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42 Clearinghouse Rev. 165 (2008-2009)
Race-Conscious Community Lawyering - Practicing Outside the Box

handle is hein.journals/clear42 and id is 171 raw text is: Race-Conscious Community Lawyering By Tammi Wong Tammi Wong Volunteer Attorney Legal Services of Northern California 515 12th St. Sacramento, CA 95814 916.551.2150 tarnmwong@grnail corn *T he growing cultural diversity throughout the country is leading to the forced in- tegration of cultural, social, and political mores between people and systems in the United States. Over time the interaction of cultural differences will result, I hope, in a more tolerant and aware society. However, the newly emerging multiracial communities in states other than California and New York lead to a tension between cultural isolation and acculturation and assimilation.' This tension comes from ad- justment by new population groups to the structure of American society and is found not only between ethnic and racial population groups but also within ethnic popula- tion groups themselves. Nonnative arrivals struggle in adapting to a sudden upheaval of norms: structural, cultural, social, and political. Public interest advocates can de crease the burden placed on newly arrived population groups to adapt to American society We can also create awareness about our society's obligation to incorporate values and practices of diverse population gToups into our own systems and decision making. Here I describe community la,'yering as a strategy to develop cultural com- petence between our client population and the systems with which our clients interact by providing them with the tools and resources necessary to establish a presence in their communities. Citing the Sacramento Hmong Mediation Council as an example. I discuss some community-lawyering principles that can apply to any racial or ethnic population for whom ive provide advocacy. 'W1KCFStNN IAR MENT OF \ORK RCE DF VELOPMENT MIGRAN, REPJGE- AND LAPOR SERE, is c' NiNRA REFUGEE POPULATION CiApN 12006), httpl/dwd wivConsa .qov/rig rantsancrefugees/pdffiles/projO6arrivals.pdf (from 2004 to 2005 a total of 3118 Hmong refugees resettled in Wisconsin); nnesota Council of Nonprofits, Hmong Refugee Resettlement wvw.mncn.org' nmongbriefing rim (last visi~ed Apri 26 2008) (about 45.000 Hmong people lived in Minnesota in 2003) Cleaingout KLINV Jorn 1; nUOL InN II u - A, ust 208 Clearinghouse REVIEW Journal oT roverLy Law anl ou cy U Yu-uu ...

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