August 27, 2014
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Stop the War on Young Black Men
by
M arc H. M orial
I h ad o rig in a lly
planned to use this
colum n to denounce
the July 17 death o f
E ric G arn er, a 43-
y e a r- o ld , u n a rm e d
black man follow ing the unlaw ful use
o f a chokehold by N ew Y ork City
police officers who suspected G arner
o f sellin g untaxed cig arettes on a
Staten Island street corner. G arner,
an asthm atic w ho repeatedly yelled, “I
c a n ’t breathe!” w hile being w restled
to the ground by at least five officers,
died at the scene, leading to calls of
police brutality from his fam ily and
m em bers o f the com m unity.
I had planned to point to the death of
Eric G arner as the latest in w hat has
becom e an all-too-frequent occurrence
in c o m m u n itie s o f c o lo r a c ro s s
A m erica - the excessive and often
fatal use o f force by police against
young, unarm ed black men. Then came
the Aug. 9 fatal police shooting o f 18-
year-old M ichael Brow n in Ferguson,
Mo.
Brow n, who was unarm ed and was
preparing for his first year in college,
was stopped and then shot by O fficer
D arren. W ilson for the alleged crim e
o f jayw alking, or specifically accord­
ing to Ferguson police ch ief Thom as
Jackson, of “w alking dow n the m iddle
o f the street blocking traffic.” 1 have
n ev e r w itn e ssed a situ a tio n m ore
poorly handled than this one.
F or alm ost tw o w eeks follow ing
B row n’s death, his fam ily, com m unity
and outraged citizens across the na­
tion have sought answ ers and ju stice
from the local authorities, who have
been slow to respond and quick to
blam e the victim , leading to intense
dem onstrations.
O ur thoughts and prayers are with
M ichael B row n’s fam ily. Now that
the Justice D epartm ent and FBI have
entered the investigation, we have con­
fidence that ju stice will ultim ately p re­
vail. A ttorney G eneral E ric H older is
doing the right thing by conducting a
com prehensive parallel investigation
and not w aiting for local authorities -
a refreshing departure from the trad i­
tional approach. But this is not enough.
The tragedies in Ferguson and Staten
Island are not isolated incidents. Just
four days before B row n’s death, on
Aug. 5, police shot and killed 22-year-
old John C raw ford in a B eavercreek,
O hio W alm art, after responding to a
call that a man was w ielding a gun in
the store. It turns out that C raw ford
was holding a BB rifle w hich he had
picked up w hile shopping in the store.
C learly, racial suspicion and harass-
m ent o f black men, especially by law
enforcem ent, has becom e an often
deadly epidem ic in m any parts o f the
country. T hat is why we are urgently
calling upon the W hite H ouse, the
D epartm ent o f Justice and congres­
sional leaders to review and address
the ongoing pattern and practice of
racial violence and system ic discrim i­
natory treatm ent by law enforcem ent
in so many o f our com m unities.
Too often, tactics like the “broken
w indow s” strategy result in the tar­
geting o f com m unities o f color for
enforcem ent o f m inor offenses. Too
often, there is a rush by police and the
m edia to portray black m ale victim s
who have been killed by w hites as
thugs ’ as we saw w ith T rayvon
M artin, R am arley G raham , Jordan
D avis, and now with M ichael Brown —
particularly regarding the Ferguson
Police D epartm ent’s attem pt at char­
acter assassination by releasing the
store video o f M ichael Brown and
attem pting to deceptively link it to his
killing. Add to that the m ilitarization of
police departm ents and the overuse of
tear gas, stun grenades and other tools
o f w ar in response to largely peaceful
dem onstrations, as we have seen in
Ferguson, and a toxic relationship be­
tw een police and the com m unities they
are sw orn to protect and serve is all
m h h h h ih b i
— — .. -
but certain.
L et’s be clear. There is no ju stific a ­
tion for looting, property destruction
and otherw ise breaking the law in the
nam e o f the First A m endm ent, and the
irresponsible actions o f an ill-in ten ­
tioned few do not represent the leg iti­
m ate grievances o f an entire com m u­
nity. The civil rights m ovem ent has
always been and continues to be one
o f peaceful — yet effective and strate­
gic - protests and actions that have
initiated m assive change.
As we look to solutions to ensure
that a higher value — a hum an value —
is placed on the lives o f our black men,
legal rem edies are absolutely needed,
but this is essentially a problem o f the
heart. Until white A m ericans and po­
lice departm ents begin to see and treat
young A frican A m erican and Latino
m ales with the dignity and deference
afforded to their w hite counterparts,
nothing w ill change. The death of
M ichael Brown has once again ex­
posed the w idespread and dangerous
m istrust that exists betw een law en ­
forcem ent and too m any com m unities
o f color in Am erica. For the sake o f
our nation, our com m unities and equal
ju stice, we m ust bridge that divide.
Marc H. Morial is president and
ch ief executive officer o f the N a­
tional Urban League.
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Ferguson Exposes Issues of Race and Class
D
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Real tragedy is
lack of empathy
for humanity
D r . A lisha
M oreland -C apuia
by
Tension is high and
trust is low. Events in
Ferguson have uncov­
ered deep seated is­
sues of race and class
in America. The city of Ferguson
belongs to A m erica and the
tra u m a th a t has fa lle n on
Ferguson is Am erica’s trauma.
Fundamental childhood les­
sons can assist in framing and
p e rh a p s
u n d e rsta n d in g
Ferguson. L et’s start with the
concept of inclusion. Recall child­
hood - find yourself at the play­
ground and teams are being se­
lected for kickball. Remember
w h a t i t f p l t l iV i » fr» « rA t n a t
__ - 1 - - X
1 .
•
what
it felt like to not get picked easily
translate into trauma and
There were typically two re­ trauma unwoven and unchecked
sponses to not being selected; 1) can easily lead to aggression.
your self-esteem was lowered Let us consider a protracted his­
or 2) hurt feelings, exclusion and tory of trauma combined with a
anger contributes to acting out history of exclusion.
aggressively. Certainly,
The real tragedy here is the
you can recall a time like lack of empathy for humanity -
this that impacted your we are talking about children
childhood experience.
and fam ilies, people, fellow
It is not my objective to Americans.
oversimplify an exceed­
The solution - the people of
ingly complex situation in Ferguson must be seen as a vital
Ferguson, but everyone can iden­ part of humanity. They must be
tify with what it feels like to not treated with respect and dignity.
be included. Now let us broach They must be heard and under­
another universal feeling, that of stood. A trauma-informed ap­
fear. Fear is a natural and uni­ proach must be applied - being
versal response to threat and or trauma-informed means that one
perceived threat.
can understand the impact of
Have we considered that this fear and trauma. Understand­
is the state (traumatization) in ing fear and trauma expands the
which the people of Ferguson capacity for empathy and hu­
find themselves?
manity is the centerpiece.
Fear unwoven and unchecked
W hen the lights are out; cam­
eras are gone and A m erica meaningful, and transformative
moves on to the next crisis, what to ask w hat h a p p e n e d to
will be the strategic solution for Ferguson.
peace and keeping humanity as
Ferguson should employ a
the flagship in Ferguson?
community policing model. The
One solution is to em ploy police of Ferguson must get to
traum a-inform ed approaches know the people, it’s about basic
with the community of Ferguson. humanity.
These steps should include the
It’s also important to under­
developing greater capacity for stand what impacts one part of
empathy - we can all identify America, impacts all of America.
with fear and not being included. Dr. Maya Angelou said it best:
Resources should go to the “We are all human; therefore,
community to improve living con- nothing human can be alien to
d itio n s fo r the p e o p le o f us.”
Ferguson. It’s important to es­
Dr. Alisha Moreland-Capuia
tablish a greater sense of com ­ is a physician and the chief
munity and work towards the medical director for Volunteers
goal of inclusion in the political, o f America Oregon. She is the
social and economic milieu of director o f the Avel Gordly Cen­
Ferguson
ter fo r Healing, an assistant
There should be a change in professor o f psychiatry at
how we ask questions: D on’t OHSU and the former director
look at what is wrong with o f Healing Hurt People in Port­
Ferguson, it is more powerful, land, Oregon