(1) the students who failed should not have been admitted to law school in the first place; 

(2) the students were not intellectually competent and should not have been allowed to graduate; or 

(3) that people of color are not suited for the study of law.

(1) poor quality of instruction,

(2) an overly permissive curriculum, and/or 

(3) a complete absence of qualitative standards in the application of the admissions standards. . . . . 
 

(1) getting people of color into law school; 

(2) getting students of color [to excel in] law school; and

(3) getting people of color certified to practice law within the same time expectancy as any other law graduate. 
 

(1) the purpose of teaching, 

(2) the methods which should be used in teaching [students-of-color], 

(3) the indicators to be used to determine success and 

(4) the key factors that have impeded attaining the desired results. 

First, the problem is more psychological than intellectual in nature.

Second, it is related to the acquisition and development of skills and not to a lack of substantive knowledge.

. . . . Black people [ and many students of color] come out of an oral tradition. . . .The richness of . . . oral tradition is best illustrated in the explanation Alex Haley gave as to how he came to discover his roots. The ability of a people to compile, organize, remember, and render their historical and cultural lineage is no small accomplishment. This is especially true when the basic social institutions necessary to support, enhance, and encourage that development has been specifically targeted for destruction. [African American] oral tradition has to include the detrimental effects of American slavery. That "peculiar institution" was deliberately designed to destroy the essential institutions of a people. . . .(1) family, (2) language, (3) religion [and (4)] self and group worth. Yet, in spite of the assault upon the very foundation of a group's being, African Americans learned the language. Moreover, through their own intellectual creativity, they mastered the art of the [English] spoken word . . . . Nevertheless, the legacy of that historical Black Experience resulted in a practical, almost vocational value, being ascribed to education. It associates teaching with the tradition of being "instructed," that is, being told. 

This legacy is not easy to overcome. Social mobility and the acquisition of wealth alone are not sufficient to overcome it. In fact, there is little evidence that the achieving of middle and upper class status, and having access to discretionary income has shifted Black middle class emphasis to a reading tradition. . . .

Lack of the tradition also suggest why students of color have a utilitarian approach to reading. It appears that when they read, they have a particular objective in mind, e.g., pleasure, instruction, comfort, etc. While there is nothing wrong with single purpose reading, it does limit ones experience in terms of over all exposure if it becomes the exclusive objective. It is in this context that [students-of-color] are short-changing themselves in terms of becoming lawyers and in developing the necessary skills to [excel in law school].

Thurgood Marshall School of Law Faculty were invited by the State Bar examiners to review the examinations their students had written, and in large numbers, failed. After reviewing the papers, it was both clear and indisputable that the vast majority of those examinations were (1) poorly written, (2) poorly organized, (3) highly disjointed in thought continuity, and (4) tended not to specifically address the issues.

. . . . I could not help thinking how similar they were to the manner and style which those same students used in law school. Enough information was contained in each answer to indicate that the writer had some knowledge about the subject in question, but not enough to indicate he or she knew what to do with it. Reading these papers suggested that our students were extremely insecure in taking an authoritative legal position relative to an issue; and second, they were extremely insecure in expressing themselves in terms of legal art (legalese). (Emphasis added) I then began to more fully appreciate the symbiotic relationship between law school and the Bar; and why and how we, as legal educators, were missing the point where [Students-of-color]  were concerned.

Most minority students focus mainly on reading for information. They tend to read a case in a law book and factually describe what has happened in the same manner as they might read Hemingway's novella, The Old Man and The Sea, and describe it as a fish story. But law professors expect more than that. (emphasis added) Therefore, it is incumbent upon law professors to teach minority students to read. They must help these students to understand what to expect from reading over and above information about legal rules and doctrines.

[First, students] must . . . [read] a case to . . . [understand] why judges decide the way they do; that if one judge's decision is different from that of another in a similar situation; and . . . students must seek to find the reasons for that difference in outcome. 

Second, . . . students [must] decide for themselves what the decisional outcome should be; and then to measure their own decisions and judgments against that of the courts. If their decision is different from that of the court, they should seek to find out why. 

[Third, students]. . . must [learn to] appreciate [and use consistently] the use this specialized language in their explanations and expressions of opinion.

[Fourth, students]. . . must . . . augment and enrich their experiences by absorbing the historical significance associated with the development of doctrines, policies, industries, economic activities, etc., which some courts elaborate upon in great detail.

And last, [students] must. . . . read cases and law-related materials to learn how lawyers are expected to organize their thought, and to communicate with others within the profession. 

1. See, Donald K. Hill, Law School, Legal Education, and the Black Law Student, 12 T. Marshall L. Rev. 457 (1987)(cites omitted)(The article focuses on Black students. I believe that it applies with equal force to any student who comes from a oral tradition. This includes most students of color (African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans) and many white students.