You Don't Look Like a Lawyer

Black Women and Systemic Gendered Racism

Tsedale M. Melaku (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

200 Seiten

2019
Rowman & Littlefield (Verlag)
978-1-5381-0792-8 (ISBN)

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You Don't Look Like a Lawyer: Black Women and Systemic Gendered Racism highlights how race and gender create barriers to recruitment, professional development, and advancement to partnership for black women in elite corporate law firms. Utilizing narratives of black female lawyers, this book offers a blend of accessible theory to benefit any reader willing to learn about the underlying challenges that lead to their high attrition rates. Drawing from narratives of black female lawyers, their experiences center around gendered racism and are embedded within institutional practices at the hands of predominantly white men. In particular, the book covers topics such as appearance, white narratives of affirmative action, differences and similarities with white women and black men, exclusion from social and professional networking opportunities and lack of mentors, sponsors and substantive training. This book highlights the often-hidden mechanisms elite law firms utilize to perpetuate and maintain a dominant white male system. Weaving the narratives with a critical race analysis and accessible writing, the reader is exposed to this exclusive elite environment, demonstrating the rawness and reality of black women’s experiences in white spaces. Finally, we get to hear the voices of black female lawyers as they tell their stories and perspectives on working in a highly competitive, racialized and gendered environment, and the impact it has on their advancement and beyond.

Tsedale M. Melaku is a sociologist and postdoctoral research fellow at The Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction: What We Talk about When We Talk about Diversity

1 Black Women’s Burden

Color-Blind Racism

The Significance of White Racial Framing

Systemic Gendered Racism

The Invisible Labor Clause and the Inclusion Tax

2 You Don’t Look Like a Lawyer

White Castle

American Beauty

Fitting In

Built for Comfort

Acknowledgment: The Chronic Case of Mistaken Identity

3 The Outsider Within

The Social (and Professional) Network

That Old Outsider Feeling

When in Doubt

4 All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men

The Confidence Gap

Great Expectations

Time Waits for Men

Sacrifices

Gender in Black and White

The Women

More of the Same

A Boost at the Start of the Race

Gender in Black and Black: Part I

“If It Don’t Fit . . .”

Code Switchin’

Blue in Green

Same but Different

Gender in Black and Black: Part II

Black Women Are Unique

5 Where the Boys Are

Members Only

Exclusion. Alienation. Discomfort. Disadvantage.

Managing Women and Blacks 101

Boys Don’t Cry

Can I Hang Out with You Guys?

Mentor, Friend, or Foe

6 “Can You Please Pass the Royal Jelly?”

Cheap Frame

How to Make Friends and Influence Partners

Rain or Shine

We’re Just Not That into You

Addendum: White Knights

The Hours

7 Conclusion: The Importance of Being Earnest

Appendix: Research Methodology

Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Erscheinungsdatum	10.04.2019
Reihe/Serie	Perspectives on a Multiracial America
Verlagsort	Lanham, MD
Sprache	englisch
Maße	156 x 239 mm
Gewicht	440 g
Themenwelt	Recht / Steuern ► Allgemeines / Lexika
	Recht / Steuern ► EU / Internationales Recht
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
ISBN-10	1-5381-0792-9 / 1538107929
ISBN-13	978-1-5381-0792-8 / 9781538107928
Zustand	Neuware