Pitt professors addresses race relations in law

Who would have thought that a middle-class, suburban school such as Columbine High School… Who would have thought that a middle-class, suburban school such as Columbine High School could actually be at a higher risk for extreme violence than other, more diverse places, such as Berkeley High School?

Richard Delgado.

According to him, this is exactly the case, and it is because diversity creates more places for students to fit in.

The Inaugural Derrick A. Bell Lecture — held on Tuesday evening in the Pitt School of Law’s Teplitz Moot Court Room — featured Delgado, a Pitt law professor and a Derrick A. Bell fellow, and his wife, Jean Stefancic, a Derrick A. Bell scholar and Pitt law professor. Their lecture was titled “Cultural DNA.”

Delgado and Stefancic, who also share the position of co-editor for the New York University Press series “Critical America,” have written numerous other published works on this topic.

Bell, a 1957 graduate of Pitt’s School of Law, as well as a lawyer, activist, teacher and writer, was unable to attend the lecture. In 1971, he became the first tenured black professor at Harvard Law School. He is well-known for refusing to return to work at Harvard after taking a two-year, unpaid leave of absence to protest the lack of minority women on the faculty.

Stefancic described Bell as an “inspirational leader in the struggle for black rights.”

During the lecture, Stefancic gave a few examples of social injustices linked to race that commonly occur in courts of law.

According to her, year after year, whites remain on top of the racial hierarchy, while those of color sit steady at the bottom.

She added that different cultures are commonly segregated according to different criteria. Some are more concerned with blacks and whites, while others focus on men and women.

Delgado said culture is represented through the ever-changing public taste. He claims that, while one ethnic group is gaining way, a different ethnic group is in the process of losing their ground.

“Society arranges things so minority groups trade spaces on the triple helix spiral,” he said.

When the lecture concluded, audience members were invited to the first floor for a post-lecture dinner.