Legacy
Devastating, shocking, but hardly surprising. Video released yesterday shows the brutal killing of Robert Brooks, a Black prisoner, by at least 7 White prison guards at a prison in upstate New York, earlier this month. His hands were handcuffed behind his back.
The action of these prison guards is reprehensible. Flat out wrong. If we believe that every human is created in the image of God, how can we treat each other in such a callous manner?
Last month I traveled, with other Jericho Road leaders, to Montgomery, Alabama to visit the work of Bryan Stevenson and his team at the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). Courageously, they have created a museum, a monument, and a sculpture park that, in a searingly authentic way, document the devastating effects of the 400 years of slavery, racism, discrimination, and bias against Black Americans. One of these effects is the mass incarceration of young Black men in prisons all over this nation. Black men are more likely to be targeted by police surveillance and violence, more likely to be incarcerated, and then while in prison, Black men continue to be disproportionately affected by violence and racism at the hands of correctional guards.
So today, as we grieve the senseless loss of Mr. Brooks, it is not enough to condemn the actions of the prison guards. We must also confront the systemic racism that is at the root of this violence towards our fellow human beings. We must ask ourselves how we created a system that culminates in the intentional and brazen killing of a black man, incarcerated, handcuffed behind his back. When did these men become blind to his humanity?
The answer is likely that they were raised in a society that dehumanizes and criminalizes Black men. They joined a workforce that is said to have a culture of protecting it’s own, no matter what. Those men were empowered to do what they did. That didn’t happen overnight, that didn’t happen when they stepped into the prison that day, that happened over and over again as they grew up in our schools, our communities, and perhaps even our churches. That is on us as a society, we must do better.
At Jericho Road we are committed to loving our neighbors. This love demands of us acts of kindness and good will. This love demands transformed hearts and minds. It demands us to advocate for a world where racism no longer exists.
-Dr. Myron Glick, Founder and CEO
