Lift Every Voice: Turning a Civil Rights Setback Into a New Vision of Social Justice (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "IT WAS JANUARY 23, 1993, the first Saturday night of Bill Clinton's presidency..." (more)
Key Phrases: civil rights clients, cumulative voting, setup piece, White House, New York, Albert Turner (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Bill Clinton nominated University of Pennsylvania Law School Professor Lani Guinier to the position of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in 1993, she was immediately beset upon by right-wing critics of the president. Taking her writings on cumulative and proportional voting out of context, they branded her a "quota queen." Guinier, on instructions from administration officials, made almost no effort to defend herself against this public smearing of her work and reputation. Then, to her surprise, Clinton himself withdrew her nomination, stating in a press conference that her views were "undemocratic."

The Tyranny of the Majority reprinted the articles that were the source of this controversy. Now, in Lift Every Voice, Professor Guinier explains the principles underlying those writings in layman's terms and offers her personal perspective on what happened in the spring and summer of 1993, taking us behind the scenes to meetings with Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno, and other Washington officials. But perhaps more importantly, she writes about how, after she was cut loose by an intimidated White House, she regained her confidence in the civil rights movement. Recalling the activism of ordinary people like her father and the clients she represented as a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Guinier reminds us that a better society cannot be built by governmental edict alone, but requires commitment on the part of the citizenry. A recent book on mathematics, K.C. Cole's The Universe and the Teacup, vindicated Guinier's theories on proportional representation at the statistical level. The debate sparked by Lift Every Voice may, in the long run, end up vindicating her at the political level as well.

From Library Journal

Guinier on why she lost the nomination for assistant attorney general.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (April 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684811456
• ISBN-13: 978-0684811451
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,536,659 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Visionary, Hopeful, Stragetic: Mandatory Reading, July 7, 1999

By A Customer

Professor Guinier has seen beyond the veil which seems to have fallen over the civil rights movement for the past thirty years. Guinier uses the story of her dis-appointment (her phrase) by the Clinton Administration to expose the inner workings of the political system and clarify her views. In so doing, she lays out a strategy that is simple, obvious, and doable. While so many "leaders" have been busy listening to one another, Guinier has been able to hear a still, small, powerful voice. This book is a must read for anyone who cares about democracy.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent look at post-Selma Civil Rights in America., October 19, 1998

By	Michael S. Ameigh (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is an fine discourse on what America has - or should have - learned about the search for social justice in the quarter century since the Civil Rights marches of the 1960s. Lani Guinier is best known for her ill-fated candidacy to become the first African American and female Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She provides a spell-binding blow by blow account of what it was like to be nominated, then cast aside in the political jockeying that followed the 1992 election of Bill Clinton to the presidency. It is a poignant tale of how ordinary people on the fringes of her battle to get a hearing in Congress stepped in to insure that she never lost her sense of professionalism, her commitment to the truth, or her right to be treated with dignity. Her ideas on reforming voting procedures, the very ones that foiled her nomination in Congress, are well worth reading, and clearly worth implementing in an age of voter apathy and political gerymandering. The theme is broader, however, and in this book she demonstrates how thoroughly she has paid her dues over the years laboring for justice in America. As a civil rights lawyer in the 70s and 80s she went back to Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and other southern states to pick up where the civil rights movement of the 60s left off. Her talent for getting people to listen to the messages embodied in unfamiliar language and cultural expression is a gift to us all. Her story is full of important new insights into the nature of cross-cultural communication. She proclaims from her own experiences a critical need for wide-open discussion of social issues. Lawyers, she asserts, cannot win civil rights cases without the active participation of the public, and she calls for a return to grass-roots activism as a means to achieving social justice. Guinier is superbly analytical, a true listener, and a fine writer.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars While reading this book, outstanding black women ..., February 15, 1999

By	[e-mail] (United States) - See all my reviews

who come to mind include... Barbaara Jordan, Angela Davis, Represtntative Jackson (Texas)... especially when support for outstanding people like Lani Guinier is needed. "Where were they (those so-called black influential leaders) when their help was needed ... probably doing the Ostrich thing, along with the usual commenusrating that can always be expected in those little private circles. The ones we respected and would be guided by in the 60's are yet to be developed for the 21st Century. Lani's book is a classic that I will pass on.