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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: The Problem With 'Striking It Big' |
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< | -- By UchechiAmadi - 27 Feb 2009 |
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> | -- By UchechiAmadi - 27 Feb 2009, Revised 18 April 2009 |
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I. Introduction |
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< | Born in the South, raised in the Midwest and educated in a large public school, observing the expensive and elitist way of life over the past several months has often felt like learning a new language. At home, friends say the transition denotes striking it big; they say piercing the bubble and entering the ranks of well-traveled Ivy-leaguers could never be detrimental. Such a statement demands conversation. Clearly, there are benefits to attending a top school in a prime city, but for someone from a humble background interested in using a law degree for justice in direct representation, the social clout, individualism and community that is lost in transition (and replaced with the magical idea that climbing the social ladder is an inherent good) may be more burdensome than realized. |
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> | Born in the South, raised in the Midwest and educated in large public schools, observing the elitist way of life throughout the school-year has been an adjustment. At home, friends say the transition denotes striking it big; they say piercing the bubble and entering Ivy-league ranks could never be detrimental. But is this so? There are benefits to attending a top school in a major city, but for someone from a humble background interested in using a law degree for justice in direct representation, the social clout, individualism and community lost in transition may be more burdensome than realized. |
| | A. What is lost?
1. Connection to social group culture |
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< | Take the example of the paradigmatic black female. In both the law school and firm contexts, the woman’s efforts to engage in community building with a group of peers she can relate to may be hindered. Two considerations in the former case are: (1) the lack of descriptive representation and (2) the initial limited opportunity to make connections beyond the school environment. Considering black women comprise a very small portion of the student and faculty bodies, one used to learning from a racially diverse group may face problems of adjustment. Also relevant is the secondary idea of confining one’s social justice exposure to the law school itself, as we all know many school events target students. For someone acquainted with ‘doing’ and interacting directly with those in need, this presents a challenge; it may transform an individual who directly searched for opportunities into one who is instead ok with thinking about the opportunities and shifting the work to another. This matters; one who has spent years researching will face a challenge in a community wherein she must return to grassroots work and relate more immediately to needy clients. |
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> | Take the example of the paradigmatic black female. In both the law school and firm contexts, the woman’s efforts to engage in community building with a group of peers she can relate to may be hindered. Two considerations in the former case are: (1) the lack of descriptive representation and (2) the initial limited opportunity to make connections beyond the school environment. Considering black women comprise a very small portion of the student and faculty bodies, one accustomed to learning from a racially diverse group may face problems of adjustment. Also relevant is the secondary idea of confining one’s social justice exposure to the law school itself, as many school events target students. For someone acquainted with ‘doing’ and interacting directly with those in need, this presents a challenge; it may transform an individual who directly searched for opportunities into one who is instead ok with thinking about the opportunities and shifting the work to another. This matters; one who has spent years researching will face a challenge in a community wherein she must, at the grassroots level, relate more immediately to needy clients. |
| | 2. Individualism |
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< | The loss of the sense of individual identity is evidenced in the firm case. Bebe Moore Campbell in “To Be Black, Gifted, and Alone” suggests that black corporate women encounter stress, racism, sexism and professional competition in the workplace, relinquish their ‘cultural selves’ in settings promoting uniformity and face a withdrawal from a cultural identity including family and old friends. |
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> | The loss of the sense of individual identity is evidenced in the firm case. Bebe Moore Campbell in “To Be Black, Gifted, and Alone” suggests that black corporate women encounter stress, racism, sexism and professional competition in the workplace, relinquish their ‘cultural selves’ in settings promoting uniformity and face a withdrawal from a cultural identity including family and old friends. As seen from the writings of a classmate, legal scholars have commented on a similar phenomenon. |
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< | It is not difficult to imagine the emergence of two worlds for such a woman. In the corporate world she must look and act in a way that ‘aligns with firm culture.’ At home, she may be herself and must re-ignite the interpersonal relationships that shaped what she saw as her identity. The problem (mentioned in the Judith Warner Obama discussion and again in the homelessness dialogue), is that she may soon experience a disconnect in which she disassociates from her own persona. Individuals who used to take her as the example of all things black stop doing so. Her individuality is suppressed, her opinions muted. Before long, she can claim neither her blackness nor her sensitivity to local concerns. |
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> | It is not difficult to imagine the emergence of two worlds for such a woman. In the corporate world she must look and act in a way that ‘aligns with firm culture.’ At home, she may be herself and must re-ignite the interpersonal relationships that shaped what she saw as her identity. The problem is that she may soon experience a disconnect in which she disassociates from her own persona. Individuals who used to take her as the example of all things black stop doing so. Her individuality is suppressed, her opinions muted. Before long, she can claim neither her blackness nor her sensitivity to local concerns. |
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< | B. What fills its place?
1. Magical reassurances
In the wake of the loss of group interconnectedness and individuality, reassurances serve as fillers. Shouted from the mountaintops are the mantras of the crowd. ‘Change must come from the top down’ they say. ‘You must help oneself before anyone else,’ they exclaim. Time progresses and the messages seem to make sense. ‘Power is needed to produce results,’ the young lawyer thinks. ‘I’ll put in my years, but then I will turn this place around,’ she reasons. Before long, it seems the realization must emerge that the rise in social stature has likely led to a more radical transformation of the mind.
Perhaps Jerome Frank would suggest the effort to make the woman feel comfortable with her place in the world regarding the transition she has made from a small town girl working for justice to a big city hustler working for justice is an incidence of magic. In a frantic attempt to justify the need for an elite degree to work for the poor, the magician covers doubt with comparisons of high-profile individuals who have obtained prestige in government or public interest circles only after securing education at the top. |
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> | B. What fills its place?: Magical reassurances |
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> | In the wake of the loss of group interconnectedness and individuality, reassurances become fillers. Shouted from the mountaintops are the mantras of the crowd. ‘Change must come from the top down’ they say. ‘You must help oneself before anyone else.’ Time progresses and the messages seem to make sense. ‘Power is needed to produce results,’ the young lawyer thinks. ‘I’ll put in my years, but then I will turn this place around.” Before long, the realization must emerge that the rise in social stature has likely led to a more radical transformation of the mind. In a frantic attempt to justify the need for an elite degree to work for the poor, doubt is covered with comparisons of high-profile individuals who have obtained prestige in public interest circles only after securing education at the top. |
| | But is prestige necessary? If it is, why is this so? Missing from this view is examination of what the lawyer seeking good ‘actually’ does. It might be the case that a theoretical education is helpful to finding and assisting needy clients but more helpful may have been representation by one individual the client could unite with on an interpersonal basis, either because the lawyer retained the connection to the culture she left behind or because she never left that place to begin with. |
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> | II. Next steps |
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> | As the situation – my situation -- stands today, the struggle comes in three parts: (1) accepting the decision to enter a highly prestigious, theory-based institution (2) acknowledging the disconnect in life’s spheres and (3) working to mitigate their effects. Though strengthening the connection to culture in a new environment is not impossible, it certainly requires confidence. |
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> | - Maintaining confidence, looking for commonalities, creating coalitions |
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< | 2. Cues from the script |
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> | Mentally, one must confront the notion that working for justice from an ‘elite’ standpoint is any different than doing so from the standpoint of one with similar passions who went elsewhere. In fact, in many cases the elite standpoint by itself must be rejected, replaced instead by an all-encompassing model that realizes that to succeed, the individual who has left the community must turn the (rare) experience viewing problems from varied vantage points (e.g. theoretical, through the eyes of the skeptic, first-hand, etc.) into an edge one is confident talking about and using to build bridges in any environment. |
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< | Perhaps Leff would say the mediators in these incidents are merely taking cues and staying the course. The social structure has arranged a system whereby even those who want to work for justice in small communities and deeply embed themselves in public service look to the top schools and shell out big bucks. Already steeped into the systems, Leff would not be surprised at an individual’s actions in taking on the role even though it was not envisioned. Leff might also not be surprised by the clinging to repayment programs which permit the student to pursue the job of his choosing while under school restrictions. |
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> | To most effectively fight the loss of identity, each perspective must be embraced. There must be a conscious awareness of one’s background and a fight against the move to declare it irrelevant. Armed with a mental toughness, an individual who has begun to climb the ladder must be willing to look back beyond the struggle and get to the heart of issues plaguing urban communities. The past must be taken as an opportunity for learning and thoughts and experiences from the old must be shared with the new without fear of judgment. Meanwhile, the idea that the collision of spheres will be helpful must be maintained. |
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> | Only after exploring the tangible ways of meeting goals from each vantage point can more can be done to realize the worlds may co-exist. |
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< | II. Conclusion
It is evident work needs to be closer to the ground, but the broader lesson here is that a determination that one wants to work towards justice requires confrontation with the notion that doing so from an ‘elite’ standpoint is any different than doing so from the standpoint of the individual who had a similar goal but stayed in a local arena. Striking it big in the eyes of the layman implies honor and prestige, but it does not, and will not, equate immediately to success in the direct representation realm. Unless an individual stays encouraged to fight the loss of individuality, more may be lost than gained in the long-term. |
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> | Original commentary |
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- I think this is a very clear, careful and insightful evocation of your current psychic environment. You show the
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| | and at the same time dissect out the different strands to find
what might be hiding just slightly out of view. That's where
the big breakthrough is, I believe.
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> | Revision note
* As suggested, I took out the Leff/Frank section and focused on strengthening
the conclusion, which meant doing more than saying this is a problem (as done in Round 1). The
result is an identification of possible strands/action steps. Space
limitations made the move to explore them further difficult. Also important to note:
the reflection and the look at "solutions" is derived largely from the particular
personal experience I write about here. It may/may not be generalizable,
and of course, has weaknesses, but in no way am I advocating the one-size
fits-all model. There are papers which relate to this experience; check them out here and here. |