Since my last post, I have received many questions and appreciated feedback from my friends from all walks of life and many perspectives. I have felt led to continue this hard conversation about racial inequality in our criminal justice system.
Mr. Wilson wants avoid the difficult conversation about the reality of racial inequality in our courts. He called “police attacks on communities of color” as “rare as they are regrettable.” While admitting that there was real violence against black people during slavery and Jim Crow, he says not anymore: “That isn’t today’s America.” His response to the plea for Black Lives is “Yes, but, all lives matter.”
This retort denies and avoids the centuries of racial pain and suffering expressed in the declaration that “Black Lives Matter.” When I say that “Black Lives Matter” he seems to hear “White lives don’t matter.” Here, Mr. Wilson has become defensive, and cannot critically examine the painful truth of how our society systematically values black lives less than white lives. On any measure of social health, education, housing, health care, employment, wealth, access to justice, and life expectancy, people of color suffer inequality when compared with white people. Racial inequality in wealth is worse now than in the 1950s.
My white children have unique privileges and protections as a simple result of the color of their skin. My child will largely escape being unfairly suspended at school because of their race. Because of the color of their skin, my child is less likely to encounter demeaning and discouraging remarks from adults in authority. My child is likely to have more opportunities at school, avoid diversion to less quality classes, and escape being labeled “at risk.” My child is more likely to graduate from high school. If my child goes to college, they will have more financial opportunities to pay for it. The predominantly white institutions my child may attend will not subject them to increased police surveillance and the higher risk of stop, search, and seizure. My child is less likely to be denied a job, or the opportunity to rent an apartment because of race. If my son or daughter wants to buy a house, it is more likely they will pay a lower interest rate on their mortgage because of their race. These positive outcomes for my child does not take away from their hard work, intellect, or talent; however, no matter how smart or gifted my children are, the loving culture and institutions give them a head start and erect fewer barriers toward their success. The statistically better outcomes that white children experience over their black and brown peers is a reflection of a broken, racist system, and not on their merit.
One of the most persistent, and dangerous, differences for whites and people of color are our individual and collective experiences with the police and the criminal justice system. Black and brown individuals stopped for a speeding ticket are more likely to be unfairly searched for drugs than a white driver. The Durham Human Relations Commission has recently found, as a fact, that the Durham Police engage in racial profiling. (http://www.wral.com/report-racial-bias-exists-within-durham-police-department/13611396/ ).
In one of my recent cases, the Durham Police TASERed a black child for no reason. (http://www.thedurhamnews.com/2015/01/06/4451421/family-takes-complaint-to-police.html) The rate of investigation, arrest, and incarceration for black people is much higher than it was in the 1950s. People of color in our community are the victims of police use of force at a greater rate than white people. Why is that?
Many citations and arrests occur as a result of proactive police investigations, police out looking for potential violations of the law. The problem with racial profiling is that police are spending too much time fishing in the poor communities of color, when studies show there is just as much crime happening in white communities. When was the last time you heard about a major undercover drug operation on Duke campus or in an affluent white neighborhood? Statistically speaking there is as much- if not more- drugs there too. At its core, the racial injustice in our criminal justice system is that our laws are not being equally applied to people regardless of their race. If the justice system is a hammer, it pummels black and brown lives more often and much harder than white lives.
Mr. Wilson’s claim that the real issue is “black on black crime” and that there is a “civil war” within the black community is most disturbing. Noting that 93% of black homicides were committed by other blacks, Mr. Wilson concludes that the “real war” is a “civil war” in the black community. This is a particularly insidious form of diversion because it redirects the focus from the underlying causes of racial inequality by blaming poor communities of color for the effects of racial injustice. By rhetorical sleight of hand, Mr. Wilson moves the spot light from the underlying causes of systematic racial inequality by blaming the people suffering from the manifestations of this inequality.
This argument simultaneously reinforces dangerously false racial media images of the “violent black man.” Mr. Wilson has erred in his selective statistical narrative, and would rather talk about the crimes of black people than the systematic criminal injustice in our policies and government. He fails to mention that 94% of the white homicides were also committed by other whites. And yet no white person would seriously contend there is an ongoing “civil war” in the white community. That is absurd. It is just as absurd to claim there is a “civil war” within the black community.
This absurdity illustrates the cognitive distortions that arise in our thinking when we see the world through our racial lens. This thought betrays a deeply embedded racialized view of our community. It uncritically accepts racial segregation within our community as a historical and acceptable status quo: there is a “black community” and a “white community” and they are separate. This idea of a “black civil war” also falsely portrays individual criminal acts as actions of the entire black community. This reinforces false stereotypes of race by confusing criminal acts with racially motivated hate crimes. A police killing as a result of racial profiling is a different kind of crime, a hate crime based on racial prejudice. Racially motivated killings receive greater punishment in our criminal justice system because they are really acts of terrorism on a vulnerable group motived by race. When police unlawfully target people on the basis of their color and then detain, search, harass, beat, TASER and kill those people - this creates a fear of unlawful State sponsored violence against people of color. This differs in kind and in quantity from the individual acts of “black on black” crime Mr. Wilson is calling a “civil war,” and yet he implicitly tries to equate the two. These kinds of arguments divert the conversation away from an important critical discussion of systematic racial inequality in police behavior, and reinforce false racial visions of our community.
This idea of a “black civil war” also refuses to see our community as a whole, a beloved community. Yes, there are criminals hurting and killing our black and white brothers and sisters. When searching for crime, Durham Police are unfairly targeting innocent people of color for stops, searches, and acts of violence when they should be working to gain the trust of communities and solve violent crimes. We cannot have a conversation about racial reconciliation if we are viewing each other as separate.
Another disturbing aspect of Bob Wilson’s argument is how it acknowledges that police kill people of color, but tries to avoid this problem by 1) blaming the victim, 2) minimizing our oversight responsibility to govern the police, and 3) changing the subject entirely by pointing to crimes of black individuals. This kind of thinking glosses over our collective responsibility for the actions of our police. They work for us. As our public servants, paid by our tax dollars and governed by our elected leaders, the police are killing people in our name. The Police practice of racially selective surveillance, detention, and use of force leaves the blood of black lives on our public hands. And who can we call when the police commit a crime? No one. There is a persistent refusal to charge police with crimes, and a myriad of economic and legal barriers to holding them accountable in civil court.
There is no one in the Durham Police Department or District Attorney’s office talking about arresting the officer for unlawfully assaulting my black child client who was TASERed by a Durham Police Officer. He probably did not miss a pay check for his unlawful conduct.
We would rather criticize the protesters than hear their message. Mr. Wilson and others say the protests are a “war on the police.” Some say the protesters are inciting violence against the police and supporting physical attacks on the police. They intentionally confuse legitimate criticism with violent physical attacks. When I say “Black Lives Matter,” these folks hear “police are bad, so hurt them.” This is failure to hear what I am saying about racial inequality, which effectively denies the problem. This is a defensive reaction that feels the need to defend police at all cost, rather than critically examine the specific racial disparities in police practice. These folks would rather defend the good officers than have a hard conversation about how the whole system is infected by racial inequality.
This reaction has taken on some bizarre manifestations of late. The police in New York have engaged in a work stoppage as a protest and have stopped making “unnecessary arrests.” (Which begs the question why they are arresting people unnecessarily to begin with?) The police turned their back on the Mayor for admitting he has had to talk to his son of color about the risks he faces, and “It should be self-evident, but our history requires us to say that black lives matter.” The police complain when someone on the street disrespects their authority, and then do exactly that. When the protesters criticized their poor behavior, the police of New York City intentionally behaved worse – disregarding the law and their duty. In so doing they exhibited the kind of arrogance of power that is a symptom of the unhealthy police blue-wall culture.
When the Mayor said “black lives matter,” the police heard “All police are bad.” But that is not what we are saying. We are trying to have a broader conversation about racial inequality as it is expressed in police power.
It is easier to talk about sticks, stones, and graffiti than systemic racial inequality. I hear comments like, “I may agree with the protesters message, but they shouldn’t disrupt traffic.” This kind of complaint is a way to dismiss content by criticizing form. It also forgets our long history of protest and civil disobedience. Jim Crow would not have fallen without sit-ins. Have we truly forgotten how disruptive the civil rights era protests were? We all need to spend some time in front of the new Durham Civil Rights Mural on the wall next to the Arts Council until we know all of the stories depicted. (We also need to raise money for its completion)
Change is disruptive. As a Quaker, I am committed to a racial vision of non-violence, and so I personally abhor any act of violence toward the police. And yet, I understand the frustration of a young person hurling a stone at a protest much more than I understand a trained professional police officer unlawfully TASERing a black child.
Chief Lopez has engaged in this “criticize the protester” form of avoidance and denial when he characterized protesters as “outside agitators” and complained that the cost of police work for protests were diverted money away from solving crimes. You only have to look at the addresses printed in the news of the people arrested to see they are from the Triangle. And the hundreds of other people who have protested without being arrested are also from our area. This “outside agitator” argument is an effort to say that people in Durham are really fine with the police, it is other people who are complaining and it’s none of t their business. This was a diversion and avoidance tactic used often by white supremacists during the civil rights movement to suggest that no southerners were concerned with racial equality. The truth is that the Human Relations Commission found racial profiling in the Durham Police Department after public hearings. The truth is we have a problem and people in Durham care a lot about how the police are functioning.
Chief Lopez’s complaint about how much money the protests cost is also a diversion and a sad comment on his attitude about the freedoms of our Constitution. Silence is cheaper. A system that does not allow criticism is more efficient. But democracy requires protest and critical examinations of government policy. It must be a hard time for police at to be the center and focal point of the criticism, and I am sure Chief Lopez would rather concentrate on other duties than to keep people safe during these protests against the police. But it is the job of our police officers to protect our right to peacefully protest, even if they disagree with the message that “Black Lives Matter.” Our First Amendment rights cannot be reduced to the cost of policing protests. Complaining about the cost to police protests belittles the freedom of our democracy.
So I make a plea to Mr. Wilson, Chief Lopez, and others to stop denying or minimizing the problem of racial inequality. If you are still in the denial phase, go read peer reviewed studies about racial disparities in education, housing, employment, education, health care, and criminal justice. Hear the pain behind the plea for black lives before you dismiss it and try to change the conversation.
When I say “Black Lives Matter” I am trying to have a conversation about deeply rooted systematic racial inequality in our systems of government. I am not personally attacking police officers or saying all police are bad. I respect and honor the hard working men and women who risk their lives to keep my family safe, and handle horrible situations beyond my imagination in the late night.
What are afraid of? Why do we engage in denial and avoidance when it comes to hard conversations about race? We are afraid because we don’t want to admit how deeply our own lens is infected by the disease of racism. We don’t want to see how deeply we are complicit in these unfair systems. We want to believe that everything is equal. We want to think there is equal opportunity. We want to see the world as a place where all people have the same level of comfort, safety, and opportunity as we do. We don’t want to face the possibility that our wealth, comfort, and opportunity have come at the cost of another’s suffering. I know that the racially discriminatory application of the GI Bill and the national racial housing policies of the Federal Housing Administration gave my poor share-cropping grandfathers an opportunity for education and building wealth that helped them escape poverty, leaving most of their black peers behind. It is hard for me to face that my own education and wealth are the product of this history of white supremacy. But, we will never get past denial and avoidance as individuals or as a community until we face these truths and engage in the hard and messy racial conversations.
In the process we must be gentle with ourselves and others. Judgment, blame, and name calling only reify racial oppositions. Great compassion toward ourselves and each other is required. So is great courage. The work of reconciliation is a process of owning the Truth of racial inequality and working with compassion to support the dismantling of racism together.
Scott Holmes
With assistance from Amelia O’Rourke-Owens
Durham Residents, Attorneys, and Quakers
We are trying to organize our community to read the New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander, and conduct study groups in February. Here are some good study guides:
New Jim Crow Website
Anne Braden
Quaker - American Friends Study Guide
Jewish Currents
Unitarian Universalists
Samuel Dewitt Proctor - Baptist Church affiliation - unfortunately they are charging $14 for the guide
Kansas African American Affairs Study Guide
Some recommendations to the City Council: http://www.southerncoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/HRCDPDreport.pdf 
