LEGAL PROFESSION
By Anietie Akpan and Mia Lorick
Lawyering While Black:
Examining the Practice of Law Through the Prism of the Black Experience
T
o understand what it means to “lawyer while Black,” you have to first appreciate the magnitude of what Black lawyers endure outside of their working environments. For many of us, that means watching the morning news while sipping coffee only to see that yet another Black person was unjustifiably killed by police. Or opening our social media accounts to see a video of Amy Cooper lying to the police about a Black man threatening her in Central Park. We repeatedly see Black people harassed and killed for participating in the most mundane, everyday activities. We watched as 12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed by police for playing with a toy gun. We watched as Eric Garner was choked to death for selling a loose cigarette. We watched as Botham Jean was killed for eating ice cream in his apartment. We watched as Rayshard Brooks was killed for sleeping in his car. We watched as Philando Castile was killed in front of his four-year-old daughter when
he reached for his wallet. And we watched as Elijah McClain was killed while walking home because someone thought he looked suspicious. This dark pathology has perpetuated the complex and troubling historical dynamic between communities of color and the police (a dynamic that certainly has been amplified as of late). The over-consumption of this racial violence over the past several weeks in particular has been challenging for us all. But Black lawyers have the added challenge of enduring the silent trauma of racism, while continuing to navigate our respective workspaces, fulfilling our billable hours with smiles on our faces. Coping with racial trauma while balancing work responsibilities is just one illustration of the “lawyering while Black” experience (or LWB), a concept that illuminates both the personal difficulties experienced by Black attorneys (i.e., interactions with other attorneys, judges, and clients) and the way racism presents itself in the legal profession collectively (i.e., navigating the workspace, the courtroom, and social spaces). We asked other Black lawyers in Houston about their LWB experiences. Here are a few examples of their responses: “An opposing counsel called me ‘nigger’ after he lost a hearing.”1 “I was once told that the room I was sitting in needed more light because of how dark my skin was.” “When I asked why I was not invited to play golf with the partners at my law firm, a colleague told me it was because they didn’t need a caddy.” “A judge looked at me, in my suit, sitting at counsel table, and asked when the lawyer would arrive because the judge assumed that I was the legal assistant and not the lawyer.” “A White coworker touched my hair without asking and then said it felt like cotton.” “One time I was mistaken for the Defendant.”
