Bell is arguably the most influential source of thought critical of traditional civil rights discourse. Bell's critique represented a challenge to the dominant liberal and conservative position on civil rights, race and the law. He employed three major arguments in his analyses of racial patterns in American law: constitutional contradiction, the interest convergence principle, and the price of racial remedies. His book "Race, Racism and American Law", now in its sixth edition, has been continually in print since 1973 and is considered foundational in the field of Critical Race Theory.