Those We Have Imprisoned Will Liberate Us

The black community in America is dealing with issues within the criminal justice system that derive from a complex history of loss of every basic human right; identity, freedom,  the right to protect one’s own family, even self-determination. Resolving some of the disparities in policing, in sentencing, in ascribing guilt or innocence, is only a step towards justice. The bigger issues cannot be disentangled from the daily lives of African Americans without being addressed at the deepest levels. And the white community, those who show up now as descendants of slave owners and benefiters from white privilege, can only really offer opportunities to allow for healing. The healing must take place from within the abused community, as reclaiming their right to power is one huge step that must occur through the process.

With that realization we see that healing is already taking place, as African Americans have demonstrated their undisputed ability to hold positions of power in this country. And on top of that, they are demonstrating a heart of overcoming resentment in reaching out to the white community; the relationship between Joe Biden and Barack Obama clearly demonstrates this willingness to move forward and leave behind the past. The mutual respect and even affection are indisputable.

However, the legal system which focuses almost exclusively in many urban areas in America on the black population serves by its very nature to separate and hence try to destroy the black community. White privilege is so deeply ingrained that it is invisible to most white people. It is just assumed, for example, that following the expected norms within a company will result in promotion and advancement, and white people do not see that as privilege. But black people have not been part of that automatic advancement. Even today the black person who advances in his or her career is too often seen as something of the exception to the norm, one who has overcome a disadvantage.

Often advancing in the career world is accompanied by leaving behind one’s origins in community. Joining the world of privilege has consequences far deeper than simply economic benefit, because it generally requires a person to adopt white values, and see themselves as part of the white community. Giving up one’s own heritage is accompanied by all sorts of unacknowledged wounds, a slicing away of much of the depth within the self. In the same way, living as though the natural world is simply a source of economic wealth has separated those with European ancestry from humanity’s own deep identification as part of nature.  Had the original settlers embraced the native peoples when occupying this land, this self-identity could have been preserved and even revered.

The land of opportunity, the land that promises government by the people for the people, has abandoned some large part of the people. Until black people occupy enough positions of power within the criminal justice system as representatives of the black race, so as to transform the system itself in the direction of community values, reformation that accomplishes real healing seems left to the community itself. And that entails a clear expression of the deepest values from the ancestral heritage, and creative analysis and application of these values to transport them from Africa of hundreds of years ago to America of the 21^st century.

Traditional values must be meshed with western science, creating a synthesis able to absorb today’s technology without destroying yesterday’s deep inner self. They must be able to offer help to any people trapped in today’s shallowness and materialistic value system that leaves us vulnerable to losing the deeper values of this country itself. And reclaiming historical depths of character is probably the only way to bring us out of today’s crises, which leaves us to look within to rediscover ourselves.

The way a country conducts its justice system has a great deal to say about its values, and we are failing on that very point, how to handle accusation without losing love. Accusation has taken over this country, and we need to look at each other without contempt again, to respect each other and accept that we cannot know another’s thoughts and motivations enough to simply condemn them. We cannot just follow killing with killing in return. We cannot impose life sentences without self-examination to determine if we are not already sentencing people to lives of injustice every day.

We have a very bright future just around the corner, but our very technological progress can also be what kills us without a healing within the whole of society itself.