Wednesday, August 22, 2007

" A Black Law Student is a Strange Animal"

TwitThis


While doing a google search on "black law student success" I came across this article.

You know.
Trying to GET MY MIND right. [[*** Cues Memph FOUNE @ss Bleek***.]]

The bug out is that the article is 37 years old, yet, is as timely as ever. Pay close attention to the numbers.

"A black law student is a strange animal," says Norbert Simmons, a Negro in his first year at Boston University Law School. "He has to learn to use the very things that have been used against him. It's a tremendous strain to go completely establishmentarian for three years." As one result, many of the most promising black students drop out before earning their degrees.

Too few are taking their places—not only for lack of money, but also because young Negroes commonly distrust the law in practice. Many see it in terms of white police and white judges using white law against blacks. The upshot is that only 2% of U.S. lawyers are black. [Current Number is 3%]They number about 3,000, and most of them work in Northern cities. In Mississippi, for example, where Negroes represent more than 42% of the state's population, there are only 17 black lawyers.

Elusive Faith. In recent years, the nation's top law schools have made a determined effort to recruit more Negro students. They have awarded larger scholarships, given black applicants special tutoring to make up for deficiencies, and even, at times, lowered admission standards. But though schools such as Rutgers and Columbia have managed to increase their black enrollments tenfold in less than a decade, the U.S. still has only about 1,280 Negro law students, one-fourth of them at predominantly black Howard University.

Many law professors agree with Dean Robert McKay of New York University that training more black lawyers is one way of "building faith in the law as a neutral force that handles all people alike." Even on liberal campuses, however, the blacks are becoming increasingly restless, angry and isolated. Often they complain of inadequate financial resources. They deplore the fact that almost all of their teachers are whites. Many also charge that the curriculum and atmosphere are distinctly oriented toward the white middle class—and that many faculty members are totally insensitive to black aspirations.[Preach].

Sensitivity Sessions. At the University of Michigan in November, the Black Law Students' Alliance demanded that the law school "show cause" why it should not be found guilty of racism. At a mock hearing, the students called black residents of Ann Arbor who testified to the need for more black attorneys in their community. One reason why the 38 blacks at the school were furious was Michigan's decision to drop a course on race law and another on labor relations and race. They were further annoyed when Dean Francis Allen, whom they call "Bwana," refused to attend the hearing on the ground that it did not promise to produce rational discussion of the issues.

Yale's black law students charge that university police ask them to show their identification cards on campus, but never stop whites for the same purpose. In protest, a group of blacks marched through the classrooms one day chanting, "Stop the cops." After the school threatened four of the demonstrators with discipline, white students joined in a one-day boycott of their classes. "People talk about the need for sensitivity sessions for police," says Yale Law Student J. Otis Cochran, who heads the National Black American Law Students Association. "Hell, law faculties need sensitivity sessions too."


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What do you think would happen if Negros rioted the way they did in the 60's? Do you think that the Mexicano's are more ripe for a riot than the Negros' because of the immigration issues they are facing?

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love my people (and sometimes I have to remind myself that I truly do), but if we were to riot the way we did in the 60's, it would only last a few days.

With Mexicans (and immigrants in general) they have a specific issue in common and they recognize immigration as a problem affecting all of them. In general, they see no real distinction between illegal and legal immigrants. Therefore when it was time for them to protest, you had descendants of immigrants, legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, and illegal immigrant sympathizers all walking for the same cause.

With us (black people) we have too many people who are convinced that issues facing the black community don't affect all of us. Education, discrimination, and poverty affects us all, but at the end of the day, you're going to have uppity negroes who feel those are issues that have nothing to do with them and only affect "them otha black folk". In contrast, you're also going to have ignorant ass black folk who don't know how to organize and don't know how to get things done. Ask them how we're going to obtain our objective and their response would be, "Well what the fuck you think nigga? I'm gonna shoot whitey!"

Mobilizing our community would be a fight in itself. Shit, remember, with us, we can hardly mobilize m'fuckas to attend a family reunion.

Add that to the fact a lot of blacks have become accustomed to the fucked up existence they've been subjected to and have become complacent with their place in this elitist ass society and you have the two biggest reasons a riot a la the 60's wouldn't work today (at least not without real work)

Anonymous said...

"we can hardly mobilize m'fuckas to attend a family reunion."

****
He he he.

Anonymous said...

"Add that to the fact a lot of blacks have become accustomed to the fucked up existence they've been subjected to and have become complacent with their place in this elitist ass society and you have the two biggest reasons a riot a la the 60's wouldn't work today (at least not without real work)"
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a recipe for complacency? iono, but i feel you on the disunity part. it was on full display at the hilarious mish-mash of black culture that was the last million man march parade; Louis Farrakhan spoke on the same stage Jim Jones rapped some ign'ant shit, dropping hella n bombs to a crowd that definitely wasn't fellin' it.
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on a similar note, immortal technique kill't it at rock the bells, with hella brown beret dudes up on stage with him looking mad revolutionary in their zapatista fits.

The Minority Reporter said...

I feel we neglect to acknowledge the work of grassroots organizations.Post-Katrina, INCITE! (national grassroots org. comprised of mostly women of color) saw the need to protect poor womens immediate needs to medical care...and what do they do?....build their own clinic without the ANY use of corporate funds!!! Grassroots organizations (comprised mostly of working and lower class people of color) in New Orleans post-trini have given rise to monumental lawsuits (residents vs HANO/HUD), immediate care, medics, food, shelter and other needs that weren't met by our own government or historically Black national organizations. Our riot has already begun with the most disenfranchised and oppressed...we just gotta join em

M.Dot. said...

Shit, remember, with us, we can hardly mobilize m'fuckas to attend a family reunion.
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I.
heart.
you.

M.Dot. said...

Our riot has already begun with the most disenfranchised and oppressed
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I ount see sh*t burnin' fam.

The Minority Reporter said...

"I ount see sh*t burnin' fam."

Well down here I see sparks, when uppity p.o.c. realize the only thing that separates them from the poor p.o.c. is some privileged life chances then...you'll see the fire

but trust...there are sparks

Anonymous said...

Even after the debacle that took place after Katrina (arguably the #1 draft pick for Black folks to get behind), Black people couldn't unify. We have no leadership to focus our efforts. Baby Boomer hate from Al "Don't Touch My Perm" Sharpton and his ilk are scattering the efforts of young people that want and need something to get behind. I also agree that Black folk, like all Americans, suffer from the 'not me' mind trap. My brothers in the trap think the Black middle class has abandoned him. The Black middle class feel like they've been voted off the island by their those still in the trap. And those Blacks lucky enough to call themselves rich want to keep the middle class and the trapstars from stealin' their gwap. The same reason we feed pigeons and shoot eagles. Phonte aint never lied.

The Mexicans are just now feeling the effects of the machine. It's only been recently that they've had their status of 'honorary white folks' revoked. They haven't oppressed hard enough and long enough to riot...yet. It's coming, though. As far as the immigration issue goes...I'll save that one for another post.

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