WHO DOES THAT!

by Ruth A. Sheets

Lately, I find myself gritting my teeth and muttering  or shouting aloud a 3-word phrase.  The phrase, “who does that!” or its sister “who says that!” tumbles out before I have time to acknowledge that I already know, and it is nearly always one of 3 men who are in the news every day on nearly every newscast.

The three men, as if you have not already guessed are Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and, currently, Lindsay Graham (or one of their surrogates).  These 3 men have no curb on their tongues and feel entitled to say whatever comes to their mind at the moment.  Their white male privilege allows this and pretty much forces us to listen to their brain dumps presented by our media, because they are currently in positions of power, and the media are enthralled, they might miss one of the lies, perhaps hoping for a profound statement?

None of the three displays significant intellectual thought.  They have latched onto an ideology that sees themselves at the top of everything while everyone else is a minion who must do as they say or should be forced to.  They are among the “ruling elite” in the United States right now, but have little or no sense of the needs of the American people.  They are nearly completely obsessed with what they want and what they will do to retain power, even to dismissing any integrity they might once have had. 

They have the privilege of lying and cheating at will.  They can insult people, even citizens of this nation and international leaders with impunity.  Most people know this, but one aspect of male privilege in general and white male privilege in particular is they believe they have the right to say what they want, free speech of course.  In the United States, we have the right to free speech, but the “Three” want that right only for themselves.  They insult and never apologize while they demand apologies of anyone who even slightly questions their actions?  WHO DOES THAT! 

they can cheat, getting all kinds of taxpayer money for their pet projects  (hotels, contractors, campaign money), often for themselves, but want others who do that or are even accused of that, “locked up.”  WHO DOES THAT!

All three are excellent gloaters.  They  cheat and lie to get something they want, like the huge tax cut for the very rich and for corporations, then they brag that they pulled off this wonderful assistance for our workers.  WHO DOES THAT!

Their racism kicks in regularly as when President Obama was not permitted to nominate a Supreme Court justice after Justice Scalia passed away, yet gloat now that when another justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, has died, their rules then, (which of course were a lie) are now changed so a new justice will be nominated before Justice Ginsberg is in her grave and less than 40 days until the election.  Last time they whined about 9 months being too short.  WHO DOES THAT! 

And, of course, they must slap women in the face by nominating a woman who dismisses other women, does not feel women should have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, does not feel people have a right to health care, and on and on.  Just as Justice Clarence Thomas was a slap in the face to African-Americans when he was nominated to replace Thurgood Marshall, a civil rights icon, Amy Barrett is a slap in the face to women as she is nominated to replace an icon of Women’s rights. WHO DOES THAT!

We have been hit with a pandemic.  Scientists know what a pandemic is and basically how we could have protected ourselves from the worst of it, but our “three” could not care less.  “It will be over soon, like a miracle” Donald chirped and Mitch decided that poor people were just getting too much money so the Senate simply couldn’t pass more rescue bills.  “It doesn’t matter if you wear a mask.  All kids better go back to schools or they’ll lose their money.”  WHO DOES THAT! 

The “Three” and their crew blame the current economy on everything and everyone but their own incompetent, thoughtless management of the pandemic, and a lot of their poor followers believe it and so are OK with hating Asian Americans and people who are not suffering as much as they are.  The “Three” just love the divisions this causes and are trying to use it to their advantage with the election coming up.  WHO DOES THAT!

Voting by mail is extremely safe and has had over these past few years almost no voter fraud instances (except some Republican ones), but the Three, on every possible occasion preach that this way of voting is horrible and will give the wrong side the election because of fraud.  In reality, the “Three” are cheating through voter suppression and lying about the safety of vote by mail, then they undermine the US Post Office to be sure there are problems with mail-in ballots.  They sue states who have mail-in ballots on demand using our tax money again.  WHO DOES THAT!

I am sure you get the picture.  The “Three” are not people who should be in charge of anything, but they are loud, rich, white, and male and the media bends over backward to listen to them and make sure they are in front of us every day, even when they are not doing anything worth mentioning.  Their courage comes from their positions of power and their willingness to drag everyone who works with them in their party down to their level, and they go, with nary a peep.  WHO DOES THAT! 

Election day is nearly upon us.  We need to stand up against the “Three” and demand better.  Our climate is changing so rapidly we are only beginning to face its effects and we need leaders who will care about that, but “Climate change is a hoax.” WHO SAYS THAT!

We are finally looking at our systemic racism and crying out for something better while the “Three” call protests riots and dismiss police brutality AND nonaccountability as nonsense.  WHO DOES THAT!

Our economy can no longer sustain the huge corporations who manipulate our representatives for their own gains.  We need better, but we see the EPA and Department of Interior changing regulations to allow more pollution, give breaks to fossil fuel corporations, continue the gap between employers/owners and workers.    WHO DOES THAT!

We need to reestablish our relations with the other nations of the world as equals facing the world’s challenges together, yet, the Saudi dictator is permitted to kill a US journalist with no response, Russia is allowed to interfere in our elections, and Russia and others are paying bounties to Afghan insurgents to kill Americans and no official protests are made. WHO DOES THAT? 

Alas, the “Three” are just too busy soaking in their own money, whiteness, and power to see any of the needs even though occasionally they may brag that they are the “best president on the economy, have done more for Black people and other groups than any other president,” and other equally ridiculous lies.  WHO SAYS THAT! 

It’s time the “Three” and their followers be made to step down through our votes.  WHO DOES THAT!  We do, We the People!  It’s time!  

WHAT WE DON’T KNOW

A few days ago, my sister reminded me of something our dad used to say “You have to listen to the people on the other side of an issue if you are going to get anything done.”  That is exceptional advice that I have sometimes forgotten, especially in this 5 year political morass that is the Trump era.

As a blind person, I depend on listening to learn what I need to know.  I get no visual cues from any of the political or scientific figures of the time.  I don’t see Donald Trump and whatever physical characteristics are drawing people to him.  I did not see Hillary Clinton’s supposed boringness.  I don’t see “Sleepy Joe” as Donald ?Trump calls Joe Biden.  I do not see the expressions on the faces of the enthralled Trump supporters at rallies who always seem to be looking for a new 3-word chant (I hope that is not all their attention spans can handle (- OK, that was snarky, but it is my response to the vitriol I hear in every rally snippet I can tolerate listening to.  One can stand only so much hatred.  Why do those people like participating in the anger, fear and hatred? 

Yet, recalling my dad’s advice, listening to the other side is critical for understanding.  The biggest difficulty I have with this is that I know very few Trump supporters personally.  Those I do know are colleagues and we rarely mention politics in our work together as teachers.  I only know their politics because they wore Trump T-shirts the day after the election in 2016.  I was shocked, I must admit, but  have worked hard and been successful in not changing my opinion of them and their work because of this new knowledge.  What I know is that they are good teachers who care deeply for the kids they teach.

I listen to interviews with Trump supporters, a regular feature on NPR programs (my major news source) since 2015.  The Trump supporters come mostly from the “purple” states, usually from small town or rural communities.  They are nearly always white which makes sense since that is the vast majority of the Republican party.  They are sometimes asked why they support Donald Trump, but that is often the last adult question they are asked, and their childlike answers like “He understands me” or “He cares about my business,” are not expanded upon.   

The interviewed supporters go on and on about how their life was so bad under Obama and that even though it is bad now, Mr. Trump is going to make it better.  “Look at the stock market,” I heard one say.  The interviewer never asked how that impacted their life nor if that person was in the stock market.  It might be important to hear how these Americans get their information about the economy and what they think should happen related to themselves.  What will they do when they retire if Social Security is eliminated as many Republicans would like to do, for example.   

The interviewees are permitted to get away with saying things like “Well, I believe climate change is a hoax” with rarely a request for an explanation of how they know this or where they got such information. It could be helpful to know how they came to that understanding of what is happening in the world related to climate. What do they think will happen to them and their families as storms and floods become more intense as they will continue to do?  

Trump supporters are all against abortion, or that’s what they say.  They are not asked about this position, they just get to declare it.  They are not asked if it is a problem for them that rich White women will always be able to get an abortion, but what they are fighting for is to keep that procedure from poor people.  Such a question and response would help us pro-choice women to understand something of their thinking.  We know what the anti-choice leaders think because they are loud and often pretty obnoxious, but do their followers hold the same beliefs for the same reasons and in all situations? 

The Trump supporters interviewed are assumed to be conservatives, and they will say “I’m pretty conservative,” but they are not pressed as to what that means to them.  What is their understanding of who “conservatives” are and what they believe.  What do they think “liberals” are/believe?  

It is as though despite their screaming and chanting in Trump’s rallies, his supporters are actually delicate people who can’t be talked to as adults that can form their own arguments and present their own positions.  This is not the way to “listen” to the other side.  This is the way women and people of color have been treated throughout history.  White people, men in particular are the ones with the knowledge and the worthy opinions while the rest of the world is expected to parrot whatever those mostly men say, and to believe it in whole.  “That is the way to get along in this unequal world.” 

Well, it needs to stop. The media needs to do better.  It is through examining our beliefs that we learn if these are actually our own thoughts or those of someone else.  If no one who differs in world view from ourselves ever challenges us, we may not get the chance to truly develop our understanding of where we stand on the important issues that impact our lives.  We can become extremely angry with where we are in life.  If we aren’t expected to know who we are and what we ourselves believe, we can blame others for our “misfortunes.”

I will not tell you this is easy, but it is worth the trouble.  Listening to people who are honestly discussing where they stand is not the same as listening to political ads that claim to be presenting “real” people.  Those are paid actors who are spouting a script given to them.  Journalists, if careful and diligent, can make a difference and can empower all kinds of people to have more personal agency. 

So, journalists, get to work and interview adults who can communicate their thinking.  They will do better if you can push them into explanations that will lead to understanding, theirs and ours.  Stop treating Trump supporters like children.  That is insulting and does not contribute to understanding.  It does not help us to know what we don’t know.

COVID-19 A POWERFUL TEACHER

by Ruth A. Sheets

I am a teacher who appreciates the gifts of other teachers.  I am usually pleased to learn something new from a colleague that gives me a new skill, shows me a new technique, and makes me a better teacher and learner.  Well I have met a truly amazing teacher this year, COVID-19. 

I can’t exactly call COVID-19 a colleague, but this teacher has presented us with a lot of powerful learning opportunities.  It has actually taught its students, us, some of the most important lessons of our lifetime if we are willing to pay attention and take in the valuable information.  I can’t help but wonder, though, what kind of students we are. 

I suspect that as in any classroom, there is a range of learners, those who thirst for knowledge and will do whatever it takes to obtain that knowledge.  There are those who go along at their own pace and take in what they can use at the moment.  There are others who defy the entire process of learning, often because of a hidden disability or other factors that hamper their progress.  COVID-19 stands in our midst whether we want to be in its classroom or not, whether we wish to or are able to learn or not. 

So, what is COVID-19 teaching us:

- All airborne viruses are not the flu and some are worse than flu. 

- Problems that were present before COVID-19 entered our lives will be magnified by its presence.

- The people treated most badly before will suffer most under COVID-19 and those treated best.

- Its corollary is the communities treated most badly before will suffer most under COVID-19 and those treated best.

- Problems simmering beneath the surface, like racism and disenfranchisement will surface, sometimes in loud protests, sometimes in the push to blame and/or limit people’s rights.

- Unscrupulous leaders and their sycophants will use COVID-19 as the distractor they need to take away people’s rights and do a variety of harms to people, the land, water, and air.

- Those same unscrupulous leaders will claim they are the ones who know COVID-19 best and have learned the right lessons, have the plans.  They of course, are wrong, but people are distracted and may tend to believe them.

- covid-19 appreciates ignorance because it allows for the widest spread.

- As with other pandemics, the best way to function in current times is to wear a mask, keep your distance, and wash your hands.

- COVID-19 passes on its lessons whether leaders pay attention or not.

- Cheating and lying grow with the fear that not listening to COVID-19’s lessons brings.  Those who would cheat and lie without the presence of COVID-19 will do it even more in its presence.

- COVID-19 continues to teach no matter who is listening.  (This is the bad teaching approach that I will do my best to never follow)

- Online connections are really valuable for getting busy people, people with children involved beyond their own family.

- Zoom meetings can be appreciated by people other than those required to attend for business meetings.

- Education can go on even when COVID-19 is making life difficult.

- Voting is a participatory activity and there are  several ways to do it even when COVID-19 and its partners are trying to sabotage the process.

- Science is real and as Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson says, “Science doesn’t care if you believe in it or not.” 

- Viruses are so tiny they know nothing of human existence beyond that humans provide one of the ways they can replicate and disseminate.  

I suspect everyone in COVID-19’s class is learning all sorts of lessons.  Unfortunately only a few of the lessons will be allowed to lead to positive outcomes.  There are always those among us who would use any tragedy for their own purposes to further their own nearly always selfish aims.

It does not have to be that way.  If enough of us pay attention to the upsides of COVID-19’s presence, we can move our society into a new place where we can honestly and seriously deal with the challenges we face.

- We can acknowledge and address the shortcomings of the “free market” which of course is not free and continues to benefit the haves over everyone else. 

- We can look at racism and how so many of us actively and passively participate in maintaining it at high levels while confidently stating “I’m not a racist.” 

- We can look at misogyny and all the ways both men and women perpetuate it, then put measures in place to stop people from benefiting from it. 

- We can look at global warming with the urgency it demands.  Calling it “climate change” only made people feel less  worried and motivated to act.  It is global warming through deforestation and encroachment that have released deadly viruses like COVID-19 and other pathogens among us.

- We can examine the ways we must actively prepare for natural and human made disasters and provide necessary plans and demands.

This election will show us a lot about what COVID-19 has taught us and how much we have chosen to learn from this unfeeling, but powerful teacher.  

THE 9/11 MESSAGE?

by Ruth A. Sheets

Today is the 19^th anniversary of the attack on the twin towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Virginia, and the field in western Pennsylvania.  That attack changed so much in this country, an not for the better. 

A president who thought being president would be like being governor of Texas had no means of managing intelligence or nearly anything else.  George W. Bush enjoyed the trappings of the office, but does not seem to have done much until 9/11.  Governor of Texas is mostly a symbolic role where signing death warrants is a major task, and Texas put a lot of people to death back then compared to other states.  In Texas most tasks are performed and most power is actually held by others. 

The attacks permitted Mr. Bush to raise the fear levels, institute a fear color system, and start two wars neither of which we “won” and both of which we are still trapped in.  Bush opened a prison camp in Cuba, established the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which bristles with regulations designed to harm anyone it declares a threat to this country.  Nine-eleven allowed Americans to openly increase their hatred of foreigners in general and Muslims in particular.  The fearmongering and hatred have only increased over time and have become normalized.  Mr. Bush’s “we’re in it together” words lasted only until he could get Congress on board with his plans to attack Iraq.  And the lying became the norm too.  Hundreds of thousands of deaths have come from 9/11 but we won’t hear that from today’s speakers.  American pseudo-patriotism won’t allow for that.  We were hurt and that’s all that counts.  Anything we’ve done since then is justified, right?

The culmination of the 9/11 fearmongering and hatred is Donald Trump who speaks of people of color in terms that imply less than human or at least less than White.  He makes it OK to be racist in public.  He has ordered his unmarked “officers” into groups of mostly Black demonstrators to hit, gas, and otherwise harm them, then claims they deserve it.  He lies so often it is impossible to know when he is telling the truth.  Even fact-checkers can’t keep up.  Yet, because of his position, he will speak for our nation today on this anniversary.  How sad for all of us.

The message we could have taken from 9/11 is that we are strong as a people when we stand together.  Americans of all backgrounds were lost in the attack.  Americans of all backgrounds came to the rescue of survivors.  The problem is that we forget once we have moved on.  Medical coverage for those who worked at Ground Zero after the towers fell had to be fought for over and over.  Why?  People from all over the world, even Muslim majority countries expressed their sympathy for what happened, but Muslims are still targets for all kinds of discrimination here. 

So, here we are 19 years later and speeches will be made, lies will be told, Republican patriotism will be dragged out of the closet, and names of the nearly 3,000 dead will be read out, a set of names that includes people of every group that makes up this nation.  We hear the names, but hardly register the immigrant origin of those names.  They are our heroes when politicians want to point out how caring they are but have no place when those same politicians cry “build the wall” and place bans on people coming from certain countries for no other reason than that those countries are predominantly Muslim populations.  Oh, yes, they try to hide that fact too by throwing in a couple of other countries whose people would never be coming here anyway (North Korea). 

What should be the message today, this 19^th Anniversary:

- we are a strong people only when we are working together. 

- Racism is endemic in the United States, part of the very fabric of our society and it must be purged.

- Those who died on 9/11 and beyond died in vain unless we stop listening to and following the fearmongers and haters.

- Being prepared for future attacks does not require taking away the rights of Americans or anyone living in this nation.

- White is just one of many colors that make up our world, neither better nor worse than any other color.

- Lying to get others to do your bidding as George W. Bush and his administration did is never acceptable and should be prosecuted.

- We don’t need war to prove our strength because war rarely proves anything, but we jump to it rather quickly when it serves the purposes and the narrative of our president de jure.

- Americans can be extraordinarily courageous if given the chance.  Maybe we need to be encouraged more often to use that courage on behalf of our fellow citizens and all others living in this country as we continue to face the devastation of COVID-19 and the divisive powers of a president who clearly cares for no one but himself.

- We can be and do better as a people.   

WHITE PRIVILEGE

 by Ruth A. Sheets

This past week, National Public Radio (NPR) presented interviews with white and Black voters separately.  I noticed some interesting differences between those interviews. 

The white interviewees were to a person, Trump supporters. They claimed “promises made, promises kept.”  I hear that line often, but no interviewer I have heard has asked them to clarify which promises made and kept.  In fact, there is no depth of questions or follow-ups at all, as if these people are children who cannot find depth in what they are thinking.  The interviewers allowed the interviewees to spout Trump phrases like “it is the Democrats who are causing all the violence, the Democrats are against the police, it’s Trump who really cares about us.”  The latter is possibly true, but even that is not supported with much evidence.  Where is the follow-up like “What gave you the idea that it is Democrats who are responsible for the violence, which Democrats would you say are against the police and how do you know, what makes you think Mr. Trump supports you?”  One of the interviewed said how she likes Trump even though her farm is suffering from the trade problems.  Trump is going to make it better, she added.

The interview with the Black persons was really quite different.  That may be because they were not monolithically attached to a particular candidate.  The man interviewed, hinted he might support a third party candidate, but not which one.  These interviewees were asked their response to what is going on and what the upcoming elections could do for the Black community.  They were encouraged to explain and clarify.  Their answers were not blaming, but looking for answers themselves.  The women said they would vote for Biden-Harris with reservations and described those reservations.  Their concerns were about the protests and that they demand and end to the systemic racism in the nation.  The interview was a bit uncomfortable for me as a White person who feels somewhat helpless in the face of their honest critique.  My discomfort with the all-White interview was the lack of depth and the unsupported loyalty to a known racist while blaming the victims for their opposition to the racism.

 The difference here shows part of the divide we as Americans face.  White Americans interviewed by journalists have rarely been expected to defend their thinking or actions, particularly if they had some prominence.  For generations, what White men wanted or said, especially if they had money and power, even in a small sphere, was gospel.  No one asked the white murderers of the African-Americans whom they lynched, why they did it.  Actually, they were rarely even charged.  All kinds of excuses were made up if it was even suggested these White men had committed crimes.  We know the lines, they were protecting their women.  They were securing their way of life.  Those N****rs deserved it; they were getting too uppity.  Those White folks never had to look deeper at their own fear that maybe they were not the be-all-to-end-all they wanted everyone to believe they were.  Keeping others down could make them feel bigger, smarter if they even thought about it at all. 

 This approach to White life has not disappeared over time.  The current White emperor is now in the white house.  He has surrounded himself with like-minded white men and a few women so they can keep up each other’s courage and share new ways to discriminate while calling it something else.  He sprinkled a few Black persons like Ben Carson into positions for which they are completely unqualified so he can point to them – look at the great things I have done for Black people.  “There is no president who has done more for Black people than me.”  His White supporters smile because now they know they are off the hook and are not racist at all, their leader said so.  Donald Trump isn’t racist either.  Those Democrats should stop saying he is.

The uncertainty and lack of trust expressed by the NPR Black interviewees is real and comes from a history of betrayal, exclusion, abuse, and dismissal.  Those in positions of power whose responsibility it is and was to protect  and serve the American people  have decided over time that Black Americans (as well as other people of color) are not worthy of that protection and service.

 White Americans have the privilege of actually blaming Black people without evidence.  We can claim things that are untrue because that’s how it has always been done.  Even White people with few resources or little education are heard with more weight than Black Americans at any income or education level.  White people in power will not acknowledge this because they honestly believe, again, without evidence, that they are the ones experiencing the racism by those Black “rioters,” those Black “troublemakers.”   It has been said that to those who have privilege, equality seems like oppression, and a lot of White people are feeling oppressed right now as people point out their privilege. 

 It is time journalists who choose to interview members of a privileged group in whatever setting go against trend and dig deeper, even if it means introducing or reintroducing the interviewee to an uncomfortable concept.  White people, in general, do not appreciate our privilege.  It comes to us at birth and we breathe it in with the air.  We see it in so many places we hardly notice except when we think we have been cheated in some way, not gotten our due.  White Americans have learned to find someone to blame for any exclusion:  not getting into the college we want, not making the deal we should have made, not winning the contest we should have won, and most of all, not getting the job we applied for.  When the person who got it is Black, we are privileged to be furious and to proclaim it to the heights.  Does anyone ever ask us “Why do you think you should have that rather than the person who now has it?  Not likely!  We commiserate and cry “token” or “affirmative action.”  And, we feel furious, then, resentful because we lost to someone we have been taught to consider inferior.

 To emphasize  Donald trump’s ignorance of his own white privilege, on September 5, 2020, he ordered that no Federal agency can use government money to pay for trainings that address white privilege, or anything that deals with race at all.  That is the cry of a scared White guy (SWG) who is afraid to face the fact that everything he has, came to him because of white privilege.  He would never have been able to get the loans he got for his properties.  He would never have been a public media figure.  His name would never have been worth money on the international market, and he would never have been elected president had he not been white.  That is really scary.  Donald Trump has few skills but lots of family money he could throw around to get whatever he wanted, particularly unwarranted media notice.  Now his power gives him that access. 

 Mr. Trump did not find out about these sensitivity trainings on his own because it is certain he never participated in one himself.  He was clearly informed by a Scared White Guy (SWG) who was “forced” to take the course.  He, possibly she was offended that anyone would even imply that he/she didn’t get where they are now totally on their own personal merit, but that whiteness most likely played a part, probably a pretty significant part.

 Black Americans know what they have been through.  They know about “the talk.”  They know about the looks they get in stores and the rejections they receive that are clearly based on race.  Houses and apartments have been denied them due to their race.  They have been the victims of people crossing to the other side of the street to avoid passing too close.  They have felt the pain of being considered inferior and informed they only got the job, the assignment, the place in college, etc. because of affirmative action.  And, they know their White colleagues resent them for it and regularly show it.

 It is we White people who don’t know.  We can read about the 400 years of physical and social bondage, the fear of but need  for the police, the prisons stuffed with Black husbands, sons, and brothers.  But, we cannot feel what that constant fear and rejection does to a person.  We can say “Black Lives Matter,” but we often feel the push of “all lives matter.”  Donald Trump and his base don’t want to be called racists, but generally do what racists do.  They believe white is better than all even though science tells us all that skin color determines nothing but skin color and the slight tendency to a few diseases.

 So, White people, we need to unite in listening to Black people, to believing their accounts of life among White people, in working to change our own attitudes and beliefs to move from our cultural racism.  We must take and support those training classes that expose white privilege and cause us to look at White privilege head on.  We need to take White off as the default setting for our lives.  We may not have created the white privilege society we live in, but we are certainly benefiting from it, yes, even the poor White folks among us. 

 It is time we work with Black Americans to move us all toward equality and fairness. White Americans are obsessed with the “pledge of Allegiance” but many of us forget the final words “liberty and justice for all,” not just White conservative Americans

 White privilege is real and impacts every person in this nation.  The task is to acknowledge it in all its forms, then note and face our fear and uncertainty, then stand up with Black Americans and shout to the heavens, “Black Lives Matter, and we are going to prove it by encouraging Black people to lead us all into a future where there will be no privilege because we will have lived up to our Truth that all of us are created equal and endowed by our creator with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  OK, fellow White Americans, take a deep breath, I know we are scared, but we can do this.  Remember, this is “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

CRIMINAL JUSTICE RE-FORM

CRIMINAL JUSTICE RE-FORM

by Ruth A. Sheets

Last week I completed a survey from an organization called “Restoring Justice.”  It caused me to stop and think about the whole concept of criminal justice and the imperative that it be reformed or rather, reworked.  Here is an expanded version of my response to their survey.

The criminal justice issue closest to me is the “school to prison pipeline” that is alive and well in many communities, particularly communities of color.  I ask into the wind, how can such a thing exist in an “enlightened” nation.  I wonder all the time what great things could be done by those young people had they not been shuttled into prisons.  As a teacher I see the hopelessness in a community where violence and gangs have been allowed to take over the hearts and minds of young people.  A giant prison stands in our city and the kids regularly see it.  They become used to the idea they might end up inside at some point.  That is a crime and a disgrace! 

Poverty is a critical force in my city of Chester.  Some young people see guns as their way to power, prominence, and survival.  It doesn't work out, but they keep believing it will which often brings a life (or death) no one should ever be corralled into as animals are corralled before being led to the slaughter.

What we need is hope and real resources to bring about a new vision of what life should be.  We need opportunities for young people to try out different careers, to share their creativity, to live without the knowledge that they may go days without food.  They need the assurance that they have a voice, that they matter which prison can’t provide.   

Chester is a food desert.  Junk food is readily available, though.  Most home owners don't have the funds to maintain their homes as they would like to.  Landlords and absentee landlords don’t seem to be able to do much better, by neglect or lack of funds themselves.

Police here only seem to respond after an act of violence, after a death or injury.  I have heard residents say that police know who have the guns and how they come into the hands of young men, but do nothing to stop it.  Perhaps the police are ensuring their job security.  Perhaps they are OK with our young men and women filling up the prisons.  Perhaps they simply are overwhelmed and can’t function as needed.  In any case, the situation is unacceptable. 

I can’t help but feel as though kids are singled out from very early ages as targets “to be watched,” criminals in training.  Those kids may have problems in school.  The challenges of education for some children can let them slip through the widening cracks that lack of support resources causes.  Sometimes gangs or crime can help them feel important.

Poverty is plentiful here.  Research has shown that poverty is devastating on every aspect of life.  It contributes to a whole range of physical and emotional conditions including asthma, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, generalized anger and depression, and more.  It’s often hard to think clearly when hungry or worried where the rent money is coming from.  The children feel and are impacted by the anxiety of the parents. 

Poverty’s devastation manifests in many ways, some of those ways are disruptive, even criminal.  Knowing what poverty can do should be the trigger that puts into motion many community resources on behalf of our precious children and their families.  They should not have to face alone, this poverty that is not of their own making.  Minor acts of anger, vandalism, insubordination should not be a child’s ticket to the criminal justice system roundup, not if we care about our kids and our communities.       

When a “crime” is committed and someone is arrested, the city’s people seldom have money for bail.  They can’t afford a lawyer and must settle for a public defender who may well be dedicated and caring but has hundreds, even a thousand  clients to defend.  Prosecutors these days offer outrageous plea bargains that force kids to plead guilty whether or not they are , for fear a jury might give them an even worse penalty.  That is no way to treat human beings, particularly children and it is not justice.  But, we not only allow this plea-bargain railroading, we as a society encourage it as a time-saving measure.  We justify it by gratitude it’s not our kid and that kid must have done something even if not this particular crime. – “guilty until proven guilty (or maybe not even proven guilty ever).

People do not come out of prison unchanged.  Sometimes they have grown up in prison and learn to see their actions as the negative acts they were.  Others are so bruised and battered by the experience they come out looking to hurt others the way they have been hurt.  Prison lessons may be helpful for a few, but is it worth the risk, the agony of time behind bars?

We all need the system to change even if we don’t know it yet.  Our people are too precious to languish in prisons.  Our kids deserve better.  They don’t deserve to have parents in jail.  They don’t need to be in jail unless the crime is serious (murder or close to it).  Even then, it is likely the young “criminal” is dealing with a mental or social illness in addition to facing the results of a plea bargain or court decision.  Quality mental health treatment should be mandatory 

The only way we as a nation will be able to manage the re-visioning of the criminal justice system is to look at it with open minds from the ground up.  We must begin with our basic assumptions about crime and punishment.  We need to look at who benefits from the system as it is now and acknowledge that these forces will do everything in their significant power to insure that any changes that occur will, at most,  be minor and on the fringe.  We the people need to push through anyway so the system can for the first time ever, actually provide a reasonable level of security in our communities, supports for families who have had encounters with the criminal justice system, and a new means of rehabilitation.

Training for protect and serve officers in communities must be extensive and their actual tasks must be spelled out as well as the way they use their authority.  That should be true as well for prison staff (whatever that looks like), judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and everyone who has reason to work in the new justice system. 

It is time we all begin thinking about what we need in our communities rather than what makes us feel safe from everyone  who scares us.  Because criminal justice has become so integrated into everything we do, as we work for change, we will need to actively address systemic racism, our culture of rape and misogyny in general, our xenophobia while we are expecting people from elsewhere to pick our fruit and vegetables and clean our toilets.  The crimes against the people that the very wealthy perpetrate are no less significant than the crimes committed by the poor and their money should not give them any advantage.

Hatred, anger, fear, these emotions are strong and can make us feel powerful, but they can be destructive.  Right now, they are mostly allowed to white men who seem to be able to wield all three with impunity unless they are really poor.  Everyone should learn to manage those emotions within themselves instead of taking their feelings to the streets to hurt others.

Reworking our criminal justice system is doable and definitely worth the struggle it will require.  Our incarcerated people and the young people about to be caught up in the mess are worthy of whatever it takes, whatever it costs.