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MILLENNIUM SHOWDOWN FOR PUBLIC INTEREST LAW 29
The ability to serve an increasingly diverse society is compromised by the failure
to train students of color. 215 Comprehension of the issues, norms, injuries,
and remedies available in our system of laws is best achieved through study that
considers the varied perspectives of the constituent groups.216 The training of
lawyers should occur in an environment which fosters such inquiry and supports
the acquisition of the skills and knowledge needed to service an increasingly complex,
technology charged economy.
In other words, the goal of improved access to higher education for Blacks has
been altered or has been neutralized. Access for a broader range of citizens was
exchanged, deemed constitutionally permissible, to ensure access for a smaller,
homogeneous group. Completely detached from a morally directed purpose, basic
access for Blacks seeking education has been undermined without regard to
the cost that society will pay. This political maneuvering feeds disenchantment
with the legal system and so-called notions of justice. Under such circumstances,
access may result in little more than distrust and alienation. Though a better remedy
was available, the court selected a solution less offensive to the larger white
political body. It did so pushing the healthier, more complete solution out of
reach. 217 "What's worse, these wolves may well appear in sheep's clothing as
proponents of the good, but only so long as it is politically expedient. . . . They
may often be our allies, but they can never be our friends."218
And this is the worst of the worst: There may be no telltale hint of insincerity
about them; they may deceive themselves as thoroughly as they deceive
others .... Such a person simply becomes whatever is most advantageous at
any particular time to be, automatically adopting the prevalent political colors
with all the camouflaging skill of a chameleon. You can only know them
for what they are after they have betrayed you usually by their insistence
that their treachery was really for some higher cause, or your own goOd. 219
Referring to the constitution or applying its provisions for a race-neutral outcome
is inconsistent with the reality of American society and politicallife. 22o Divided
by race since conception, life, culture opinions, and consciousness in
215 See, e.g., Brief of 13,922 Current Law Students at Accredited American Law Schools as
Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents, 2003 WL 554404 (amicus brief in Gruller v. Bollinger, 123 S.
Ct. 617 (February 18, 2003».
216 See Marjorie Schultz, Boalt Hall in a Post-Affirmative Action Era, 13 BERKELEY WOMEN'S
L. J. 1 (1998), cited in Reagan, supra note 188, at 8.
217 See Rob Atkinson, Historical Perspectives on Pro Bono Lawyering: A Socio-democratic Critique
of Pro Bono Publico Representation of The Poor: The Good as the Enemy of the Enemy of the
Best, 9 AM. U. J. GENDER Soc. POL'y & L. 129, 132 (2001).
218 Id. at 137.
219 Id. at 137-38.
220 Darlene C. Goring, Private Problems Public Solution: Affirmative Action in the 21st Century,
33 AKRON L. REV. 209, 287-88 (2000).