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February is Black History Month
1619 - Slavery comes to North America
To satisfy the labor needs of the rapidly growing North American colonies, white European settlers turned in the early 17th century from indentured servants (mostly poorer Europeans) to a cheaper, more plentiful labor source: African slaves. Beginning around 1619, when a Dutch ship brought 20 Africans ashore at the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia, slavery spread quickly through the American colonies. Though it is impossible to give accurate figures, some historians have estimated that 6 to 7 million slaves were imported to the New World during the 18th century alone, depriving the African continent of its most valuable resource—its healthiest and ablest men and women.
After the American Revolution, many colonists (particularly in the North, where slavery was relatively unimportant to the economy) began to link the oppression of black slaves to their own oppression by the British. Though leaders such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson—both slaveholders from Virginia—took cautious steps towards limiting slavery in the newly independent nation, the Constitution tacitly acknowledged the institution, guaranteeing the right to repossess any “person held to service or labor” (an obvious euphemism for slavery). Many northern states had abolished slavery by the end of the 18th century, but the institution was absolutely vital to the South, where blacks constituted a large minority of the population and the economy relied on the production of crops like tobacco and cotton. Congress outlawed the import of new slaves in 1808, but the slave population in the U.S. nearly tripled over the next 50 years, and by 1860 it had reached nearly 4 million, with more than half living in the cotton–producing states of the South.
(Source Slavery In America Black History Timeline)
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Trial Teams and the Power of Diversity
by Karen L. Hirschman and Ann T. Greeley, Ph.D.
Litigation Journal, Section of Litigation
Vol. 35 No. 3 Spring 2009
Race is on everyone's mind at a Mississippi murder trial in the movie based on John Grisham's novel A Time to Kill. The black defendant is accused of shooting and killing the perpetrators of a sexual assualt and attempted murder of his nine-year-old daughter. The white defense attorney, Jake Brigance (played by Matthew McConaughey), struggles with his own feelings about race during his preparations for trial....continued here! |
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 Welcome to the ABA Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity (Center). The Center serves as the administrative and programmatic oversight body for the three major ABA entities that focus on racial and ethnic diversity issues. The Center provides the framework for effective utilization of ABA resources committed to diversity; improves coordination and collaboration of diversity efforts throughout the Association; and helps to maintain racial and ethnic diversity as a priority issue for the Association, in support of ABA’s Goal III. The three racial and ethnic entities that incorporate the Center are: Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline (which focuses on pipeline issues), Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession (which focuses on legal profession issues), and Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice (which focuses on social justice issues).
I.S. Leevy Johnson, Chair
ABA Center for Racial and
Ethnic Diversity
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ABA President Carolyn B. Lamm launched the next phase of the ABA Diversity Summit: The Next Step initiative. Using the multi-faceted information collected last bar year, this next phase proposes recommendations for the ABA and the legal profession's next steps for advancing racial/ethnic, gender, disability, and sexual orientation diversity. The report and recommendations were unveiled during 2010 Midyear.
COMMENT GROUP PARTICIPATION
Comments Accepted Through 5:00 pm Central, Monday, March 1, 2010
To insure that the report and recommendations of
Diversity in the Legal Profession: Next Steps
reflects substantive input from all segments of the profession, it is being
made available for review by a "Diversity Comment Group."
Anyone may participate in the Diversity Comment Group.
To participate, click on any of the links to the report and recommendations in this document and email Angie Shaw (shawa@staff.abanet.org) answers to the following (feel free to attached relevant material in response to points 2 and 3):
1. Your general comments on the report & recommendations,
2. Information on any relevant diversity research that’s been done in the past 5 (since 2005) years, and
3. Known diversity resources that will help individuals and organizations implement these recommendations.
President Lamm's Diversity Commission will use your input to add a Research & Resource addendum to the final report, which will be issued in early April 2010.
Please contact Angie Shaw (shawa@staff.abanet.org) should you have any questions.
View the Advance Copy of the Report and Recommendations
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Pipeline
Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline (Pipeline Council)
The Pipeline Council's mission is to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of attorneys admitted into the bar by focusing on educational pipeline issues. It offers programs and services on areas such as law school admission, bar passage and disparities in K-20 education.
Legal Profession
Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession (Commission)
The Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession through its work and programs is the catalyst for creating leadership and economic opportunities for racially and ethnically diverse lawyers within the ABA and the legal profession.
Justice System
Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice (COREJ)
COREJ develops partnerships utilizing programs and services between community groups, civil rights organizations, businesses, religious organizations and bar associations to eliminate racial and ethnic bias in the justice system. Its focus is on social justice issues. |
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Minority Law Student Resources
Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO)
Law Student Awards, Competitions, Grants and Scholarships
Law Student Internships, Clerkships and Career Development
FEATURED
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Seeks Applicants for 2010 Internships, Fellowships, and Scholarships
CHCI, the nation's premier Hispanic educational and youth leadership development organization, launched a national campaign to recruit Hispanic students - college-bound, undergraduate and graduate - for its nationally recognized leadership development programs and scholarships.
Applications for CHCI’s Congressional Internship Program, Graduate & Young Professional Fellowship Program, Public Policy Fellowship Program, and Scholarship Program are available now.
- The Congressional Internship Program provides college students with Congressional work placements on Capitol Hill to learn first-hand about our nation's legislative processes. The Congressional Internship Program application deadlines are: Spring 2010 semester: November 13, 2009 ~ Summer 2010 semester: February 5, 2010 ~ Fall 2010 semester: April 30, 2010.
- The Graduate & Young Professional Fellowship Program offers exceptional Latino graduates and young professionals’ unparalleled exposure to experience in the underserved public policy areas of health, housing, law, international affairs, and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The Graduate & Young Professional Fellowship Program application deadline is February 19, 2010.
- CHCI’s Public Policy Fellowship Program, conducted from September to May, provides college graduates with national hands-on public policy experience in a congressional office, federal agency, nonprofit sector, or corporate setting. The Public Policy Fellowship Program application deadline is February 19, 2010.
- CHCI’s Scholarship Program is available to students enrolled in a two or four year accredited college or university. Students pursing an associate's degree may apply for a grant in the amount of $1,000; $2,500 for bachelors candidates; and $5,000 for graduate students. The Scholarship Program application deadline is April 16, 2010.
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Become an ABA Member --- Membership has its advantages!
Presidential Appointments 2010-2011 Online Recommendation Form --- Nominate yourself or someone you know to serve in the ABA!
Diversity Speakers Bureau --- This questionnaire/profile is designed specifically for diverse (defined as minority, women, disabled and LGBT) attorneys and other accomplished professionals who would like to be considered as faculty members in continuing legal education programs and seminars produced by the American Bar Association and other CLE providers. Register today! |
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- ABA Diversity Policies - ABA House of Delegates recent policies related to Racial & Ethnic Diversity issues
- Diversity Roadmap - snapshot of what ABA entities are doing for diversity
- ABA Diversity Coordinating Group contact list - A group of ABA diversity-dedicated staff that share information, discuss common issues and stay abreast of diversity matters in the legal profession.
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