New York is abuzz with the story of a black Davis, Polk & Wardwell ex-associate who's sued the firm for racial discrimination.

 

Kaloma Nkosi Cardwell, a graduate of Berkeley Law School, alleges such shocking acts of discrimination as:  other lawyers failing to look him in the eye, getting a cold reception for telling Davis Polk partners to distance the firm from a client he disapproved of, and being left off deal emails.

 

But by Mr. Cardwell's own admission, he's an affirmative action hire, through and through.  His federal complaint lists all the standard black "accomplishments":  awards for "diversity" and "leadership," membership in (duh) black bar groups, black student groups, etc.

 

Nowhere does he mention his law school grades. 

 

A cursory glance at this guy's Twitter feed and school background (a degree in "Africana" studies from Lehigh) shows that he's obsessed with race and "racism", black pride, black identity, etc. 

 

His real goal isn't the careful handling of mergers and acquisitions, but social justice war.

 

Davis Polk is denying racism, and says Cardwell was fired for sub-standard performance.

Cardwell might have been warned: Biglaw firms are shot-through with competitive stress for anyone of any race.  They chew up and spit out some of the smartest and talented people around. 

 

Cardwell was likely told, all his life, what a winner he was.  The slights he recounts in his 86-page complaint [PDF] are of the mundane sort experienced by anyone at a law firm, and his sensitivity to such things as "I didn't get an e-mail response!" just scream "entitled millennial."

 

There is some deliciousness in watching elite institutions that prattle on their webpages about their "commitment to diversity" getting nipped at by lawsuits like Cardwell's.

 

What it demonstrates is that whites, try hard as they might, will NEVER satisfy the prickly pride of black agitators.  Cardwell was swimming in waters he couldn't swim, and now wants to blame "racism" for his face-plant.

 

I trust the suit will fail.

 

The real victim of discrimination isn't Cardwell.  It's the white law student who didn't get hired so that he could.