Enough! A call to action for lawyers to fight racism

Duwaine T. Bascoe, BridgeTower Media Newswires

It’s hard to express the depth of the anger, frustration, and trauma that myself and my Black brothers and sisters are having to endure day in and day out. If I could only pick one word to sum up our feelings, it would be ENOUGH!

ENOUGH of the killings;

ENOUGH of the harassment;

ENOUGH of the excuses; and

ENOUGH of the apologies with no action.

We aren’t just here because racist cops killed George Floyd. We’re here because racist cops and civilians have killed an untold number of George Floyds from 1619 to today. What’s more, if we settle for this bastardized notion of peace many are pushing, which entails quieting down our voices so things can go back to normal, there will be a George Floyd tomorrow.

We can’t do this again. Do you know what it’s like to have to watch these killings from our perspective? We see our brother, our sister, mother, father, our children; we see ourselves with the proverbial knee on our necks. And for the longest time we knew that nothing would be done to that person. That America would make every excuse in the book to ensure that there would be no justice for us. Do you have any idea what kind of PTSD something like that causes? The racing heartbeat and clenched fist on the steering wheel when you hear sirens behind you. The anxiety and terror felt because you know, like Malcolm X said, we are at risk of death and it doesn’t matter whether we are guilty or innocent, whether we are well dressed or poorly dressed, whether we are educated or uneducated, whether we are Christian or Muslim. Or, watching the innocence fade out of the eyes of your child when you must explain to them that they can’t do things their white friends do because it could get them killed.
The dehumanizing loss of dignity when the value of animals and lost property are placed above our lives. ENOUGH!

We have reached the point of no return. We must decide if we really are the “moral monsters” that James Baldwin talked about. We can’t worry about those who would remain silent; they’ve made their decision. We can’t worry about those “BBQ Beckys” and “Permit Pattys” who say they don’t see color, because they’ve chosen not to see our beauty. If you really want to be an ally, it’s up to you to check them. You know who they are, don’t delay. Don’t tell us to wait. We’ve been waiting. Don’t talk to us about more training and micro-aggression analysis. You’ve had the time for that. What have you been doing?

The reign of systemic racism ends now. Not just in the in the realm of criminal justice, but we must root it out from under every rock and crevice of our community because there is no place where the long arm of racism doesn’t reach. It’s in our schools where kids who belong to the global majority made up roughly 40% of those suspended, but only comprised roughly 16% of the student body population.
This disparity is disgusting; we owe our children better. Furthermore, we must reform the curriculum. Our contribution to this country cannot be encapsulated in one month. We also must root out systemic racism in our health care, where disparities in treatment, insurance, and environmental racism, has caused African Americans to have a coronavirus mortality rate 2.4 times that of whites.

It even reaches in our legal community. We see it. We experience it. We live it. We are undervalued, underestimated, and marginalized, but no more. No more having a $1,000 diversity statement on your website and a 50-cent diversity recruiting effort. In the words of MLK Jr., “be true to what you said on paper.” Fair warning, we are coming for you. No more of having us deposit our time and treasure into the banks of our legal organizations, only to receive an insufficient funds notification when it comes time for prominent positions and your support. Fair warning, we will establish our own bank. No more deciding what’s going to be on the menu and then inviting us once the table is set. Fair warning, we will build our own table.

We have much to do. We have much to change. Now is not the time to be timid. Put your hands to the plow and let’s go. We are demanding meaningful, tangible change, and the African American attorneys are ready to lead.

ENOUGH of the killings;

ENOUGH of the harassment;

ENOUGH of the excuses; and

ENOUGH of the apologies with no action.

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Duwaine Bascoe is a litigation associate at Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara, Wolf & Carone, LLP and co-chair of the Lawyers Coalition for Racial and Social Justice.