Dr. Darrell J. Gaskin (Courtesy Photo)
By Darrell J. Gaskin
The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks, the shooting of James Blake and the countless number of videos documenting police violence against Black Americans has ignited the conscience of America. The disparate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black Americans has highlighted how disparities created by the social drivers of health has made the Black community vulnerable during a crisis. As society considers how to address racial inequities that persist in health, education, income, employment, housing, business, criminal justice, wealth, and almost every other aspect of American life, I would urge those who want to make a difference to help Black children and their families fight the racist terminators who are destroying their lives.
The Terminator is a movie franchise starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, where evil robots from the future realize that they cannot take over the world as long as John Connor leads the human resistance. Robot assassins called terminators are sent back in time to prevent John from being born by trying to kill his mother, Sarah Connor; and then a second time to target John and his leadership team as adolescents. The terminators can’t kill John and his colleagues in the future, and they die trying in the past.
Unfortunately, the happy endings in these science fiction movies are real life tragedies for Black families in America: racists know they cannot effectively oppress fully educated Black adults who are too talented, creative, inventive and innovative to destroy once they access their God-given gifts and abilities. Consequently, they use racist policies and practices to circumvent the trajectory of young black children, metaphorically sending terminators to cut down their ability to grow up and realize their full potential.
In the movie series, Sarah and John Connor fight the terminators with little help from a society that barely acknowledges their struggles. Unfortunately, this is the case for too many Black Americans. Society ignores the ongoing battles that Black families face against their terminators, often blaming Black parents for the plight of their children and excusing the terminator-style policies and practices that are designed to cripple them.
I contend that if we want to end persistent racial inequities, we must meet the racist terminators where they are most effective. We must stop them from sabotaging the life chances of Black children now.
Here are three ways we can help Black children and their families and combat the racist terminators.
- Dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. As chronicled in Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, the racist terminators use the criminal justice system to label Black children as criminals. Then, that criminal status is used to deny Black adults the opportunities for employment, housing or admission to college. We should legalize and regulate marijuana rather than using Marijuana convictions as the door-to-no-return for the prison pipeline. Instead of treating marijuana as a crime problem, treat it like tobacco and employ public health tactics to deter its use.
- Improve majority-Black schools. Black children need schools, school boards, administrators, teachers and staff that recognize their value, nurture and cultivate their gifts and talents, and prepare them to become productive adults. Children are not criminals so get the police out of schools. Instead provide schools with more teachers, social workers, guidance counselors, and school nurses who can provide children and families affected by toxic stress and trauma with services that will nurture rather than punish them. Provide schools with the resources to offer their students a variety of enrichment programs and extracurricular activities that build community and social cohesion.
- Address poverty in Black families. We can’t help the children realize their potential without helping their parents. They need living wages to provide for their children’s basic needs for housing and food. Without these basic life needs, how can we expect families to be able to invest the time, energy, and resources needed to support the development of their children’s talents and gifts
To date, America’s energies have focused on providing opportunities for young adults. These efforts are noteworthy, but too late. By the time colleges and universities, businesses, employers and professional societies have started their diversity and inclusion programs, the racist terminators have already winnowed out the fields. Through the school-to-prison pipeline, poor quality schools, and poverty, the racist terminators have ruined the lives of so many talented Black children. Our diversity and inclusion pipeline programs have to start earlier, and we must acknowledge that there is “another army on the battlefield”. We must be prepared to combat the racist terminators to protect Black children from their tactics if we are going to succeed.
One model we can look to is the development of talented sports players. Coaches and scouts identify talented Black athletes early in their childhood. They use afterschool activities, weekend and summer programs to nurture and develop their athletic gifts, protect them from the effects of an unfair justice system, poor quality schools, and poverty. They work hardto prepare them for careers in professional sport leagues as young adults. Imagine if other professions would do the same.
It takes a strong community supporting all of its families to raise a child. Let’s do our part by helping Black families fight the racist terminators so that their children will realize their potential. We may not see large immediate changes in disparities; however, if we start the hard work today and persist in well-doing, fifteen to twenty years from now we will see major changes in racial inequities.
Let’s not be inpatient, the racists are playing the long game. To defeat them, so must we.
Dr. Darrell J. Gaskin is internationally known expert in health disparities and an ordained minister. He is William C. and Nancy F. Richardson Professor in Health Policy and Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions and the Richardson Professor in Health Policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is Pastor of Beth Shalom African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church located in Clinton, MD. The opinions expressed here are his own and do not represent those of the Johns Hopkins University or the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.