITY IN BLACK AND WHITE Gregory Howard Williams* Traditionally, legal education has been undertaken under the guise of so-called value-neutral principles. That is, many faculty members have, with sincere and honest intent, sought to teach their courses without discussing or considering the impact of the law on people of different cultural or racial backgrounds. In my view, this is a serious shortcoming of legal education. This Article focuses on the necessity of recognizing this problem and the need to incorporate different life experiences in teaching law, espe- cially criminal law and procedure. Criminal law and procedure topics frequently seem facially neutral from a hombook perspective. However, when viewed from the perspective of real-life experience, the manner in which these topics are taught often expose them as racially and culturally biased. Furthermore, because of the largely homogenous ra- cial and cultural composition of law school faculty and journal members, the facially neutral hornbook perspective propagates itself as the road to academic success. Consequently, law students who come from mi- nority communities often feel alienated by and are unable to identify with the law school experience, and non-minority students are often left with a limited view of the impact of the law on minority communi- ties. This is a special problem for the criminal justice system, since a substantially high proportion of both victims and offenders funnelled into the system are members of racial minority groups. Every fall, I confront the same dilemma as I begin my criminal law and procedure classes. How much do students need to know about me to understand what I have to teach them about the criminal justice system? How much do I have to bare my soul for their learning expe- rience? Do I make revelations about my youth spent in the Black housing Associate Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Professor of Law and Faculty Scholar, University of Iowa. B.A. 1966, Ball State University; M.A. 1969, University of Maryland; J.D. 1971, M. Phil. 1977, Ph.D. 1982, George Washington University. Copyright © Gregory Howard Williams 1992. Professor Williams is a former deputy sheriff and has served as Chair of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy Council, and Chair of the Iowa State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Portions of this Article have been adapted from Professor Williams' forthcoming memoir, Neither Black Nor White (1992). Professor Williams maintains exclusive copyright in all segments of that work reprinted herein. I am indebted to my colleagues and friends Arthur Bonfield, Josh Dressier, Cheryl Harris, W.H. Joe Knight, Richard Matasar, Judy Scales-Trent, George Thomas and Adrien K. Wing for their comments on earlier drafts of this Article. Special thanks also go to Steve Rhodes and Eric Fisher for their assistance.

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