Introduction

The idea for this Special Issue began with a conversation between me and Mr. Sam Reilly, the then Editor-in-Chief of the Emory Law Journal. Mr. Reilly and I go way back—all the way to his first semester in law school when he was a student in my Legislation and Regulation class. I subsequently selected him to become one of my research assistants later that summer. Mr. Reilly wanted to discuss what more the Emory Law Journal should be thinking about doing given the moment of racial reckoning the country found itself in. We discussed the Journal putting together a special issue dedicated to addressing systemic racism and the law. He brought the idea to the Executive Board, and they enthusiastically agreed. The Journal issued a call for proposals for a forthcoming Special Issue: Systemic Racism in the Law & Anti-Racist Solutions. The Journal received ninety-four abstracts and, from an embarrassment of riches, selected the seven Essays published on these pages