JoAnne Epps and Craig Green, Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law, have posted Black Lawyers Matter: An Oral History of Race-Inclusive Admissions at Yale:
Almost no one knows that Yale had the first affirmative action program of any elite law school in the country. In 1968, Dean Louis Pollak endured fierce criticism from alumni and faculty for deciding to admit twelve Black students, larger than any prior group in the law school’s history. All of those students would eventually become judges, professors, civil rights lawyers, government leaders, in-house counsel, or successful private attorneys.
We sought to speak with every Black Yale law student from the entering classes of 1963 to 1978. Using techniques of oral history, we interviewed forty-seven people across twelve states, including at least one person from each class year. This Article merges that specific evidence with new interpretations of the “Affirmative Action Era” across the United States to highlight Black actors who are intrinsically important to the history of legal education, the legal profession, and society at large. Any accurate account of U.S. legal history must include Black voices and experiences.
This Article also applies historical materials and interpretations to current legal debates, undermining stereotypes and generalizations about affirmative action that have been endorsed by Justice Clarence Thomas and other critics. Particular histories of Yale students illustrate the nationwide risks of colorblind constitutionalism, and this Article uses the long national history of affirmative action to develop doctrinal solutions for the future.
--Dan Ernst
