AALL’S Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Updates & Resources

AALL’s Stance on Racism

Last updated:  August 25, 2023

AALL stands against racism and we fully support the Black Lives Matter movement. AALL is striving to do better as an Association to bring more awareness to the biases in the legal information profession, and to help others understand the impact of racism.

Racism has no place in our Association, policies, practices, or behaviors. As AALL’s Ethical Principles state, “We value diversity. We strive to diversify our membership by creating environments and services that promote inclusion of historically underrepresented people as colleagues and patrons.” Diversity and inclusion is part of AALL’s core values.

As part of AALL’s committment to DEI, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is one of the goals in the 2022-2025 Strategic Plan.  Under this goal, we recognize systemic barriers to DEI and commit to building an association that embraces differences, lifts-up members, and removes barriers to full participation in AALL and the legal information profession.

STRATEGIES:

  • Equip members with tools and resources to address and advocate for DEI in their organizations
  • Conduct outreach within AALL affiliate organizations to diversify AALL membership
  • Create an executive summary from the IDEA Special Committee report and promote to membership
  • Work toward recognition of other degrees as a substitute for the Juris Doctor (JD)

In July 2022, the Executive Board approved the creation of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Policy.

Thank you to those of you who have sent us ideas on what AALL can do better. Please continue sending your ideas to AALL.

Below are updates on AALL’s recent initiatives in the fight for change as well as helpful resources and articles on anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

AALL’s Statements & Updates 

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Are You Implicitly Biased?

Take the Implicit Association Tests from Project Implicit. Project Implicit is a nonprofit founded by research scientists and housed at Harvard. The organization designed these tests to assess bias concerning race, gender, disabilities, and more.