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In my opinion that would come off very poorly and tacky. The first thing that came to mind was my how my jewish grandfather used to always say that he wanted to go to the jewish dentist, and not some "goy" dentist.

Very little chance this would be taken positively, and there is a good chance the judge would be offended by your insinuation that you want to be his clerk, at least in part, because of the color of his skin.

Don't do this.

Thanks!

What reasons?

That being said, you can still convey the sentiment in a more subtle and appropriate way. For example, maybe you are active in public interest organizations that assist poor black communities, or maybe you do volunteer work that really benefits young black men and women in some way. Of course, you can note all of this in your cover letter as a tie in, to the extent that your volunteer experience is legal-related. Or maybe you aspire to a career in public interest, helping the black community in some capacity. Again, totally fine to note. And if the Judge himself was involved in any of these causes, then you can subtly note the overlap.

but let the judge be the one to empathize and connect with it. Don't force the connection by essentially saying "since you are also black, you can surely relate to my experiences/aspirations" as that crosses a certain line and makes presuppositions that may be unwarranted.

Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about clerkships.

I think saying "I want to clerk for you because you're black" is not going to come off well. It could even be interpreted as insulting.

If he's been involved in black legal associations, you can maybe hint at it somehow. For example, "As an African American, I am particularly impressed with Judge So-and-So's involvement with NBLSA."

Hey brother, I'd like to clerk in your chambers...

just send your cover letter on black paper with white ink. he'll understand.

Hutz_and_Goodman wrote:Hey brother, I'd like to clerk in your chambers...

+1

I currently clerk for a black judge.

This a horrible idea. Although my judge likes diversity, this is not the way to present it. Like the poster above said, find another way to highlight things. You might want to say that you are involved in BLSA; if you aren't doing much there, though, just put it on your resume in your activities. Or, if you get an interview, talk about your interests then (but don't say your interests are clerking for "judges of color").

Honestly, if you wrote a letter like that, not only would it leave a horrible impression on the judge, we would take pics and show it to other clerks and friends to say "look at this person who applied here. lol"

TheSpanishMain wrote:Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about clerkships.

I think saying "I want to clerk for you because you're black" is not going to come off well. It could even be interpreted as insulting.

If he's been involved in black legal associations, you can maybe hint at it somehow. For example, "As an African American, I am particularly impressed with Judge So-and-So's involvement with NBLSA."

Yeah, this exactly. I know of one judge of color who expressly prefers minority applicants, and can think of three more who seem to prefer to hire clerks of their own race/ethnicity, but but I would get at that by referring the kinds of things above.

I'm glad my thoughts are on point, and I realize this isn't the topic of the thread, but just want to go on record that I find this

A. Nony Mouse wrote: one judge of color who expressly prefers minority applicants, and can think of three more who seem to prefer to hire clerks of their own race/ethnicity

really awful.

TheSpanishMain wrote:I'm glad my thoughts are on point, and I realize this isn't the topic of the thread, but just want to go on record that I find this

A. Nony Mouse wrote: one judge of color who expressly prefers minority applicants, and can think of three more who seem to prefer to hire clerks of their own race/ethnicity

really awful.

I mean, theres a fine line. Its one thing to want to empower and provide opportunities to those who may not have them, and try and give back to the communities from which you yourself came. But its another to treat it like "I prefer to associate with those of my own kind", which is just plain racist, whether black, white, or otherwise.

TheSpanishMain wrote:I'm glad my thoughts are on point, and I realize this isn't the topic of the thread, but just want to go on record that I find this

A. Nony Mouse wrote: one judge of color who expressly prefers minority applicants, and can think of three more who seem to prefer to hire clerks of their own race/ethnicity

really awful.

I don't agree at all. Their point is that they want to encourage/support lawyers of color, specifically in their own communities, of which there are precious few. The federal judiciary is not exactly a colorful place, including the clerks. It's very much intended as a pipeline thing, not a "I only want to associate with my own kind" thing. (For one thing, hiring clerks of color isn't going to allow judges to associate only with their own kind - it's not like that counterbalances the rest of the federal judiciary). The clerks I know of have all been more than qualified for the job.

Maybe I should have said "attempt to hire applicants of color where possible," because that's probably a little more accurate.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:I'm glad my thoughts are on point, and I realize this isn't the topic of the thread, but just want to go on record that I find this

A. Nony Mouse wrote: one judge of color who expressly prefers minority applicants, and can think of three more who seem to prefer to hire clerks of their own race/ethnicity

really awful.

I don't agree at all. Their point is that they want to encourage/support lawyers of color, specifically in their own communities, of which there are precious few. The federal judiciary is not exactly a colorful place, including the clerks. It's very much intended as a pipeline thing, not a "I only want to associate with my own kind" thing. (For one thing, hiring clerks of color isn't going to allow judges to associate only with their own kind - it's not like that counterbalances the rest of the federal judiciary). The clerks I know of have all been more than qualified for the job.

Maybe I should have said "attempt to hire applicants of color where possible," because that's probably a little more accurate.

Yeah, I view it as pretty much the same thing as hiring clerks from the judge's alma mater. Just want to create a pipeline.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:I'm glad my thoughts are on point, and I realize this isn't the topic of the thread, but just want to go on record that I find this

A. Nony Mouse wrote: one judge of color who expressly prefers minority applicants, and can think of three more who seem to prefer to hire clerks of their own race/ethnicity

really awful.

Maybe I should have said "attempt to hire applicants of color where possible," because that's probably a little more accurate.

I'm still less than comfortable with it, but this does sound better than what I was originally picturing.

Why are you less than comfortable with that?

A. Nony Mouse wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:I'm glad my thoughts are on point, and I realize this isn't the topic of the thread, but just want to go on record that I find this

A. Nony Mouse wrote: one judge of color who expressly prefers minority applicants, and can think of three more who seem to prefer to hire clerks of their own race/ethnicity

really awful.

I don't agree at all. Their point is that they want to encourage/support lawyers of color, specifically in their own communities, of which there are precious few. The federal judiciary is not exactly a colorful place, including the clerks. It's very much intended as a pipeline thing, not a "I only want to associate with my own kind" thing. (For one thing, hiring clerks of color isn't going to allow judges to associate only with their own kind - it's not like that counterbalances the rest of the federal judiciary). The clerks I know of have all been more than qualified for the job.

Maybe I should have said "attempt to hire applicants of color where possible," because that's probably a little more accurate.

I think this is a great thing for judges to do.

There isn't anything wrong with judges trying to hire people who are like them.

.

grand inquisitor wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:There isn't anything wrong with judges trying to hire people who are like them.

unless they're male and white, right?

I'm a white male. I meant that for every judge, white, black, whatever. If you knew where I worked, you'd know I'm no progressive and no supporter of affirmative action. I think that's the first time I've ever been essentially called out for being liberal LOL.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Why are you less than comfortable with that?

I guess I was picturing more of a minority version of a good old boys club, where a particular office becomes the fiefdom of whatever group. As I said originally, I know next to nothing about clerkships, so maybe I'm just completely misunderstanding

grand inquisitor wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:There isn't anything wrong with judges trying to hire people who are like them.

unless they're male and white, right?

Yeah, I was picturing the inverse of an old WASPy white guy expressly stating that he prefers WASPy clerks. I think we'd all agree that would be pretty gross. If that's not what you were actually describing, then I misunderstood.

For what it's worth, white male judges almost universally do not hire people based on race, because we are already quite well represented. If someone explicitly did that, I would certainly thing it was more weird than if a black judge did it. Black judges have every reason to want to promote the success of bright black law students by hiring them as clerks, and I see nothing wrong with that.

grand inquisitor wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:There isn't anything wrong with judges trying to hire people who are like them.

unless they're male and white, right?

Yes.