Will All These Protests Change Anything?

I am happy to see an organization like Agudah of California taking a positive public stand on an issue of social justice. One of many Orthodox statements that have come out like it. Which Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein comments upon in Cross Currents. His thoughts about  Orthodox Jewish organizations coming down squarly on the side of justice for Blacks and support for the protests – match my own.

The question is, will these protests – as massive and ongoing as they are - change anything?

I wish I could be as optimistic as some political commentators seem to be.   Which is that what is happening now is so different from anything else we have ever seen - it will surely end racism But I am a realist. I don’t think it will change the hearts and minds of all that many people.

Unfortunately too many people are still going still harbor the biases they have always had. This is not to say that the vast majority of Americans don’t sympathize with the message. I believe they do. I’m absolutely certain that Black lives do matter to most people. Most people believe that the American motto of liberty and justice for all should apply equally to all Americans regardless of skin color. Espeically when it comes to law enforcement. Which has fallen far short of that principle in far too many cases, the latest of which was the murder of a black suspect by a Minnesota cop.

Police departments must be color blind. People carrying guns in order to enforce the law have an increased responsibility to be just. But all the protest in the world is not going to change the underlying racism (some of it overt, some of it covert, and some of it even subliminal) that has existed for generations. Even though they might believe in treating everyone equally in theory, in practice it doesn’t always work out that way. And when the police are involved, it can easily become deadly.  

However, being color blind in light of centuries of prejudice and discrimination makes that virtually impossible. As unfair as this is, I believe it is a reality. The best we can hope for in the short term is legislation to prevent individual prejudices from influencing behavior. Especially when it comes to law enforcement. That legislation should include serious consequences for those that violate those new laws. No more equivocating. No more excuses. No more ‘they were just doing their jobs’. Just swift action with punishments that fit the particulars of each discriminatory act.

That is the short term solution. But that is obviously not enough. I don’t think it needs to be said that the color of a person’s skin has no intrinsic significance. Intelligence, ethics and morality have zero to do with the race. The propensity to be kind or violent has nothing to do with skin color skin either. Same thing with following or violating the law. However because of entrenched biases - that is a lot easier to say that than to put it into practice.

There has to sea change in attitudes by the American public. Attitudes that are influenced by the nightly local news that features the death and destruction going on in inner city neighborhoods that are predominately black.

That can only come about if the culture of inner city black neighborhoods changes. It is a culture of poverty that places little value on education. Although there are many exceptions, it is not secret that education is not a high priority in those neighborhoods. Generations of poverty accompanied by images of financial success of the drug dealers and other criminals in those neighborhoods make education seem like a big waste of time. Especially when it was poorly executed in those neighborhoods.

How did they get to be that way? The problem is the fault of a centuries old racism that began by seeing black people as subhuman. Even though attitudes have changed over time, to some extent it lingered and carried over into a lack of opportunity for inner city blacks to be given a decent education. That in turn created a devaluation of education there. The combination of poverty and the proliferation of criminals (like drug dealers) that became wealthy and flaunted their wealth made that an attractive way to pull some of them out of that poverty. Meanwhile the education provided to inner cities schools was - to put it mildly - terrible.

It is true that there is a substantial and growing community of middle class blacks. A great many of whom come from inner city neighborhoods and somehow managed to overcome the type of antipathy to education so many others in their neighborhoods had.  But the culture of devaluing education and poverty that breeds violent crime is still there – to be witnessed every night on the local TV newscast. The high murder rate in Chicago is more or less limited to gang wars in those neighborhoods   

A culture that breeds crime does not excuse it. It just explains it. As noted, inner city schools are notorious for not providing much of an education to its local residents. It should be no surprise that the lack of confidence in public school education has bred a culture of poverty and crime. Which influences how people think about the people that populate that culture: inner city blacks.

I think it is the fear rather than racism that makes even good people treat inner city black people as second class citizens. My guess is that the successful black people exemplified by former President Barack Obama are seen as equals by the vast majority of Americans. If that were not the case, he could have never been elected. Twice.

But the image of the black ghetto youth paints an entirely different picture than do black people like the ex President. Even those ghetto youth that do not turn to crime and are as ethical and moral as any white, will still be looked at with the prejudice.  That is an unfortunate reality which is exacerbated by the nightly news. There is a reason why many years ago, civil rights leader, Jesse Jackson was relieved to see a white man following him in a dark alley one night – instead of a black man.

All the protests in the world are not going to wipe away decades of prejudice perpetuated by societal indifference, government incompetence, exacerbated by nightly newscasts.  

So how indeed can we change the culture? How can we change the paradigm that devalues education and the resultant crime now endemic to those communities - where some peoplesee crime as the best and quickest way out of poverty?

It will take decades. There may not be that kind of change we would like to see for an entire generation. But we can do it.

But it is not going to be done by continuing the mistakes of the past. Pouring more money into public schools that don’t work will not solve anything. Educational indifference is by now pretty entrenched in the inner city.  Changing that attitude should be the ultimate goal. But we can’t start there.

Instead of trying to academically educate people that have no interest in the Pythagorean theorem, public education money would in the short term be better spent on vocational education. In my view that is the best hope for an eventual paradigm change. This does not mean we eliminate academic study. There are still plenty of black people in the inner city that understand its value and want to be able to access it. But that are too many people there that don’t. Making their mandatory attendance in those schools a waste of time.

By focusing on vocational skills, there is a far greater chance poverty and crime can be reduced.  Many inner city residents will be able to become productive citizens and find jobs that will enable them to support their families without turning to a life of crime. Which some now see as a way out.  An infusion of money into vocation training will result in an infusion of hope into that culture.

At the same time there must also be a crackdown on crime in those neighborhoods. Even though it is the culture that has created the crime, it is still crime.  The safety of the residents of those neighborhoods is paramount. Chicago has more murders than just about any other major city. But it takes place almost entirely where the gangs hang out. Which is in those mostly black inner city neighborhoods. Too many innocent children have been shot and killed by a stray bullet meant for a rival gang member.

Any criminal convicted of a crime using a gun should be given a stiff prison sentence. Unfortunately the judicial system (at least here in Chicago) is guilty of ‘revolving door’ justice. Violent criminals are all too often given light sentences allowing them to get back to the streets quickly and continue their violent criminal activities. That has to end. A culture where crime is seen as highly profitable has to be changed to one that sees it as a guaranteed ticket to substantial prison time. 

Law and order should not be a cliché commandeered by conservative Republicans. It ought be sought by all of us. The police must be supported – even while ridding them of all prejudice. Or at least ridding them of acting on it.

The best way to protect  black people living in the inner city is to assign those neighborhoods to black cops. The idea that all police are supposed to treat black or white criminals the same is a policy which has now all too often been proven not to exist in practice among white cops. An all black police presence in those neighborhoods will go a long way to prevent another George Floyd.

These are my thoughts as I continue to watch the now mostly peaceful protests.