A Newsletter
for dreamers, activists, hippies, and all people who hunger for Peace
Volume
I Issue 3 August 2012
What
is Peace Meals?
I
imagine a newsletter that reports on activities, ideas, initiatives, events of
all people in our community who are working for peace broadly defined. Whether
you are supporting families, empowering women, ending racism, providing mental
health, reducing the prevalence of guns and violence in our culture, assisting
ex-offenders reenter our society, providing programs to trouble youth, reducing
poverty, reforming the criminal justice system, welcoming immigrants into our
community, or standing on the corner with a sign against war – you are working
for peace. My dream is that you will email me on the third Sunday of each month
with your article, announcement, or peace serving. I will compile all
announcements into one big peace potluck for us all to share.
Announcements
Supporting Families
Center for Child and Family
Health
Wednesday,
September 19th, 2012 from 11:30AM until 2:00 PM
The Annual
Center for Child and Family Health Urbaniak/Sanders Luncheon & Fashion Show,
Hope Valley Country Club, 3803 Dover Road, Durham, NC 27701. For more information, to sponsor, or to join
the event committee, contact C. Eileen Watts Welch: at 919-419-3474 ext 262 or eileen.welch@duke.edu
The
Center for Child & Family Health (CCFH) offers preventative, diagnostic and
treatment services for children and families affected by or at risk of social,
emotional, and behavioral difficulties. We host a variety of major research
projects to better understand child development, chronic stress, traumatic
stress, and bereavement. CCFH has earned the respect of the local and regional
community, and is a model that can be used on a national level to change the
way we support children and families in overcoming the effects of social,
emotional, and behavioral challenges.
Gun Control
The
pro-gun control Brady Campaign is out with a new letter, asking presidential
debate moderator Jim Lehrer to press both President Obama and Mitt Romney on
gun control.
"As
moderator of the first presidential debate in Denver, Colorado, I respectfully
request that you ask President Obama and Governor Romney to present their plans
to address the issue of gun violence in our nation," the Brady Campaign
writes.
"The
debate will take place within 10 miles of two of the most deadly mass shootings
in U.S. history: Columbine High School and the Aurora movie theater. Every day
in our nation 32 more Americans are murdered with guns. During the next
presidential term, 48,000 more Americans will be murdered unless we do
something about it," they argue.
Lehrer
is set to moderate the Denver debate — just a few miles from the recent
shooting in Aurora, Colo that left a dozen dead.
Stop Racism
The
NAACP of North Carolina held a Community Mass Meeting on Friday August 24, 2012
in Durham which included a press conference and the announcement of the
statewide grassroots mobilization for voter registration taking place over the
weekend. In neighborhoods, churches, parks, libraries and other public spaces,
NAACP branches and their partners will go to where the people are to register
as many as possible to vote.
Speakers
included Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, North Carolina NAACP President and
Chair of the Political Action Committee of the NAACP National Board of
Directors, Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown, former Chair of the Religious Affairs
Committee of the NAACP National Board of Directors and Pastor of the 3rd
Baptist Church, San Francisco, CA, along with other state, national and youth
representatives.
Mental Health
Lincoln
Community Health Center operates a Healthcare for the Homeless Clinic on the
campus of the Urban Ministries Shelter in downtown Durham. Medical and social work services are provided
to Durham residents who are living in Durham’s shelters, recovery houses, or to
those living on the streets or in their cars.
Lincoln's
HCH clinic provides comprehensive primary care services and urgent care
services. Services are provided weekdays by a family nurse practitioner and
during evening clinics (3-4 times a week) by a physician assistant or volunteer
community physicians. A clinical social worker is available during most of the
clinics for counseling and case management services and for a weekly coping
skills group
Reform the Justice
System
Frank
Stasio, radio host for the State of Things with WUNC, 91.5 presented a program
on Friday, August 24, 2012 about Restorative Justice. Our justice system is
sometimes referred to as “retributive justice,” meaning when someone commits a
crime, the response is to punish them. Now imagine a system where the focus is
on healing, rather than punishment, one that allows the victim of a crime to
experience a legal process that is interactive and engaging. That is the
mission of restorative justice. Host Frank Stasio spoke with Fred Van Liew,
director for the Center of Restorative Justice Practices and a former prosecutor
based in Des Moines, Iowa; Marcia Owen, the executive director of Religious
Coalition for a Non-Violent Durham; and Karen Hamilton, senior director of
Counseling and Student Services in Wake County Schools.
http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/Restorative_Justice.mp3/view
Re-Entry of
Ex-Offenders
The
Religious Coalition for Non-Violent Durham puts together faith teams to support
people coming back to our community from prison.
A
Faith Team is a group of 4-6 volunteers who provide practical, emotional and
spiritual support to a person newly-released from prison. Faith Team members
are required to attend a training to participate in the Reconciliation and
Re-entry Ministry. The training will explain the Ministry’s principles,
procedures and team approach to care. Once a faith team is formed, the training
will establish the key relationships between the offender, faith team members,
Criminal Justice Resource Center staff and Reconciliation and Re-entry coordinator.
Your congregation will also be asked to evaluate its interest in restorative
justice and to assess your congregations’ current strengths and resources
before forming a Faith Team. The partners will enter into an agreement that
specifies what they are each to do, where they can get help, the length of the
covenant, the process of mediating differences, and the expectations of the
partners.
Training
is conducted by the Reconciliation and Re-entry Coordinator and a professional
from the Criminal Justice Resource Center. The Criminal Justice Resource Center
is a Department of Durham County Government and is under the advisement of the
Criminal Justice Partnership Advisory Board.
Ending Poverty
Established
in 1992, Housing for New Hope is a nonprofit organization serving the needs of
homeless individuals and those at risk of homelessness in Durham and Orange
Counties.
Housing
for New Hope is supported by more than 750 individuals, 22 congregations, more
than 20 businesses and civic organizations, six foundations, and federal,
state, and local government agencies.
The
mission of Housing for New Hope is to encourage and assist homeless people and
other persons in crisis to move toward lives marked by increased levels of
stability, dignity, hope, and independence.
Services
include
·
Outreach
and Engagement: Unsheltered and uninsured homeless men and women in Durham and
Orange Counties are served daily by workers on foot and by vehicle. Ongoing
case management and connections to healthcare and other necessary services are
provided.
·
Housing
and Crisis Assistance: More than $200,000 is provided annually for rental and
other financial assistance to the precariously housed and formerly homeless.
Staff assist the homeless to obtain and maintain housing and work closely with
private landlords through the process.
·
Transitional
Housing: The year-long program assists homeless men and women to regain
structure in their lives, which can include gaining employment, developing
savings, maintaining sobriety, and accessing educational opportunities.
·
Apartments:
Sixty-four formerly homeless tenants live in affordable housing developed by
Housing for New Hope since 1997. On-site staff provide support services to
prevent a return to homelessness
Youth Programs
YO:
Durham grants teens a "year of opportunity" by providing benefits
including individual adult mentoring from community members, service learning
opportunities like working in soup kitchens, a six-week paid summer career
academy to teach career oriented skills and internships with area businesses
and organizations. http://www.thedurhamnews.com/2012/02/01/210937/helping-the-citys-youth.html
Cultures of Peace
American
Friends Service Committee at the Democratic National Convention presents:
WINDOWS
AND MIRRORS:
REFLECTIONS
ON THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
Windows
& Mirrors is a provocative art exhibit on the human cost of war. Eighteen
4’ x 6’ murals were created by US and international artists to memorialize the
civilian causalities in Afghanistan. These windows on a war-torn country are
also mirrors reflecting our own identity as a nation at war.
Wells
Fargo Gallery, Spirit Square
345
North College St, Charlotte, NC
Exhibit
Hours: September 2-8, 2012
Monday-
Saturday 9am – 6pm
Sunday
1-5 pm
Love in Action: The
Transformative Power of Nonviolence
November
8 - 11, 2012. Early bird registration ends September 10th. Scholarships are
available for college and seminary students. The scholarship application
deadline is October 1st.
The
fifth annual Lake Junaluska Peace Conference, "Love in Action: the
Transformative Power of Nonviolence," will draw upon the lessons of
nonviolent campaigns and their leaders who discovered a force that can change
the world. Participants will explore the principles and learn the applications
of nonviolence as taught by Gandhi, King, and many spiritual leaders who
offered this alternative paradigm for resolving conflict, achieving justice,
and building peace.
EARLY
REGISTRATION ENDS SEPTEMBER 10.
Workshops
include:
·
Meditation
for Peacemakers
·
How
to Start a Revolution
·
Abundant
Life and Unjust Prosperity: Violence and Non-Violence in the Marketplace
·
For
the Healing of the Nations
·
Restorative
Practices: Breaking Cycles of Violence and Retribution
·
Racial
Healing and Equity: The Power of Sharing Stories and Facilitating Non-Violent
Dialogue
·
Bringing
the Peace Message to our Schools
·
Still
Defending Creation: The Growing Threat of US Nuclear Weapons
·
Reclaiming
Nonviolence in the Islamic Tradition
·
Manna
and Mercy
·
Civilian
Diplomacy
·
Compassionate
Listening
Detailed
workshop descriptions may be found at
http://www.lakejunaluska.com/peace-workshops/
NEW:
On Friday, November 9, there will be a special panel discussing what Buddhism,
Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism teach about nonviolence.
Speakers
include:
·
Leymah
Gbowee, Liberian Peace Activist and 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winner. Gbowee
helped carry the Olympic Flag during the London Olympics Opening Ceremony.
·
Rev.
Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr., Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, Candler School
of Theology and Civil Rights leader
·
Michael
Nagler, President of the Metta Center for Nonviolence
·
Alan
Storey, Central Methodist Mission in Cape Town, Africa
Participants
will have a unique opportunity to become a part of an ongoing multi-faith
community of peacemakers who practice nonviolent witness to societal and global
transformation. Through the addresses,
panels, and workshops, the conference provides peacemaking skill building
experience that will empower and sustain us individually and in community as we
do the hard work of peacemaking in a world broken and corrupted by systemic violence.
The
conference will be held at Lake Junaluska, NC November 8 - 11, 2012. Early bird
registration ends September 10th. Scholarships are available for college and
seminary students. The scholarship application deadline is October 1st.
For
more information visit us at www.lakejunaluska.com/peace
Immigration
Sept. 1-5, Charlotte, NC. No Papers No Fear “Undocubus” coming to
Charlotte for Democratic National Convention.
Sat, Sept. 1 – Arrival of Bus.
Details TBA
Sun, Sept. 2 – No Papers No
Fear Bloc during March on Wall Street South
Mon, Sept. 3—Concert and
intercambio (exchange) of artists and writers
Tues-Fri, Sept 4-6—Public
Coming Out
Thurs, Sept. 5—UndocuNation
Festival
For
more information, please contact Roxana Bendezu: roxanabendezu@gmail.com,
704-264-4444
Sat, Sept. 15 10am-3pm,
Greensboro, NC.
Statewide Stakeholders Meeting for Adelante Education Coalition. Learn about
educational issues affecting Latinos, upcoming plans, campaigns and how you can
get involved. If you are interested in participating, contact Raul Gamez:
raul.gamez@duke.edu.
Friday, October 12 8:30am-4pm,
United Church of Chapel Hill. 2012
Faith & Immigration Statewide Summit, sponsored by the NC Council of
Churches. This will be a unique, statewide, ecumenical event to help people of
faith (immigrant and non) deal with immigration related issues in their own
congregations and beyond, and become better advocates and allies. Workshop
tracks will include: Immigration & Enforcement, Advocacy & Base
Building, and Ministry With Immigrants.
$10 registration includes lunch. For more info and to register:
http://bit.ly/immigration-summit.
Environment
Earth Sabbath Celebration
September
4, 2012 from 7:00-8:30 PM
Durham
Friends Meeting
Sharing
worship, personal stories, video clips and/or readings related to appreciation
& concern about our Earth. Sponsored
by NC Interfaith Power & Light.
Hosted by Durham Friends Meeting Earthcare Witness. Friends & the wider community are invited
to participate. Meetinghouse, worship
room.
Protest Opportunities
Ongoing weekly vigils for justice and peace:
·
Raleigh - Stop the Arms Race and Build a Culture
of Peace Vigil.
First Wednesday of every
month from 12 noon to 1 p.m. in front of the Century Post Office on
Fayetteville St.
Posters provided. Now
in the 29th year.
.
·
Chapel Hill: 5-6pm, Fridays, corner of Elliott
Rd and East Franklin St (942-2535).
·
Raleigh: 5:00-6:00 pm, Mondays, in front of
Central Prison, corner of Hunt Dr. and Western Blvd, to end the death penalty
(PFADP, AI-USA, NC-ACLU)
Articles
By Scott
Holmes
I have the opportunity
to talk with Mayor Bill Bell about his idea to reduce gun violence by setting
bonds in gun cases to $300,000. Last week we had two homicides in three days.
Mayor Bell wants to send a clear message to perpetrators of violence that we
are serious about ending violence. I
applaud Mayor Bell for keeping this issue on the forefront of our minds; but, I
disagree with his approach. This
opportunity to talk about violence in Durham has required me to try to articulate
some of the lessons I have learned about violence in Durham.
The Lessons of Violence
As a criminal defense
attorney for more than ten years, I have appeared in about sixty murder cases.
Most of them happened in Durham. I have met perpetrators, their families,
victims, their families, police, and witnesses. I have immersed myself in each
act of violence to understand why it happened, in order to help my client and
in order to help our system search for justice. I have learned that our system
works very hard to identify and punish the guilty, but it usually falls far
short of finding justice, reconciliation, and healing for the victim, the
perpetrator, and our community. As a Quaker and a Pacifist, I have continually
asked the question why did this act of violence happen? What could have
prevented it? How can we heal as a community moving forward? These are the questions we should be asking
about violence in Durham – not “how high should the bond be.” I have learned that violence is a symptom of
cascading social failures. By the time an act of violence occurs, there is a
long series of social failures that have occurred, and locking up the
perpetrator won’t prevent the next act of violence.
If you want to know how
to prevent violence, talk to mothers of people charged with violent acts. They
are suffering from the cascade of social failures. They will tell you that they
saw it coming and they couldn’t find the help they needed for their children.
You can talk to victims of domestic violence, who could have predicted the act
days in advance, but they did not know how to get help.
Pieces of the Violence Puzzle
Reducing violence in
Durham requires focused attention to many pieces of a complicated puzzle
involving many different aspects of our community. We need people in leadership positions to
keep their eye on the big picture, and we need people on the streets working
hard on each piece of the puzzle. Each needs to communicate well with the other
to share information, ideas, solutions and failures. Here are 10 pieces of that
puzzle that I have encountered in my work:
1.
Supporting
Families and Women: Families with risk factors for violence need more help
and support. These include folks living in poverty, single parents, where there
are issues of mental illness and drug addiction. These also include people in verbally
or physically abusive relationships. There are individual and family
interventions that have been tested and proven to succeed in reducing violence
by supporting these families by providing therapy, life training skills,
conflict resolution skills, and stress reduction. We also need to empower women.
Women are less likely to commit acts of violence, and are most often targets of
violence. In Durham we ranked second last year (to Charlotte) for the number of
domestic violence homicides. Women need to have the educational, emotional,
financial, and community resources to escape abusive situations.
Jan
Williams is the program director for Healthy Families Durham. This group
provides support for families of young children. All of the families that they
work with are low-income. Most moms are single parents who have multiple risk
factors such as domestic violence, mental health issues, social isolation, and
teenage parenting. Jan helps provide
weekly home visits for up to three years, providing parent education, case
management, supportive counseling, and helping the parents to meet their
personal goals.
Over
the last seven years, Healthy Families Durham has been conducting a randomized
controlled trial of Healthy Families Durham.
A preliminary analysis shows that the people they serve more likely to
be connected with needed benefits, show significantly less stress, and their
children show significantly fewer behavior problems. The children show
significantly less indicators for aggression.
2.
Gun
Control: One important piece of the violence puzzle is the reasonable
regulation and reduction of guns on our streets. Guns are more dangerous than cars, and should
be regulated at least as much as cars. We should have to take a test to get a
license to possess a gun. We should have to register the gun, and get insurance
in case it hurts someone. The handling of guns should have to be
inspected annually for safety. People with mental illness should not be allowed
to get a gun license. Certain guns, like assault rifles, should only be
provided to soldiers.
3.
Stop
Racism: Black residents in Durham are eight times more likely to be
incarcerated for an offense than White offenders. Black residents are 200% more
likely to be searched at a routine traffic stop than white motorists. We must end law enforcement practices which
unfairly target people of color for investigation because of the color of their
skin. We must work toward a justice system that works for people regardless of
their race.
4.
Mental
Health: People with mental illness need support in our community. Many
cannot afford mental health treatment or do not know where to get it. Many need
intensive drug addiction treatment and can’t find any. Our jail has become the
place where we put people with mental illness. Many acts of violence involve
untreated mental illness. Family members know these folks are suffering with
untreated mental illness or addiction, and feel helpless about where to get
help for their family members. We need to support efforts like the Durham
Police Crisis Intervention Team – where
officers with special training in mental health are able to de-escalate
situations safely. This team, and its supporting agency, the Criminal Justice
System are often on the chopping block of budgetary decisions. All police should be trained in “Mental
Health First Aid.” We need to support of
Durham Network of Care, the Lincoln Community Health Care Center, and the
Durham Center Access and Freedom House which provide 24 hour free mental health
treatment free of charge.
We are
moving in the wrong direction when we cut Alliance Behavioral Healthcare (Formerly
the Durham Center) which provides services in Durham for mental health and drug
treatment. This organization has lost three million in federal and state funds
for this year. They served 11,000 people
in Durham last year. Many of the clients
who are parents, appear in court and have to get evaluations. There are few
places to take Medicaid, and it is difficult to get evaluations, counseling and
treatment. This is an essential source mental health treatment in our
community. We are cutting the kind of mental health and addiction treatment
that could prevent senseless violence in our community. (Local Mental Health,
Drug Services to be Cut, Durham Herald Sun, Keith Upchurch, August 12, 2012, http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/19749570/article-Local-mental-health--drug-services-to-be-cut )
5.
Reform
the Justice System: The Court system does not address violence in a way
that reduces violence. Incarceration does not reduce violence. We need to get
16 and 17 year old kids out of the Durham County Jail. Or, if we can’t release
them, they need to have their own pod away from the adult offenders where their
education is continued and they receive therapy and life skills training. We
should promote efforts like the specialty courts in Durham – the Drug Treatment
Court, the People’s Court, and the Domestic Violence Court.
We are
moving in the wrong direction when we closed Family Drug Court due to budget
cuts. This Court served moms whose kids were in DSS custody and who had pending
juvenile court cases about their children.
This court took a holistic approach to the problems faced by these
mothers, including their needs for housing, job training, transportation, in
addition to drug treatment.
We
should get Professor Powell from Campbell Law School to bring his mediation
program from Raleigh to Durham County Schools. In Wake County he is teaching
non-violent conflict resolution skills to students, and reducing suspension and
court referral rates in the meantime. We should embrace restorative justice
techniques that bring the victims into the process and make their healing an
important focus of the system.
6.
Re-Entry
of Ex-Offenders: Many acts of violence are perpetrated by people with
previous criminal records. We need healthy ways to bring ex-offenders back into
our community. With a criminal record these folks have difficulty getting
housing and employment, which leads to more stress and increases the risk of
violence. We should support efforts of the Criminal Justice Resource Center (CJRC)
to help with the re-entry of ex-offenders back into our community. Folks like
Gudrun Parmer with CJRC, and Marcia Owen of the Religious Coalition for a
Non-Violent Durham are helping bring ex-offenders back within the circle of our
community in ways that reduce repeat offenses, or recidivism. There are roles
for citizens to play forming circles of support and accountability, and working
with probation officers, to help ex-offenders successfully return to our
community. Keeping ex-offenders at the margins of our society greatly increases
the risk of recidivism and violence in our community.
7.
Concentrations
of Poverty: Many violent acts occur in areas of concentrated poverty. We
should look at efforts to invest in poor parts of Durham to help young people
see a legitimate model of success. Young people in poor areas of Durham ought
to see examples of peers who make good money without dealing drugs. We should
support efforts of people like Peter Skillern with Reinvestment Partners and
the Self Help Credit Union to invest in poor parts of Durham and create real
economic opportunity. After decades of working in Durham, Mel Williams, of End Poverty Durham, believes that
poverty is the single most important factor leading to violence.
8.
Youth
Programs: We should support youth programs like ‘Yo Durham’ and others
which help Youth find creative and fun ways to form healthy peer groups in
situations where there is a risk of violence or gang affiliation. Churches
should reach out to kids on the street, accept them for who they are, and love
them. Youth at risk for violence should be able to find groups where they accepted,
protected, and guided by folks who understand what they are going through.
9.
Changing
the Culture of Violence: We live in a culture where violence is glorified.
Try to count the number of violent acts in a three hour television segment. Our
culture makes violence acceptable. We should support organizations like North
Carolina Peace Action which offer a variety of ways for individuals, families,
and community organizations to think carefully about the role of violence in
our daily lives. We should teach our children that violence is an unacceptable
and unhealthy life choice.
10. Durham Crime Cabinet: We should empower
the Durham Crime Cabinet to take a more active and public role in reducing
violence in our Community. The goal of Durham’s Crime Cabinet is to bring all
available resources to bear on reducing Durham’s crime. The committee offers
coordination and communication among member agencies. The Crime Cabinet,
co-chaired by Commissioner Ellen Reckhow and Councilman Howard Clement, meets
every other month. Member organizations include the Durham Police Department,
Durham County Sheriff’s Office, Probation and Parole, Partners Against Crime,
Durham Technical Community College, Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau,
Durham Businesses against Crime, Criminal Justice Resource Center, Office of
the Superior Court, and our District Court Judges.
This
Cabinet should also include members of the community who are victims of violent
crimes and families of perpetrators of violent crime. Much of the work of the
Cabinet has focused on proposing more serious penalties for crimes. I recommend
they take a more holistic approach to reducing violence and preventing crime. They should keep an eye on the big picture of
violence in Durham while supporting groups who are working on the individual
pieces of that puzzle and filling in the gaps. When a violent act occurs, this
group should investigate what happened from the point of view of figuring out
where our social care system failed.
This group could identify the efforts that are working, the policies
that are not working, and ways to fill the holes in our net of care.
There
is something called the Youth Promise
Act in Congress now that would fund a commission of community members to
come together, hire someone to research the situations and causes of violence
in a city and work with the community members to design the best
interventions. It's been tried with
great success in such places as New York City and Los Angeles. We could apply for this grant to fund and
expand the work of the Durham Crime Cabinet to address the issues raised here.
This is not an
exhaustive list, but it addresses many of the issues that lead to violence. In
2008 the World Health Organization issued a report on youth violence as a
public health problem. In that report there were 10 ways to reduce violence
listed:
Ten Credible evidence based strategies for preventing violence
1.
Increase safe, stable, and nurturing
relationships between children and their parents and caretakers;
2.
Reduce availability and misuse of drugs and
alcohol;
3.
Reduce
access to lethal means, such as guns, knives, and pesticides (often used to
commit suicide, especially in low- and middle-income countries);
4
.
Improve
life skills and enhance opportunities for children and youth;
5.
Promote gender equality and empower women;
6.
Change cultural norms that support violence;
7.
Improve criminal justice systems;
8.
Improve social welfare systems;
9.
Reduce social distance between conflicting
groups;
10.
Reduce economic inequality and concentrated
poverty.
A report of the United
States Surgeon General in 2001 suggested that incarceration is not the most
effective way to reduce violence.
“In the 1990s, faced with the epidemic of violence and largely unaware
that research had found some violence prevention programs to be effective -- as
well as often buying into the "just desserts" philosophy -- the only
option some legislators saw was to lock up violent youths to protect society.
New evidence makes a compelling case that intervention programs can be
cost-effective and can reduce the likelihood that youths will become repeat
offenders. Given this evidence, it is in the country's interest to place as
many violent youths as possible in these programs, thus correcting the
imbalance that now favors use of the criminal justice system over effective
intervention programs. Reclaiming youths from a violent lifestyle has clear
advantages over warehousing them in prisons and training schools.” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44299/#A13331 )
In Conclusion
I am grateful for the
opportunity to discuss the important issue of violence in my community. I
welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions. The work to reduce violence
is real peacemaking. Blessed are the Peacemakers. I believe we each begin
making peace within ourselves. As the Dali Lama has said: “Peace
must first be developed within an individual. And I believe that love,
compassion, altruism are the fundamental basis for peace. Once these qualities
are developed within an individual, he or she is then able to create an
atmosphere of peace and harmony. The atmosphere can be expanded and extended
from the individual to the family, from the family to the community, and
eventually to the whole world.”
I will close with a list of local
organizations that I have encountered who are doing incredible work on various
pieces of the puzzle. I welcome any suggested additions to this list, and ideas
about other pieces of the puzzle.
|
|
Contact
|
Website
|
Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent
Durham
|
Marcia Owen
|
|
Criminal Justice Resource Center and STARR
program
|
Gudrun Parmer
|
|
Durham Center Access, Freedom House
|
Anita Daniels
|
|
Durham Police Department Crisis
Intervention Team
|
Alanna J. Jones, CJRC
|
http://durhamnc.gov/ich/op/DPD/Pages/CIT.aspx
|
Durham Congregations in Action
|
Spencer Bradford
|
|
Conflict Resolution Center and In-School
Truancy Court
|
Grace Marsh
|
|
Specialty Courts: Drug Treatment Court,
People’s Court, Domestic Violence Court
|
Judge Marsha Morey
|
http://www.nccourts.org/County/Durham/Programs/Drug/Default.asp
|
Center for Child and Family Health,
Healthy Families Durham
|
Jan Williams
|
http://www.ccfhnc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=89
|
East Durham Child Initiative
|
David Reese
|
http://edci.org/
|
Nativity School
|
Daniel Vannelle
|
|
End Poverty Durham
|
Mel Williams
|
|
Yo Durham
|
|
http://www.yodurham.org/
|
Reinvestment Partners
|
Peter Skillern
|
|
NC Peace Action
|
Betsy Crites
|
|
Urban Ministries and Lincoln Community
Health Care Center
|
Julia Gamble
|
|
Housing for New Hope
|
Melissa Heartful
|
|
Project Safe Neighborhoods
|
Jennifer Snyder
|
|
Alliance Behavioral Healthcare (Formerly
the Durham Center)
|
|
|
People of Faith Against the Death Penalty
|
|
|
ACLU – NC
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Amnesty International USA
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American Friends Service Committee
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Friends Committee on National Legislation
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NAACP of NC
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End Racial
Profiling in Durham Now
By
Scott Holmes
For years I have represented young black male and Hispanic
drivers who describe being stopped for no good reason, and searched without
result. One of my clients was TASERed for refusing to extinguish his cigarette
after he was stopped for what a judge later determined was no legitimate
reason.
(http://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/papers/Trial_Briefs_Ian_Mance_2012.pdf )
These people feel like victims of a bully that they cannot stand up to. I have
long fought racial profiling as a disease in our beloved community. People
should not be treated like criminals, targeted for investigation, because of
the color of their skin. It is humiliating.
Racial profiling has long been something that is discussed
as a sporadic phenomenon, an isolated failure of our system caused by a rogue
police officer or two. Until recently, the evidence of racial profiling has
been largely supported only by anecdotal evidence. Victims of racial profiling live in silence.
They are stopped repeatedly for no reason on the way home, and don’t think
people will believe them. No one likes to “play the race card.”
Now, however, thanks to statistics collected since January
of 2000 as a result of NC’s data collection statute, and an analysis of more
than 13 million stops, we know that racial profiling is a tragically real part
of our system of law enforcement. In a report released to select policymakers
this spring, UNC Professor Frank R. Baumgartner (and graduate assistant Derek
Epp) analyzed this data for each of the Counties in North Carolina. (
http://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/papers/Baumgartner-Traffic-Stops-Statistics-1-Feb-2012.pdf
)
The statistics for Durham are
startling:
Black motorists are more than 200% more likely to be
searched by law enforcement as a result of a routine traffic stops for
speeding, seat belt, and stop sign violations.
·
Black suspects are nearly nine times more likely
to be incarcerated for criminal conduct than White suspects.
(Note: This statistic on racial incarceration in Durham
comes from a study conducted by the Racial Justice Task Force at the North
Carolina Advocates for justice, and not the Baumgartner report. The Task
Force’s analysis of June 30, 2011, data, collected from the North Carolina
Department of Correction’s Research and Planning Division, show that African
Americans make up 57% of North Carolina’s prison population, but only 22% of
the State’s population. In Durham County, African Americans are nearly nine
times more likely to be incarcerated for criminal conduct than Caucasians, with
Edgecombe and Warren Counties close behind with ratios of 7.5 to 1, and
Mecklenburg with a ratio of 6.9 to 1.; )
·
Blacks arrested for drug crimes are nine times
more likely to be incarcerated than White suspects.
·
Hispanics are 3.8 times more likely to be
incarcerated for drug crimes than white residents.
·
Blacks are 13.6 times more likely to be
designated as a habitual felon.
These statistics do not do justice to the humiliating
reality of being treated as a criminal just because of your race. These
statistics confirm that racial bias is deeply embedded in our criminal justice
system in Durham.
If we are to be the beloved community, we must face the
problem of race in our court system. We must meet this challenge head on with
open, honest dialogue. We must have
conversations at every level of our community – at schools, businesses,
universities, libraries, court rooms, police training sessions, in the jail.
Our leaders owe it to us to address these statistics and make changes that will
change the trend. Some of these changes
might include:
·
regularly posting the racial stop data for every
Durham police officer;
·
requiring police to inform people of their right
to refuse consent searches and to fill out a form consenting or declining a
search incident to a stop; and
·
creating a Racial Truth and Reconciliation
commission composed of leaders, professionals, citizens, and victims of racial
profiling to review the data, create a complaint review process, to investigate
and listen to people affected by racism in our criminal justice system.
We need our Durham Crime Cabinet to take a look at these
statistics and recommend reforms for our law enforcement agencies and court system.
Although these statistics show that most officers engage in
racial profiling, and that it is not just a few “bad apples,” I do not believe
that most officers intentionally target people for investigation solely because
of their race. I have encountered a few racist police officers; however, these
are rare exceptions. Most officers take
great pride in being professional and treating people fairly; and yet, the odds
are they disproportionately stop people of color. How can this be? We live in a culture of unconscious racism.
Racism is built into the very fabric of our institutions and culture. It is in
the air we breathe and we can’t even identify it, or talk about it in healthy
and open ways.
We will need strong, courageous leadership to address this
institutional and cultural racism. We will need to get past defensive
reactions, denials, and inadequate explanations. If our leaders will not take
up the mantle of ending racism in our criminal justice system, then we must
find a way to address the inequality ourselves. Our justice system is supposed
to provide equal protection of the law regardless of race, and we in Durham
have failed to measure up to this founding constitutional principle.
