Guest Commentator

Vinay Harpalani, JD, PhD

BlackCommentator.com Guest Commentator, Columnist, Vinay Harpalani, JD, PhD, is an Associate Professor, Savannah Law School. He writes about race and law and teaches constitutional law and civil procedure. He is an expert on affirmative action, Critical Race Theory & racial identity. He earned his JD from NYU School of Law and his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Vinay served as the Derrick Bell Fellow in 2009-10, working closely with Professor Bell in designing and teaching his constitutional law courses. Vinay’s scholarship focuses on Critical Race Theory and education law. Contact Dr. Harpalani and BC. Follow Dr. Harpalani on Twitter @VinayHarpalani. David A. Love, JD Managing Editor: Nancy Littlefield, MBA Publisher: Peter Gamble

2 pieces

Guest Commentary

“Serving Two Masters” Revisited: Derrick Bell, Joe Biden, and the Paradox of Busing

By Vinay Harpalani, JD, PhD Guest Commentator

Biden collaborated closely with segregationist Senators, along with White anti-busing activists in Delaware, giving these groups some legitimacy [3]. He opposed busing remedies for de facto segregation but did not consider housing and education policies that led to such segregation.

At the first Democratic presidential debate, the exchange between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris hit home for me. Harris’s poignant story about being bused when she…

Continue reading 11 min

Guest Commentary

Climbing on the Backs of Others: A Critique of Randall Kennedy and Barack Obama’s Black Respectability Politics

By Vinay Harpalani, JD, PhD Guest Commentator

Most African Americans who have attained success in our White-dominated society have done so—knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly—because the negative stereotypes of Black people in America are so powerful that it is almost a necessity to move up the ladder of success.

While one could offer many different critiques of respectability, I will focus here on three shortcomings in Professor Kennedy’s essay. First, Professor Kennedy does not adequately…

Continue reading 17 min