Pupil barrister opens up about racism in viral Twitter thread
Lola-Rose Avery speaks out after the death of African-American George Floyd
A pupil barrister has opened up about her personal experiences with racism in a viral Twitter thread.
Lola-Rose Avery, a family pupil barrister at Guildford Chambers, recalled her experiences with racism as a child growing up to her time in law school, in a thread which has received 2,500 retweets and 7,000 likes on Twitter.
Avery’s revelation comes after the death of African-American George Floyd in US police custody, which has sparked protests in the US and beyond. She begins the thread by expressing her disappointment in the “resounding silence from ‘Legal Twitter'”, adding: “It didn’t feel right to not speak up more.”
She begins to recall her earliest memories of racism, starting at nursery.
3/ I remember my mum seeing it when she came to pick me up one day and asked me if this always happens. I told her it does and I remember her going silent and trying not to cry in front of me. I remember these things because they were traumatic for that little girl.
— lola (@legally_lola) May 31, 2020
She then moves on to her time at primary school, where she recalls being subject to racist name-calling.
5/ I hid on the playground at break and lunch times because when I was found I was punched, kicked and called “Lola the black Cola” by boys and “Medusa” by everyone because of my plaits (which are both quite inventive to be fair).
— lola (@legally_lola) May 31, 2020
It appears that Avery’s early encounters with racism also occurred out of school. In the thread she reveals that she experienced physical abuse and racist name-calling from older kids near her council estate.
7/ I am living on a council estate and scared of going to the shop alone because a group of older kids would punch, kick and spit on me while calling me the ‘N word’- girls and boys. Sometimes they wouldn’t let me go until I sang a song, “Lolo, sing a solo” they chanted.
— lola (@legally_lola) May 31, 2020
The racism continues as Avery begins university. A fall-out with some former friends leads to a “hate” page being created about her on Facebook.
9/ Continued references to me as a horse on social media. I start to wonder if maybe I do look like a horse. I believe I do. Present day: Dominic Cummings’ father in law calls his horse ‘Barack’ (Obama) because it’s half black & half white.
— lola (@legally_lola) May 31, 2020
Avery then goes on to take the Bar Professional Training Course, and recalls being described as “aggressive” by a classmate during a negotiations exercise.
10/ I am at law school now. My tutor asks my white and very middle class, classmate who already has pupillage how she found negotiations with me after an exercise. Her response, “I found Lola aggressive”.
— lola (@legally_lola) May 31, 2020
It was at this point that Avery’s tutor lent her support.
11/ In my head, I’m thinking “this is it. This is always going to be my career and life”. My tutor, I am grateful, stands up for me and says “I heard it. Lola wasn’t aggressive at all actually. She speaks assertively, that’s just her voice”. (Thank you @seeyouatthebar) ❤️
— lola (@legally_lola) May 31, 2020
In another instance during her time in bar school, Avery remembers being called “ghetto” by another student when they got into a disagreement.
12/ I get into a disagreement with a student from a different class and he calls me ‘ghetto’. Needless to say, I’m not at all, it was just a tired racial slur. Not that it’s relevant, but he failed the course.
— lola (@legally_lola) May 31, 2020
Now working in the legal profession, Avery, a former chartered accountant, describes her experience as a black woman in law.
14/ When they look at me skeptically, as I have seen some do, I don’t know if it’s just because I’m young (and look younger) or it’s what I fear that it is. My white contemporaries never, ever have to consider or worry about this.
— lola (@legally_lola) May 31, 2020
Avery stresses that the Twitter thread is only a snapshot of her encounters with racism and observes that her experience isn’t unique.
15/ This is a snapshot, not even close to detailing all the instances of racism, violent and otherwise that I’ve experienced throughout my entire life and all the things I have to think about just existing as a black person. And clearly… I’ve had it lightly compared to others.
— lola (@legally_lola) May 31, 2020
Avery’s candid thread has received extensive praise on Twitter, with prominent legal voices thanking the pupil barrister for sharing her story.
Incredible thread. Thank you for writing it. It deserves the widest possible audience.
— The Secret Barrister (@BarristerSecret) May 31, 2020
Thank you for writing this, it's devastating to hear about what you have been through but valuable to hear for others, so thank you. I hope that the Bar is a better environment though I realise it can be tough in lots of ways. Please do message or email if you ever need anything
— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) May 31, 2020
Great thread. Keep saying it because it needs to be heard again and again until it sinks in
— CrimeGirl (@CrimeGirI) May 31, 2020
In response to the praise her Twitter thread has received, Avery tells Legal Cheek:
“I am encouraged by the many positive responses. Many people, including a significant number of legal professionals, have addressed me both publicly and privately. These people are saying that my comments challenged them and they are confronting their own actions and inactions in order to change for the better and do more to be actively anti-racist. I hope this continues.”
Avery appeared on BBC News yesterday evening to give her take on the Black Lives Matter movement in response to Floyd’s death. She explored how we can tackle systemic racism:
“Racism isn’t just such overt acts, as we’ve seen in America with George Floyd — saying racist things, telling racist jokes. We here in the UK, as well as in the US, have systemic racism. It’s a kind of racism that permeates pretty much every conceivable aspect of our society and life. And the only way to challenge that is for people to be very honest with themselves about how they’re perpetuating racial bias and about how they are calling it out when they are seeing it. So, it’s not just simple as being quietly non-racist, it requires being actively anti-racist.”
Also appearing on the Beebs, but this time on BBC Breakfast, was Paul Olubayo, a Keele University law graduate who has just finished his masters in human rights law and international justice at the University of Minnesota. Speaking from the US this morning on how we can challenge systemic racism, Olubayo said:
“It starts on the interpersonal level. When we see these issues of racism, discrimination, are we speaking up about them? Are we holding our close friends, our family members, to account or are we allowing that to fester, are we allowing it to be something that someone exhibits in their teenage years and by the time they hit 60 or 70 we’re saying, ‘well that’s just who he is, he’s stuck in his ways’. We can’t allow that to continue.”
