Firsts in North Carolina's history
Lawyers
- First African American: George Lawrence Mabson (1871) [1]
- First Native American male: Horace Locklear (1972) [2]
- First Hispanic American male (U.S. Army, North Carolina): [3] Jhonathan Morales Nájera (c. 2016)
State judges
- First Native American males (both from the Lumbee tribe): Early Bullard and Lacy Maynor in 1954 and 1958 respectively [4] [5] [6] [7]
- First Hispanic American male (magistrate): Gaspar R. Gonzalez, Sr. [8]
- First African American male: Sammie Chess Jr. in 1971 [9] [10]
- First African American male (Resident Superior Court): Clifton Johnson in 1977 [11]
- First African American male (North Carolina Court of Appeals): Clifton Johnson in 1982 [11]
- First African American male (North Carolina Supreme Court): Henry Frye in 1983 [12] [13]
- First African American male (Senior Resident; Superior Court): Cy A. Grant Sr. in 1988 [14]
- First Native American (Lumbee) male (superior court): Sandy Dexter Brooks (1976) in 1989 [15] [16]
- First openly gay male: Ray Warren around 1998 [17] [18]
- First African American male (North Carolina Supreme Court; Chief Justice): Henry Frye in 1999 [12] [13]
- First Native American (Cherokee) male: Brad Letts in 2000 [19]
- First Hispanic American male: Albert Diaz (1988) in 2001 [20] [21]
- First Sri Lankan American male (district court): Roy Wijewickrama in 2010 [22] [23]
- First Latino American male (elected): Lou Olivera in 2012 [24]
- First openly gay male (elected): John S. Arrowood in 2017 [25] [26]
- First Yemeni American male: Rashad Hauter in 2021 [27] [28]
Federal judges
- First African American male (federal district court): Richard Erwin in 1980 [29] [30]
- First Hispanic American male (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit): Albert Diaz (1988) in 2010 [20] [21]
Assistant Attorney General
- First African American male: Walter E. Ricks III in 1973 [31]
United States Attorney
- First African American male: Mickey Michaux (1964) in 1977 [32] [33]
Assistant United States Attorneys
- First African American male: Henry Frye in 1963 [12] [13]
- First Asian American male: Zeppelin Wong in 1963 [34] [35]
District Attorney
- First African American male: Carl Fox in 1984 [36]
Assistant District Attorney
- First African American male: Walter Johnson, Jr. during the 1960s [37]
North Carolina Bar Association
- First African American male president: Cressie H. Thigpen, Jr. in 2005 [38]