Attempt at earnest statement reveals a lot about law school’s major institutional shortcomings. Says ATL report.
Law schools are issuing statements as well, though by and large we expect academia to be more inclined to express support for social reform. But that slack we cut them isn’t entirely earned. Which is why the Michigan Law response from Dean Mark D. West struck a chord. Not so much for what it said, but for how it strained to, functionally, apologize for having to say anything about racial injustice at all.
Judging from the four corners of the statement, Dean West says a lot of the right things. He discusses the “disparity in policing and criminal justice,” the “responsibility of all in our community to confront these disparities,” and outlining a reconstituted Educational Environment Committee and some recent hires. Could there be more? Certainly. Law firm statements have outlined more specific forward-looking diversity initiatives, sponsored pro bono efforts, and offered mental health resources for folks dealing with present traumatic stress. In fact, the Michigan BLSA, burdened with doing the work that no one else at Michigan has done for years, proposed a number of concrete reforms.
Merely joining Mitt Friggin’ Romney in being able to say “Black Lives Matter,” something the statement failed to do, would be a big step. Just being better than nothing doesn’t make it enough.
But let’s focus on one paragraph from the statement that generated a lot of ire that the dean may not have foreseen:
The Law School has a long-standing policy against making statements regarding events that happen outside the Quad. That’s especially true when students aren’t on campus in the summer, and even more so when the President of the University has issued a statement. Broad statements can seem superficial and irrelevant to your concerns, and if frequent, the efficacy of the messages decreases over time. So in this case, in accordance with our policy, I had no plan to issue a statement. And that’s what I did for a week.
Full report at https://abovethelaw.com/2020/06/michigan-law-school-flubs-george-floyd-statement/
