Randall Kennedy is an American lawyer, author, and academic known for his scholarship on issues of race relations, civil rights, and the law. He is the Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School, where he has taught since 1984. Kennedy has written extensively on topics such as race and the justice system, the intersection of race and politics, and the history of African-American legal and civil rights struggles. His works include prominent titles like "Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word," "Race, Crime, and the Law," and "The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency." Kennedy's writings often explore the complexities of racial identity and the impact of race on American law and society, employing a nuanced and insightful approach that invites readers to consider challenging and controversial issues from multiple perspectives.