Is 2020 over yet?

As the country reels from the events of the last several days, I thought I'd share a few items. First,

here's a statement from the board of the WV Center on Budget and Policy, a group AFSC helped to found more than 10 years ago and one of our closest partners. I'm proud to have been a board member off and on from the beginning:

In Solidarity for Racial Justice

Dear friends,

Like all of you, our staff and board at the WV Center on Budget and Policy have been horrified by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other Black men and women. These events, occurring against the backdrop of a pandemic that disproportionately impacts Black people and other communities of color, are not an accident. They are embedded in a system of social and economic policies designed to deny freedom and equality to all. It is up to all of us to confront these injustices and build a future where everyone can thrive.

We stand in solidarity and support of those raising their voices and protesting across the country against police and state violence.

Racism is not only individual acts of bigotry and violence. It isn’t just one bad apple here and there. It is rooted in our structures of government and society. Its effects can be seen in racial disparities in policing and incarceration rates, the racial wealth gap, and increased rates of coronavirus infection and hospitalization among communities of color. For those reasons, it won’t be enough to win hearts and minds. We need meaningful, structural policy change. As we rebuild post-COVID 19, we must do so intentionally with an equitable, anti-racist response that is proportionate to the scale of the problem.

We stand in solidarity with Black-led organizations across our state including Our Future WV, CARE, NAACP, Black Lives Matter WV, and the Partnership for African American Churches. We will continue to follow the leadership of these groups to guide our research and policy agenda in this space and reaffirm our commitment to serve as allies in the fight for racial equity and justice alongside them.

Black lives matter.

Signed,

The Board of Directors and Staff of the WV Center on Budget and Policy

I thought this was a particularly good time to share it in light of the idiotic and racist remarks made today by WV Governor Jim Justice, who said today that any president would be welcome in West Virginia but "maybe not Barack Obama." The governor attempted to hide his racism by referring to the myth of "Obama's war on coal," which was in fact mostly driven by market forces.

I find it interesting that he didn't call out other presidents whose administration witnessed a decline of coal jobs. That list would include Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Trump.

Finally, in case you missed it, here's a link to an op-ed of mine on white supremacy by way of Moby-Dick.

Make it a double

There were two Front Porch podcasts this week, including one I missed. I think both are worth a listen. Here's one featuring Cpl. Errol Randle about how the Charleston Police Department is fighting racism. And then there's a really good one featuring research Joan Williams on what liberals may not get about the white working class. I hope you check em out.

A needless killing

I've been holed up lately trying to finish some projects and get clear of some deadlines. One thing I missed in all that was the tragic shooting of James Means, an unarmed 15 year old African American who was gunned down by a white man on Charleston's East End. As I write this, a vigil is going on in Charleston. This is one of too many acts of racism and violence going on across the country. Please hold his family and friends in your thoughts at this difficult time. This story isn't over yet.

A little good news on police community relations

This op-ed of mine on recent positive news about police/community relations in Charleston came out in yesterday's Gazette Mail.

The ancient Chinese sage Confucius (aka Kong Fuzi) was once asked what a kingdom needed to survive. He answered adequate food, armaments and the trust of the people. When pressed about which he would give up if necessary, he said he’d first part with armaments and then food.

His reasons still make sense: “Death has always been the lot of humanity; but if the people have no faith in their rulers, then the state cannot exist.”

It’s as true today as 2500 years ago that the greatest protection for people in positions of authority is to be seen by citizens as legitimate and worthy of trust.

That’s especially true for those charged with maintaining public safety, especially police officers who put their bodies on the line every day.


Unfortunately, that trust has been damaged in many parts of the country by the tragic killings of African Americans, particularly young men, by police officers. These have eroded public trust, outraged many people, created civic unrest and even contributed to the killings of police officers.

This is sad in so many ways. Ironically, many of the communities most in need of legitimate law enforcement are those in which trust has been damaged.

Incidents like this can happen anywhere and quickly spin out of control, leading to situations where no one wins in the end.

That’s why I think it’s great that the Charleston Police Department, in partnership with many community organizations, has taken major steps to get out in front of this issue.

For more than a year, police officials under the leadership of Chief Brent Webster, met and partnered with groups such as NAACP-Charleston, Black Ministerial Alliance, Our Children Our Future, American Friends Service Committee, American Civil Liberties Union-WV, Kanawha County Public Defender’s Office, East End Family Resource Network, RESET, the Tuesday Morning Group and the WV Coalition Against Domestic Violence to hammer out some real solutions to these problems.

What they came up with could well be a model for the nation, but getting there wasn’t always easy or pretty. The complex bundle of issues involved weren’t unique to Charleston and certainly didn’t begin here. Over time it became clear that both community members and the police were caught up in much larger systems and a long and often ugly historical process.

My co-worker Lida Shepherd described it like this:

“The first meeting with Chief Webster with the Charleston Police Department was slightly tense. We were sitting around the table to discuss the fact that the arrest rate of blacks in our small city of just over 50,000 people was more than double that of whites. Before getting into the problem at hand, we all shared why each of us personally thought it was important to address racism, a dialogue that highlighted how the problem we were meeting about was not about singling out the Charleston Police Department as an offending racist institution, but like all the institutions with which we affiliate, are all part of a broader problem of systemic racism.”

After a lot of give and take, the group came up with a comprehensive program. To promote transparency, the department will begin publishing monthly arrest statistics broken down by age, race, gender and reason for arrest and will implement state of the art body camera technology and best practices.

To reduce the likelihood of unfortunate incidents that could endanger civilians or police, promote better understanding of larger issues, and improve community relations, the department will implement de-escalation training, require training on the dynamics of race and racism, and hold roll call presentations so that officers and community members can hear from each other.

The coalition will also launch a Youth Advisory Council to be composed of a diverse group of at least 10 young people aged 18-25 which will which will plan on-going dialogue and events between youth and officers, and make annual recommendations to continue to improve the relationship between youth and officers.

In addition, the department will offer annual community service awards which to recognize officers who demonstrate their commitment to community policing and have engaged in acts of compassion and caring.


Finally, the Charleston Police Department has pledged to cooperate with other community leaders to advocate for policy changes that reduce recidivism and improve the chances for ex-offenders to successfully re-enter the larger society.

If steps like this had been implemented around the country a few years back, black and blue lives would have been saved and all kinds of trouble would have been avoided.

After this was announced at a recent press conference, there was some inevitable trolling on the internet (I’ve come to regard feeding internet trolls as a form of Christian charity). But there was quite a bit of positive support across the political spectrum.

A Daily Mail editorial said “By building mutual respect and cooperation, police officers and the community can successfully maintain order in Charleston and become a model for the rest of the nation.”

Conservative broadcaster Hoppy Kercheval wrote “The Charleston Police Department and community leaders deserve credit for being foresighted. Their efforts do not guarantee the state’s Capital City won’t have its version of a Charlotte, Baton Rouge or Baltimore, but they do reduce the possibility, while simultaneously strengthening relations between the police and citizens.”

I agree. And I love it when West Virginians lead the nation in something positive. It doesn’t happen every day. But it happens.

A view from up close

We produced two flood-related Front Porch podcasts this week. The first was posted here yesterday and covered WV's neglected flood plans. The latest features a talk with state senator Chris Walters, who has been working hard every day in Clendenin to help families devastated by the flood. He also has some practical suggestions for people willing to get their hands dirty.

In other news, I was sad to learn of yet more police shootings of African Americans. Here's a look by the numbers of just how bad things are here compared with other places.

Finally, here are some less depressing numbers from Pew. It looks like in the states the crime rate has declined even as imprisonment rates have done the same.