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Let's start with a quick dose of reality: Black professionals find solace in neither corporate America nor Big Law. To be blunt, both suck.

The numbers tell a sad story. African Americans account for just 0.8% of Fortune 500 CEOs and 3.2% of senior-level executives and managers, according to "Being Black in Corporate America," a report by the nonprofit Center for Talent Innovation. And just 2% of partners in the Am Law 200 are black—and that doesn't even break out those without equity.

For those of us who track diversity issues, those are hardly news flashes. But you have to ask why we are so accepting of the status quo. According to the center's report, in which almost 4,000 respondents of various ethnicities participated, black millennials are losing patience and far less willing to put up with what their parents did. The frustrations described in the report will likely hit home with black lawyers:

• 58% of black employees have experienced racial prejudice at work, outnumbering Latinx (41%), Asians (38%) and whites (15%). Some 79% of black employees in the Midwest reported racial bias, the highest rate of all regions in the U.S.
• 19% of black workers feel that someone of their race/ethnicity would never achieve a top position, compared with only 3% of whites.
• 31% of black workers say they have access to senior leaders, compared with 44% of whites.
• A significant percentage of black employees (29%) believe that white women are the primary beneficiaries of diversity efforts, but only a small percentage of workers (12% of blacks and 12% of whites) believe that white women advocate for other underrepresented groups.

What makes matters worse is that only 40% of professionals believe that their employers' diversity policies are working (34% of black employees, compared with 41% of whites). But the report also notes that whites "rarely think black professionals have a tougher climb."

That empathy gap, coupled with lingering racism and the abysmal pace of progress, seem to be pushing younger black professionals over the edge. While their parents might have accepted that reality, the report says black millennials have a different attitude—and are bolting.

Among black professionals who plan to leave their jobs and start their own ventures, 38% are millennials, compared with 17% in the older group.

Older black partners say they see the changed attitude in their own children, who look at the world through a different lens. "Some black millennials are no longer the first to go to college and law school, so they want every opportunity to compete equally because they know they can do it," says Dennis Archer, chairman emeritus of Dickinson Wright. "They feel they're talented, qualified and can succeed."

Benjamin Wilson, the chairman of Beveridge & Diamond, says the assumptions of younger workers are different. "My daughter expects a diverse experience wherever she goes," he says.

So if black millennials are better prepared and more confident than ever before, what can companies and firms do to convince them to stay? Some African American lawyers voice the need for more drastic measures.

"Sharing credit is the key," Wilson says. "We need in-house counsel to insist on it, and firms to insist on it."

Maurice Watson, the former chairman of Husch Blackwell, says the unique experience of black Americans makes a compelling argument for reparations, "based on centuries-long history of enslavement and institutionalized discrimination and exclusion, making economic prosperity and independence almost impossible."

While Watson floats the concept of reparations, some want action now.

"I want to see a report that provides radical, concrete suggestions for what we can do differently," the diversity chief at a tech company says. "Set actual quotas, as they do in Norway. Punish bad actors, regardless of how much money they make you."

And yes, that's the voice of a black millennial.

Contact Vivia Chen at [email protected] or @lawcareerist.