Aa male need help with whether or not to write a DS Forum

[mcdeeremitch]

Dilemma: I grew up in upper middle class suburbia so I don't really have any disadvantages presented to me personally n my lifetime

However my dads family was the first family in his neighboorhood growing up to be bused into all white neighboorhoods during the civil rights era...I also have a cousin that was the first black partner in a major law firm in his region and he broke many other color barriers

If I wrote a diversity statment it would deal a lot with these issues and how it impacted me always trying to make my family proud and ho or their legacy by striving for greatness kind of thing

I know it's not good to write about other people persay hence why I am hesitant to even write one ...but since it does relate back to me I'm considering it

Any advice is welcomed one way or the other yay or nay

[MrPapagiorgio]

I know it's not good to write about other people

You hit the nail on the head here. Diversity statements can help, but usually only when 1) you will bring something unique to the school or 2) why you would add to the diversity is unclear.

As an AA, you add to the diversity by default. Since your story seems to be how others have impacted the diversity in their areas instead of how you have added to the diversity of things you have been involved with, I wouldn't bother to write one.

[MrAnon]

You don't need to write a diversity statement. the DS is so the school can probe for some kind of diversity that isn't obvious. If you checked on the box that you black, latino, whatever, then your diversity is obvious. They don't care if your parents were billionaires or you lived in motels growing up. You already count in the diversity numbers and thats all the matters.

[nygrrrl]

Echoing Papagiorgio and Anon, a DS is intended to show/clarify how you will bring a diverse POV/diversity to your class. As an AA, your diversity is obvious; the experiences of your relatives in this case is not relevant.

[Champion]

Diversity statements can only help bro. And I think at this point it's pretty much becoming the norm for AA males, or AA's in general to write them. I think you should give it a shot. Just try to make the point of how your experiences of just being around that have influenced you and the viewpoints/ideas you will bring to the classroom.

[yngblkgifted]

Absolutely write about that. The vast majority of your classmates don't have such a family history or story to tell. I had the same dilemma when I was writing a diversity statement (pretty non-eventful middle-class existence) and decided to use some of my predecessor's stuggles and how they have affected me. Think of a diversity statement more as something that shows that you are in touch with your culture and less as a statement about proving that you have had a "hard" life. To be honest, compared to what our parents and grandparents went through, we really haven't. Don't try to force it. Schools really just want to see that you have a strong sense of who you are and what being an AA male means to you. This answer is different for everyone. As long as you can articulate that into a concise and neat statement you should be good to go.

[thatlawguy]

I would encourage you to write a diversity statement. Anything extra can help your softs and give you an added edge. But definitely make sure it is well written and clearly demonstrates what qualities/viewpoints you will ADD to the student body or law school. I would suggest not to mention other people's experiences but you can definitely talk about how eeing your uncle break the color barrier affected you. Perhaps it inspired you to pursue law in order to impact your community. Just an idea. Good luck!