The Racial Double Helix: Watson, Crick, and Brown v. Board of Education (Our No-Bell Prize Award Speech)

Abstract

In support of our bid for an alternative major prize for Derrick Bell and to honor his career and scholarship, this Essay summarizes some of his contributions to the understanding of racial replication, together with those of a few of his friends, including ourselves. A midget, you see, standing on top of the shoulders of a giant, can occasionally see even farther than the giant. Part I explains how culture replicates itself. Part II considers a set of homeo-mechanisms having to do with interest-convergence (one of Bell's signature themes) or the structure of legal thought, both of the conservative and the liberal variety. Part III explores differential racialization, including the part played by breakthrough legal decisions like Brown.

Keywords: civil rights, Derrick Bell, James Watson, Francis Crick, Brown v. Board of Education, legal formalism, affirmative action, critical race theory, legal storytelling, social relations