Benefits of Educational Diversity in US Law Schools

Power and privilege concentrate in U.S. law schools, where the majority of key decision makers are educated (lawyers, judges, government bureaucrats, and elected officials). Law schools are challenged to engage their complicity in Slavery, Imperialism, and Mass Incarceration. We recognize race, racism, and anti-Black racism are fundamental elements of American society. Law plays explicit and implicit roles helping create and perpetuate racial injustice, so we ask, “How do US Law Schools address race in the teaching, learning and practice of law.”

We analyze survey, focus group, document and media data to determine how Race Matters in US Legal Education. We focus on Black Law students in NC, a state at the center of the Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action ban.

The Educational Diversity Project gathered 2005 survey data from 8,000 students attending 70 Law Schools. A 2007 Web- Survey collected follow- up data the final year of Law School. Focus groups in 2005, 2006 and 2007 explored classroom content, discussions and dynamics. Law faculty were also surveyed about student diversity, class content, and classroom discussions.

Key findings: Whites and men were less supportive of affirmative action; females, especially women of color, perceived more discrimination; few Black men and women found law school “open to new ideas;” Women more likely work for social justice law school organizations and have different race/ ethnic mentors. Diversity and Inclusion benefits legal education, as true for education and learning in other settings.

We discuss how curricula in law school (and other fields) can be revised to advance justice and equity. Critical Race Theory is a possible corrective for bias in legal theory and education. CRT challenges dominant white narratives defending racism, racist thinking and racial exploitation. We also consider Racial Reparations is also a possible corrective for historical racial inequities in wealth and power.