The Commons
“ We surely don’t have all of the answers but we have settled on some lessons. We will teach our students to press forward, because there is no real alternative. We will teach them to challenge unjust laws because, as Frederick Douglass said, ‘power concedes nothing without demand.’ We will inspire them to harness their outrage and energy into new and better policies. We will underscore that when law enforcement chokes the life from a helpless individual, it is past time to question what the law is and who it serves.” — Professor Trina Jones and co-author Kimberly Jade Norwood of the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, acknowledging that as law professors and Black Americans they are struggling with what to teach their students about law and justice. (Medium, June 15, 2020)
Notable &Quotable
Reflections on racial justice and police reform
“ It’s true that these protests seem to be very different. It’s galvanizing a group of young, multi-racial people who are saying enough is enough. But it’s not going to change if it doesn’t lead to legislation at the state level, as well as at the federal level.” — Professor Guy-Uriel Charles, noting that current protests against police violence towards Black people are reminiscent of the protests that led to passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but will lead to change only if people overcome many recently enacted barriers to voting. (Here and Now, June 5, 2020)
10 Duke Law Magazine • Summer 2020
