Modern Disparities in Legal Education: Emancipation from Racial Neutrality

David Mears, Vermont Law School

Abstract

Wealth, leadership and political power within any democratic society requires the highest caliber of a quality legal education. The Black experience is not necessarily a unique one within legal education but rather an excellent example of either poor to substandard quality disseminated unequally among racial and socioeconomic stereotypes based upon expected outcomes of probable success or failure. It is often said, “Speak and so it will happen” – many within the halls of academia work hard to openly predict failure yet seemingly do very little to foster success internally within the academic procedures and processes based on the customer service model and a pursuit of quality. Some reject this model while others totally ignore it to begin with. This seems to feed into the aristocracy of legal education and its brutal acceptance or rejection of individuals based upon historical bias and prejudice rampant through out its legacy. Who we are as a nation, a people, an ideal and a common belief in the basic freedoms of liberty and justice for all requires an introspection into this academic past as a postscript for what may or may not be realized for so many Americans who still dare to dream the American Dream.

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. declared he’d seen the “promise land,” yet today that promise land of equality still eludes Blacks based upon this double-standard system of “Entitlement.” Being socioeconomically advantaged allows one to aggressively pursue and defend one’s right to all levels of educational matriculation, especially when pursuing higher education, while being Black, particularly poor and minority still requires permission and acceptance as a tolerable entity into the “dining” room of opportunity. Like in Langston Hughes poem - “I, too, sing America,” the over looked forgotten masses within our society seemingly desire the power of the elite, unwilling to accept anything less than the American Dream enshrined in our Declaration of Independence. America’s struggle for racial equality continues to evolve as Sen. Barack Obama, (D-IL.), 2008 Presidential candidate, capitalizes on his unique multiracial American “identity” as a leader. The question remains whether his ascendancy into political leadership began as Harvard Law Review’s first black president in the 102 year history of this prestigious law journal? Can access to legal education transcend racial polarization and if so, does that mean that equal access to legal education is a conduit to various forms of leadership and wealth, therefore, bridging the numerous racial and socioeconomic gaps within our society. At least one component of this answer requires a deep understanding of the historical significance of blacks in legal education and the mitigating factors for both success and failure. As the United Negro College Fund, suggests – “A mind is a terrible thing to waste” so everyone should have the Right to the highest echelons of higher education, particularly quality legal education. The law student today will likely be the CEO, Governor, President and Chairman of the Board, etc. tomorrow. To fulfill the ideals of a democracy the United States of America must improve upon legal education because tomorrows leaders are today’s law students.