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One
consequence of the presidency of Barak Obama is the
intensification of race-talk in America. Ignited by the
election of the nation’s first African-American
commander-in-chief and the backlash of racialized opposition
by those who cling violently to the old order, the discourse
has been at the center of the Trump/Clinton presidential
debates and will undoubtedly shape post-Obama America.
Locally,
the Lucas County Juvenile Court has amplified the topic of
racial and ethnic disparities in the youth justice system.
International justice reform expert, James Bell of The W.
Haywood Burns Institute, was brought in by the Court to
spearhead a community conversation on race and the juvenile
justice system.
Yet often,
it is in the frank “insider” discussions which take place
within the black community and where “words are incarnated
by example,” that transformation is most likely to occur.
Before his
presentation to the community at-large, Bell engaged in a
separate discussion with a small group of teens, some of
which were spending time in a local youth detention center.
Bell’s approach, which highlights shared lived experiences
using common vernacular, allowed the youth to vividly view
themselves as seen by others and kept them firmly engaged.
Here is a
portion of Bell’s conversation:
On
Racial Disparities in Youth Justice
James
Bell:
If you think about it, it is like circles. There will be
like a big circle and then another circle and then another
circle, and each one of those circles is like a protector.
So, for some kids, they can do the same behaviors, but there
are all these circles of protection where people say, “Oh,
that’s okay. Well, we will get you this (help) or we’ll get
you that (alternative).” For other kids, though, they cut
right through those circles of protection and get right to
you and say we need to put our hands on you and we need to
put you in the court system. The same teenagers, same
behaviors, but in some places, some communities, either
because of money, privilege, the way you are, luck, all
those little protections come into play, and what we
(justice reform) try to do is to say no matter where you are
and what you do, everybody should have similar protections.
On Being
A Teen
1. Adult
fears:
So first
thing, as a society, adults are scared of groups of
teenagers, even though those same adults were teenagers at
one point, and why is that?
One, you
are hit by hormones so you feel things you don’t even know
why you feel them. So you’re growing up, you’re maturing.
One day you ain’t got no hair, the next day you got some
hair. One day you didn’t need deodorant, now you really need
some deodorant. What does that mean? It’s a stage of
development.
Two,
you’re trying to find out who you are as a person, so rules
you don’t like, you’re like, “wow, at some point I’m trying
to be an adult, I’m trying to find out who I am.” You start
finding out, you start looking at other people. You start
being rebellious because you’ve been told what to do all
your life, … and this is the other thing. At this stage of
development, you care a tremendous amount about what other
people think and you really, really, really want to be
cool. Whatever cool is, because cool changes from day to
day, but you really wanna be cool, and you care about what
people think. Sometimes you care about what your friends
think more than your parents. That’s scary to the parents.
‘They’re listening to their friends more than they’re
listening to me, and I’m the one who birthed them and raised
them and they’re listening to some fool on the corner that
don’t know nothing, but evidently knows something because
they’re listening to them.’ That’s what is scary about a
teenager. As a person, your brain is still developing.
2.
Living solely in the Now:
What
else about teenagers?
You
don’t think about the future. It’s like what is happening
now is immediate. “Oh my God, it’s prom night, I got a
pimple. The world is horrible.” It’s just like, “Oh, I
went to get my tux, they didn’t have it in purple. Oh, my
life is ruined.” Everything is so exaggerated for
teenagers. Everything is so bad, in your mind. You are
like, “No, I have to do this now.” Fifteen years from now
you won’t think like that. It’s like tomorrow, now, today,
tomorrow, these are these decisions now. And all of that put
together is scary.
So this
is what it is for teenagers. You get out of school, it’s
3:00, the last class was math class, you were bored out of
your mind. You’ve been sitting behind these desks, your
energy is pent up cause you are teenagers. You eat fast. You
do everything quick, hard. It’s 3:00, there’s eight
teenagers, you’re out of school, freedom. We’re gonna run to
the bus stop We’re gonna run wherever. What are we gonna do?
So we wanna be cool, we wanna be in a group. It’s like “I
don’t know what we’re gonna do. But whatever we gon’ do,
it’s gon’ be stupid, and we gon’ do it together. So what you
wanna do stupid today man?”
That is
why adults are scared of teenagers, because actually the
stupider it is, the more sense it makes to you. “We want to
test, we want to be rebellious, we wanna do stuff, we wanna
just…,” and you’re strong and you’re young. That just
scares people, and that’s why a lot of stuff that adults do,
same kind of things that kids do, kids get in trouble for,
because the thinking is we adults must corral that energy
and that fear. And in truth, when you’re a teenager you do
stupid stuff and you don’t think it’s stupid at the time,
and when somebody tells you you’re stupid you just go,
“Well, you’re just old folk and you don’t get it.”
On
Consequences:
1.
Beginning to Think
I
remember when I was a teenager; this was way before you
guys. We used to have cassette tapes. I know you guys don’t
know what cassettes are, probably never seen them, but the
music used to be on cassettes, and you could record from
your record player to the cassette and make your own tapes.
So, I was just going to what is now Rite Aid, a drug store.
I had enough money for them, and I’m like “You know what?
I’m just gonna steal these tapes.” Had no idea why, I was
just like “because, I think I wanna do that.” And I went
and I did. I didn’t think I was a bad kid. That’s
adolescence.
So one
day I’m doing my usual stealing and I got it in my usual
way, the way I put it in my pants, and this time I didn’t
steal two, I stole six, because every time I did it and
didn’t get caught I would like go, “Okay, I got this down
now, so I’ll keep increasing.” And you know what? I’m
walking out the store, doing my thing and I hear (running),
I’m like “What is that?” And then I realized, “Oh, I think
the employee is running after me because he seen that I’m
about stealing.” So I took them out my pocket, threw them
on the floor, walked out the store.
That was
my first little sign that you need to think. And that is the
critical difference in those that keep going for whatever
reason and those who stop and say ‘let me think about this,’
as you would say. So my thing is the impulses you have, the
normal teenage stuff, that’s a part of life. All I can
encourage you to do is think about what your actions mean to
others. Think about what it might mean to your life,
because even though you think you might not be here a long
time, you’re gonna be here a while.
2.
Awareness of who and where you are
Increasingly, that fear of teenagers also has adults passing
laws that criminalize normal teenage behavior. What my
generation used to do as kids, fighting, was considered
normal. It was called “knucks up” that’s how you resolved
disputes. In school, they put gloves on and let you box.
Now, fighting is a felony, an assault 3. So what I’m saying
is be careful because your normal teenage behavior has
scared adults so much that they criminalize it. I’ll bet
you all the men, all the women that are working with you
guys who are in detention and in high school, they can tell
you that if they did the stuff today that they did back
then, they’d be where you are. If I did what I did growing
up now, I’d be where you are. It’s so much tougher for
y’all today.
You have
to be more careful, because stuff that was considered normal
teenage behavior, and in some cases in some neighborhoods
it’s still considered normal teenage behavior. If you get in
a fight at a zero tolerance school where there’s no
touching, it’s a felony. On the other hand, if you’re in a
rich Country Day school, it’s just horseplay. So be aware
of what you are, where you are, and how people are going to
treat you.
So
that’s my best advice for you. Be careful. It’s hard for
you guys. It really is, and the consequences are much, much
tougher. Thanks for coming out and I appreciate you guys
spending a little time.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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