The Last Great Strike

Ahmed White grew up on a farm in the small town of Plaisance, Louisiana surrounded by a large and vibrant extended family composed of his parents, three siblings, and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. His father, one of the first black lawyers in the state, managed not only to practice law, but also to tend cattle and horses and raise soybeans and other crops. His mother, a history professor, activist, photographer, and sometimes newspaper woman, raised four children, worked the farm, and served as anchor for the family. Her latter role was crucial, as she, her husband, and her children endured more than their fair share of hard times. Professor White remembers well the privations he faced as a child. But it was those experiences that cultivated in him a sense of empathy for working people and a commitment to the values of hard work, kinship, loyalty, and equity.

 

Professor White attended college at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a historically black college, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He then attended Yale Law School, where he was an Articles Editor on the Yale Law Journal. After law school, Professor White worked as a research fellow for Professor George Priest and also served as a legal analyst at the Louisiana State Senate. He joined the faculty at the University of Colorado Law School in 2000, after spending three semesters as a Visiting Professor at Northwestern University Law School.

 

Professor White's scholarship centers on the intersection of labor and criminal law and on the concept of rule of law.