Chief judge of the largest federal court in the US resigned after making a patronizing & racially offensive comment abt the court’s chief admin officer, a Black woman, in a public webinar. Glad @latimes is reporting this, but it’s not the whole story 1/12 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-28/chief-district-judge-los-angeles-steps-down-racially-insensitive-comments
This @latimes article tracks the judge’s resignation email that he sent to the entire court. It adds little bckground, context, or original reporting. True, this is not the biggest story of the day, but the judge had been chief less than a month! 2/12 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-28/chief-district-judge-los-angeles-steps-down-racially-insensitive-comments
Also, the ending of this @latimes article is super weird in that it quotes from the judge’s resignation email about political diviseiness, which had nothing to do with his comments or calls for him to step down—classic red herring 3/12 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-28/chief-district-judge-los-angeles-steps-down-racially-insensitive-comments
Yes, the judge’s “street smart” comment was not appropriate to make of the court’s chief admin officer, a Black woman, with 35+ years of service to the court. He admits that. But, the “street smart” comment was not his biggest offense 4/12 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-28/chief-district-judge-los-angeles-steps-down-racially-insensitive-comments
The judge’s bigger offense was the way he handled the criticism of his inappropriate comment. Remember, he admits that it was inappropriate. Rather than apologizing, educating himself, praising the chief admin officer, and moving on, he dug in 5/12 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-28/chief-district-judge-los-angeles-steps-down-racially-insensitive-comments
Fashioning himself a victim (another classic move), the judge later implies he’s being persecuted & treated in the same way that Chauvin—the police officer who killed George Floyd—was being treated bc there were some who called for him to step down 6/12 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-28/chief-district-judge-los-angeles-steps-down-racially-insensitive-comments
Never mind the tone deafness of such a comment, this is a federal judge w/ lifetime appointment engaging in lazy logical fallacies. He was not being treated similarly as George Floyd’s murderer. No was calling for him to be arrested & put on trial 7/12 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-28/chief-district-judge-los-angeles-steps-down-racially-insensitive-comments
He couldn’t fathom anyone would think his “street smart” comment was made with anything but the best of intentions. But, intentions are one part of the equation. Recognizing your implicit bias means knowing your intentions can manifest in flawed ways 8/12 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-28/chief-district-judge-los-angeles-steps-down-racially-insensitive-comments
Not recognizing implicit bias could lead him to make a patronizing & racially offensive comment is the bigger issue. And, that he stubbornly defended it by saying he didn’t know it could have a derogatory connotation is textaulsim at its worst 9/12 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-28/chief-district-judge-los-angeles-steps-down-racially-insensitive-comments
The judge’s behavior is exactly what you’d expect from someone who views leadership as a right and not a privilege. When you view your leadership as a right, you can’t accept that others might think you’re not worthy and hold you to a higher standard 10/12 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-28/chief-district-judge-los-angeles-steps-down-racially-insensitive-comments
The chief judge’s fall—only a month into his term—is a lesson in leadership. All leaders make mistakes. Some of them are redeemable & his initial mistake was. But he failed as a leader because he couldn’t put his ego aside to listen, learn, and grow 11/12 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-28/chief-district-judge-los-angeles-steps-down-racially-insensitive-comments
Maybe chief federal judges shouldn’t be appointed based on seniority, but that’s a tweet thread for another day! 12/12