Why We Walk on Eggshells

Why We Walk on Eggshells is an incisive look at the wrong turns judges, legislators, and other officials have taken in shaping American civil rights law and policy, and how those choices have led the country in disastrous directions. It is essential reading for anyone interested in restoring the nation’s commitment to equal opportunity for all and moving beyond failed policies of preferential treatment based on race, ethnicity, or sex.

—Heather Mac Donald, Thomas W. Smith Fellow, Manhattan Institute

Gail Heriot explains the rise, evolution, and consequences of “woke” ideology more definitively (and entertainingly) than anyone ever to tackle the topic. Informed by the unique perspective of a constitutional scholar who is one of the nation’s leading experts on matters pertaining to civil rights, she has authored the premier guide for everyone attempting to understand and navigate the frequently confusing and perilous world of DEI, political correctness, and all things related to civil rights.

—Peter N. Kirsanow, Member, US Commission on Civil Rights, Former Member, National Labor Relations Board

Gail Heriot is an indispensable voice on civil rights law. Her latest book chronicles the transformation of civil rights from its early goal of color-blind equal opportunity into the abyss of racial preferences and woke ideology. She is a first-rate legal scholar, but perhaps more importantly she communicates difficult ideas into accessible language that can be grasped by the non-expert. This should be required reading by all interested in civil rights law and enforcement.

—Linda Chavez, Chair, Center for Equal Opportunity

Federal civil rights law has turned America into a colony of the Karens from HR. Gail Heriot explains how that happened, and what to do about it.

—Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Beauchamp Brogan Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Tennessee Winston College of Law

GAIL HERIOT is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and a professor emerita at the University of San Diego School of Law. From 2007 to 2025, she was a member of the US Commission on Civil Rights. In 1996, she co-chaired the Yes on Proposition 209 campaign, which amended the California Constitution to prohibit the state from engaging in preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. In 2020 she reprised her role as co-chair in the successful campaign to prevent Proposition 209’s repeal. She is chairman of the board of the American Civil Rights Project and co-editor (with Maimon Schwarzschild) of the anthology A Dubious Expediency: How Race Preferences Damage Higher Education.

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