PRESIDENT’S LETTER A MESSAGE FROM THE OFFICERS 2020 continues to be a year like no other. On 25 May, in the midst of a global pandemic, another terrible news story hit the headlines that triggered an international response. That story was the tragic death of African-American man, George Floyd, who suffocated under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, we have witnessed a remarkable response from individuals, corporations and communities around the world. The tragedy has propelled the Black Lives Matter movement into the spotlight and difficult but vital conversations are being held in the press, around the family dinner table, with friends and colleagues, in boardrooms and in classrooms about equality, inclusion, privilege, racism and anti-racism. I (Linden) have been struck by the bravery and grace of many colleagues and connections within the legal profession, who have taken to social media and other forums in recent weeks to share examples of the day to day racism they encounter in their personal and professional lives, in order to inform and to educate those of us who do not share their experiences and may, even sub-consciously, be guilty of perpetuating them. 4 www.birminghamlawsociety.co.uk
I recall a conversation I had with a friend of mine over a year ago. We are the same age. He is a lawyer and a partner in a UK law firm. He is also mixed race. He told me about something that had happened to him a few weeks earlier. He had decided to make the most of some rare downtime to head to the gym at his local health club where he is a member. After his workout he headed to the Jacuzzi to relax. Whilst he was in the Jacuzzi a couple of white men got in. They exchanged some pleasantries and in the course of the conversation, my friend asked the men what they did. They duly told him. Then one of the men asked my friend “do you work?” “Do you work?” Not, “what do you do?”. As my friend pointed out to me, “what kind of question is that!?” That story has niggled at me for over a year. Because of course, my friend was quite right. It belied an assumption, perhaps one that the person posing it had no idea he was making, that despite being in a very nice (i.e., pricey) health club and clearly of working age, my mixed race friend might not have a job. I had to ask myself - do I think that a white male friend of the same age would have been asked the same question, or been privy to
