Derrick Bell

For other people with similar names, see Derek Bell (disambiguation).
Derrick Bell
Bell in 2007
Born(1930-11-06)November 6, 1930
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedOctober 5, 2011(2011-10-05) (aged 80)
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationDuquesne University (BA)
University of Pittsburgh (LLB)
Occupations
  • Law professor
  • attorney
  • author
Known forCritical race theory
Spouses
  • Jewel Hairston (died 1990)
Janet Dewart
​
(m. 1992)​

Derrick Albert Bell Jr. (November 6, 1930 – October 5, 2011) was an American lawyer, legal scholar, and civil rights activist. Bell first worked for the U.S. Justice Department, then the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, where he supervised over 300 school desegregation cases in Mississippi.

After a decade as a civil rights lawyer, Bell moved into academia where he spent the second half of his life. He started teaching at the University of Southern California, then moved to Harvard Law School where he became the first tenured African-American professor of law in 1971. From 1991 until his death in 2011, Bell was a visiting professor at New York University School of Law,[1] and a dean of the University of Oregon School of Law.[2] While he was a visiting, he was a professor of constitutional law.[3]

Bell developed important scholarship, writing many articles and multiple books, using his practical legal experience and his academic research to examine racism, particularly in the legal system. Bell questioned civil rights advocacy approaches, partially stemming from frustrations in his own experiences as a lawyer. Bell is often credited as one of the originators of critical race theory.[4]

  1. ^ "In Memoriam: Derrick Bell, 1930 - 2011". NYU Law. 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  2. ^ "Oregon Law mourns Derrick Bell, former dean and race scholar". University of Oregon School of Law. October 7, 2011. Archived from the original on February 18, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  3. ^ "NYU LAW NEWS In Memoriam: Derrick Bell, 1930 - 2011". NYU School of Law. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  4. ^ Sherick, Hughes; Noblit, George; Cleveland, Darrell (2013). "Derrick Bell's Post- Brown Moves Toward Critical Race Theory". Race Ethnicity and Education. 16 (4): 442–469. doi:10.1080/13613324.2013.817765. S2CID 144836334.