Books by A. Leon Higginbotham

In his first book, Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., one of the first five African Americans to become a federal judge, shows how the law itself contributed to inflicting injustice on millions of Americans, solely on the basis of their color. For many readers - even those well-steeped in African-American studies or American history or the law - this book will stir new passions.

In 'Shades of Freedom', A. Leon Higginbotham provides a magisterial account of the interaction between the law and racial oppression in America from colonial times to the present. The issue of racial inferiority is central to this volume, as Higginbotham documents how early white perceptions of black inferiority slowly became codified into law.