Controversy about the value and meaning of a canon of traditional western culture has been raging on American university campuses for some time. Professor Ansley argues that in light of the history of the Constitution, the legal academy should be in a better position than the rest of the university to achieve broad consensus on an issue that has proved divisive elsewhere: the centrality of race to our discipline and its core texts. She elaborates by narrative, describing some of her experiences with teaching about race and sharing the reflections of her students as they encountered racially charged texts and interactions in the law school classroom. The deep racial divisions that presently exist throughout society, coupled with the discomfort and ignorance that tend to characterize our infrequent attempts to communicate about matters of racial difference, will complicate easy consensus about whether and how to more explicitly recognize race in the law school's core curriculum. She nevertheless argues that the rewards of such integration are worth the difficulties and concludes that matters of racial justice, both past and present, are an indispensable part of minimal cultural literacy for American lawyers and legal scholars.
