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Sheryll D. Cashin is a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center. She was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, where her parents were political activists. Her parents' role in the civil rights movement impressed on her the importance of political engagement, and instilled values that still influence her research and discussion.Backstory


Family and home

Political involvement and activism were ideals in Sheryll Cashin's family, leading her to pursue racial issues including segregation and inequality. At the start of the civil rights movement in early 1962, Cashin's mother Joan was arrested in a sit-in protest at a lunch counter, while holding the four month old Sheryll. Her father
John L. Cashin, Jr. John Logan Cashin Jr. (April 16, 1928 – March 21, 2011) was an American dentist, civil rights campaigner, and politician. He was the founder and leader of the National Democratic Party of Alabama. Born in Huntsville, Alabama, Cashin received his ...
, a dentist, was an influential civil-rights leader in Huntsville and Alabama in the late 1960s. He challenged
George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...
in the
1970 Alabama gubernatorial election The 1970 Alabama gubernatorial election was marked by a competitive Democratic primary battle between incumbent moderate Governor Albert Brewer and segregationist former governor and 1968 independent presidential candidate George Wallace. The ...
. He founded a black-led third party in Alabama, the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA), during the height of George Wallace's hegemony and enfranchised thousands of voters whom Jim Crow laws had excluded from the political process. Cashin's great-grandfather,
Herschel V. Cashin Herschel Vivian Cashin was an American lawyer, state legislator, and public official in the United States. He was born in the state in Georgia to a white Irish father and a free "mulatto" woman. He was educated in Philadelphia by Octavius Catto ...
was a radical Republican legislator in Alabama during Reconstruction. He was born in
Antebellum Georgia The history of Georgia in the United States of America spans pre-Columbian time to the present-day U.S. state of Georgia. The area was inhabited by Native American tribes for thousands of years. A modest Spanish presence was established in the la ...
, and was the child of a white Irishman and a free-
mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...
woman. Sheryll Cashin's family also became the first black family on the block, when they moved in 1966 from Lydia Drive in northwest Huntsville to Owens Drive, at the foot of Monte Sano.


Education

Cashin graduated
summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
from Vanderbilt University in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in
electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
. She also obtained her masters in
English Law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...
with honors from
St. Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is the newest college admitting both undergraduate and graduate students. Tracing its roots back to 1868 (although th ...
in 1986 as a Marshall Scholar, and obtained her J.D. with honors from
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
in 1989.


Career

While working in the Clinton White House, Cashin served as an advisor on urban and economic policy, particularly concerning community development in inner city neighborhoods. She was also law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Judge
Abner Mikva Abner Joseph Mikva (January 21, 1926 – July 4, 2016) was an American politician, federal judge, lawyer and law professor. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Mikva served in the United States House of Representatives representing Illinois' ...
of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...
. After her clerkships, Cashin worked as an Associate Counsel for the Office of Transition Counsel and as an associate at Sirote & Permutt, P.C. As a professor of law at Georgetown University, Cashin teaches Constitutional Law, Local Government Law, Property, Administrative Law, and Race and American Law. She writes about race relations, government and inequality in America, as well as housing segregation.


Literary career

Sheryll Cashin has written four books, including ''The Failures of Integration: How Race and Class are Undermining the American Dream,'' which depicts how segregation by race and class is ruining American democracy. After studying data on school enrollment and census tracts, Cashin drew that racial separation still persists in schools and communities. She argues that we need a transformation of the now ingrained assumption that separation is acceptable in order to solve the riddle of inequality in America." ''The Agitator's Daughter: A Memoir of Four Generations of One Extraordinary African-American Family'' covers the arc of U.S. relations from slavery through the post-civil rights era. Cashin has also contributed book chapters. She also has written journal articles, and is a frequent radio and T.V. commentator. She has appeared on ''NPR All Things Considered, The Diane Rehm Show, The Tavis Smiley Show, The Newshour With Jim Lehrer,'' CNN, BET, ABC News, and numerous local programs.


Works

*''The Failures of Integration: How Race and Class are Undermining the American Dream,'' New York: PublicAffairs, 2005. , *''The Agitator's Daughter: A Memoir of Four Generations of One Extraordinary African-American Family'' Public Affairs, 2009. , *''Place, not race : a new vision of opportunity in america.'' Boston: Beacon Press, 2015. , *''Loving : interracial intimacy in America and the threat to white supremacy'', Boston: Beacon Press, 2017. , *''White Space, Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding and Segregation in the Age of Inequality'', Boston: Beacon Press, 2021. ,


See also

* List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 10)


Notes


External links


Georgetown Law FacultyExplore Georgetown
*
''The Huntsville Times''Sheryll Cashin's Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cashin, Sheryll D. African-American women lawyers African-American legal scholars American women legal scholars American legal scholars American women lawyers Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Georgetown University Law Center faculty Marshall Scholars Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Harvard Law School alumni Vanderbilt University alumni Lawyers from Huntsville, Alabama 1961 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 20th-century African-American lawyers 21st-century African-American lawyers