Steps we can take to end racial injustice

I am the great grandson of a slave. I lived through the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the ensuing riots across America. As a congressman, I counseled President

George H. W. Bush following the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police and the riots that followed which resulted in the deaths of 68 people. After seeing the video of the horrific killing of

George Floyd by a

Minneapolis police officer, I have been searching for solutions Congress and

Americans can adopt now to stop the systemic racism problem in America and its institutions.

We need the U.S. justice system to work fairly and quickly. For Americans — especially the Black community the wait for justice is simply too long. In the case of civil rights charges brought against police, Congress should enact legislation requiring an expedited legal process — 90 days from indictment to conclusion.

In nearly all of the wrongful deaths of Black people, regardless of the criminal verdict, families have often been able to recover millions of dollars in civil lawsuits. King received almost $4 million in damages. Who pays? The taxpayers, despite having nothing to do with the incident other than being the employer of the police officer. That needs to change.

The police officer, however, rarely has the personal resources to fairly compensate a victim’s family. The police union associated with the incident should be required by law to pay the victims’ families per a civil case decision. Congress should include this provision as part of any amendment to the Civil Rights Act or as a new policing law only to be used when the death of a Black person or other protected person occurs at the hands of a police officer or law enforcement official. As we have seen, Black Americans are dramatically at risk of dying in police custody. If these events start to affect police revenue or pension funds, it would truly act as a deterrent. The families should receive not only just damages, but taxpayers should no longer pay the price for the wrongdoings of police officers.

The federal government should enforce the executive order written by former Nixon Assistant Labor Secretary Arthur Fletcher that requires fair employment practices (hiring, promotion, terminations, compensation) in all levels of employment, from the executive suites and board of directors to the janitors and receptionists, and all levels in between (hourly, clerical, supervisory, manager, director, vice president).

We are ignoring the laws already on the books that would help the Black community and make for a more diverse workplace. Hundreds of thousands of Black Americans are being affected daily. In some instances, violations are an affront to existing civil rights laws that prohibit any federal dollars going to companies that discriminate on the basis of race. Evidence in each job classification of disparate treatment in employment practices would be the determining factor. When you control the work of an individual, you control the quality of life and longevity of life for that person. You determine whether they live in a safe neighborhood or one filled with violence and poor schools, you determine their generational wealth and access to quality health care.

Every Fortune 1000 company, university, association, firms (of size), etc. should display their reports on race and employment practices prominently on their websites. Where there are problems, they can develop a plan that would include goals and timetables for meaningful progress to be made. No company should be immediately punished, as long as they acknowledge their results and adhere to a defined corrective action.

Black Americans do not want favors, just fairness. We need to quickly show the Black community, the nation, and the world that the greatest country in the history of humankind can make adjustments to its system to quickly put the country on a trajectory that would eventually allow America to live up to its creed of “liberty and justice for all.”

America, we can do this. America, we must do this.

Black Americans do not want favors, just fairness.