ABSTRACT
The link between Derrick Bell the civil rights lawyer and Derrick Bell the scholar is important in chronicling the origins and philosophical under-girding of critical race theory (CRT). L. Parker used CRT in order to understand how the traditional notion of merit was used to challenge affirmative action at the University of Texas Law School. CRT challenges ahistorical scholarship and insists on a contextual treatment of the law and a recognition of the experiential knowledge of people of color in analyzing the law and society. Hermeneutics is a methodological approach that seeks to provide meaning to texts, and by extension, to any human activity, production, expression, or institution that can be viewed as text. Law School. The research on African Americans and institutional racism, and the evidence from recent court battles between the Navajo and school officials in southern Utah, illustrate its utility. This chapter presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in this book.
