HOUSTON — As a partner and chief diversity officer at Thompson & Knight, Pauline Higgins was not afraid to press the issue of hiring minorities at the 126-year-old Texas law firm. But when she left in 2008, she was replaced by an associate with less influence. Now, current and former partners say, the diversity committee meets less often, and the firm has fewer black lawyers than before. It is a trajectory familiar in many elite realms of American professional life. Even as racial barriers continue to fall, progress for African-Americans over all has remained slow — and in some cases appears to be stalling.
{...} Nearly a half-century after a Texan, President Lyndon B. Johnson, helped usher in the era of affirmative action, the Supreme Court is poised to rule as early as this week on whether the University of Texas can continue to consider race as one of many factors in its admissions policy. It is a case that could have a profound impact on race-based affirmative action programs across the nation, and it has reignited a discussion of how much progress minorities, blacks in particular, have made in integrating into some of the most sought-after professions, especially since the recession.
Lisa Tatum, the black lawyer who will take over the presidency of the Texas bar next month, said there was concern that firms were not pursuing diversity as aggressively as they did before.
“There’s no question there’s been some pullback,” said Ms. Tatum, who works in San Antonio. “There are some firms that look at what they have done, they look at President Obama, and they say we’re there.” ... The recession set back diversity efforts in many fields. After the financial crisis hit in 2008, the Conference Board, a business membership and research organization, asked senior executives how the downturn was changing their priorities. Among the several challenges they deemed less pressing was “achieving diversity and representation in the cross-cultural work force.”
