Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism

Renowned civil rights lawyer and activist, Derek Bell, turned to writing later in his career as a way to forward the discussions around race and critical race theory in the United States. Faces at the Bottom of the Well is a collection of his short stories originally published in 1992 (reprinted in 2018), and it contains his most famous story, The Space Traders. Bell is no literary genius--these stories are narratively clunky and the dialogue often painfully obtuse, but the theory and lessons he is trying to explain through them rises above. Often cited by today’s social justice activists as a must-read, Faces at the Bottom of the Well certainly meets expectations.

In Faces at the Bottom of the Well, civil rights activist and legal scholar Derrick Bell uses allegory and historical example—including the classic story "The Space Traders"—to argue that racism is an integral and permanent part of American society. This classic book was a pioneering contribution to critical race theory scholarship, and it remains urgent and essential reading on the problem of racism in America.

Derrick Bell is a law professor who is one of the primary originators of critical race theory. Read this book if you want to understand what critical race theory is actually about. Disregard the superficial, self-serving, and deceptive statements from politicians and reports in the media . CRT is not taught in grade schools and high schools.

this classic book was a pioneering contribution to critical race theory scholarship, and it remains urgent and essential reading on the problem of racism in America.

Bell provides a fictional platform to talk about real -life racial issues. This book helps facilitate dialogue about race in a seemless yet intelligent way.