Black History and Changes in the Law in my time

It is believed that the first black barrister to begin practice in this country did so around 1884.  I began practice in 1995 as the first black pupil in Chambers in this region and the second black barrister.  That was over 100 years later!  That inertia was experienced across the Bar with a pace of change best described as glacial. The first black QC was not until the 1980s (give or take) on the North-eastern Circuit not until 2014.  

When I began there was a gross under representation of black legal representatives (both solicitors and barristers).  For many of us there was a significant sense of isolation, especially if you were practising outside of London.  That was a consequence of and compounded by prevailing negative (and largely accepted) attitudes towards race and racial stereotypes.  

That led to many of us suffering the consequences of direct and indirect indiscrimination in a way that is not easy to comprehend now.  Whilst I may have had my successes many did not and unfairly so.  The concept of “institutional racism” was not properly defined until the McPherson report in 1999.  We were decades away from the concepts of imposter syndrome and micro-aggressions.  

However, there is cause for some optimism. I look now and I do see, especially at the junior ranks a greater and heartening diversity in many (but not all) areas.  I see many embracing the concepts of equality in effective sense in relation to race. However, we cannot afford to be complacent.   

 The most recent reports and figures in relation to racial diversity (and black representation in particular) within the higher ranks of the bar, the judiciary and at partner level make for depressing reading and speak of that glacial pace of progression. There is little point having diversity without “inclusion” at all levels.  

It’s reflecting on our history (in every month) within the profession that helps inform us that there remains an urgent need for action to avoid the words in those reports being just that. Words.