Pa. Law Firms Must Learn From the Past to Improve Diversity in the Future
After nearly 175 years, there is still much progress to be made in law firm diversity. The Philadelphia legal community should not underestimate the impact changing institutions has on creating opportunity for individuals.
December 11, 2018 at 09:55 AM
12 minute read
A mere four years after The Legal Intelligencer's founding in 1843, the story of blacks seeking admission to the legal profession in Pennsylvania began. Despite nearly 175 years of black Pennsylvania lawyers overcoming obstacles to entry of the legal profession, institutional barriers persist, leaving blacks and other minorities in the state still in search of meaningful access in the legal profession. In 2018, law firms that are not intentional about cultivating diversity may be unintentionally discriminating against diverse candidates.
To tell the story of diversity in the legal profession—specifically when discussing the black lawyer—one must first acknowledge the role of slavery in America. People of color were held in bondage for decades against their will and the ownership of humans by other humans was sanctioned by the laws of this country. Enslavement and discrimination of individuals based on their skin color was codified into our federal and state systems of government and dictated the daily interactions of individuals. These codifications and the resulting caste system became the foundations of the institutional barriers minorities continue to face today.
Initially, it was explicit bias that blocked blacks from entering the legal profession in Pennsylvania. In 1847, George Boyer Vashon sought admission to the Allegheny County Bar. Vashon was denied admission not because of any lack in his legal capabilities (he became the first black person admitted to the New York Bar in 1848), but because he was not a white man. Vashon was denied admission to the Allegheny County Bar a second time 20 years later in 1867. Vashon was posthumously admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 2010 through the efforts of his great-grandson, Nolan N. Atkinson Jr., a trailblazer in his own right who, among other notable accomplishments, helped found the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group.
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