With no more forced neutrality, he is free to scold Supreme Court justices in public about what he considers the damage caused by the courts' retreat on affirmative action. And he is free to advocate in newspaper and law-review articles, in open letters, in speeches, at law forums, on panel discussions and in the classroom. At Harvard, Higginbotham, who formerly taught at the University of Pennsylvania, and his wife of 10 years, Evelyn, a professor of Afro-American studies and religious history, are part of a black think tank that includes Henry Louis Gates and Cornel West. In a law school class, he mocks great seriousness, scowling and speaking in a cantankerous, clipped Southern accent as he faces off with students. But later the father of four is patient and caring when these same students come to his office for advice on their research projects.
Most teachers spew.
He shows us the structural failings of the legal system and where it needs to go. While talking with students, Higginbotham repeatedly rises from his desk chair to search the bookshelves that line his long, rectangular office. He described his mother as very determined and said his father was the type of person who was always trying to help everybody, often referring people to his son. In late September, he criticized conveners of an affirmative-action panel at a meeting of black federal jurists in Detroit for inviting Lino Graglia, a University of Texas law professor and an outspoken foe of affirmative action. The crowd of lawyers gathered for the panel discussion greeted Higginbotham with a standing ovation and every comment he made with a round of applause.