CE Week #5: “Unequal justice, times a million”
Leonard Pitts Jr.
Miami Herald
September 26, 2007
Please indulge me as I answer an e-mail I received last week in response to a recent column decrying unequal justice as represented by the controversy in Jena, La. A fellow named John wrote:
“Your columns usually merit reading. But this time, You sound like the typical Black guy crying ‘victim.’ Leonard, you list instances of Black injustice and I’m sure there are many. However have you forgot about O.J.? He got away with murder Leonard. He killed his white wife! … Or how about Sharpton and the Brawley case? … Or the Duke case. … I could go on and on. You want more respect for you and your race? Stop sounding like a nigger and start sounding and acting like a Black man. You’ll get respect and justice. Try being a Black man all the time, not just when it fits your agenda.”
John, thank you for writing. Here are a few words in response.
That column you disliked argued that Jena, where six black kids were initially charged with attempted murder after they gave a white kid a black eye and knocked him out, is part of a long pattern of the justice system being used to keep blacks in line. Indeed, black students at Jena High report that even before the fight, the D.A. warned them in an assembly that he could make their lives go away “with the stroke of a pen.”
The students say he was looking directly at them when he said it. The D.A. has denied this, but I find the denial less than credible given the unfathomable charges he sought to file against the black kids while a white kid who attacked a black one got off with a comparative slap on the wrist.
Anyway, you were one of a number of readers who wrote to remind me of Simpson. If the point of your reference to him, Tawana Brawley and the Duke lacrosse case was that the justice system has repeatedly and historically mistreated whites, too, on the basis of race, I’m sorry, but that’s absurd. Not that those cases were not travesties. They were. And if those travesties leave you outraged, well, I share that feeling.
But, here’s what I want you to do. Take that sense of outrage, that sense of betrayal, of having been cheated by a system you once thought you could trust, and multiply it. Multiply it by Valdosta and Waco and Birmingham and Fort Lauderdale and Money and Marion and Omaha and thousands of other cities and towns where black men and women were lynched, burned, bombed, shot, with impunity. Multiply it by the thousands of cops and courts that refused to arrest or punish even when they held photographs of the perpetrators taken in the act. Multiply it by a million lesser outrages. Multiply it by L.A. cops planting evidence. Multiply it by the black drug defendant who is 48 times more likely to go to jail than the white one who commits the same crime and has the same record. Multiply it by Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo. Multiply it by 388 years.
And then come talk to me about O.J. Simpson.
You may call all that “playing victim.” I call it providing context. Jena did not happen in a vacuum. It did not spring from nowhere. So this false equivalence, this pretense that the justice system as experienced by white people and black ones is in any way similar, is ignorant and obnoxious.
Much like your turning to a racial slur to describe how you think I “sound.” I found that word interesting coming near the end of an e-mail whose tone, while critical, had, until that point, been reasonable. I suppose you just couldn’t help yourself.
It says something about the intransigence, self-justification and retarded self-awareness of American racism that a man who uses the language you do would, in the same breath, offer advice to black folks seeking “respect and justice.” Appreciate the effort, John, but I’m afraid you can’t solve the problem.
See, you are the problem.
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This article was not really anything new, people in the US have argued about racism for hundreds of years, and unfortunately we still haven’t solved that specific problem (obviously, otherwise this article wouldn’t have been written). One point that Leonard Pitts brought up did, however, make my pause and think. “I call it providing context. Jena did not happen in a vacuum. It did not spring from nowhere.” The fact that nothing happens in a vacuum, and that there is always a history and past to every story, is something that, while obvious once you think about it, I have never really contemplated before. The unfortunate truth of the matter is that the US has a history of racism and discrimination, and though we are certainly getting better at riding or selves of these negative aspects, racism and discrimination can never fully go away as long as people like both Leonard Pitts and John keep dragging it back out into the spotlight to re-erupt into argument and conflict. I am not saying that past atrocities should be forgotten, but as a country we need to move on, put the past behind us, and look towards shaping our potentially amazing future.
Andrew Barnes
I personally thoroughly enjoyed this article. Despite the sarcasm and humor, I felt pretty compelled to question myself in how I would have responded to this. I am a young, white (well, half Mexican…but the whitest one you’ll ever meet!) girl and I completely agree with this what this Pitts Jr. is saying in all of his response. You see, I think that in some instances African-Americans have used their race as a gateway to being wronged when that certainly isn’t the case. However, ignorance of this white man shames the population! How can he say such things with such disrespect and think he still has a case? As soon as he used the “n word”, respect is lost for him and he isn’t credited what he maybe should. Language like that takes away from the knowledge he may have and certainly offends the reader, no matter what the race. So, way to put it Leonard!
I think that if we have established equality, then we need to believe that it’s going to go both ways—negatively and positively. Whether it’s a black man being tried for a case or a white man murdered, or vise versa, the outcome should be the same! If they aren’t then, yeah! We have an equality problem. But it’s dumb for this white man to be screaming and shouting about this case because he feels whites have been shorthanded. If it was the other way around, and the white boy beat a black kid, this man would have no argument whatsoever. In fact, I strongly believe he would have nothing to say if the consequence was minor but would once again be fired up about inequality there. This man only wants to have the better half of law.
I think that to some extent there might be a stronger punishment toward African Americans in our justice system, but I don’t think that it is a bad as it is stated in this article. Even though there might be some poor treatment toward black people I think that the treatment can’t be as bias because the person has to commit a crime and it is up to the judge to sentence them to their punishment. I think that the points about how cops have planted evidence on blacks and that a black man is 48 times more likely to go to jail over a than a white man that committed the same crime, I think that there is no way that this could be accurate and no way the it could be tested. Every court case is different; every circumstance that the crime is committed under is different. I think that the man should not have used the N word in his email and I agree that it makes him give a bad connotation and represents our race poorly. I do think though that until black people stop calling themselves the N word it wont stop being used by white people.
This article makes me think of the years of people fighting to stop racism. Although we all know it’s a endless effort to fight or equality, but these two men in the article that are fighting have their point of views and no matter how someone tries to persuade them their oppion won’t change in the least. Now im not saying that I believe in racism cause im the first person to talk to someone new no matter their color. On the other hand obscene words should not be passed between two people like John did by calling Leonardo the N word. But also, as a white person myself we should know how it feels to be called crackers, whities, rednecks, etc. Personally I think it’s all foolish when two men of opposite color can’t have respect for one another, especially two buisness men.
Response to Jordan
I have to disagree with you on some points and the on some points I agree with you. I agree that in some cases African Americans use their race in their favor and use it to their advantage. For example saying that events that take place are racist when they really are not. I agree with you that he should loose respect for his case and did loose respect for his case as soon as he used the “N” word. I don’t think that it shames the white population though. The actions and words of one man should not make a difference to how the white population is viewed. I do agree though that using this word shows that he is not very knowledgeable in the world and how political correctness is used. “I think that if we have established equality, then we need to believe that it’s going to go both ways—negatively and positively.” I have to disagree with this part of your post. I think that whenever true equality is reached both sides will be content and there will be no negativity. I think that this article is a statement though as to the differences we face as a nation.
While reading Andrew’s post, I came across this comment: “…racism and discrimination can never fully go away as long as people like both Leonard Pitts and John keep dragging it back out into the spotlight to re-erupt into argument and conflict.” I agree with this particular statement, yet it posed an interesting question in my mind. How does one get rid of racism? Based on his comment, Andrew might argue that the way to eradicate racism is to not make it an issue. Though this is a paradox, if African-Americans (and this is purely hypothetical) stopped protesting against what they perceive as “unequal” justice based on race, the issue of racism would not be an issue and our nation’s old discriminatory scars might have a chance to fade. I mean, how can one heal if one keeps reopening the wound? Nevertheless, it can be argued that social revolution is not spontaneously generated; it requires protest, an emotional input of some sort. Leonard Pitts may argue that in order to stop racism, action must be taken – it must be made an issue and a big issue at that. Personally, racism is not something that can be exterminated. It is a social absolute, in my opinion. Nevertheless, one must be proactive in order to combat it. This can be achieved by individuals either choosing to ignore racial injustice or choosing to change the system. In the end, something is being done.
Racism and discrimination although it’s immoral and personally I think is bad, is no surprise to me that it still lingers in the world. It is something that has been around for hundreds of years and it is something that will still be here for a very long time. As much as I’d like to say we’re moving on and looking forward there always seems to be people that like to bring it up and like they said in the article play the “victim”. Like they still want more recognition for the past events and feel it’s necessary to bring it up.
Although I somewhat agree with some of the statistics and facts about how African-Americans are still treated unfairly, I still believe that African-Americans take advantage of their misfortunes in the past and bring it up now as a way to get pity for things that may happen now. I for one feel like racism is diminishing but only in small areas, and maybe that’s what it will take for a while for it to go. On the other hand I don’t think that racism will ever fully dissipate from our society until people stop bring up the past. I’d like to think of it, although cliché , like beating a dead horse.
~Ryan Brannan