Statistically we lose

Life is hard.  Being an African American is harder. Statistically we are disadvantaged.

According to the 2019 U.S. Census, out of the total population (328,239,523 people), 13.4% are African American. But not only are we a minority in the population, we are also a minority amongst most, if not all, the professions in the world. Here are some of the most recent statistics.

• In 2016, roughly 9% of businesses were African American owned.
• In 2018, only 5% of active physicians were African American.
• In 2018, only 10.7% of actors were African American.
• As of 2019, only 5% of lawyers are African American.
• As of 2019, only 5 out of 607 Billionaires in the United States are African American.

It is projected that we will be criminals.

In 2017, African Americans represented 12% of the U.S. adult population, but 33% of the sentenced prison population. Currently, 37.5% of federal inmates are African American. This doesn’t even include state statistics.

Defying the odds.

The statistic that hits home for me? The amount of African American lawyers. Out of 1,352,027 lawyers in the United States, only 5% are African American. (& if you were wondering … not all of them practice criminal law. That means, most incarcerated African Americans don’t have representation that looks like them.)

In order to get into law school, you must take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). The average LSAT score for black test takers is 142, while the average for white and Asian test takers is 153. Nearly half of black law school applicants (49 percent) were not admitted into a single law school. That share is larger than that of any other racial or ethnic group. What does that mean? Getting admitted to law school is hard. Passing the bar is hard. Being an African American attorney is hard. But, it’s not impossible. How do I know? I got accepted into law school.

Getting accepted into law school didn’t go smoothly (check out my post “Get out the boat”). But now that I’m in this new reality, I feel like I can’t stop. I want to be better, do better, and breakdown every barrier that stands in my way.

We need action.

Why is it important that we know the statistics? Knowledge is power. Learn the statistics. Read memoirs about those who have defied the odds. Those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it. It is so important to know where we come from, so we can see that we have so much more to do.

As a future lawyer I plan to do my part. One of the reasons I went to law school was to help my generation become successful. One day I hope to practice some form of transactional law. I want to help protect young entrepreneurs as they grow their businesses and brands. Corporate America is vicious. It can be a dog eat dog world. Key words “can be.” Not always. How do I know? I spent 6 years navigating my way through a company. Then, I learned more about starting a business during my MBA program. You have to make sure you protect yourself. One day, I hope to be able to help you. I want to see you win.

My last thoughts: Our generation can change the perception of what it means to be African American. We have amazing ideas. We are the next doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, entertainers, writers, musicians and so much more. I want to encourage you to keep going in the face of adversity.

In the words of the late rapper Nipsey Hussle, “it’s a marathon.” The race is on. It’s never too late to get started. Educate yourself. Broaden your vision. Expand your horizons. Step out of your comfort zone. Dream BIG. It’s not impossible. If you can see it, you can accomplish it. If it’s in your heart, it was put there for a reason. God gave you talents. Don’t burry them, don’t squander them. Multiply them. You are more than a statistic. A close friend once told me, “you are your ancestors wildest dream.”

However, this post is not only for those who are African American. This post is for everyone. We need EVERYONE. We need people from all ethnicities to go before us and use their influence to help create opportunities for us to be successful. It takes a village. Once you know better … do better.

References

• https://www.mbda.gov/sites/mbda.gov/files/migrated/files-attachments/2012SBO_MBEFactSheet020216.pdf
• https://www.businessinsider.com/black-billionaires-in-the-united-states-2020-2
• https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219#PST045219
• https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/workforce/interactive-data/figure-18-percentage-all-active-physicians-race/ethnicity-2018
• https://datausa.io/profile/soc/actors#demographics
• https://www.americanbar.org/about_the_aba/profession_statistics/
• https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_race.jsp
• https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/30/shrinking-gap-between-number-of-blacks-and-whites-in-prison/
• https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2019/04/15/study-argues-law-schools-limit-black-enrollment-through-lsat