Jay-Z on Black Arbitrators

Jay-Z won a court battle on Wednesday that put a halt on his legal battle over his Roc Nation clothing brand. He did so on the grounds that there were, "not enough African-American arbitrators eligible to rule on his case." The New York Times  reported that Iconix sued the rapper and entrepreneur last year, claiming his Roc Nation agreement violated their own 2007 sale agreement. Months later, Jay-Z countersued, arguing the agreement only applied to Rocawear, not Roc Nation.  The Times said, "As Jay-Z began looking at the list of eligible arbitrators, he was 'confronted with a  stark reality: He could not identify a single African-American arbitrator on the roster.'" The article then discussed the necessary life experience and the deprivation of litigants of color in past cases. His lawyers argued the lack of African-American arbitrators constitutes racial discrimination. I agree, as the case, regardless of the problem at hand should be dealt with by a wide range of perspectives, backgrounds and lived experiences. It should not be all vanilla, not all milk toast.