Illustration by Alex Williamson
In recent weeks, the vast divide between whites and African-Americans has once again risen to the surface. Just beneath the thin layer of polite smiles and forced integration lies a reality that even the most liberal whites don’t understand. In the eyes of those who have lived privileged lives, the upheaval in Ferguson is about the killing of Michael Brown. They see it as an isolated incident that has nothing to do with overpolicing—or with disparities in prosecutions, convictions, sentencing, and incarceration of blacks. To them, it has nothing to do with excessive bench warrants, disrespect, and the lack of value placed on the lives of black men. It has nothing to do with yet another white officer, a man paid to serve and protect, escalating jaywalking to a capital offense.
Those condemning the protests gone wrong solely on the basis of edited scenes viewed on 60-inch, high-definition TVs from the comfort of their homes conveniently forget their own indiscretions and those of their children. They discount a history of lynching, oppression, discrimination, abuse, and predatory lending that has manifested not only in engendered psychosis and marred expectations, but also in the very world their tolerance allows to exist. While chiding those who torched stores that preyed on their needs and provided only low-paying jobs, it’s easy to forget that every ounce of wealth in this country is inextricably linked to the free and underpaid labor of blacks.
Many accept as fact the well-crafted messages about crime that justify a system incarcerating more blacks than whites, despite the fact that whites are more often guilty of crimes. They conveniently ignore the implications of the banking debacle that set the world economy into a downward spiral, while condoning the imprisonment of black mothers for trying to survive. Most are unaware that the U.S. has slipped substantially in educational ranking in the world, while catapulting to No. 1 in incarcerations—one in every 100 adults, leading virtually every other country in the world. They are woefully unaware that blacks, as well as poor whites, are once again being used as cheap labor.
Racism has taken hold of America, if it ever let it go. It has gripped it by the neck and wrangled the very sense of justice from its laws. It has whitewashed America’s history and turned its schools into pipelines to prisons. It has purchased legislators and an equal number of high-powered guns. Like a pendulum used to hypnotize, racism has lulled even the “good people” into accepting the lies. Racism makes it easier to hate than to accept a world that requires that we love. It’s easy to pretend it doesn’t exist, because ending it requires that we change.
If we are to grow, change we must. Change is the goal of The Ethics Project, which is partnering with the University of Missouri–St. Louis and the U.S. Department of Justice to host The National Youth Summit on Education, Justice and the US Economy. Set for April 2015, that event will bring about change by coupling the brilliance of 1,600 youths from 50 American cities with the wisdom of 40 national experts from 12 universities, businesses, and organizations. Change is the arduous task that we promise we’ll get done.
Griffin is the founder and president of The Ethics Project, a nonprofit that seeks to reduce the impact of crime, injustice, and incarceration. A practicing attorney for 23 years, Griffin is the author of Incarcerations in Black and White: The Subjugation of Black America.
