Ferguson and Torah

Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice..We are hopefully at the tail end of a terrible barrage of police shootings against young black men. It’s really nothing new; for the African American community, it just is a sad reminder that nothing has really changed. But it is an important wake-up call that people are hearing. We need to listen to this call.
At a recent gathering of AMOS, a group of local clergy, Damon Lynch III pointed out the radically different reactions of European Americans vs African Americans to these racially charged situations. When, for example, OJ Simpson was cleared of murder charges, the black community cheered even though many of them thought he was guilty: it was one brother finally standing up against a system that so often (in their perception) persecutes them. White children are taught if they are lost, find a policeman; black children are taught, if they see the police, go the other way fast. And at that meetings, my black colleagues shared that they experience a shocking number of unnecessary police stops & frisks, and are often treated roughly—as criminals-- by police.
As Jews, we are a little on the outside of this dynamic. For the Nazis, we were not white. In America, it was only since civil rights that we succeeded in becoming white, while the African American community largely didn’t (and not just because of skin tone). So especially as a Jew, I hate to use the terms white and black, since that really is not a kind of person but just a simplified description of skin tone (which is truly a spectrum). But in this case it really is about skin color. How should we as Jews view the situation & respond?
We live in a culture of fear, and fear causes violence. Why would a white policeman drive up, and shoot a black kid through his window? Why would a white cop describe a young man as an animal? They saw a black man with a gun, they were afraid, and fear leads to violence.
On the other hand, the white cop (and maybe some black cops too) will argue: we can’t trust black men when black crime is a reality. We try to impose equity through laws against racial profiling, but police departments argue: most criminals really are black, just like most terrorists really are Muslim. This fact puts them in a terrible bind.

Are African Americans more criminal than whites?
Here are some facts:
• 1 in 3 black males today will go to prison in lifetime, compared to 1 in 17 non-latino whites. There are more black men in prison than in college. Keep in mind that returning citizens face incredible challenges finding employment as “ex-felons.”
• Drug crimes are an area where there may be a real enforcement disparity: 5x as many whites use drugs as blacks, but 10x as many blacks go to jail (and often are sentenced to longer jail times than their white equivalents). Perhaps the kinds of drugs they use tend to be higher profile, perhaps they tend to use & sell them in public areas, and perhaps there is some selective enforcement.
• Gun violence affects the black community, and is perpetuated by blacks, more than the white community: blacks are 6x as likely to be shot, and 8x as likely to be shooters. Most of that violence is intraracial—black on black or white on white. Hence the statistic Guliani cited: 93 % of black victims are shot by blacks (he didn’t mention that 80% of white victims are shot by whites). There is simply more gun violence in the black community than in the white community.
• One study reported that 80% of muggings in high-crime areas of London are black; these high crime areas are also high poverty areas. I personally have been mugged twice, once in a predominantly black area, once in a white area. All 3 criminals involved were black.

But there’s another issue here: it’s not just that blacks are criminals. It’s that they are largely mired in a cycle of poverty & crime. The Black unemployment rate is more than twice that of whites, and their household income is $20k less. There’s lots of possible causes:
• Is this a remnant of slavery, and the fact that black released from slavery weren’t given any way to rebuild their lives? Probably.
• Is it created by racism, an unwillingness to hire qualified blacks? Maybe
• Is it contributed to by a bad education system underfunded by local property taxes, high cost of good day care, and minimum wage jobs that force parents to work overtime and prevent them from being available for children? For sure.

We can’t solve violence without solving poverty.
My first job out of college was on a peacekeeping mission in Washington DC. We wanted to reduce inner city violence. Who was shooting whom? Gang members shooting other gang members over turf issues. The gangs sold drugs, mainly to white customers who drove in from the suburbs. Pretty much all the young black men in the neighborhood joined gangs, because it was the only good job available; all of them ended up doing jail time. They didn’t want to be criminals—the guys I met were good people, with no other good options. Crime is a byproduct of poverty

What should we do?
Advocate against police violence—btzedek tishpot et amitecha—Torah calls us to ‘judge each other fairly,’ and to give the benefit of the doubt. Police need to assume that everyone they encounter is a law-abiding citizen, while also protecting themselves with the least force necessary.
Advocate for federal prosecutors in situations of police violence. Prosecutors who normally work together with policemen cannot be put in the position of prosecuting them.
Advocate for & help bring an end to cycle of black poverty & crime. The black community needs economic development, and better education. Many of us are in a position to help, either personally or professionally.
Help returning citizens be able to find good employment without turning back to crime, both personally and at the ballot box. There is a movement now in Ohio to require state employers to only ask whether someone is an ex-offender after they make a hiring decision, and if they choose not to employ based on that, they need to justify their decision; this would be a great step in opening doors for this population. We can also help ex-offenders with job training, and by employing them in our businesses.

Let’s all work together to help address this cycle of criminality & violence, until “justice rolls down as the water, and righteousness as a mighty stream.”

Shabbat Shalom.