WARNING: Long. But original...Ive been thinking. At the heart of the question so many of us are debating recently, in person or on Facebook or wherever people meet to talk, is whether we live in a just society. Those who cry out against Michael Browns killer and the circumstances that brought it about believe that justice does not exist for many Americans; that the system is fundamentally stacked against them. Those defending officer Wilson believe that the system works, and that justice is blind and serves us all. So, which is it? Let me use some recent events local to me (in Portland, Oregon) to illustrate the point as I see it. As many of you know, Im a regular bicycle commuter so news that impacts the bicycle community tends to find its way in front of me: in this case, two cases where cyclists were injured. In one case, a drunk driver swerved into a bike lane and hit a rider, knocking him into the ditch. The driver, a black man in his 30s, fled the scene (after making a return drive-by) but witnesses got his license plate number. He had two prior DUIs, and just committed a felony hit-and-run. He was tried and sentenced to four years prison. The second case involved two white teenage girls, both 15 years old. Some terribly misguided sense of mischief led them to pick up debris, in this case a half-brick each, and hurl it at passing cyclists. One cyclist was missed, but the other was hit in the face. He had bruises and lacerations from the brick but managed to ride to a safe location and call 911. The girls were arrested, and the one who hit him was tried for assault. Given her age and the fact she had no priors, she received a 30-day prison sentence. So, does the system work? Does this sound like justice to you? It kind of does to me, or at least a pretty good approximation. The problem is Ive lied to you. In reality, the repeat offender drunk driver was a 30-year-old white woman. She got 30 days for her hit and run. The brick-throwing teen was a 15-year-old black male. He got 4 years...more than a quarter of his life so far. If you thought the first result was just, are you seeing that there is injustice, or are you realigning your sense of justice to fit the new, true (I promise!) circumstances? If you see the injustice, thats what many of us are railing against. It happens a lot. On the other hand if you find that you are switching your sense of justice around to meet the new circumstances, you trust the system. Before you knew I was lying you were justifying the first sentences; once I told you the truth, you knew that the new situation had to represent a just outcome -- because thats what the system produced. So please do this: step back from that part of your mind thats doing the gymnastics to make the facts fit your moral viewpoint and examine what youre thinking. That part of your mind is your privilege. Its your privilege that tells you the system is just, that only individual behavior matters, and that color doesnt affect the outcome. You feel that way for a very good reason: for you, its true. You, as a white American, know that you wont be unjustly harassed by the police because you very rarely are. You know that if you treat the police with respect and deference that theyll treat you with respect as a citizen. And youre largely right. Where many make a mistake is in assuming that the white experience in this matter is the same as the black experience. That its the behavior of African-American males that makes them the target of police harassment. Look at that part of your brain. Its lying to you, like I was, but its not owning up. Yet.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 04:49:44 +0000
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