Racial Justice

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Welcome to the Racial Justice Practice Area! This practice area strives to strengthen civil legal aid’s capacity and skills to advance racial justice. In this section, you can access materials related to racial justice across multiple substantive areas. You will find articles, toolkits, webinars, slides, videos, and other resources to enhance your knowledge about racial justice and to provide guidance on how to apply a racial equity lens to your work. 

Join the Race Equity Coalition! The REC promotes racial justice advocacy in Massachusetts legal service programs by:

  • sharing ideas, tools and local initiatives
  • collaborating to recognize and eliminate systemic barriers to the advancement and inclusion of Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American people from low-income households
  • engaging in work that advances racial justice. 

The Race Equity Coalition meets approximately once a month and sends out a bimonthly newsletter. You can join the mailing group by logging into Mass Legal Services, clicking “Join Email Groups” and requesting group membership to the Race Equity Coalition. 

How to Hire and Retain Diverse Talent, Inclusively and Legally

Julie Kratz, Forbes
With diversity, equity and inclusion in the crosshairs in the legal landscape, as well as in the news media, organizations that want to hire more diverse talent may feel stuck in the current polarized environment. Leaders are curious about how to pivot, discontinue or continue with their hiring…

New Study Uncovers Racial Bias in Language Used by Physicians in Medical Records

Stacy M. Brown, NNPA
A ground-breaking study found glaring disparities in the language that healthcare professionals use when recording patient interactions, which could have an impact on the caliber of care that minority groups receive. Titled “Examining Linguistic Differences in Electronic Health Records for Diverse…

5 Do’s When Someone Accuses You of Racism and Bonus: 5 Don’ts

Dr. Aradhana Mudambi
5 tips when confronted with being called a racist. "Every so often, I hear stories from indignant people about how someone called them racist.  These indignant souls are looking for me to affirm for them that the accusation is not true.  Unless the accuser thinks that the active…

The politics of hyphenated identities

Snéha Khilay
There has been an ongoing controversy whether hyphenated identities are considered woefully inadequate to truly encapsulate a multicultural UK, where different cultures do live and work together in some form of harmony, with about 400 languages spoken in London. There is also an…

DEI Language Guidelines

American Psychological Association
As stated in the first edition, the guide is written to raise awareness, direct learning, and support the use of culturally sensitive terms and phrases that center the voices and perspectives of those who have been historically marginalized or stereotyped. The guide also explains the origins of…