Guinier Promotes New Vision of Social Justice

In her first public appearance at Harvard since her acceptance of a tenured professorship at Harvard Law School, Lani Guinier '71 talked about how to reconnect to the civil rights movement and create a new vision of social justice in a speech yesterday afternoon at the ARCO Forum.

Guinier, who is the first black woman tenured in the law school's history, gave a short speech peppered with excerpts from her new book Lift Every Voice, which chronicles her failed bid for the position of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

Guinier said the speech was in honor of her father Ewart Guinier, " who taught me to speak in my own voice," and her mother Eugenia Guinier-- who attended the talk--" who is still teaching me how to life my voice in harmony with others." Ewart Guinier was the first chair of Afro-American studies at Harvard.

She also discussed a victory in a voting rights case in Selma, Alabama in 1985, as an example of how she had learned from those she was representing.

Guinier said she had decided to work in the South on the advice of former Harvard Law School Professor Derrick Bell, who had urged her remain connected to the people that gave the civil rights movement its strength.

The trial ended in victory, Guinier said, and upon its conclusion the courtroom erupted in singing of songs from the civil rights movement.

"At that moment, rejoicing on the steps of the federal courthouse in Selma, Alabama, I realized how central Derrick Bell's advice to me had been four years earlier to go south, to mix it up, to become a civil rights advocate, not just a civil rights technician, "she read from her book.

Guinier also talked about her more recent and public struggles, discussing a meeting she had with then-Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) in an effort to gain his support of her nomination. She said the meeting was indicative of how the public perceptions of her views differed from her actual positions.

In the meeting, which Simpson--who is now Director of the Institute of Politics--recounted in his introduction of Guinier, he asked Guinier if she would apply her proportional representation system to the white minorities in South Africa.

"That would be fine...because what I am describing is applicable in South Africa,too," said Guinier, reading her account of theincident from the book. "That is, the majorityshould rule, but it should rule in a way that isrespectful and that recognizes the interests ofthe minority in being part of the governingcoalition," Guinier read.

Guinier attributed her failure to attain thecivil rights post in large part to the media'sconflation of her proportional representationsystem with that of quotas, saying that anyone whoknew her or read her work would know that she wasnot in support of quotas.

"My father was a victim of quotas, a quota ofone," said Guinier, explaining that when herfather came to Harvard College in 1929 he was notprovided with financial aid because, she believes,money had only been allotted for one blackstudent.

After the speech, Guinier spent nearly an houranswering questions on a variety of subjectsranging from her failed bid for office totechnical questions about proportionalrepresentation to her feelings on returning toHarvard as the first tenured black woman at theLaw School.

"I know I'm the first tenured black woman atthe Law School, but I hope not to be the last,"Guinier said.

Kennedy School Public Service Professor ofJurisprudence A. Leon Higginbotham, a long-timefriend of Guinier attended the speech, and saidGuinier was an invaluable addition to the HLSfaculty.

"Irregardless of race, she brings all of thequalities you want in a professor," Higginbothamsaid. "[Because of her extensive courtroomexperience] she brings a lot of great insightsabout the realities of American democracy.

Guinier attributed her failure to attain thecivil rights post in large part to the media'sconflation of her proportional representationsystem with that of quotas, saying that anyone whoknew her or read her work would know that she wasnot in support of quotas.

"My father was a victim of quotas, a quota ofone," said Guinier, explaining that when herfather came to Harvard College in 1929 he was notprovided with financial aid because, she believes,money had only been allotted for one blackstudent.

After the speech, Guinier spent nearly an houranswering questions on a variety of subjectsranging from her failed bid for office totechnical questions about proportionalrepresentation to her feelings on returning toHarvard as the first tenured black woman at theLaw School.

"I know I'm the first tenured black woman atthe Law School, but I hope not to be the last,"Guinier said.

Kennedy School Public Service Professor ofJurisprudence A. Leon Higginbotham, a long-timefriend of Guinier attended the speech, and saidGuinier was an invaluable addition to the HLSfaculty.

"Irregardless of race, she brings all of thequalities you want in a professor," Higginbothamsaid. "[Because of her extensive courtroomexperience] she brings a lot of great insightsabout the realities of American democracy.