February 2000 

Rethinking Minority Recruitment
and Retention

By Brian Keith Jackson

I was stamping my imprimatur on a bar stool at the local watering hole waxing poetic with my good friend and colleague DiAndré. He was drinking a G and T. I consumed oversalted popcorn while sipping on a Snapple. DiAndré and I were commiserating about the state of minority recruitment and retention of minority attorneys in Minnesota, especially in the Twin Cities, and especially in large law firms.

The subject came up because we interviewed prospective minority candidates last fall at the Minnesota Minority Recruitment Conference sponsored by various government agencies, law firms, and bar associations. We also recalled being on the other side of the interviewing table a few short years before and wondered what progress has been made and how we can legitimately recruit unsuspecting 2Ls and 3Ls to live and work in Minnesota knowing what we know now.

My history is similar to that of a number of other minority attorneys throughout the United States. I am a fourth-year associate at a large, prestigious law firm in a large city. When I began in the fall of 1996, I was the only minority in my class of eight. After the first two years, there were only two attorneys left in my class. The partnership track of most firms averages 7-8 years. If you have lost 3/4 of your class after not even completing 1/4 of the race to partnership . . . well, you do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the math.

The total number of minorities in the firm was not much better. There was only one other African-American attorney when I started. There was only one other when he started and she was the very first one. None of them stayed long enough to become a partner, though you would never know that by reading the NALP listing. It simply gives you a total. The limitation of the NALP listing, of course, is that it does not tell you that the one and only minority attorney is different from year to year. I call this phenomenon the Serial Jackie Robinson Syndrome -- a different trailblazer breaking the color barrier each summer.

The progress of historically unrepresented and underrepresented racial groups in the legal profession, once promising, has hit the Titanic iceberg. My hiring partner recently asked me why large law firms in large cities, especially in Minnesota, have a difficult time recruiting and retaining qualified historically unrepresented candidates. The problem is not merely endemic to Minnesota or the Twin Cities. It is a national problem. It is simply exacerbated in states like Minnesota that do not have large, historically established African-American communities. What I have attempted to do in this essay is to isolate the problem and then offer some solutions. If you are easily offended by the truth, then you should stop reading here as I intend to, as H.L. Mencken would say "afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted."

Brian Keith Jackson is a senior associate with the law firm of Rider, Bennett, Egan & Arundel LLP in Minneapolis. The opinions expressed in this essay are his own. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Rider, Bennett, Egan, & Arundel, LLP, its management, attorneys, staff, or clients. Nor does he claim to represent anyone other than himself.

"If you have lost 3/4 of your class after not even completing 1/4 of the race to partnership ... well, you do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the math."

I believe that there are three major factors that pose unique obstacles to minority recruitment and retention in Minnesota. There are more than three but I believe that the three that I have chosen represent the greatest obstacles. Until these three areas are addressed, the Serial Jackie Robinson Syndrome will continue well into the third millennium.

Minnesota Culture.
When I speak of Minnesota culture I include the history, the people, the climate, the society, and the attitude that is so uniquely "Minnesota Nice." Nothing in the "Minnesota Nice" culture is native to the heritage of most minorities in Minnesota. This is not a knock on Minnesota. It is simply a description of reality. In addition, it is unrealistic to assume that anything about the unique Minnesota culture will change in anytime soon. Suffice it for members of both the majority and minority communities to recognize that similarly situated people naturally tend to congregate with other people similarly situated. That statement is not racist, sexist, or classist but simply an observation of human nature. With respect to minority attorneys, there is going to be a natural attraction to more temperate and warmer climates in the west and south, and to communities that already have large, well-established minority communities like Miami, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, and Seattle. Against this backdrop Minnesota competes.

Professional Isolation/ Personal Identity.
I grew up in a majority African-American environment. African-American people were always the majority in the enclaves of Chicago in which I was raised. It wasn't until I matriculated at the University of Iowa that I realized just how White America really was. As I progressed in my educational endeavors, the percentage of people with cultural backgrounds and experiences similar to my own dwindled exponentially. Ultimately, this led to a feeling of personal and professional isolation: I was no longer "black" enough to fit comfortably in the enclave from whence I came; I was "too black" to fit comfortably in the enclave toward which I was headed. Many minority attorneys live constantly with this personal, professional struggle that cannot always be fully explained to someone who did not traverse the same path.

To better illustrate what I just described, I have an experiment for every White attorney. Perform this simple experiment at the next bar function you attend. Stand somewhere where you have a panoramic view of the entire room. Now, look at the number of White attorneys in the room. Close your eyes and hold your breath. Imagine that every single White attorney you just saw talismanically became African American, or Latin American, or Asian American, or Native American. Resist the temptation to open your eyes. Let that uncomfortable feeling permeate your being. Wait to exhale. Now open your eyes and breathe. That sound you hear is the collective sigh of relief of knowing your privilege in society. I have never exhaled in similar fashion.

Mentorship.
Recruitment is not even half the battle. Retention is just as important if not more so. There is a definite problem with the lack of mentoring of minority attorneys. There is no one to look up to who looks like you, who has the same background as you, and who has had the same struggles as you. No matter how well Pee Wee Reese attempted to mentor Jackie Robinson as a teammate, he could not comprehend the psychic pain Jackie endured.

Mentorship is important for every attorney regardless of background but it is exceptionally important for the minority lawyer. This is because many minorities feel, for reasons real or imagined, that they are under greater scrutiny, are singled out, or are constantly under pressure to perform twice as well to be viewed as half as worthy. Seeing someone in a leadership position gives the novice minority attorney something to aspire to and psychologically reconfirms that it is possible to overcome all the obstacles along the way.

Historically, African Americans and other minorities have relied upon White guilt, a sense of justice, and fair play as the driving impetus behind social reform. I no longer think it prudent or strategic to berate White people with the argument that African Americans have been subjected to 400 years of sustained and intensive societal oppression. White guilt is dead to many White people.

As we enter into a new millennium, I believe that the better strategy involves economics and not White guilt. I say that for three reasons. The economic argument can be sustained long after the social conscience argument is dead. Second, economics have a universal appeal whereas guilt falls on deaf ears if people do not own it. Third, even for people in power with a social conscience, the economic argument is more persuasive than the social conscience argument in terms of building pluralities. I have on a number of occasions had conversations with White people in which I had to argue that it is folly to believe that 400 years of physical and mental genocide will be eradicated in a couple of years. The argument is even more intensified when the powers that be either 1) believe that there is no problem or (2) believe that there is a problem but feel no responsibility to fix it. Thus, from a strategic perspective, I believe we need to change the focus of the argument.

We must realize that people in positions of power do the right thing, not primarily because of guilt, true altruism, or simply because doing the right thing is the Godly thing to do, but because it is in their economic self-interest to do so. Money, not altruism, is the true motivation. Until White America concludes that it is in its best economic interest to make Black, Brown, Red and Yellow America a part of the power structure, progress will be illusory for our people as a whole, and substantive for only a select few.

Thus, my message to African Americans and other minority groups is simple and it is this -- to the extent that we rely upon White guilt for our continued survival we will continue to be slaves to the benevolence of White people. This is not the preferred position.

I had lunch with the former managing partner of our law firm. He mentioned that White America has failed us (meaning minorities). Implicit in saying that White America has failed us is the belief that White America can effectuate a cure in the first place. Surely, White America was the problem but it is only part of the solution. We as African Americans and other people of color have the duty to convince the people in power that their economic survival is dependent upon the success of those historically unrepresented or underrepresented. We must convince them that minority recruitment and retention must be sustained and intensive. It must also be tied into an economic incentive.

My message to White America is also simple and it is this: as we dawn on a new millennium it behooves you to notice that your continued economic survival is directly dependent upon the success of those that historically have been unrepresented and underrepresented. The truth of the matter is that the racial landscape of America is changing. I hate to break it, White people, but by 2025 more people will speak English as a second language than as a first. The supermajority of 6 billion people on Planet Earth are non-White. White people in America still hold a "majority" position in society in terms of number but also in terms of power and control of the societal, political and economic processes. That landscape is changing, however. As it does, America's legal needs will change as well. As more and more minorities enter in greater numbers and become established in more powerful positions in occupations that need legal services, those people will demand that their attorneys more accurately reflect that changing demographic landscape. Early losses in recruitment and retention should not be viewed as a rationale to stop trying. It is a worthwhile effort even if there are failures along the way. The true failure is not getting knocked down seven times, but rising only six. Jackie Robinson would have agreed.