I was born and raised in the oldest settled part of the nation and in an environment in which racism was officially mooted.

The black population now consists of two distinct classes-the middle class and the poor.

Sexism, like racism, goes with us into the next century. I see class warfare as overshadowing both.

My father kept his distance from working-class American blacks.

I got the chance to argue my first case in Supreme Court, a criminal case arising in Alabama that involved the right of a defendant to counsel at a critical stage in a capital case before a trial.

In my view, I did not get to the federal bench because I was a woman

Whites would rather not be involved in race matters, I think.