Why am I not getting the same opportunities? I know how black people see and think. It is very similar to how my grandparents felt, my parents felt. How I feel. We’ve expressed that, so now I think other people need to do the hard work of challenging what they’re thinking and feeling and doing something about it.
How do non-black people address racial issues in their circle and their family? On the golf course? How do they respond to comments and statements and stereotypes? The rooms that black people aren’t in, those are the environment where people need to stand up and speak out and have the courage to speak out. Those backroom deals, the golf course, those are incredibly important for justice and equality.
— Angela Crawford, co-founder of corporate compliance boutique Crawford & Acharya who previously spent time as a partner at both DLA Piper and Kirkland & Ellis, commenting on the inequalities black lawyers face in Biglaw. According to the latest data from ALM, while black lawyers make up 3.6 percent of the Biglaw community, only 2.1 percent of them have been elevated to the ranks of partnership within the Am Law 200.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.