LISTENING TO OUR COMMUNITY: A DISCUSSION WITH AMBASSADOR MICHAEL LAWSON

Jun 5

The killing of George Floyd at the hands of U.S. law enforcement has sparked protests across the world, with thousands gathering in cities like London and Berlin to condemn human rights violations against Black communities in the United States. The world is watching and the moment calls for Americans to reflect on how systemic racism continues to plague our society and institutions.

On Friday, June 5, our members heard from Pacific Council Director and President and CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League Ambassador Michael Lawson about the longstanding history of systemic racism in America, especially in law enforcement, and he shed light on efforts the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has taken in recent decades to diversify officer ranks, provide training on community policing, and change how police chiefs are appointed or removed.

Ambassador Lawson, in conversation with Pacific Council member and television host Tanya Acker, noted that there is still work to be done in LA, including divesting city funds that currently go to LAPD to other agencies that can handle specific problems better, such as social workers or initiatives for the homeless.

"We are better off together than we are separated," Ambassador Lawson said.

Here are takeaways from the discussion:

“Systemic racism is racism that is buried into the very fabric of organizations, cities, states, and our nation,” Ambassador Lawson said. “What’s happening with these protests is not just about George Floyd being murdered in the street. It’s all the other incidents. This is not new, it’s something that people of color have been dealing with for decades. We hit a perfect storm of people seeing so many things happen, especially in broad daylight with so many witnesses. In these videos, police have shown no concern or remorse. Police brutality is the modern day version of lynchings that took place in the 20th century.”
“In Los Angeles, a lot of reforms were made in the wake of the Rodney King beating,” he said. “But 10 years ago, the consent decree expired and we rolled back. We did not keep our foot on the gas pedal. We are not where we were before the Rodney King beating, but we are not where we should be. If you don’t stick with the progress and keep it moving, you end up in a situation where you’re trying to catch up again.”
“There are good cops and there are bap cops, but there is a culture that’s created where even the good cops get sucked into facilitating the actions of a bad cop, like the other three cops who did not do anything to stop George Floyd’s murder,” he said.
Lawson said the police are the first responders for every situation that they’re not trained to do. “We need to reallocate those resources to the experts who are trained deal with issues that befall our community because of lack of healthcare, lack of access, sufficient schooling, etc.,” he said. “These things have been criminalized because we’ve defunded the social work. We need to reallocate funds and take those assets and resources and use them to address the real issues that befall all of our underserved communities. The problems that people perceive to be happening in underserved communities in LA are often caused by hostile police. You don’t need police funding to deal with the situations that are in underserved communities, what you need is funding for services that the community otherwise lacks.”
“Young people are ready for this task, they are ready for this job, they are not afraid to step up and do the work,” he said. “Some of them need to understand their history more. They need to be reminded that things have always been this bad, and worse. Things were demonstrably worse 100 years ago, but there’s a lot more that needs to be done.”
When asked about the “bad apples” argument, Lawson said, “If there are so many good apples, how is it that this officer (Derek Chauvin, who murdered George Floyd) was still in the police force after an 18-year history of offenses? If there were so few bad apples, then departments would have gotten rid of them by now so that these murders couldn’t happen.”
“Look at the Me Too movement and see what tactics they’ve been using,” he said. “Not every person in the entertainment industry was harassing women, but they didn’t say or do anything. This is the police version of the Me Too movement. The police unions have to step up and say this is not acceptable. That will accelerate the changes we’re talking about. Quite frankly, it only takes one person to stand up and say “this is not acceptable. We don’t realize how much power, authority, and influence we each have.”

Watch the full recording of the conversation below.

To encourage members to take the next step after this conversation, below are resources compiled by the Pacific Council -- based on expert suggestions -- to help the cause against racism in our country and our world. As much as possible, we aim to highlight the work of Black people leading the fight against racism in the United States.

SUPPORT BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES

Check out Black Book LA’s directory of Black-owned restaurants, retail stores, and more in Los Angeles.

And here is another great compilation of Black-owned restaurants in LA.

We encourage you to find Black-owned businesses to support no matter your location in the country or world!

EDUCATE YOURSELF

Below are some resources for members to explore to better understand institutionalized racism, including some books and articles mentioned by Ambassador Lawson.

BOOKS

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Blackballed: The Black Vote and U.S. Democracy by Darryl Pinckney
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Deadly Injustice: Trayvon Martin, Race, and the Criminal Justice System by Devon Johnson
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea Ritchie
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

Articles

The 1619 Project by The New York Times
The Intersectionality Wars by Jane Coaston
The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Podcasts

Codeswitch by NPR; start with "The Black Table at the Big Tent"
Pod Save the People; start with "Justice For Ahmaud Arbery"
Scene on Radio: "Seeing White" Series; start with "Turning the Lens"
Come Through with Rebecca Carroll; start with "Elie Mystal: Call It a Lynching"

Movies/Shows

13th on Netflix
When They See Us (series) on Netflix
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson on Netflix
The Last Black Man in San Francisco on Amazon Prime
Just Mercy on Amazon Prime

Difficult Conversations How-Tos

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo
Difficult Conversations: The Art and Science of Working Together by Kern Beare

SUPPORT THE CAUSE

Learn more from the community leaders on the front line of racial justice and support their work. We encourage you to look into the following organizations:

Los Angeles Urban League

Campaign Zero

Equal Justice Initiative and the Museum of Peace and Justice

Black Visions Collective