In Shades of Freedom, A. Leon Higginbotham provides a magisterial account of the interaction between the law and racial oppression in America from colonial times to the present. The issue of racial inferiority is central to this volume, as Higginbotham documents how early white perceptions of black inferiority slowly became codified into law. In Shades of Freedom, a noted scholar and a celebrated jurist offers a work of magnificent scope, insight, and passion. Ranging from the earliest colonial times to the present, it is a superb work of history and a mirror to the American soul.