June 2023 – Albert Russell Thompson

Is it mean or racist to not call a lawyer “Dr. John Smith”

Now, here’s the thing the J.D. in America used to be called the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.). As late as the 1960s, US law schools still used LL.B. The J.D. is considered a professional degree. It is a common understanding that a doctor refers to someone who has conducted significant accredited and supervised research in their field or practices medicine. That is someone who has earned an advanced research degree or a postgraduate medical degree.

Calling lawyers “Dr” is still non-standard practice in the US, regardless of race or ethnicity. Esquire, or Esq., gets the job done by saying you are a lawyer.

African Americans value the title “doctor” and “Dr.” earned through completing terminal research degrees. We use it and “professor” more frequently professionally and academically due to having our achievements, educational or otherwise, ignored, belittled, and attacked for centuries. Due to this past, we often find some Whites’ leveling and familiar tendencies offensive This means there is a cultural difference regarding the importance of earned titles.