Cheryl I. Harris

Cheryl I. Harris is an American legal scholar and professor renowned for her foundational contributions to critical race theory. Her seminal article, "Whiteness as Property," published in the Harvard Law Review, is a cornerstone of legal scholarship on race and property rights. Harris's work critically examines how American law has constructed and protected white privilege and racial identity as a form of valuable property. Her influential career spans academia at institutions like the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and has profoundly shaped discourse on structural racism, civil rights, and equality.

Early life and education

Harris earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the prestigious liberal arts college, Wellesley College. She then pursued her legal education, receiving a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. To further specialize in legal theory, she completed a Master of Laws degree at Northwestern University. Her academic journey through these institutions provided the foundation for her later critical examinations of the legal system and its relationship with race.

Academic career

Harris has built her academic career primarily at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, where she is a professor of law. Her tenure at UCLA has positioned her within a leading center for critical legal studies and scholarly communication. Throughout her career, she has also been a visiting professor at several other notable institutions, including Harvard Law School and the University of Chicago Law School. Her teaching and mentorship have influenced generations of legal scholars, lawyers, and activists engaged with issues of social justice.

Scholarship and legal theory

Harris is best known for her groundbreaking 1993 article, "Whiteness as Property," published in the Harvard Law Review. This work argues that under United States law, whiteness has historically functioned as a form of property, granting tangible and intangible rights and privileges protected by the state. She traces this concept from the era of slavery and Jim Crow laws through to modern legal doctrines, analyzing cases like Plessy v. Ferguson and the legacy of reparations for slavery. Her scholarship intersects with the work of other critical race theorists such as Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Patricia J. Williams, and explores themes of identity politics, intersectionality, and constitutional law. This body of work critically engages with the Fourteenth Amendment and the limitations of traditional civil rights movement frameworks.

Influence and recognition

Harris's theory of "whiteness as property" has become a central pillar within critical race theory, influencing fields beyond law including sociology, history, political science, and cultural studies. Her work is frequently cited in major legal decisions and scholarly debates concerning affirmative action, voting rights, and housing discrimination. She has been recognized with numerous fellowships and invitations to deliver prestigious lectures, such as the Derrick Bell Lecture Award from the Association of American Law Schools. Her ideas continue to inform contemporary movements addressing racial inequality, such as Black Lives Matter, and analyses of systemic issues in institutions like the Supreme Court of the United States.

Selected works

* "Whiteness as Property" (1993), Harvard Law Review. * "Finding Sojourner's Truth: Race, Gender, and the Institution of Property" (1996), Cardozo Law Review. * "Law Professors of Color and the Academy: Of Poets and Kings" (2002), co-authored in Chicago-Kent Law Review. * Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement (1995), a co-edited foundational anthology with Kimberlé Crenshaw, Neil Gotanda, and Gary Peller.