Restorative Justice and Lasting Peace
re·stor·a·tive
jus·tice
noun
1. a
system of criminal justice which focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders
through reconciliation with victims and the community at large.
(Oxford
Languages)
I want to expand upon these words,
in looking at a future vision of the United States.
The victims are many! George Floyd is a clear example. A young Black man was murdered through the
choke hold of a white policeman, while other policemen stood by. Matthew Shepard was murdered because he was
openly gay. Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry
and Ashley Judd are all rape survivors.
I often hear the words: “racism was
a major problem that was ended by the civil rights legislation of the
1960’s. Now, we have a few bad apples,
not a systemic problem.”
Rape, sexual abuse, domestic
violence and child abuse were huge problems, little talked about until the
1970’s and 1980’s. Many women,
children, and men continue to be victimized.
I’ve not heard a single case of a famous
man “coming clean” about his past exploitation, until he’s been “outed” by
others (usually some of his victims).
Some examples of men “outed” are:
Matt Lauer, Senator Al Franken, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, and Bill
Cosby.
Inequality is both a racial and
class issue in the U.S.
A Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis report
shows this clearly.
Wealth inequality in America has grown
tremendously from 1989 to 2016, to the point where the top 10% of families
ranked by household wealth (with at least $1.2 million in net worth) own 77% of
the wealth “pie.” The bottom half of families ranked by household wealth (with
$97,000 or less in net worth) own only 1% of the pie. … In
2016, the typical white family had about 10 times the wealth of the typical
black family and about 7.5 times the wealth of the typical Hispanic family. https://www.stlouisfed.org/open-vault/2019/august/wealth-inequality-in-america-facts-figures
Another source: Second quarter 2019
Total Family Asset Figures by Percentiles: (trillions):
Top 1% = $35.5 = 28.2 % of Total
90-99th% = $46.2 = 36.6 %
50-90th = $36.9 = 29.3 %
0.01-50th = $ 7.5 = 4.7%
Residential segregation is one way
that Black (and LatinX) People remain second class citizens in the U.S.
An analysis of U.S. Census Data from 2013–17
found that the “dissimilarity index” between blacks and non-Hispanic whites for
metropolitan areas was 0.526 for the median area—meaning that 52.6 percent of
African Americans or whites would have to move for the area to be fully
integrated.
A black family that earns $157,000 per year
is less likely to qualify
for a prime loan than is a white family earning $40,000 per
year, which means that white families can borrow heavily at favorable rates,
while black families are far less likely to receive a safe, fair loan product.48
Black–white racial segregation, deliberately
created by whites over decades to subjugate black people, continues to thwart
opportunities for millions of African Americans. Of the many ways in which
American society unfairly treats black people, the continued segregation of
residential areas remains a central source of racial inequality.
The writing (noted above) provides detailed data
and quotes from authors and researchers.
It discusses residential and school segregation, and related disparities
in income and net worth.
High school attendance in my home town Chicago is instructive.
Chicago’s population is:
Asian = 6.6%
Black = 29.9%
LatinX = 28.8%
White = 50.05 (33.3 non-LatinX)%
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/chicagocityillinois
The Chicago Public Schools are
(October 5, 2020- www.cps.edu):
Asian = 4.3%
Black = 35.8%
LatinX = 46.7%
White = 10.95%
|
Non-Selective Enrollment |
Race |
% |
% Low Income |
|
Clemente |
L |
92.2 |
80.5 |
|
Foreman |
L |
75.3 |
89.9 |
|
Harlan |
B |
98.7 |
86.5 |
|
Hirsch |
B |
99 |
89.6 |
|
Hubbard |
L |
92.3 |
87 |
|
Infinity |
L |
94.1 |
72.9 |
|
King |
B |
96.7 |
94.01 |
|
Marshall |
B |
97.3 |
95.9 |
Selective Enrollment High Schools:
|
A |
B |
L |
W |
% Low Income |
|
|
Jones |
14.6 |
11.3 |
29 |
40.7 |
34.8 |
|
Lane |
10.4 |
6.6 |
37.3 |
39.1 |
38.4 |
|
Northside |
19.4 |
5.4 |
30.4 |
31.1 |
39 |
|
Payton |
19.1 |
10 |
21.7 |
44.2 |
28,6 |
|
Whitney Young |
21.4 |
18.5 |
28.3 |
26.1 |
35 |
The statistics above speak for themselves!
Many urban school districts had so few white students
(while suburban districts had few Black students), that plans needed to require
city/suburban cooperation. Bussing
students to integrate schools began, and encountered much white resistance.
Biden got the message. If he continued to
defend busing, he ran the real risk of becoming a one-term senator. In 1975,
Joe Biden stunned his Senate colleagues by throwing his support behind known
segregationist Jesse Helm’s proposed antibusing amendment to the
Constitution. (p.65, Oluo, Ijeoma: MEDIOCRE: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America)
Our
soon to be president spoke in the
mid-1970’s of the need to have other paths to integrate of our schools. Forty five years later (with no plans from
him) , the problems often have worsened, but nothing substantive has been done.
There are many more examples I could share,
explaining how racism persists. From the
1930’s on, the Federal Government (through financing provided to developers,
and loan programs for buyers) required racist policies creating segregated
suburbs (and cities) (see: my review of The
Color of Law at: https://workingtowardsendingracism.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-color-of-law-richard-rothstein.html).
***
I don’t blame myself for creating racism, sexism
or classism! I do believe that I’ve
benefited from all of them. I also
continue to benefit from them.
I am an “offender. Am I a major offender? For most of my adult life I’ve only tokenly
worked to end racism and sexism. I’ve
known of their importance for at least 40 years. I’ve been just like many others in seeing the
problems as “their problems”, not “my problem”, far too often.
How do we atone?
We need to first really learn about the issues. It is not easy to end “not-me-ite-is” within
ourselves! It is much easier to change
the subject.
Every day of her life, Racism “flashes” within my
(Black) wife is reminded of her Blackness and what it means. Racism “flashes” within her all the
time. I can easily fall back into (closeting)
my “whiteness” (and maleness) easily. I don’t
need to stand out. I can easily hide in
“normalcy”.
As a whole, we white (and male, where we are male) people have three core choices.
We
can:
1. 1. (basically) do nothing and thus accept the status quo.
2. 2. seek “equality” – e.g. – end discriminatory laws and their
enforcement,
3. 3. work towards radical change, seeking to systemically end
racism, sexism, classism and trans/gay/lesbian phobias.
In the past most efforts for change have sought
“equality” through basic civil rights legislation. Such legislation bans discrimination in areas
like hiring, education, and housing.
Legislation has not dealt with the facts
that police stops of “suspicious persons” disproportionately affects BIPOC
(Black, Indigenous and People of Color) in multiple ways.
I just Googled: “The Talk” and it took about 4-5
pages of listings until I go to what I was looking for. Most
white people probably do not know what I am referring to. I never heard of it until I was
middle-aged. One example:
“Mommy, the darkest people get shooted and killed and sometimes
the little bit lighter ones, too,” 4-year-old Quest McEwen mused a few months
ago as his mother, Tessa McEwen, listened in shock. “So, that’s why I want to
be good,” he continued. “Maybe I shouldn’t talk like this so I don’t get died.”
Quest wasn’t done fretting, however, when on a more recent
morning, he worried aloud that he didn’t know “if Daddy’s dead,” because his
father, Jelani McEwen, had come in late the night before following after-hours
volunteer work in their Chicago neighborhood.
Like scores of black and brown families throughout the United
States, the McEwens are struggling with the delicate-but-brutal balancing act
of protecting their children’s innocence, while educating them about the
realities of what it means to be black in this country.
For these parents and their children, “The Talk” has nothing to
do with birds and bees. It is about surviving police encounters, being aware of
your rights and learning how to live within a complex, systemic, centuries-old
framework of race-based prejudice, violence and discrimination.
https://www.utne.com/community/police-racial-discrimination-zm0z17uzcwil
School systems can not “integrate” when their student bodies are
nearly all white or BIPOC.
Neighborhoods and suburbs can not integrate when most BIPOC can not
afford to live in them. Suburbs will
not become diverse when they deny developers the right to build multi-unit
housing and require large lot sizes for single-family houses.
White people will not deal with their racism when their close
friends and most of their neighbors are primarily white people, very similar to
them in many ways. White school
children will grow up similar to their parents when their schools are either
predominantly white, or when tracking in their schools, and their friends in
school are (or become) predominantly white.
Sexism will not end until we men confront our sexist world(s)
and actively work to support women’s efforts to end sexist violence, as well
other gender-based inequality.
Classism will not end until we recognize the class divisions
that we have, and actively work to minimize and end their persistence in our
lives. As long as buzzwords like
“socialism” shut off discussion of economic issues, we can not seriously work
on classism. When we ignore classism,
we can’t deal with its interconnectedness with racism.
In today’s polarized world, we need to listen to the concerns
and fears of both BIPOC and white people.
Frequently, some white people see their “victimhood” in distorted
ways. Many white men have seen their privilege
diminish greatly in recent decades. Women and BIPOC don’t defer to them as they
used to do.
These men have taken in the words of those who have spoken to
their fears. These “talkers” have
included both wealthy business interests and their leaders, who profit from
scapegoating others, as well as politicians and their supporters who similarly
play on fear.
Many white men (and women) believe that immigrants, gays,
“liberals”, and government itself have taken their opportunities away from
them. They are often blind to the
effects that automation and the exporting of jobs to poor, Third World
Countries have had on their lives.
Blaming “China” or “socialism” or focusing upon “right to life” related
issues can greatly affect these white people.
We have a new world of social media.
The words that I read are far different from what these people see and
hear.
While breaking down these barriers is not easy, it is very
important!
Efforts to legislate equality are doomed to failure. Upper-middle class white parents like myself
look at primarily at the education of
our children. We won’t tolerate anything
which forces our children to lose their programs or being “the AP
students”. We don’t and won’t
subsidize paying for poorer children to have the after-school and summer
programs that our children routinely have.
Equality doesn’t get poor children the glasses that they need or
the corrective eye exercises that will allow them to see the pages of their
books. Equality doesn’t eliminate the
factors that cause many poor children to have lead poisoning or asthma.
***
“Reparations” is probably a much bigger – “shut down the
talk” word for most of us than almost anything we may hear. “Restorative justice” sounds scary also.
Reparation awareness requires us to see that for other people to
“get more”, we may/will “get less”. We
won’t get chosen for the job as frequently.
Healthcare may cost us more, as others get similar coverage, at costs
they can afford.
It isn’t a “zero sum game”.
As a man, I need to learn to listen to, and respect women. As an upper-middle class person, I may pay a
little more in taxes some of the time, so that poorer people can pay less
taxes. I am not wealthy, but I am a
“have” (as opposed to a “have not”).
If/when poorer Americans get more, I might end up with a little less.
Atoning – is not a simple solution. What I am doing now “isn’t enough”. What I and we need to do isn’t all obvious
to me today.
How do we help BIPOC, women, and those who lack income/resources? We need to deal with issues related to:
housing, education, healthcare, personal relationships, religion/spiritual
practices, our hearts – and much more.
We need to ask questions.
We need to really listen to others who are different from us. We need to dialog as equals.
RESOURCES
I will suggest some groups that I work with in my life. There are plenty more that I don’t work
with.
SURJ – Showing Up for Racial Justice – www.showingupforracialjustice.org
OWMCL – Organizing White Men for Collective Liberation – www.owmcl.org
A Call to Men – www.acalltomen.org
For anyone who might want to learn about some of
the issues, I’d suggest some books. My
top (tough) choices on racism are:
Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and
Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements -by Charlene Carruthers and
The Years That
Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us – by Paul Tough
Related to Donald Trump and “his” (political) “right”,
I’d recommend:
Anger
and Mourning on the American Right – by: Arlie Russell
Hochschild.
Related to economics and inequality, I’d recommend:
People,
Power and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent
– by: Joseph Stiglitz
We have a lot of work to do! I have a lot of work to do!
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