What I Learned About Inclusion and Why It Matters

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT INCLUSION AND WHY IT MATTERS By: Aerial Carter

Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office

THE NECESSITY OF INCLUSION IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION

When I first became a lawyer, I had a conversation with a friend. He called to congratulate me on passing the bar. He told me that he wanted to be an attorney, but the daughter of an attorney told him he would never make it. He believed her. My friend did not grow up seeing anyone who looked like him in the legal profession. He had a very specific idea of what a lawyer looked, sounded, and acted like. He did not fit that mold so he pursued a different career. When I think about that conversation, I think of what could have happened if he followed his dream and felt like he belonged in the legal profession.

Historically, the legal profession has failed to center inclusion. It is an idea that everyone supports, but very few take action to achieve it.

When I enter the courtroom, I can count on one hand the number of criminal defense attorneys who look like me. I knew when I joined the legal profession that I was entering a space where the majority demographic did not match mine.

As a Black woman in the legal profession, I have a heightened awareness of how I present myself inside of the courtroom. I consider the tone of my voice when interacting with judges and prosecutors. I consider how I need to be overly prepared with every case I have. I consider how I have to work harder to build trust with my clients. There is a fine line I am forced to walk that my peers do not have to consider.

To me, inclusion is the active practice of making the goal a reality. Small steps incorporated within our everyday lives until the day inclusion is not ideal but a reality and the norm. Inclusion to me is not just a word but a necessity. Inclusion means that people from varying backgrounds and experiences coming together and adding their experiences to improve the legal profession. It is the ability to see and hear people who look like them existing at every level of the courtroom.

Maya Angelou said “in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” The same can be said about inclusion. By taking active and intentional steps, the legal profession can continue to grow and learn from those with varying perspectives on life, which will strengthen the legal profession. It will inspire others to pursue their dreams because inclusion creates a beacon of hope to those who have traditionally not felt represented.