If I Am a Color

Abstract

The second-class status of Legal Research and Writing faculty has been perpetuated by the legal academy for decades. Legal Research and Writing faculty are primarily responsible for teaching legal research and practical legal writing skills to law students, yet they remain ineligible for tenure at roughly 94 percent of the nation’s accredited law schools. This is particularly galling at a time when legal education is under heavy attack for failing to prepare students for law practice.

This poem reflects the anguish of at least one female Legal Research and Writing professor’s twenty-year struggle for equality. The accompanying short article puts the poem in context for the reader.

Keywords: discrimination, gender, legal writing faculty, status, tenure, salary