When I first heard about the death of Freddie Gray I was not shocked or surprised, but saddened and frustrated. The events that occurred in Baltimore do not surprise me either but they don’t just sadden me, they also give me some hope.
I have hope that the dialogue will continue and things will improve for the oppressed in this country.
I have hope that those who have sat idly by “minding their own business” will now wake up and stop endorsing hate talk with their silence.
I have hope that there might be some attention paid to the lack of services available for those who suffer from mental illness and the illness of addiction.
I have hope that our police force and frontline medical staff can feel satisfaction that they are helping people and not just operating a revolving door.
Here is what my experience has taught me thus far:
· No one chooses to be homeless an addict and/or a criminal.
· Getting back on your feet after incarceration is harder than being the CEO of a multimillion-dollar company.
· Treating addiction is not simple.
· Dealing with someone in a mental health crisis can be dangerous.
· Our resources are limited and therefore even the best of people can make poor decisions on allocating them.
· You tell someone they are worthless enough times and they will believe you.
· The Justice System is not colorblind and money makes a difference.
· Our Safety Net system is fine, it is our rehabilitation system that is failing and underfunded.
Recently I had the pleasure of hearing a “young man of color” talk about what growing up had been like for him. He was very honest in mentioning that, sometimes, when people were scared of him it made him feel powerful. He did not say this boastfully but with a little sadness. It seemed that he would have much rather had that power come to him in another form and be related to his real persona and his personal achievements.
I once was called racist for simply stating the fact that it is difficult to be a young black man. Huh…. How does that make me racist? And if I don’t say it who should? If a young black man said it, many would say he was whining or not working hard enough. They might tell him to work harder at fitting in…then he would go home to being chastised for selling out his culture.
What I have seen recently is less about race or color but more about poverty and oppression. Our support systems are overloaded and underfunded and the resources are just not out there. Our country has some brilliant people who have developed effective treatments for addiction, re-entry and crime prevention programs but they are not properly funded and only reaching a small percentage of the population. We know they work, but they are not being implemented in a meaningful way. These are money saving programs in the long run…as our corrections system is expensive, as well as the whole judicial system.
Many new laws are focusing on value testing the poor, requiring drug testing for financial support and limiting what SNAP recipients can buy at the grocery store. It sure seems like this would be a great motivator. But what I know is that the SSD check and the SNAP voucher really don’t allow for the kind of life that motivates one to do the really hard work of recovery. These entitlements provide a sad boarding house room (if you can find one) and a bread and cheese diet that really doesn’t say “you are worth it” to the person receiving them. Sure maybe once in a while a EBT card is used for steak or candy, but monitoring it would be more expensive than it is worth and only further denigrates people who are already struggling to feel valued.
When we take away benefits we make it even harder for people to recover and lead a productive life and it ends up costing us more as we house them in jail for stealing. When we tell people they are lesser they will eventually give up on trying to prove us wrong.
Many people like to say that if the poor and oppressed would just work harder and study in school they would do better. Okay…so why are you not sending your kids to school with “them”? Do you realize that “they” are working two low paying jobs with no benefits to put basic needs on the table? Do you think anyone is helping their children with homework or college applications? (There are some great programs for this but there are not enough to put a dent in the need.)
In many of the schools that I work with the staff is amazing but overworked, the same goes for hospitals and mental health clinics. My boss once told me that I needed to do “good enough” work and spend less time per patient because he couldn’t approve overtime. I was looking for a job the next day, but many of my peers tell me they get the same directive elsewhere. (Precisely why I now work for myself!)
Do we think the officers and other staff who arrested Freddie Gray and put him in that van without calling for medical attention were properly paid and supported? Were they told “good enough” is our goal? Had they recently been chastised for calling in medical staff who were overworked and running over budget? What is more important to you, a man’s life or the city budget? (Maybe it is the city budget, but what if it were your son’s life?)
My hope stems from the fact that I think we are on a precipice. I think we are all looking around and saying: “How did we get here?” I think many of us thought the Civil War and Civil Rights movement had taught us something. And maybe they did, but I think it was not enough of a lesson and now we are going to have to learn some more.
Are you ready to learn? Do you want to hear what it is like to grow up in poverty and fear? What it is like to worry about what you will have for dinner and rather or not you can get one more Winter out of an old coat or pair of boots? Do you want to know what it feels like to do “good enough” work knowing it isn’t really “good enough” but that there are no better choices to offer?
When we were watching the movie Selma my husband was astounded at the hatred and anger that he saw in white families who were hurling stones and verbal insults at the marchers. But if we turn our backs and post Freddie Gray’s arrest record to justify his death, we are no better. Freddie Gray was a human being and he deserved to be treated with respect. Those who try to justify it do so from a sense of guilt. If you feel guilty do something positive, say a prayer, go meet with the oppressed in your community and see their humanity first hand.
If Freddie Gray’s death has opened some eyes and revived the dialogue then his life meant something. I am all for a peaceful protests but we can’t have them if we don’t have dialogue and understanding. I urge you to learn about those in your community who are oppressed and start discussions about how you can ease the burden and share in the journey.
Some resources that may help you with perspective:
The 1998 movie La Ciudad, a documentary about the life of immigrants in the US. (Available through Amazon)
Peggy McIntosh’s “Daily Effects of White Privilege http://amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html
A Place At the Table, documentary about hunger in America. http://www.magpictures.com/aplaceatthetable/