MABL's own racism.

How the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers managed to get away with this, I have no idea. According to an article I ran into courtesy of Minnesota's third strongest man, the MABL recently held an event billed as:

a celebration and summer social for attorneys of color in our legal community...This event is for minority attorneys, minority summer associates and minority law students. No other guests, please. Thanks in advance for helping us focus this event on networking with our peers.

(Read: leave whitey home.)

I have no problem with legal fraternities that are established for the purpose of representing the interest of minorities. Every such organization I knew of in law school not only allowed members of all races to attend events but encouraged attendance and membership by anyone. I might even be able to understand such a group holding an event intended only for members of that particular race. It would be totally hypocritical, but I could at least grasp the purpose behind it.

This is completely different. By inviting minorities to the exclusion of any other "guests," MABL is intentionally excluding members of only one race. It's the very definition of racism. And to add insult to injury, as noted in the article, MABL neither acknowledges their error or apologizes for it. The organization refuses to comment.