Forward together

On the Monday following Tony Robinson’s shooting death by Madison police officer Matt Kenny, I came home to discover that my own house had been broken into.

No one had been home during the crime, but my husband found the door broken in and called the police. Eight squad cars arrived at our house, and a pack of police officers, guns drawn, scoured every room for a suspect. All of this, as my three-year old daughter and my husband watched from the front lawn.

A wave of fear washed over me. And then relief that my small family was safe. And then sadness that our sense of security was now shaken. And then the anger settled in. Surprisingly, it wasn’t at the perpetrator. It was at the people who would use moments like these to try to manipulate me into fearing my neighbors. I won’t do it. I won’t live in fear of other human beings because one person broke the law.

In the following days, a black man was arrested as a suspect in the case. His boots perfectly matched a print that was taken off of our front door. It appears that, in his addiction to heroin, he was searching our house for cash. 

I wondered: Why does this same story keep being re-played? How do we change the narrative? How much of his circumstances could be chalked up to institutionalized disparity and how much was just plain bad decision-making on his part? What if the police had found him and he had acted belligerently? Would he have been shot and killed in our home? Would he have deserved to die for this? But wouldn’t the officers who stepped up to serve have the right to defend themselves? And how would they have felt, after taking a man’s life? How would that have changed their lives irrevocably? And wouldn’t I have rather given up a television and an iPad than know that a man’s life had been lost in the name of our stuff?

Thankfully, that worst-case scenario didn’t happen, but my heart ached with helplessness.

As the victim of a crime, I resolved to do what I could to ensure that the perpetrator gets the treatment he needs, that he is not left alone to overcome a life-devouring addiction, and to also ensure that he cannot be a danger to the families in our neighborhood again. I will thank the police officers who came to protect us. I will get to know my neighbors so that we can watch out for one another. I will work to change a world in which a lack of opportunity spirals so readily into crime.

So, whose side am I on? I reject the idea that there are only two sides here and that we must pick one. There is another way. I am on the side of compassion. I am on the side of empathy for all of the complex, imperfect, precious human lives involved. I am on the side of self-leadership, of believing that people are capable of marshaling their best selves for the collective good when given the opportunity and tools to do so. And I am on the side of grace for when we make mistakes — as we all inevitably do.

I am also on the side of real, face-to-face relationships, knowing that when we look another person in the eye, we cannot deny their humanity, our suspicion cannot sustain itself, our stories become intertwined with each other’s, our assumptions are transformed. It is that kind of deep investment in one another that will eventually save us from ourselves.

But none of this happens automatically or easily. We must commit to the work. We must be intentional but authentic in our
relationship-building. We must be patient and listen more than we talk. We must be willing to be uncomfortable and put away our defensiveness. We must question our systems and learn to tolerate dissent and ambiguity. We must accept that sometimes we will celebrate and sometimes we will despair, and sometimes we will need to keep to ourselves, because the work is asking more than we have to give.

I don’t have all the answers, but I believe we already have all the tools we need in one another. By embracing each other, we can haltingly, step-by-precarious-step, find our way forward together.

If you would like to do this work with us -— this challenging, sometimes exhausting, deeply rewarding work — please get in touch for more information: editor@northsidenews.org or 230-1222.

Cry now, fight in time

By Kate Howard 

Tony Robinson was a beautiful young black man. Tony Robinson was a well-loved and compassionate young man. Tony Robinson was not, is not, some statistic. Tony Robinson was very important to his friends and family, and he did not deserve to be gunned down by the police who were called and asked to help him. 

I am a Northside resident who belongs to a family that looks like Tony’s family. My son looks very much like Tony Robinson. That is one of the reasons my family has been so comfortable living in the very diverse Northside community. Since I am a white woman born and raised in northern Wisconsin, my experience with racism only began when I left my small town and went to college. Unfortunately, 36 years later I am still being educated in racism. 

I have had to discommunicate people from my life this week because their thoughts and words have been nothing but hurtful and not truthful. Tony’s death has made me realize how deep the roots of racist thinking run in our society. There are no statistics or facts that can justify any death of an unarmed black man or youth. During this week, someone stated to me that things seem to be getting worse. I had to remind them that black and brown people have been being killed and unduly incarcerated in this country without repercussion since our country’s beginning.

At Tony’s funeral, Tony’s aunt, Lorien Carter, stated in a poem she wrote, “Cry for him now, but fight for him in time.” Many of us, myself included, have been crying for Tony and his loved ones all week, and I am not sure when the sorrow will end. I am starting to understand more fully the heavy sorrow that many black people in our country carry in their hearts, and that as a society we have built up, and continue to build, a persecution complex for minorities. Our voices will not be quiet as to lessen the discomfort of those who claim to be neutral or do not understand the very real injustice that has been committed.

Trust the rule of law

By Shawn Smith

I need to express my views on this situation revolving around the investigation of the Anthony Robinson case. I understand the complexities of the issue, but I admit that I am tired of the media automatically indicting the police and claiming they are the risk to the public’s safety. Public safety includes keeping violent offenders off our city streets, and it is an infallible fact that Mr. Robinson was a convicted violent felon. I address him as “Mr.” because he was an adult who knowingly broke into a home and robbed the inhabitants with a weapon. I am not sure why these facts are forgotten, while speculation and naive emotion dominate the narrative surrounding this case. 

As a husband and soon-to-be father, I worry about my family’s safety on a daily basis. Knowing there is a justice system that is allowing violent offenders to remain on the streets is beyond concerning to me. Research the following article and tell me the differences Mr. Robinson had in his case: http://journaltimes.com/news/local/target-robber-sentenced-to-three-years/article_2d720611-f94a-5945-b859-ebab1be0d53f.html.

I’ll save everyone some time and tell you there is absolutely nothing different between the two robberies. I went to school with those exact kids in Racine, and everyone involved served time for robbing the Target Store with BB guns and toys. The judge made the statement that “a message needs to be sent,” and I believe that sort of message needs to be sent to criminals in Madison to keep our streets safer. We need to elect judges who are willing to impose penalties for violent offenders because the FBI Uniform Crime Report even confirms that some of the highest recidivism rates are among violent offenders. Keeping violent offenders off our streets will lower crime rates, and no one in good conscience would be able to justify a scenario where neighborhoods are safer when violent criminals roam free on probation. Again, I emphasize violent criminal offenders because the intent behind those crimes imposes a direct risk to the men, women and children of our city. 

I read comments in various articles posted online that other citizens are wondering what can be done to help the city of Madison and the African-American community in this area beyond holding more public hearings and meetings. I do not think it is farfetched to believe that African-Americans want what everyone else wants: a justice system that creates safe streets and neighborhoods. Police officers do not come to the decision to draw their weapons lightly, and the knee-jerk reaction of assuming there must be an investigation for wrongdoing by the officer is ignorant and naive. Do not misconstrue my faith in the police department as blind; I believe in accountability, and the Madison Police Department should conduct an investigation because it is the law — something Mr. Robinson had no regard for when he committed armed robbery. 

It will be dark times in our great city if the men and women who protect our neighborhoods need to second-guess themselves on whether or not to defend their lives and ours, and I am willing to put my trust in their judgment every day because that is what they took an oath to do.