of ethnicity and geography. My father, who passed away in 1995, would be content that the values he believed in are manifest in the personal relation- ships and spouses of his children. My amazing mother, who turned 90 in December 2013, is proud of her extended international family. My siblings and I, whether in
Kenya, England, or Canada, con- tinue to love the same human interest stories that my father enjoyed. We certainly have our differences of opinion. Should the United States have intervened in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Rwanda? Tat list is endless. Drone strikes, NSA data collection, or whether Manchester United is really the best soccer team of recent times are other debatable topics. Where we totally agree, however, is our distress at the continuing and troubling manifestations of prejudice that creep into so many aspects of life, both in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere. Even in the genteel sport of cricket,
there were recent instances of a com- mentator making inappropriate jokes about a star English player, Monty Panesar, whose parents are of Indian Ramgharia Sikh origin. Meanwhile, there has been an ongoing and disquieting discussion about whether only “English-born” players should be allowed to represent England in cricket or other sports. As with similar rhetoric on this side of the ocean, the verbiage—let alone the underly- ing prejudices—makes one cringe. It certainly does so for most people in Britain who have rejoiced in the achievements of foreign-born British persons such as double Olympic gold medal winner Mo Farah, who was born in Somalia. As I reflect on these instances, I
am reminded that as far as we have all come, on this side of the Atlantic as well as in those great civilizations of Europe, we have just as far to go. In many parts of Europe, for example, there continue to be deeply troubling cases of blatant racist abuse by soccer
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fans directed at non-white players. To the credit of sporting authorities and teams, there have been strong responses, but these cases haven’t ceased. In North America, we hope that we are past the time when the racial or ethnic make-up of a sports team or other institution is at all relevant to anyone’s passion for that team. (Hope, after all, does spring eternal!) Te reality is much more nuanced. Te disturbing percentage of Americans who continue to espouse theories about President Obama’s birthplace or other forms of election disqualification are prime examples of continuing racism. Tere has been, however, great
progress. Institutions that were exclusively white and male are now teeming with people who more fully reflect the world. As a young lawyer in the 1980s, I was helping a tech company that was building hardware and writing software for products manufactured in China, Russia, and elsewhere. Te make-up of the software team intrigued me. Te team members came from many states and many countries, some of whom could barely communicate with each other in colloquial English. Tey sure could
write code though, which is why they were there. It was a wonderful model that I have never forgotten. Tey were there—Vietnamese, Serbs, Indians, and Texans—because of their capabilities and the contributions they could make, not the color of their skin or university T-shirts. Te technology world and its prog-
ress has been a great model for the rest of society. One has only to see the make-up of the great innovators and leaders of great tech institutions— electronic, biotech, and beyond—to appreciate that anything is possible, regardless of who one is and where one started. For all of us lawyers how- ever, we work in environments that are slower to change and more prone to hold on to subtle or not-so-subtle prejudices. Our job, individually and collectively, is to overcome these prejudices, each and every day. Tat remains the challenge. And how do we do this? Here are some thoughts.
First, each of us comes to the journey with a rich and multi-dimensional history and unique set of experiences that are an important springboard and a unique asset. Make your story the proud bedrock from where you
Make your story the proud bedrock from where you set out. Your unique story and your history will make you stand out. It should sustain you, not limit you. Don’t leave it behind on your journey.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014 DIVERSITY & THE BAR® 13
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