Letter from Lani Guinier to Hon. Damon Keith

Document text

The following text has been generated automatically during the document scanning process. It may contain errors, omissions, or incorrect formatting. Please refer to the PDF document if this text is not usable.

Download

By downloading, publishing, or reusing the Materials outside of the Website, you hereby confirm and attest that you have read and agree to the LDF Archival Collection Terms of Use linked below. We draw your attention to the following:

For those Materials owned by LDF, your use of the Material outside the Site is solely for one or more of the following (the “Permitted Purposes”):

Non-commercial research and private study;
Teaching, scholarship and instruction (including distance learning);
Non-commercial print and non-commercial online use;
Criticism, comment or news reporting; or
For people with visual disabilities (See Section 121 of the Copyright Act).
For those Materials not owned by LDF you understand that:
- It is your responsibility to determine whether the way you plan to use the materials falls within the copyright exception of Fair Use.
- For any use outside of Fair Use, it is your responsibility to seek and obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders.

LDF hereby grants you the right to use LDF owned Materials for the Permitted Purposes without seeking further permission from LDF.

If you publish or redistribute any Materials (including excerpts and quotes), you must include a credit line and/or proper citation to the source of the Material. However, you may not use the name of LDF in any manner which creates any false association between you and LDF or that incorrectly implies any sponsorship or endorsement of you by LDF.

NOTICE: Uses that do not comply with these Terms or that do not fall under Fair Use (or another exception) may make you liable for copyright infringement.

Read the full LDF Archival Collection Terms of Use Here.

I agree to the terms and conditions for use of this content.

If you would like to use this content in other ways, contact us at .

Matter
- Lani Guinier Correspondence
Case
- Lani Guinier Correspondence
U.S. state
- General
Collection
- Legal Department General
Taxonomy
Identifier
- 78435c17-e492-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873

Cite this item

Legal Department General, Lani Guinier Correspondence. Letter from Lani Guinier to Hon. Damon Keith, 1982. 78435c17-e492-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/64794b9b-fae7-4272-8786-60b138d7159e/letter-from-lani-guinier-to-hon-damon-keith. Accessed January 07, 2026.

Copied!

'efense
NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND
10 Columbus Circle, New York,

EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC.
N.Y. i0019 . (212) 586-8397

May 18, L982

Honorable Damon J. Keith
Circuit Judge
United States Courthouse
Detroit, Michigan 48226

Dear Judge Keith:

Thank you for your note and copi-es of the Stotts opinions.
f am circufating them with pleasu:"e around tne oFfice.

I am delighted to see that the Michigan Court of Appeals
has such a distinguished new member. I read the editorial in
the Chronicle with great interest. It is true that Governor
Milliken deserves alot of credit for appointing Judge WahIs;
I am glad to see there are some Republican whose best friends
are not B. Sam Hart or Will-iam BeII!

There is yet another dimension to the appointment of men
such as Mike Wahls, a dimension that the Chronicle notes but
doesn't dwell on. I think this dimension deserves emphasis
because it sets Detroit, and Michigan apart from the rest of
the country, especialJ-y in these times of returning to
"separate but equal." f refer to the Detroit connection, the
network of blacks whose sel-f-confidence, loyalty, and sense
of community have helped not just one or two blacks "make it"
but have extended the outstretched arm to many, many brothers
and sisters. Lowell Johnston, Judge Taylor's brother, and
I were extolling the virtues of Detroi-t to someone in the
office the other day. We both felt very strongly that the
black leadership in Detroit is an extremely positive role
model for newer, less establ-ished black communities through-
out the country.

I know that my decision to come bo Detroit to c1erk for
y()u w.rsi onc oI l-]rc vcry bcst. <lr:c j.s j.ons f 'vc (-'vcr rnar.le. Tlre
clerkslrip was a t-rcrncndous cxpcricncc, .rnd t-lie cxposure I
had to the black community in Detroit became a most stabil-l-z-
ing and refreshing influence, having previously spent seven

Oott!riltulirttt.s are lctlu<:tiblr: lor U.5. ittt'otrte /o.t lrttrpo.st's

The NMCP LEGAL DEFENSE & EoUCAIIoNAL FUNo is not part of the National Association for the Advancement ol Colored Pe_ople although it
was lounded by it and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDt has had lor over 20 years a separate Board, program, staff, oflice and budget.

Honorable Damon J. Keith
May 18, 1982
Page 2

years as one of the very few blacks in the all-white neurotic
environment of the over achieving, competitive, ambltlous and
cynical Ivy League. By. contrast, the black community in
Detroit made me feel comfortable and welcome. I had the feel-
ing, though I had never been there before and knew only one
person when I arrived (Eric), that I had finally come home.

My best regards to Judge Wahl. Right onl

Lani

18 72
18 73

Copyright notice

This collection and the tools to navigate it (the “Collection”) are available to the public for general educational and research purposes, as well as to preserve and contextualize the history of the content and materials it contains (the “Materials”). Like other archival collections, such as those found in libraries, LDF owns the physical source Materials that have been digitized for the Collection; however, LDF does not own the underlying copyright or other rights in all items and there are limits on how you can use the Materials. By accessing and using the Material, you acknowledge your agreement to the Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Materials.

Additional info

To the extent that LDF includes information about the Materials’ origins or ownership or provides summaries or transcripts of original source Materials, LDF does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy of such information, transcripts or summaries, and shall not be responsible for any inaccuracies.

Letter from Lani Guinier to Hon. Damon Keith

Matter

Case

U.S. state

Collection

Taxonomy

Identifier

Cite this item

Copyright notice

Additional info

You may also be interested in