What is local government’s role in promoting racial justice?

It is essential that government institutions, not just individuals in those institutions, are committed to advancing racial justice. Because I have a son going into policing, I am very cognizant that many of the individuals who work in law enforcement also care about social justice. Indeed, many people are drawn to law enforcement  because they want to help protect the most vulnerable in our society. In Mr. Rogers words, they wanted to one of the “helpers.”But individual commitment is not enough and that’s why this question is such an important one. 

From the inception of our country, government at the local, regional, state, and federal levels have played a role in creating and maintaining racial inequity, including everything from determining who is a citizen, who can vote, who can own property, who is property, and where one can live. Governmental laws, policies, and practices created a racial hierarchy and determined, based on race, who benefits and who is burdened. 

Current inequities are sustained by historical legacies, structures, and systems that repeat patterns of exclusion.

Across the nation, and here in Ann Arbor, the emphasis today is on policing. Thanks to cell phones, everyone is able to see how police brutality and the tools the police have developed to maintain social order disproportionately impact lower-income and minority communities. Middle and upper class white Americans are able to observe what lower-income and  minority communities have long known. Police brutality persists. And whether you live or die, can depend more on the color of your skin than the crime you committed.  Ann Arbor, like every other community in this nation, must re-examine what community safety means and looks like, who we’re trying to protect, and what professional services are needed to create a safe community for all of us. 

However, our attention must extend beyond policing.  We must examine every single aspect of local government and who benefits and is burdened by the policies we have in place. Who benefits from housing policy that favors single-family home owners? Who benefits from transportation policy that prioritizes motorists?  We must be willing to reimagine much more than policing if we are committed to values of racial equity and social justice.