>>> CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYER/AUTHOR
BRIAN STEVENSON HAS UNDERSTOOD
CENTURIES FOR PRESUMING BLACK
MEN DANGEROUS AND GUILTY.
HE’S DONE EXTRAORDINARY WORK TO
COUNTER THAT PULSE.
HE’S THE FOUNDER OF THE
ORGANIZATION THAT CHALLENGES
CONVICTIONS AND RACIAL
INJUSTICE, FIGHTS TO GET PEOPLE
OUT OF JAIL AND THE CREATOR OF
THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL FOR PEACE
AND JUSTICE WHICH IS DEDICATED
TO THE VICTIM OF LYNCHING AND
OTHER FORMS OF RACIAL TERROR.
BRIAN, IT’S WONDERFUL TO HAVE
YOU.
I’VE BEEN WANTING TO TALK TO YOU
THROUGHOUT THIS.
I WANT TO START TONIGHT WITH AN
IMAGE THAT I WOULD LIKE YOU TO
RESPOND TO AND REFLECT UPON
GIVEN HOW MUCH YOU’VE SPOKEN
ABOUT THIS COUNTRY’S HISTORY.
THIS IS AT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL
IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL, THE
LINCOLN MEMORIAL, ABRAHAM
LINCOLN WHO OVERSAW THE BLOODY
FIGHT TO END SLAVERY IN THIS
NATION, ASSASSINATED BEFORE
RECONSTRUCTION.
AND THESE ARE AMERICAN SOLDIERS
THERE TO PROTECT THAT MEMORIAL
FROM PEOPLE THAT MIGHT COME
CHANT BLACK LIVES MATTER.
I WONDER WHAT YOU THINK WHEN YOU
SEE THAT?
>> WELL, IT’S DEEPLY DISTURBING,
BUT IT’S ALSO EVIDENCE THAT WE
HAVEN’T REALLY RECKONED WITH THE
HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY.
I’M A PRODUCT OF BROWN VERSUS
BOARD OF EDUCATION.
I GREW UP IN A COMMUNITY WE
COULDN’T GO TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
WHEN I WAS BORN.
THERE WERE NO HIGH SCHOOLS WITH
BLACK KID WHEN IS MY DAD WAS A
TEENAGER.
WHEN RACIAL INTEGRATION CAME,
MANY OF US BELIEVED THAT THIS
NATION WOULD CHANGE.
NONE OF US THOUGHT THAT 50 YEARS
LATE
LATER, BLACK PEOPLE WOULD STILL
BE MENACED AND TARGETED AND
MARGINALIZED.
WHAT I REALIZED IS THAT WE HAVE
TO RECKON WITH THIS LONG
HISTORY.
AND THAT IMAGE SPEAKS TO OUR
FAILURE TO DEAL WITH THE GREAT
EQUAL THAT WE ARE FACING IN
AMERICA IS THIS LEGACY CREATED
DURING SLAVERY, THIS MYTH THAT
BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOT AS GOOD AS
WHITE PEOPLE.
TO THE ENSLAVER WHO IS JUSTIFIED
SLAVERY HAD TO CREATE A
NARRATIVE TO MAKE THAT
INSTITUTION WHICH WAS SO
BARBARIC ACCEPTABLE.
THEY SAID BLACK PEOPLE ARE LESS
DESERVING.
BLACK PEOPLE ARE LESS HUMAN.
BLACK PEOPLE ARE LESS EVOLVED,
LESS WORTHY.
THAT IDEOLOGY OF WHITE SUPREMACY
CONTINUED PAST 1865.
IT’S WHY I’VE ARGUED THAT
SLAVERY DOESN’T END IN 1865, IT
JUST EVOLVES.
AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THESE
INSTITUTIONS OF MILITARIZED
POWER BECAME THE TOOLS THAT
SUSTAIN THAT.
IT WAS LAW ENFORCEMENT THAT
ALLOWED BLACK PEOPLE TO BE
RAVAGED AND MASSACRED AND KILLED
DURING RECONSTRUCTION.
WHITE SOUTHERNERS OVERTHREW
GOVERNMENTS BECAUSE THERE WAS NO
PROTECTION.
THAT IDEOLOGY IS GREATER THAN
THE CONSTITUTION BECAUSE THE 14
AMENDMENT SHOULD HAVE PROTECTED
BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE, SHOULD
HAVE ALLOWED BLACK AND BROWN
PEOPLE TO VOTE.
THROUGHOUT THE FIRST HALF OF THE
20th CENTURY, LAW ENFORCEMENT
STOOD BACK AND ALLOWED BLACK
PEOPLE TO BE PULLED OUT OF JAILS
AND LYNCHED ON THE COURTHOUSE
LAWN AND TERRORIZED AND MENACED
UNTIL MILLIONS FLED TO THE NORTH
AND WEST WHERE THEY WERE ONCE
AGAIN TARGETED AND MENACED BY
THE POLICE IN CLEVELAND AND
DETROIT AND LOS ANGELES AND
OAKLAND WHERE THEY WENT TO THOSE
COMMUNITIES AS REFUGEES.
AND IN MY LIFETIME, THAT
NARRATIVE OF HIERARCHY HAS
PERSISTED.
SO, EVEN THOUGH I’VE BEEN
PRACTICING LAW, HAVE A DEGREE
FROM HARVARD LAW SCHOOL AND
ARGUED CASES WITH THE SUPREME
COURT, I KNOW PLACES WHERE I
HAVE TO NAVIGATE THIS
PRESUMPTION OF DANGER AND GUILT
AND I HAVE TO PROVE MY
WORTHFULNESS.
I’VE BEEN IN COURTROOMS WHERE
I’VE BEEN TOLD TO LEAVE BECAUSE
THE PRESUMPTION WAS I WAS THE
DEFENDANT.
I’VE BEEN PULLED OUT OF THE CAR
AND HAD THE POLICE OFFICERS
POINT A GUN AT MY HEAD
THREATENING TO BLOW MY BRAIN
OUT.
I THINK WHAT YOU’RE SEEING NOW
IS THE ACCUMULATION OF THE
EXHAUSTION AND ANGER AND
FATIGUE.
WHEN YOU HAVE TO CONSTANTLY
NAVIGATE THESE PRESUMPTIONS, YOU
HAVE TO CONSTANTLY DEAL WITH
THIS IDEA THAT YOU’RE NOT WORTHY
OF PROTECTION, YOU GET TIRED.
AND PEOPLE ARE TIRED, AND THAT’S
WHAT’S BEING EXPRESSED.
AND THAT IMAGE JUST SUGGESTS HOW
RESISTANT OUR NATION IS TO
CHANGING, TO COMMITMENT TO TRUTH
AND JUSTICE.
THAT’S WHY I HAVE TAKEN TIME
FROM MY LEGAL CAREER TO START
WORKING ON THESE CULTURAL SITES,
BUILDING THE MEMORIAL, BUILDING
THE MUSEUM.
IT’S IN PART BECAUSE I DON’T
THINK WE WOULD WIN BROWN VERSUS
BOARD OF EDUCATION TODAY.
I THINK WE HAVE RETREATED FROM
EQUALITY WHERE WE ARE NOW SEEING
NEW MANIFESTATIONS OF SUSTAINING
RACIAL HIERARCHY IN WHITE
SUPREMACY AND THAT PICTURE
CAPTURES IT.
AND WHAT THE POLICE OFFICERS AND
OUR MILITARY HAS TO CONFRONT IS
THAT THOSE IMAGES ARE REALLY
DAMAGING.
I MEAN, IT WAS THE POLICE WHO
MET BLACK FOLKS AT THE BRIDGE
WHO WERE LITERALLY ON THEIR
KNEES PRAYING AND THEY BLOODIED
AND BEAT AND BATTERED THEM.
IT WAS THE POLICE THAT WERE THE
FORCES OF OPPOSITION TO RACIAL
INTEGRATION IN THE 1950s AND
’60s.
IT’S THE POLICE THAT HAVE BEEN A
PRESENCE IN BLACK COMMUNITIES
THAT HAS BEEN SO OPPRESSIVE.
THAT’S WHY TO REALLY CHANGE THE
PROBLEM WE HAVE, POLICE OFFICERS
AND THE MILITARY AND OTHERS ARE