Disproportionality of BAME Members in the Legal Profession…Why?

From the Civil Rights Movement 1954 to Black Lives Matters founded in 2013, and from the Race Relations Act 1976 to the Equality Act 2010 and to policy on Diversity and Inclusion to progress BAME professions in non-BAME spaces, despite the ‘law’ is it fair to say that it can be argued that the Legal Profession still remains an unlevelled playing field.  

Perhaps then it can be argued that the issue with diversity and inclusion is about who is the leading authority on the topic.

I was privy to a legal webinar sometime ago last year that was looking at race and class within the legal profession, with the focus on Black professionals being orientated via the route of equality due to the many barriers.

As a member of the legal profession and experiencing the perils of discrimination I was disappointed by the presentation. The panel that performed the talk were all non-BAME, the host of the presentation was a non-BAME female who had no knowledge of diversity and inclusion only that she was aware that there were not very many BAME members within the legal establishment and to be fair to her that is acceptable she is unaware but the question is why is she hosting the event.

Sadly it would seem that even in the workplace where issues affect BAME members they are unable to lead on their own experiences, this psychological impact and message delivers a distrust for the legal environment because if BAME professionals are muted from speaking their truths, and when they do attempt to do so it is controlled, monitored and diluted, then is it not fair to say that disproportionality of BAME Members in the Legal Profession will be a cycle of repetition. 

‘Walking the path is different to Knowing the path.’

BAME Legal Network (BLN)