By Bianca Eddy, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Happy Diversity Month, IndyBar members! And what a historic month it has been with the confirmation of the first Black woman to the Supreme Court: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Jackson’s confirmation also marks another first—the first public defender to serve as a justice. Thinking about these firsts simultaneously makes us think about how long it has taken to get to this point. However, instead of viewing the negatives, we should push ourselves to celebrate this momentous time in history. Relish the wins, no matter how big or small.
Of course, there will always be more work to do. For instance, although the Supreme Court will now look more like the nation it serves, there are other sectors—within the law and beyond—that are more homogenous. Most change does not happen overnight and it often does not happen because of one person. We cannot lose sight of the important role we all play in our society and how each of us can affect other people with the choices we make every day in our home, at work and all the spaces in between. Interactions with people from various backgrounds not only enrich our own thoughts and perspectives but also provide us with a common humanity, or "Ubuntu." We understand one another better when we share a bit of our lives with one another, which happens when we are helping each other, working together and witnessing each other strive for similar goals. As lawyers, we are taught to analyze every which-way a situation can unfold, so how can it be anything but an asset to brainstorm with people from all walks of life to find come up with potential solutions? I’ll wait.
As with Jackson’s confirmation, increasing diversity in the legal field will not happen overnight and maybe not as fast as we want it to happen. But we cannot take for granted the little wins we get from time to time or the fact that the work we as individuals does move the needle forward bit by bit. The ideal would be to one day enter our workspaces and have it filled with people that reflect our nation, not a small segment of it. Baby steps, but our efforts are not lost. We have a Black woman on the Supreme Court for goodness sake! Three cheers for that and all that is to come as we continue to do what we can to make sure progress is being made.
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