Beyond "Sellouts" and "Race Cards": Black Attorneys and the Straitjacket of Legal Practice

Russell, Margaret M.

doi:10.2307/1290046

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…KKK) using color-blindness as the mechanism. This tool has shackled African-American attorneys who are expected to cure racism outside the courtroom while remaining silent to racial implications inside the courtroom (Russell 1997). Like many other tools of white supremacy, color-blindness went from a mechanism to support the historically marginalized to a mechanism to suppress them, or from a tool for lifting up to a tool for keeping down (Haney-Lopez 2011).…”

Section: Legal Studies' Expansions Of Color-blind Ideologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizing color-evasiveness: using dis/ability critical race theory to expand a color-blind racial ideology in education and society

Annamma

Jackson

Morrison

2016

Race Ethnicity and Education

511

284

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Section: Legal Studies' Expansions Of Color-blind Ideologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizing color-evasiveness: using dis/ability critical race theory to expand a color-blind racial ideology in education and society

Annamma

Jackson

Morrison

2016

Race Ethnicity and Education

511

284

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Black prosecutors consider how justice is best served, even within a system that disproportionately affects Black Americans (Herbert, 2006). Black attorneys also face a complex dilemma when confronting issues of race, as they may be criticized for “playing the race card“ or alternatively labeled as sellouts if they do not emphasize race at all (Russell, 1997). This is therefore a tension for Black prosecutors, especially when considering the criminal legal system disproportionately incarcerates Black Americans and Black men in particular (Herbert, 2006).…”

Section: Descriptive Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For Black prosecutors, these conflicting pressures are often referred to as the Darden Dilemma, referencing the Black prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson case (Russell, 1997). This dilemma arises as Black prosecutors navigate sometimes competing pressures from the Black community and prosecutors' offices: the "anguish that these prosecutors endure as they negotiate between competing allegiances to the African American community and the State" (Nunn 1999(Nunn , p.1474).…”

Section: Differences In Case Outputmentioning

confidence: 99%

Descriptive Representation and Prosecutorial Discretion: Race, Sex, and Carceral Disparities

Gunderson

2022

American Politics Research

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Conversations around criminal legal reform often center around prosecutorial discretion. Yet, we know little about how the demographic characteristics of prosecutors influence case outcomes and race- and sex-based carceral disparities. I investigate this question using an original dataset of all county prosecutors in the US in 2001 and 2007 and find some differences between non-white and female prosecutors and white and male prosecutors. Black prosecutors are associated with fewer felony closures and convictions, Latinx prosecutors are associated with lower Latinx jail populations, and female prosecutors are associated with lower female and Black jail populations, lower Black prison admissions, and lower jail admissions rates. These findings suggest prosecutorial discretion is an important plank of criminal legal reform, and increasing the diversity of those offices may act as an important and initial step to limit the negative effects of the carceral state on particular communities.

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“…The Department of Labor's Glass Ceiling, for example, acknowledges that disabled people are under-represented in better-paid managerial and professional jobs and are over-represented in lower-paid and operator jobs (Hart, 1997). This organisation clearly accepts that black and minority ethnic groups are also affected by the glass ceiling (Cheng, 1997;Russell, 1997).…”

Section: Glass Ceilingmentioning

confidence: 90%

Women managers: does positive action training make a difference?

Anderson

2004

Journal of Management Development

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Despite long-standing legislation within the UK, women are still generally under-represented at managerial level within organisations. One method of making a difference to this situation is the provision of positive action training and this paper summarises the arguments for and against positive action. Also describes a case study of a positive action training initiative for women managers in local government and assesses its potential effectiveness as a means of breaking through the "glass ceiling". It explains how the training programme is structured and delivered and draws on relevant aspects of the findings of a research study undertaken to explore the opinions of the women students. Particular attention is given to their experience of the glass ceiling, opinions on perceived barriers to progression and on whether or not the programme has acted as a change agent. Some considerations for good practice are offered in conclusion. Legal backgroundSince the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 and the setting up of the Equal Opportunities Commission in 1976, equal opportunity on the basis of gender has been a legal requirement in employment. Had this legislation been as powerful as the rhetoric implied, then surely, over a quarter of a century later, we would begin to see men and women equally represented at all levels of employment scales. Unfortunately, this is not the case -even within the public sector where many local authorities have equal opportunities policies and procedures and equal opportunities officers. The legislation allows for the provision of positive action initiatives including the opportunity to provide training to under-represented groups in order to enable them to compete more effectively for particular jobs. Positive action trainingChange within organisations can be brought about in a number of ways and there is a danger that positive action training can been seen as the "sticking plaster" answer, as opposed to a "root and branch" approach to successful organizational change. From the viewpoint of an organisation, it is clearly easier to effect change by supporting and encouraging individuals than by tackling organisational culture. It can be argued that positive action measures are inappropriate, since they merely prop up hegemonic structures without really challenging them. Positive action training provides a situation in which:. . . responsibility for woman's position in the labour market is placed squarely on women's shoulders by emphasizing so-called deficiencies in their own behaviour or attributes (Cassel and Walsh, cited in Simpson, 1997, p. 122).

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Beyond "Sellouts" and "Race Cards": Black Attorneys and the Straitjacket of Legal Practice

Abstract: 3. See generally TASK FORCE ON MINORIrIs IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION, A.B.A., REPORT wrrH RECOMMENDATIONS (1986) (recommending adoption by the ABA of policies to integrate the legal profession and create more opportunities for minority lawyers); Ramsey

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Conceptualizing color-evasiveness: using dis/ability critical race theory to expand a color-blind racial ideology in education and society

Conceptualizing color-evasiveness: using dis/ability critical race theory to expand a color-blind racial ideology in education and society

Descriptive Representation and Prosecutorial Discretion: Race, Sex, and Carceral Disparities

Women managers: does positive action training make a difference?

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