I Thought I Could Outsmart The System. I Was Wrong

Dear Worthy Woman,

About a month after receiving my law license, the assignment judge of my county appointed me to my first pro bono criminal case. My client was in jail, so naturally, I made visiting him my first priority.

When I arrived at the jail, the guards denied me entry.

One by one, I watched white men in suits walk through with barely a glance from security. Meanwhile, I was questioned, searched, and repeatedly asked to prove I was an attorney. The guards decided I must be my client's girlfriend pretending to be a lawyer.

Despite the absurdity of this assumption, nothing I said or showed them mattered. After hours of trying to see my client, I left frustrated, humiliated, and defeated.

When I returned to the office and told my white colleagues what happened, their responses were painfully predictable:

"Are you sure it was about your race?"

"I mean,…