Blacks and Law School Discrimination
Reader Comments
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LSAT HURTS
LSAT score does not reveal much about the student. As a minority I worked so hard for the family and never had good time to study leading to poor LSAT score. As an immigrant from Africa I could'nt land a job that I trained for.I ended up working as a CNA. The job exhausted me so much that there was no way I could do well in LSAT.However,I had to take vacation to pass the test with a respectable score.
Failure by minority students to do well in LSAT is an indicator of hardship the students come from. If anything the test score actually reveals who was coached and who was not.It doesn't tell much about who'll do well and who'll not in law school.
The talk that the minorities are ne'er do wells doesn't add up until many factors that undermine and subjugate them are considered. Many of us are products of poverty and deprivation. We have few role models and lack encouragement.If all these and many other factors are reversed we shall have good scores.
Want to go to Law School
Well, I got the LSAT Prep books & I took the classes and still didnt get a good score. Actually I did worse than what I did before. When I first took the test without any preparation, I did better. It seems like when I actually started to prepare for the LSAT, my scores got lower. I do not know what that is all about. I graduated from undergrad 3 yrs ago & I keep tryng to pass this test, but no luck. The LSAT is somewhat pointless to me. It doesn't prove how good I can be in law school or if I will be a good lawyer for that fact. I didnt do good on the ACT but I graduated Cum laude from college. So, I just don't understand. I have even had a Supreme Court Justice tell me he doesnt understand why we are required to take the lSAT b/c he knows some good lawyers that did bad on the test & he knows some bad lawyers that did good on the test. I just have to keep trying. It's just really frustrating. I'm glad I am not the only one that is going through this b/c for a long time I thought I was the only one.
Standardized tests hurt minority students regardless of racial prefereces.
-Some people believe that granting admissions a non-traditional minority student with low test scores over a traditional non-minority student with high test scores is harmful to minority students because they tend to drop out, flunk out, or, even if they graduate, pass the bar examination at a lower rate than students with higher standardized test scores.
-However, non-traditional minority students come from complex backgrounds and not given the same quality of education as their higher scoring peers, that tend to come from affluent backgrounds.
-Furthermore, minority students will lose regardless as highly selective scores place a greater emphasis on high test scores than less selective and lower ranked institutions. Consequently, these highly selective schools like Harvard, Stanford, and Yale fail to account for the myriad educational inequalities predominantly within urban elementary and high schools. For this reason, some minority students remain in a lose-lose situation.
Standardized tests, and other artificial barriers in our society like racism, are social constraints designed to oppress African Americans and maintain white supremacy.
Low LSAT & 3.29 GPA: Lots of potential
I understand what Edward is feeling. I attend Spelman College in GA (predominantly Black institution) and I scored a 131 on the LSAT. I come from a middle class background with exposure to many different teaching concepts. Its still hard for me achieve on standardized tests and I am being penalized for it. I feel that Blacks have so much stress on us because we are Black, that when we try to achieve high on exams, it tends to not work. I'm not saying that Edward and I are not smart because we are but its the environment that we are placed in. Law schools expect you to be a certain way for success and this theory is very harmful. People like Edward and I want to commit our lives to the law and we wont be given a chance because our lSATs are low. But this exam can not judge our ability. When law schools depend on test scores, African American students will lose.
Good luck Edward and continue fighting the good fight!
The NBA comment raises a good point
If the NBA was unable to look beyond test scores, would we have ever seen a Larry Bird or a Kevin McHale? Let's face it, as far as athletic exams, these two would have flunked. After all, their vertical leaps, bench press, 40 times, etc would not have measured up to those of a all-star Dominique Wilkins (zero titles) or Charles Barkley.
My point is this: some people can just play...there's no rhyme or reason to their performance, and tests don't predict their potential...they can just play.
I can hear the pundits, now: "But, dude...were talking athletic exams (NBA physical) v. aptitude exams (LSAT, GMAT, GRE, SAT, et. al.); they are different."
I gotcha covered.
How many top NFL QB's have flunked or all but flunked the NFL's "aptitude" exam? Would we have seen a Manning, a Rothlesburger or a Marino if the NFL gave as much weight to their scores as schools give to the LSAT?
Much to our good graces, the NFL doesn't do so. Because the scouts, coaches, GM's, Presidents, and owners understand that some people can just play. And no "standardized" exam is going to predict their performance in the field with any accuracy.
It works the same for lawyers. The people with the best test scores or grades do not always make the best lawyers.
It's like Motzart, Bach or Beethoven...they could just play.
Willie E. Gary is one of the top attorneys in the country. His LSAT is allegedly 450( a 145 in todays scoring - the formula is add a "1" to the front of the score and drop the "0" off of the back).
Think about it.
The Derrick Morris post is a FAKE!!
Nice try...someone writing a clearly incoherent, self-righteous, excuse-laden post, pretending to be an uneducated "Blackman" (sic) who wants to go to law school. I do not buy it.
"The FBI problem with me is because" (sic) I am a dumb, racist white guy who wishes only to perpetuate the negative stereotypes associated with Black males...this is what you should have written.
And, BTW, I am, myself, a Black male! Go somewhere else with your phony, racist banter.
It's discrimination yall
Wow, it took me a while to realize Black Attorney of GA and Derrick Morris are not being sarcastic. They can turn a faceless procedure like taking a standardized test into racism and oppression by ol' Whitey. Because black people tend score lower on the LSAT than others, it then follows that LSAT is racist. Next thing you know they'll allege that the LSAT questions are actually written by KKK members.
Why stop at law school. Let's have affirmative action in the NBA too. Who cares how good they really are, we need more Asian players. Every team should be mandated to have at least one Asian player and one white player.
it's discrimination yall
Wow, it took me a while to realize Black Attorney of GA and Derrick Morris are not being sarcastic. They can turn a faceless procedure like taking a standardized test into racism and oppression by ol' Whitey. Because black people tend score lower on the LSAT than others, it then follows that LSAT is racist. Next thing you know they'll allege that the LSAT questions are actually written by KKK members.
Why stop at law school. Let's have affirmative action in the NBA too. Who cares how good they really are, we need more Asian players. Every team should be mandated to have at least one Asian player and one white player.
