Role of Matriarchs in Ending Racial Profiling
By Sheher Bano
Pro-Muslim and Pro-Pakistani Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee feels women are the healers of the nation and more than ever the USA needs the leadership and power of women from all backgrounds to promote peace and end racial profiling. “It was after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis that systematic racism has raised its ugly head but with the Muslims’ ban and stigma on Muslims, attack on immigrants, stereotyping of the Muslim community, we are facing this with all perspectives.”
She was speaking through an audio link at a webinar arranged by the American Muslim Multi-faith Women Empowerment Council (Amwec) where civic and faith leaders, educators, elected officials, law enforcement and minority communities joined for a compassionconversation on the role of women on ending racial profiling.
“Georg Floyd’s case is very personal to me. Due to systematic racism, over 50% of people, mostly African American men, over the last couple of years in particular with police interaction, have lost their lives. In order to bring transformational changes, we all, irrespective of faith or background, should join together to change law enforcement from warrior (against any community) to guardians. The police officers and first responders should go to the families of victims and also in African-American, Muslim, Latin or impoverished community neighborhoods to show their solidarity with them. We want to stop burying 17 years old boys like Trayvon Martin, or 12 years old like Tamir Rices,” she said while pleading people from all backgrounds to strongly support and advocate for HR 7120-the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. Sheila feels privileged to name the first bill after George Floyd and get this amendment done.
A member of Congressional Caucus and a fellow Californian, Lee askedwomen: “Show your nation and communities that you are not only women, you are mothers, sisters, wives, and custodians and caretakers. Meet with and make your law enforcement to understand that it is not just federal laws that are trying to change their behavior but you want to change their hearts as well.”
She commended women for supporting Juneteenth which is the day when slaves were freed in 1865, two years after the emancipation proclamation and the only holiday that would connote the bondage that African-Americans had in the United States- HR 7232. Then HR 40-Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act, which examines slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommends appropriate remedies.”
She asked the nation to examine how to end systematic racism. “We collectively must stand against Muslim ban, discrimination against immigrants, permanent status of DACA students giving them access to citizenship (Supreme Court has given a delay).”
Earlier, Anila Ali, President, Amwec while opening the discussion said women are maternal pillars of society possessing unique perspectives and skills. Racism, bigotry or hatred can be addressed through dialogues across racial, religious, political and cultural differences and forging a greater sense of solidarity and social cohesion and bridging the divide. “Our differences are not natural or static but they are socially constructed and society will have to determine which differences are apparently important.”
She said it was after a personal experience post-9/11 attacks when she along with her family was disembarked from the aircraft due to her being a Muslim and a Pakistani, that she rose to the occasion and found creative and positive solutions to these problems faced by thousands of people coming from different countries. “I contacted the Asian American Law Caucus who put me in touch with New York University School of Law. I partnered with a Jordanian American to make a documentary on our personal profiling encounters. The film and the activism around it pushed the Dept. of Homeland Security to develop the Trip Program which allowed frequent travelers like me to get a redress number attached to their flight reservations to avoid false match screenings. Later, millions benefitted from that program.”
Talking about how to build relationships across the lines of divisions and rebuild a better future for the next generation, Mayor Ali Sajjad from the City of Artesia, said after the killing of George Floyd,they held an interfaith candle light vigil in the region by bringing all the communities across faiths and religions together to send a message of peace and tolerance.
He said they are also planning to invest into different communities in Artesia city to create partnerships with good law enforcement people who rendered a great job to protect the city.
Having 35 years with Los Angeles police department and having run the Counterterrorism and Special Operations Bureau for 10 of those years, former Deputy Chief of LAPD Mike Downing observed that successful character of any country reflects the way they treat their women. “I believe inempowering people, leveraging community resources, and solving problems to help build trust between communities and law enforcement. Going through ‘92 riots and watching the recent anecdotes, it seems trust is fragile. If a fraction of people doesn’t believe in the legitimacy of law enforcement, there is a problem. There is need for a national effort to develop performance objectives and certification and deselection.”
Downing termed racism, discrimination, bigotry as an Achilles’ heel in the country, society and law enforcement. Despite many reforms, the DNA and character of law enforcement and society haven’t changed. Continuous trainings and strong political leadership at national, regional or local level can end explicit and implicit biases. “Explicit biases can be stopped but implicit biases and decision making should never intersect. Political leadership has taken the pressure cooker’s lid off and allowed those with views of bigotry, discrimination and racism to boil up.” He said any case of racism, hate crime, bigotry should be treated like homicide cases, while finding its roots, solutions and then educating and preventing it to move forward towards a better future. He said Police needs to be transformed from warriors to guardians.
“Weapons should only be used when needed but never on a protest or demonstration or parade. Officers can use weapons to protect communities but after that they should be public servants who mobilize, organize, inspire, protect the values and maintain order in the community.”
Chief of San Diego Harbor Police , Mark Stain Brook said he got upset after seeing his loving profession under attack on media.
“That person didn’t represent every law enforcement person in America. Recently, we presented seven life-saving medals to our officers and nobody covered that in the media. This makes us to review our collective consciousness on many social issues like equality, social equity, economic and other inequities in our society.”
As for improving the current situation, he said they try to recruit and hire the right people, train them well, hold them accountable and give them the support they need if they come across any bad situation in their long career. “All the chiefs in San Diego County met twice last week with minority community leaders and listened to them.” He said in San Diego County, 18 police departments together decided to discontinue the Carotid Restraint, commonly known as a “Chokehold,” which is a barrier to communication with some of our new communities. “This was much before the recent events. We had also been working on de-escalation trainings, training on intercultural communication, diversity, inherent bias, and excited delirium. Our officers are specifically trained to intercede when another officer is intentionally or unintentionally violating any of our policies and make sure that it gets reported.”
On the role of women in ending racial profiling, Stainbrooksays, “Ironically, most of the hate and violent crimes are committed by males. Sometimes, young males have wrong-headed thoughts and the impact the women can have on young men’s lives just by a word or a look can shut them down.”
Chiling Tong, ACE National and Founder International Leader Foundation (ILF) , said they have been working closely with the Congress and administration to help Asian American business owners to recover from the huge impact corona virus pandemic has had on their businesses. “Many businesses, especially minority-owned business, have fallen victim to a few bad actors, who infiltrated peaceful protests demanding action and justice for the killing of African-Americans and to address economic injustice in their community. Our mission at ACE National is to build up our communities of color and to strive for a more credible, just system that is inclusive of all under-represented communities.”
Shelly Moore Krajacic, Executive Officer, National Education Association (NEA), board member Amwec and an educator, representing over three million public school educators from across the nation, points out the biases within the structures, and within the educators. “About 80% of all public school teachers are women and preponderance of those is white women, which is a question mark as to how educators are taught and trained.”
She said for the past seven years NEA has been working on racial justice and education. “We have conversation starters, policies and ways for people to think about the implicit bias that is embedded in the society and schools. School textbooks also reflect some biases. Much of what happens in our schools is dictated by policy, both at local state level as well as national level. The current Every Student Succeeds Act not only encourages but requires that members of the community are involved in taking action in regard to the plans that each of our school districts and states submit for federal funding.”
Shelly insisted on being intentional while talking about race. “Some early childhood educators opine that children already come with racial biases planted in them. But one is never too young to start having conversation about race. We got to have serious explicit talk about race with the students of color as we have failed them so far in the history of this nation.” In order to heal and come together as a society, she suggests every citizen to interact with people from various communities and take interest in their values, eating habits and cultures.
Donna Thomas, an educator teaching students with IEPs (students with special needs), for the last 26 years, while sharing her personal experience, said in the initial years when she was the only black teacher in her school, she was kind of official spokesperson for any African-American student facing any problem. “You can imagine the kind of conversation that I would walk into the teachers’ lounge and hear. Sometimes I would educate or to have a conversation and a lot of times I would just let it roll off or ignore it.”
She says Black Lives Matter Movement is now taken more seriously because the movement took its root from the Trayvon Martin case. “My community feels afraid to call police if something happens because when we look at the white police officers we automatically think that they will beat us down or kill us. I know that is not fair:” She says the solution lies in education and having conversation on this issue.
Chief Robert Arcos, Director of Operations, LAPD, who oversees the operations in all 21 police stations in Los Angeles admitted that Police accountability is a must and we should root out systematic racism, police brutality and biases. “The recent movement led by persistent youth asking for accountability is at the root of a culture that needs attention. It is not just about passing a few legislative motions but needs a lot of work together.”
Amir Ehsaei, Special Agent Incharge, Counter Terrorism, FBI, says in order to remove external biases, they have incorporated community dialogues in many of their programs to build trust and remove fear of law enforcement. “We visit elementary, middle and high schools to talk to kids and also invite their parents for talks within our multiple academies. Internally, we are making sure to promote a diverse group into the management.”
Rabi Peter Levi, Regional Director, Anti-defamation League (ADL) suggests dialogue, education and learning through local advocacy and activist organizations, to fight hatred and bigotry.
“No one is born a bigot. Bigotry is not learned explicitly but implicitly through books, movies, or society, where biased deliberations are not the conscious choice. It is called implicit bias. Bias is universal and we all have it but we don’t educate people about unhealthy biases, based on gender, role of women and men, race, religion. In terms of policy, we have to ask ourselves: has the race or the color of George Floyd anything to do with using the police force against him. It is not just one bad cop that did it, there were three others who watched and did nothing. The question finds its roots not only in the culture of the law enforcement but also in our schools, boardrooms, bedrooms and society that make people to be indifferent towards their groups. The policy needs to address these systemic issues in terms of racial justice, housing justice, economic justice, education justice.”
Levi suggests a multipronged approach to address racial profiling. “American system is not as robust as we thought. The recent COVID19 pandemic has opened up so many vulnerabilities and the greater divide between haves and have-nots. Systematic racism, micro aggression, implicit bias may be new to our vocabulary but we all need to understand their impact on our communities.” He says we need constant vigilance across the board and accountability in protecting everyone’s rights. We should not be indifferent to any policy, bigotry or a biased joke on a dinner table, or a comment we see online or on mass media. “But it requires huge efforts,” he concluded.
(The writer is an award-winning, Pakistan-based senior journalist)
