Contact: Rahat N. Babar, Deputy Executive Director for Policy
WASHINGTON -On January 30, 2024, the Florida State Bar confirmed following public reporting that the Florida Supreme Court eliminated all funding for the Bar’s diversity and inclusion initiatives in its next budget. This ends the existence of the Bar’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Created in 2010, the Committee’s mission was to advance diversity and inclusion within the state’s legal profession and administer, among other programs, the Voluntary Bar Association Diversity Leadership Grant, which supported “initiatives and programs which encourage diversity, diversity training and dialogue among lawyers in Florida.”
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), together with the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Tampa Bay (APABA-TB), the Greater Orlando Asian American Bar Association (GOAABA), and the Jacksonville Asian American Bar Association (JAABA) express concern with the decision to discontinue funding and its adverse impact on essential work performed by the Florida State Bar. Regardless of this action, we remain steadfast in our collective mission to support the Asian Pacific American legal community, and we will continue to focus unrelentingly on advancing diversity and inclusion within the legal profession.
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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.
Contact: Rahat N. Babar, Deputy Executive Director for Policy
WASHINGTON – On the 60th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, the day, which started with a remembrance of the work remaining to achieve Dr. King’s dream for racial and social equity, ended in tragedy. This past Saturday afternoon on August 26, 2023, according to news reports, an individual armed with a handgun and an AR-15-style rifle that bore white supremacist markings shot and killed three people from the Black community at a store in Jacksonville, Florida. Local law enforcement officials have reported that the individual, who was white, left written evidence detailing his “disgusting ideology of hate” and that the shooting “was racially motivated, and he hated Black people.”
To say that our hearts are broken would be an understatement. We stand with the people of Jacksonville and with the families of the victims.
Throughout the history of the United States, we have seen – time and again – the devastating impacts of hate on our communities. Yet we must not yield and allow history to repeat itself. We cannot allow hate to hold our communities hostage. And we refuse to allow white supremacy any safe harbor.
NAPABA and the Jacksonville Asian American Bar Association remain committed to eradicating hate and making Dr. King’s vision a reality.
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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.
The Jacksonville Asian American Bar Association (JAABA) is a voluntary bar association of attorneys, judges, and law students, who serve the Jacksonville and North Florida areas. JAABA is an affiliate member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (the “NAPABA”) which represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. JAABA seeks to carry out the mission statement of NAPABA – promoting “justice, equity and opportunity for Asian Pacific Americans” and fostering “professional development, legal scholarship, advocacy and community involvement.” To that end, JAABA issued a joint statement with NAPABA regarding the racially-motivated attack that occurred in Jacksonville over the weekend; and reiterates its support of NAPABA’s values of “equality, community, advocacy, relationships, diversity, equity, inclusion, open-mindedness, and the health and wellbeing of our members” and the communities in which we live and serve.
WASHINGTON – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), together with the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Tampa Bay (APABA-TB), the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of South Florida (APABA-SF), the Greater Orlando Asian American Bar Association (GOAABA), and the Jacksonville Asian American Bar Association (JAABA) (collectively, the “Florida Affiliates”) express their strong disappointment with the Florida Supreme Court’s decision reaffirming its own ban on Florida lawyers receiving credit for continuing legal education (CLE) courses that employ certain diversity requirements on their panels. In June, NAPABA and the Florida Affiliates filed comments before the Florida Supreme Court urging the court to recognize that advancing diversity through these requirements fosters inclusivity, and does not exclude any viewpoint. Unfortunately, the court continued to mischaracterize these efforts as harmful and discriminatory. The diversity requirements championed by NAPABA, our Florida Affiliates, the American Bar Association, and dozens of other organizations are additive and not subtractive. They do not discriminate against any person or group, but rather they uplift voices long silenced. As we have noted previously, the stated goal of the policy was to eliminate bias, increase diversity, and implement tactics aimed at recruiting and retaining diverse attorneys.
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting APA communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.
