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Sheryll D. Cashin is a law
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...
at
Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment a ...
. She was born and raised in
Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...
, where her parents were political activists. Her parents' role in the
civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
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 an ...
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 A ...
. 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 The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sou ...
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 The Radical Republicans (later also known as "Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reco ...
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 ...
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 So ...
from
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
in 1984 with a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in electrical engineering. She also obtained her masters in English Law 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 The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...
, and obtained her
J.D. JD or jd may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''JD'' (film), a 2016 Bollywood film * J.D. (''Scrubs''), nickname of Dr. John Dorian, fictional protagonist of the comedy-drama ''Scrubs'' * JD Fenix, a character from the ''Gears of War'' vi ...
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 The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists somet ...
neighborhoods. She was also law clerk to
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...
Justice
Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African- ...
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 c ...
. 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 ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the pro ...
,'' 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) Law clerks have assisted the justices of the United States Supreme Court in various capacities since the first one was hired by Justice Horace Gray in 1882. Each justice is permitted to have between three and four law clerks per Court term. Most ...


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