The Reconstruction of a Caste System in America

The thought that there has been a caste system created in this country right under our noses is utterly amazing. The idea that the systematic mass incarceration of people of color over the past 30 years has resulted in a system of legalized discrimination, almost paralleling Jim Crow in magnitude and arguably surpassing it in impact is mind boggling. The fact that we, middle class, law abiding folks ignored it because it was impacting “criminals” and “someone else” is even more telling about us as a society, as a people. What opened my eyes are the facts and the statistics -- the injustice in deciding who ultimately gets labeled a criminal or a felon in this “war on drugs” and who doesn’t. How long are we going to let mainstream media pull the wool over our eyes and keep us believing that arrests are an indicator of actual crimes versus whose being targeted for arrest? I wonder what it will take for us to wake up.

What are the key facts that opened my eyes??? Well I spent the day researching Michelle Alexander’s book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”. Her labeling it a caste system is what finally opened my eyes -- that and the facts that I hear repeated over and over again:

· that the rate of drug usage and sales is virtually the same across all races

· that African Americans constitute 13% of drug users, but 35% of arrest for possession, 55% of convictions, and 74% of prison sentences

· that in at least 15 states, black men were sent to prison on drug charges at rates ranging from 20 to 57 times those of white men.

· that the war on drugs that is responsible for this mass incarceration was started by Republican strategists to win over Southern whites to the Republican party by capitalizing on the politics of racial fear and hatred by putting a black face on drug use and crime; its amazing how successful this strategy has been.

One of the most moving experiences I ever had was visiting a relative in prison. It hurt me so much to see families there, as if they were on a picnic, as if it was the norm – and in many communities it is, hence the popular phrase “he’s locked up”. I am sure I embarrassed the relative I visited because I was crying the whole time; I couldn’t stop crying as I watched fathers kiss their children goodbye. It was devastating. And when those men got/get out, particularly those with felonies, what will be waiting for them??? A lifetime of discrimination, so much so that many will choose crime as a way out, or as a way back to a “safety net” of prison.

That’s why I had such a hard time celebrating the recent change in the disparity in sentencing for crack cocaine versus regular cocaine from a ration of 100:1 to 18:1 – why weren’t the politicians interested in erasing the disparity – why just reduce it? I remember watching a drug raid of a housing project in the movie American Violet (that was based on a true story) in total disbelief that police could just raid whole communities – that would never be tolerated in middle class America.

We have to stop believing the hype. We have to start caring as much about people victimized by systematic racism as we do about pets victimized by people. I stopped making New Year's resolutions a long time ago, but I think I’ll make one this year - to try to raise awareness for this new caste system that’s been created by the War on Drugs and mass incarceration and to try to provoke understanding for those who have been victimized by it. Those whose parents and families didn’t have the resources to purchase their “get out of jail free card”.

some prison statistics were pulled from "The Covenant with Black America", by Tavis Smiley

Celebrating the Confederacy

Wow, I haven't blogged for a long time but I had to comment on the mess in Virginia, Confederate History Month, and what can happen if we just bury our heads in the sand and let conservatives take over leadership positions in November. Setting aside a month to honor people who died trying to preserve an unjust, immoral system is just plain wrong. If this is the message we want to send to our children, we are really on the wrong path in this country. When citizens are called to duty to fight for something that is WRONG, it is our moral obligation to stand up and say no! We shouldn't honor the people who go on and fight anyway. The Confederacy is not a period in this country that we should honor in any way, shape or form.

Why would I want to honor someone who died trying to keep my ancestors enslaved? Why would I respect someone who wants to hold them up as honorable? If a person dies fighting for something dishonorable, we don't set aside a day to honor them. People are so afraid of being called unpatriotic if they speak out against honoring soldiers who die fighting for the wrong side of a moral issue.

Patriotism is loving your country enough to criticize it -- enough to stand up and say no to traditions and practices that are unjust-- enough to shape it into a place that all it's citizens can be proud of, not just a few.

The Twitter Life Track

So... months after the lists feature was enabled in Twitter, I finally put everyone I'm following into a list. While doing this I discovered a really interesting pattern. Because the people I'm following are arranged chronologically, I could actually track where I was "mentally" at a given point in time based on the type of people I chose to follow. It was like a Twitter Life Timeline -- even more revealing than my tweets.

I started off with my sister who taught me how to actually use twitter (especially since my friends and contacts weren't tweeting yet). At first I focused primarily on environmentalism and green posts (probably because that was my area of expertise at work). Then post-layoff, my recovery phase, my focus shifted to positive thinking, life coaching and spirituality. Once I recovered (or at least recovered enough to move on) I switched to online marketing, business and finance -- apparently it was time to think about making some money. There was also a stint when I was trying to get my book finished and I added a lot of writers & publishers. And finally, there was a focus on following local people, progressives, and non-profits.

Now, it's a bit more random -- whenever someone of interest follows me, I reciprocate, but it has been interesting to follow my Twitter life track. I'm about 1 1/2 years old in Twitter age. Wonder what I'll discover next year.

Reducing the Intrusiveness of Phone Calls

There is something about consuming media on my own terms that is extremely attractive. As a baby boomer, I am very much a phone person. It takes so much less time for me to say something than to type it out --not to mention the fact that it seems to be a better way to build relationships, however, there is so much about the intrusiveness of the phone that I simply don't like. I feel the same way about all the junk mail that is constantly stuffed into my mail box. It bothers me that I have to walk down to the mailbox to pick up trash. On the other hand, there is so much about chat, e-mails, social media and texting that I do like -- I can consume them on my terms.

Today I am debating whether I will do even more phone calls for health care reform. There is a part of me that hates this calling, while the other side feels a bit guilty if I don't do it. So why do I hate it? Well it's not because the people on the other end of the lines are unreceptive. When they find out who I am and why I am calling, they are usually very receptive and great to talk to. As such, the question becomes, why do I dislike making these calls?

I think the crux of it is the intrusiveness of phone calls. I know there are a bunch of people out there who love it when the phone rings, but for many, it can be an intrusion. Of course, one can always choose not to answer, but there is that part of us that doesn't want to "miss" something or doesn't want to ignore a friend -- after all, it may be something important. Don't recognize a number.... well what if it's something of interest? Ultimately caller ID is not enough. We should have a subject notification that shows up also, where people type in or announce what they are calling for. Then all of a sudden screening becomes effective. We do this with messages & answering machines all the time. Why not make it real time?

Okay all you high tech gurus out there, we need a combo phone/texting/announcement mechanism. The phone rings. I don't recognize the caller so I press the button that requests that they text in or announce the subject. Then if I want to talk about that subject I pick up! Otherwise I can text back, no interest or call me later. Oh, and another thing. I need this by tonight.

The Real World

Life is all about lessons. This week, I learned a lesson about the real world. I learned that even though I'm not willing to give up, I have to accept that I can't always make things happen when others give up. And, that if I'm not in a leadership position, I may not even have a say.

Pre-lay-off, I operated a lot in the corporate world and the over-achiever world. Now, I'm out of those insulated environments, and I'm operating in the real world.

When I first came out of grad school, took my first jobs in marketing, and was given an assignment, failure just wasn't an option. Not in the sense that the program couldn't fail, but certainly in the sense that there wasn't a deadline I didn't meet, there wasn't a thing I felt I couldn't make happen. Of course, I couldn't guarantee success, but I could make sure the opportunity for success happened. I gave everything I had to everything I did, and I could be counted on to make it happen.

Now, as I venture into new worlds, I realize that making it happen, is sometimes outside of my sphere of influence. I learned this lesson early on with my children, and now, I am learning it from the projects I undertake.

This week, I learned just how prevalent "giving up" is. After giving everything I had to two projects which consumed as much time as a full time job, the people I was working with threw in the towel -- before we achieved the objective. This to me was inconceivable. Now it isn't.

And, what did I learn? I'm not sure. Is the answer always to operate from a leadership position? Is it to choose carefully which organizations you choose to work for? Or is it just to keep getting up and starting over?

I think, what I'll take away is to keep getting up and starting over.

Seize the Day Dems!

I've devoted the past several months, and every day this week totally to health care reform. I’ve attended rallies, met with congressional staff members, made phone calls and marched; and finally, for the first time since the election in Massachusetts, I am cautiously optimistic that we might actually get it done.

I'm optimistic because Senators like Harry Reid and Bill Dodd are finally speaking publicly, and forcefully, about getting the job done with or without the Republicans. Representatives like Congressman Anthony Weiner are plainly stating the facts on the house floor about our congressional members being a subsidiary of the insurance firms. It was clear in Thursday's summit that Republicans have no interest in participating in comprehensive reform. Congress has spent one year coming up with a bill. If they can’t get it done in that time frame, shouldn’t they be fired? Survey after survey shows that the American people want the reforms that are in the bill. It’s true, surveys also show that they don’t like the bill, but I am willing to bet that the majority of the people who don’t like it, don’t know what’s in it. They only know of a few things they don’t like. It’s like going to a restaurant, not liking a few things on the menu (that you have no intention of consuming), and condemning the restaurant as bad.

With a mechanism for success easily within reach, Democrats have no excuse for failure. They have already passed the bill. Now they just need to tweak it, to get rid of some of the “deals” they made. With only 51 votes needed for reconciliation, they no longer need the Leiberman’s of the world, and shame on any progressive House member who doesn’t vote for this bill it because it doesn’t go far enough. They have sick constituents that are counting on them. The writing is on the wall; it’s the end of the march of the wealthy. Democrats need to grasp their moment and run with it.

Seize the day, Dems…or...you’re fired!

Resilience

These days, when I pause from the computer screen to look out at the devastation that was left behind by the beautiful blanket of snow that enveloped all in site, I am reminded that often in life, something that once was beautiful leaves behind something that is not. The more the excitement and beauty, the greater the devastation, the deeper the wound.

So many slender tree trunks, I can now see, are not just bent, but broken. The snow that weighed down the branches day after day, allowing the deer to feed from the highest tips of the evergreen bushes simply grew too heavy for the branches to bear. Though rejoicing in the ability to sustain life, each was badly wounded in the process.

The recovery and clean-up will be long and difficult, but my mind also jumps to the opportunity that comes with replanting and renewal. This is the true test of resilience. How many hundreds, perhaps thousands of times in life are we asked to get back up with the same sense of motivation, hope, and renewal - no matter the depth of the wound?

And so, I view my life through this metaphor, knowing that these challenges are simply tests that I must embrace and conquer each and every time. Also realizing that if I build the trunk a little thicker, or perhaps make it more elastic, I can alleviate the suffering. But again, I question which is the way to go...elasticity or strength?