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Derrick Bell on the "Permanence of Racism"

Bell is a writer and professor who made the headlines in 1990 when he refused to return to Harvard Law School after an extended leave of absence. Bell, then the only tenured African American law professor, cited "reasons of conscious" for leaving--he was protesting the school's decision not to hire a woman of color. In 1959 he quit his job in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice rather than give up his membership in the NAACP. In 1977 Bell wrote "And We are Not Saved," a collection of parables about race and class. His most recent book is "Faces At The Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism." It combines fact and fiction to illustrate the obstacles blacks continue to face.

16:26

Other segments from the episode on October 7, 1992

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, October 7, 1992: Interview with Mark Perry; Interview with Derrick Bell; Review of the film "1492: Conquest of Paradise."

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