Transcripts For CSPAN Youth Forum On Racism 20150217

Host bell guest welcome to the city club of cleveland. Im a student in gates mills and a plot pro member of the youth council. Thank you for coming to see our panelists. Our goal at the council is identical to that of the city club. It is to host conversations, debates and discussions that empower us to engage in further understanding of the world around us. It is for that reason that it is my pleasure to introduce our forum today, entitled a conversation on race. Langston hughes wrote in his peace, democracy that freedom is a strong seed planted in a great need. I live here and one freedom just as you. It may be safe to say that in the age we live in, freedom has been granted to races of people who have been subjected to oppression throughout our history. There is a difference between freedom and liberty. Freedom being a state of being, that of being able to make decisions without internal control. Liberty can be something totally different altogether. In regards to freedom granted by society and the world around us. In light of recent deaths of michael brown, eric garner and camille rice, many questions have emerged. How far have we actually come . So many blatantly racist laws have been erased from the books, what liberties are afforded to racial minorities within our community and our country . With todays discussion, we seek to answer those questions as well as many more and develop a clear picture of race in america. Joining us for our conversation is security as, shakyra diaz, policy manager for the American Civil Liberties union. Andres gonzalez is the chief of police for the metropolitan Housing Authority and previously joined us as a panel member at our forum, turning the tide on Sexual Assault in october. Jonathan gordon is a professor of lawyer skills, writing to his law students. He was one of the inaugural mentors in the provost scholars program. Before joining, he was a Trial Attorney for the u. S. Equal Employment Opportunity commission, where he handle cases involving racial description. Bashir jones is a Community Activist and public speaker who hosts a variety of radio shows in the cleveland area. During the 2012 president ial campaign, he was the regional field director for organizing for america. I will cede the stage to anthony price. Thank you very much. [applause] good afternoon. I am anthony price. A Council Member here at the city club. I want to thank you all for coming out to this very special moment for teachers and administrators here. We also have a second forum on the 29th, called the cleveland renaissance. That will be moderated by nate rutherford. I want to thank all my panelists. Thank you guys for taking all the time to come and talk about this topic. Thank you. [applause] when you hear the word race, what comes to mind . How has it impacted you personally . Anyone can start. I am thankful to be here, to see so many wonderful faces. Can i be truthful . Sure. If i lie, it may feel good but in the long run, it will hurt. Is that all right with you . When we have a conversation about race, and i look in the room and be a majority africanamerican, that is a problem. Because we have to bring to the table black, white, latino asian. All groups of people to have this discussion. When we are having a discussion with those who are receiving the most oppression, who are receiving the hurt more than any other group, we are not having the full conversation or full dialogue. We have to ask those from University Schools and other schools across the ohio, have an equal conversation. What we are doing right now is talking to the people who are being brutalized and receiving the most pain. We know. We understand the pain. We deal with it every single day. Recently, the department of justice came out with a study that shows the Cleveland Police department engages in excessive force. Many of us did not need no department of justice to come out with a study to tell us that the Police Department has been excessive. We have been dealing with this on a daytoday basis. I appreciate the conversation, and i hope and pray that we all can learn and engage in appreciate city club. For future reference, we have to have an array of different people in order to have a true conversation. Well, with regard to what i think up when i hear the word race, i think there is another were that comes with it, and that is racism. In order to evaluate and change structural racism, we have to talk about race and how it manifests in various systems. In many ways, while we do not have laws or policies or the legislation that specifically outline ways to marginalize specific groups of people as they did in the past, what we do have today are policies and legislation that are specifically enforced in a way that unfairly impacts people who are marginalized. I will give you an example. There were laws at one point in this country, that prevented black people, negroes, people of african descent, from standing outside. You are not going to find those laws anymore. However, with the country being segregated, cleveland being the fifth most segregated city in the nation, laws are often enforced in black communities. Who lives in black communities . Black people. Everyone who raise their hands [laughter] i call that the scenic route to rate racism. You can get the same outcome even if you are not explicitly articulating that. When i think about race, i also recognize we have to talk about racism. Anybody else . When i think of race, of course, i think about differences. I think about diversity. I think about different backgrounds. Different experiences. There is a word that i learned when i was young called paradigm. The best way for me to describe aragon paradigm is looking at other people, trying to understand people through their lenses. What i try to do in my role as chief of police, what i try to do is impress upon my staff and those men and women who go out every day to provide a service to be accepting of those diverse cities. Diversity. We should not be treating everyone the same. However, everyone has a right to be treated equal under the law. When i think about race, that is what i am thinking about. I am also thinking about myself, my family. My heritage. And where i come from. Because it is no secret that, if it were not for equal opportunity, i would not be here representing my career, my profession, as police chief. Being the first Hispanic Police chief in the county. Race is very important. Something we should not take lightly. But something that needs to be respected, appreciated, and accepted. I cannot speak as an average in american. An africanamerican. But i am acutely aware that discrimination still exists. There are many people who think we are in a postracial world that the law treats people equally. I just do not think that is the reality. I think perhaps even wellintentioned people may not be aware of their implicit biases. I am not a social scientist either, but there are studies that detail sending out people with identical resumes, but perhaps a name that is more typically africanamerican and a name that is more typically white. And a greater percentage of the white resumes, even with the identical information, will get called back for job offers. I even read a recent study that ebay cell phones being sold on ebay, in the pictures you can see a black hand in some pictures versus a white hand. Purchases were made with People Holding the same cell phone but with the white hand. There are all sorts of social science tests that have come up with similar results. It is really shocking, the percentage of differences. We have to understand that the police, acting in innercity communities that are predominantly africanamerican, people of color, police are human. They have implicit biases too. Even if there is a quality supposedly under the law, people have these implicit biases that come out in different ways. There is great discretion, especially when we are talking about minor crimes. Stealing cigarettes. Jaywalking. Ferguson. Purchasing or selling to correct cigarettes. There is a great deal of discretion as to how people are going to be treated in those circumstances. We have to have better rules and policies that prevent the abuse of that discretion and abusive treatment to people of color. Since we are talking about race and many stipulations as far as the word race, such a touchy word. In order to have a greater understanding of race, where do you think it starts . Where do you think it starts . In the schools, at home . It starts, continues, and has to persist throughout society. It has to involve conversations at home. It has to involve these great systems. Whether it is education, social service, criminal justice. Health care. All these systems have to be held accountable to ensure that equity is something all of us realize. That all of us know, that all of us live and breathe. To that extent, we have to have some conversation about how we recognize injustice. I would like to add the name of Tanisha Anderson to the names of people who died at the hands of police. We mention michael brown, but we also have to uplift the names of women who have experienced women and girls who have experienced disproportionate abuse or have died at the hands of and have experienced injustice. It is a conversation that has to happen every day in order for us to move past hour passed as a country. We have heard people say, get over it. Slavery is over with it. But we have iterations of disproportionality and racism today. These are constant conversations that have to happen in different systems. We have to collectively be a part of that. In the same way that we have many people of various races and ethnicities and ages uplifting the black lives matter movement, you will see in pictures throughout social media, in protest, you see black and white people, latino people, people of asian descent. Young and old. All participating in uplifting the value of black lives. Again, it is another example that we all their responsibility to have these conversations and demand more. I think it begins in the home and school. We all have that responsibility. To discuss these issues. I am saddened by the events in ferguson and new york. Here in cleveland and paris last week. Such tragic events. And the black lives matter mantra, i think people need to understand that. That goes back to our schools and educational system. Understanding that there is this entire history that people did not value black lives. Slaves were not full human beings or deemed to be full human beings under the law. Even after emancipation, we had jim crow laws. Today, Shaw Alexander wrote about the new jim crow, mass incarceration. With very disproportionate numbers of African American men in our prison system. Mass incarceration, the numbers are staggering in the sense that i think there are more men subject to our prison system, on parole, or on probation, having been in the criminal Justice System. Those numbers are greater than the number of slaves. Prior to emancipation. We cannot ignore that disproportionality. We cannot ignore that history. I think the police have coopted blue lives matter. Police serve and Important Role in our society and take risks. And most are dedicated to being Public Servants and upholding the law, observing the constitutional protection. But there are bad apples that need the weeded out. We need to understand through education. To answer your question, i hope we will address these problems in our programs by facing history. I think some of the students here are part of an serve that purpose. I see people from Shaker Heights high school, where the Student Group on Race Relations has been serving the community for a quarter of a century and doing wonderful work. Despite intolerance and hatred. I think that is where it starts. Before we can expect the criminal Justice System to change on its own. So two sides of it real quick. There is more we can do at the community. For the students that showed up here today i see some of you with notebooks. And others with no notebooks. At a time that you come to events like this, you should come prepared to write down things. There is no way possible youre going to remember everything. For the adults here, next time you go to events like this, make your students bring their weaponry. You do not just have shields on the battlefield. Youre going to meet different people, get cards, contact, network. That is how youre going to be successful. We know there is a sense of pager that exists in the world but the real question is, how do you feel about you . Do you love your self . When you look in the mirror, do you see a beautiful person or a hateful person . Theres a Community Responsibility we have. On the flip side of it media plays a strong part in the perception of how we argued. For example, everyone heard about france and we are sad about what happened in france. But who is talking about nigeria and what happened in nigeria or places like somalia . West africa, east africa, for a long time . I was driving through little italy. It is a beautiful place. Wow, look at this. The history that is here. No one feels offended when you hear little italy. It is a beautiful place. You are going through a jewish neighborhood. You do not feel offended in a mosque museum. They are talking about the history of jewish people. You do not feel offended when you go to chinatown and see the history of chinatown. Why is it that you feel offended when we call our Community Little africa . Why would that be offensive . Why is it that some africanamericans would be offended to call it Little Africa . Some of you get offended when someone he says, you look like an african. Why would you be offended by that . Some of the most Beautiful People come from that place. Why . Media portrays africa as a place that is extremely impoverished. Anytime you see africa, you see the skinny somalians nigerians. So you cannot do not want to view your self in that light. There is a sense of self hatred the media plays a part in. You were there when we had a mania panel media panel in cleveland. The majority of stories in the media about africanamericans are not positive. I appreciate cspan being here the wise and channel 3 three here . All the media is there depicting something. [laughter] why is all the media there . You have to understand that the media plays a part as well. Why is it that people feel offended . I was in australia. And we are color conscious in america. In australia, was talking to a woman, and she said why is every thing so black and white in america . At the same time, she said, can you tell me about atlanta hiphop . [laughter] so the media spins this perception of who we are. And some people play into the perception. The majority do not. And what happens is, before a person gets a chance to open your mouth, people have a perception of who they think you are. Before you open your mouth young ladies, it is already like , she got an attitude problem. You know what i mean . If we were to pass around a survey of how you feel about iranians or north koreans or afghans, if you were to put out a survey, many would think things about them. You may not even know it. You may not have met some of the like that. But you are he have a perception of who you think they are. What i want to say is that there is a Community Responsibility. And every person in here must speak to their children and talk about humanity. We all deserve to be treated fairly. Why are you mad at me because i am saying i deserve justice . Why are you upset i am marching for justice . Why does that offend you so much . Why are you so angry when i say i am a proud black man . Why does that offend you . Why are you so angry i am proud to be who i am . When you walk to my car, you already have your hand on a gun. What message has been sent to you to make you feel i am dangerous . I could be in a tailor made and walking into an elevator, and somebody will hold their purse close. This is an issue we are dealing with. But in closing [laughter] but as young people, you have a responsibility as well. Raise your hand, men. It is young people like dom who will change the world. You wont be as discriminatory as your grandparents or your greatgrandparents. That time is now. If not, this issue of race these issues we are dealing with an america, will be the downfall of our country. [applause] mr. Gonzales . I wanted to say something. Let me be the first to say because i notice as a Police Officer i am trained to look at people and try to gauge responses. It is true. As my colleagues were speaking, i could not help but see everybody looking and looking at me. [laughter] so let me acknowledge a couple of things first of all. In this conversation. Cops do not always get it right. That is the truth. We do not always get it right. Unfortunately, because we are Police Officers, and because we took that both of office because we made a commitment that no matter what we were going to lay our lives down if we had to, that puts an additional factor into how we make decisions. Now, because we do not always get it right, the challenge for us is to work to get it right. When we sit back, if we as officers, if we as enforcers, if we sit back and do nothing, you need to get rid of us. You need to get rid of that police chief. You need to get rid of that Police Department. Because they are not serving you in the way you be served. The truth is this, folks. A Police Department is only as strong as the community allows it to be. When the community loses confidence in its Police Department, then that is almost the beginning of the end. I would say to you, all the young people in this room, we asked about where this starts. Does it start in the family, at home . I would say it starts with you. I am not going to be a police chief forever. Someone has to step up and step in to my role. Someone has to be a Police Officer in the future. Someone has to be an attorney, a judge, all those professions you hear about. The issue is getting to a point where you are going to start making a contribution, positive contribution, regardless of your background, regardless of your race, regardless of what you believe in. At the end of the day, are you making a positive contribution to your community, to your school, to your family . For me, i think it is about you. It is about what commitment, what decisions, are each of you going to make that is going to lend your self to be a productive citizen in the future and eventually a more Productive Community . Thank you for listening. [applause] i just want to add that chief gonzales and mr. Jones, i just want to echo the sentiment that you guys will make all the difference. I am saddened by those recent events, these tragedies. But i am also extremely hopeful because you guys are here and you care. I think there are communities in france africa, communities all over the United States that because of these tragedies, i hope, will come together. It is not just the discourse that this institution stands for , but action needs to be taken. The Cleveland Police department is going to need to make changes. The department of justice report is scathing in terms of abuses, whether many of us in the community have known about those abusive practices for years. The doj reported on it over a decade ago. Not enough has been done. Perhaps through our collective efforts, through our concern all of us can help make a difference. But we have to make sure those actions are taken. Discourse and education are not enough by themselves. We need to take action. So we are in a room, and it may be a few leaders, or all leaders in a way. But some do not have that particular push to do something in their community. What can we do, Young Leaders or game changers, whatever you want to call it what can we do as teens in our community . First i want to start answering that question by asking all of your question. Raise your hand if you know anyone with a criminal conviction. Anybody got a cousin . This country is the number one incarcerator of adults and children in the world. Ohio has the is the sixth largest prison state in the nation and we rank fourth with in regards to incarceration of women. We have to be mindful that when people are saddled unfairly, unnecessarily with the criminal conviction, we are preventing them from contributing in some way. We have to be real about that. We have to be real about the consequences of criminal convictions. Not only how they impact us but families and communities. To answer your question, i would say that we have to tell our stories. We have to tell our truths. Whether you have been treated unfairly, whether you have you witnessed someone being treated unfairly, you have to speak to that there is value in demanding our system changed. Anthony, you and i were having a conversation before on the program. I shared that i worked with a student and i asked about her we perceptions on juvenile and she said, i wish my school looked that nice. We are the number one incarcerated or of all people the world. If we invested in education and value it the way we value incarceration things would be different. [applause] one of the things i value most about young people is they have zero tolerance for hypocrisy. Because i am here, i am using that word, instead of another word i would use. [laughter] but young people have zero tolerance for that. The fact is many systems are talking about this beautiful equity we have to work towards but the truth is that policies are not made in that way. Budgets are not allocated that way. We have to call it out. We were at a program a few years ago and young man from Martin Luther King High School said that his biology project consisted of dissecting a cookie. I will never forget how that child was violated. He was prevented in many ways from pursuing a career in medicine. You know why . He was not properly educated. The city was a city that spent 23 years testing crack pipes to charge people in the city of cleveland with felony cocaine possession instead of misdemeanor position of paraphernalia. 23 years. 35,000 africanamericans have a felony conviction they should not have because cleveland was the only city that had the policy. Some people into prison. The cannot get Financial Aid to go to college. The city of cleveland did not test rape kits dating back to the 1950s. It is all about priorities. When we evaluate the priorities we have given to the war on drugs over other more important issues, we have to look at ourselves. We have to look at ourselves. The choices that have been made in our name. We all pay taxes, whether we make a little bit of money or a lot. This is our system. We have to take control. 10 or 20 years from now, your children and grandchildren will look to you and ask you what did you do for me to save me . We have to demand better. We cannot allow these choices that are made in our name to continue to drive wedges and to give us a distinction we should not have. The land of the free cannot be the land of the lock down. [applause] i want to thank you all. This will conclude our moderated portion of the forum. I will lead it over to kenya for announcements. Hello, i am kenya. We are enjoying a Panel Discussion on racism in America Today featuring andreas gonzales, shakira diaz, jonathan gordon, and bashir jones. As im sure you know, racism in america has been sparking a lot of conversation and controversy. I believe that it is our duty to stay informed on such a controversial topic. Not only is it a great conversation starter, it is very important for the future of our country as a whole. Our moderator is another youth forum councilmember, anthony price. Please formulate questions for our panelists now and i remind you that your questions should be brief and to the point. On thursday, january 29, the City Club Youth Forum council will host a found discussion entitled the cleveland response. For more information about our upcoming and past forums, please visit us online at city club. Org. Now, we would like to return to our speakers for our questions and answers period. First question, please. I will ask the first question. What do you think to what extent does reverse racism exist and is it an issue . And anyone can answer that. I do not think there is such a thing. I do not think black and brown people have the power to be racist in a sense. What i mean by that is diffuse you slap me and i am upset you slapped me and i slap you back and i am not encouraging anyone to slap anybody but i am reacting to what you have done to me, that is exactly what is going on here. We do not have the power and when you see what secure has been talking about your talking about institutionalized racism. We are talking about the tower to stuff a person from doing something or allowing them to do it. There is discrimination across the globe. Look at what is happening in nigeria. Look at what is happening in places in europe and parts of asia. What we see is across the globe that there is hatred that exists and hatred for other people. It did not just start. It started with the native americans. We cannot forget about the people who have been impacted by the idea that i am better than you. That is what it boils down to. I am better than you and your beneath me. It does not happen with just race. It happens with men and women, it happens with religion, it happens with all types of cultures. You can go into africa and pakistan where there are tribe issues. My tribe is better than yours. When we look at it from a global perspective, we will be successful. Particularly when it comes to but i want to talk about ferguson for one second. We had a chance to go down to ferguson, we created an organization here, we took 30 people down and we sat down at the place where mike brown blood is still on the ground staining the pavement. Theyre trying to repave the streets and the place where mike brown was killed is a housing complex. They are telling the people they cannot move back in. Ferguson is a situation different from cleveland. The Police Department and mayor, white. Cleveland is different. Even though racism may be in the fold but cleveland got a black mayor and has a black chief of police many africanamericans on the city council. It is not just a situation where it is a black or white situation here. I would say this. We must truly look at you will not like this but i will say it anyway. We must look at how the democrats have been treating africanamericans. We have to bring different parties to the table. We are not just a one night stand and that is how we have been treated in the city for years. So what, we have a black mayor. What does that mean if we go through the same situations that we happened dealing with for years . What does it mean that we have majority africanamerican city council, the money dont go to the east side . They build the Convention Center so quickly. I went downtown one time, it was still the foundation. And came back it was all the way up. The question is why is the money going to the east side . I do a class at collinwood. Look at Collinwood High School and look at glenville. Look at these schools and then go to the casinos and look how that looks. Look at the taj mahal, a. K. A. The juvenile detention center. The question is it is not just a black and white issue. It is a little bit deeper in the city and i think as adults, we must bring to the table republicans, democrats, and independents. And whoever does the best for us, that is our choice, not just go with a Certain Party because we have been going with it. [applause] Morgan Freeman once did an interview and one of the questions was how do we stop racism and he said we stop talking about it. Do you think this is rational . If not, how would you have answered the question . Would anyone like to respond . I will start. It confused me, so i think it is irrational. What i would say is that we need to spend more time walking in each others shoes. Bashir mentioned the issue about schools. I used to work in schools and i often found it fascinating that we were able to find money for metal detectors but not cold paper and soap in the bathroom. It gets to the issue of priorities and how we message to young people about the value of their worth. When you do not allow young people to have access to toilet paper or soap and cant figure out a way to do that. You are telling them youre not worthy. You do not deserve it. So when we treat people like less than human from the time that we condition them to walks through metal detectors before they can get their education where conditioning young people for prison. By the time the get there, they have lost ownership of their minds and bodies. I think it is important to walk in one anothers shoes. If children who are not in schools have to experience these types of conditions, do not know that that is not normal for everybody. If children do not have realize there are other kids who think there experience is normal. We have to take time to have those conversations. Those tough conversations. What is it that we are not giving you . How are we failing you . I think that is how we can start. The truth is there are others who do want to talk because slavery ended. We have to take the responsibility of doing something. [applause] were glad youre here. I am a big fan of Morgan Freeman but i cannot completely agree. Maybe he meant you cannot just talk about it but that is where we start and that is what we are doing and that is why i said i said it was hopeful. We do need to take more action. Those folks that system is leading them to prison and mass incarceration and they get out of prison and cannot get jobs and cannot vote in some states they cannot participate. Schools, they are underfunded. We need to be devoting our resources to that. We can talk about it, but we have to make those policy decisions and choices. We could be spending millions on investigations. We need to spend money on resources and training and good hiring practices. It all takes resources. We do need to talk about it. As i said before we need to take action. Some of those actions include things like body cameras. The president spoke about it. I am excited we haved those videos out there. People cant deny it. There are still civil actions that may bring some remedy to that situation. I do not think it is over. We dont know whats going to happen here in clevland. It is terrible watching those videos over and over again. We know what happened. It cannot be denied. We cannot pretend it does not happen. Bringing together the community, we can make a difference and make the necessary changes going forward. I hear a lot of, i do not see color. Can you explain why that is something that puts a speck in the fight to understand and combat racism . That is a lie. If you can see color and seeing color does not mean that you are proactively racist. It means that you are acknowledging, we can acknowledge differences. What we should not do and cannot do is deny human dignity. Next question. I know someone mentioned that cleveland is the fourth most segregated city in the country. And with a rebranding of cleveland which is downtown and they are rebranding it as this wealthy community, i am asking how can we as youth combat this in the future because having a black mayor has not helped. Having a democratic mayoral cabinet has not worked. What can we do to combat the segregation that contributes to racism in cleveland . We have to combat the segregation even amongst yourselves. You have young people who what school you go to . Hathaway brown. You have a young woman who will not spend time with the young lady from laurel. There is the segregation amongst even let me go deeper real quick if you do not mind. Even within the africanamerican community, there is segregation. This young lady is from hathaway brown. I am from east tech. We helped create a program at laurel, guiding star. They make a connection between that school and the school within the inner city. There has to be more dialogue with Martin Luther King High School and shaw. I want to go even deeper and say that when we talk about racism the worst part about racism is it creates selfhatred. Where some of you truly look into the mirror and you do not like what you see. Because you have been told for so long that you are too dark or too light or too slim or this or that and it has begun to affect you and some people play into the perception that people have about us. My current generation like your generation are some chumps. You are afraid to fight to better your school, you are afraid to fight and stand up for your community. When they shot down tamir rice where were you . You couldve wrote letter. Not you, your cousins and them. What are you doing . You can talk about who hate you all day but what are you doing . Some of you are afraid to be different. You go back to school and you are just following the crowd. You are going throughout school talking how everybody talk and what happens to the school . There are some people who need to go to jail. Some people need to go to jail. We have some cousins and stuff they need to be locked up for sure. If not, they will cause problems. When i am saying and i think mr. Gordon said this. What are you doing, what can you do better in your life . Doi your little brother know more waka flaka lyrics than their abcs . Your cousins, they dont mind. Do they know those lyrics that are more adult than they know their multiplication table. Aristotle said the things he can change in your household and community that just because the teacher thinks im stupid does not mean that is the way i have to act. The question is how you change yourself. You can chage you. When you change you the world around you will change. [applause] we have time for one more question. Hi, everyone. I have a comment. The question you asked before was, how did we lose our race or how do we embrace our race now but the question should be how was it lost . It was lost only came over in the middle passage. That is when it was lost. I am not saying that there was the African American race brought over. Like in class, history, for instance. They teach us, were stuck on industrialization. That is all they teach us in class. Slavery is the last topic. They do not want to get that far because they have to do with discipline. The only thing that we know about slavery is there was sharecroppers and the emancipation proclamation. Just the basics. This was he was a slave master and he tried to trade, he wanted to turn the black race against each other with age, race, gender. He was turning them against each other and he wrote a letter about it. Other slaveowners started to use that method. The willie lynch letter, i spoke on that. Many people do not know because were stuck on industrialization and the Progressive Movement and all of that. One comment about what you said, you said that there are some bad apples. Honestly, i think that there arent any bad apples. The whole system is bad. The whole system is a bad apple. We reflect the system that oppresses us. Thank you. [applause] you have to take the initiative and to get outside of schools. I want to give you a reality for one second and when we were down there marching in ferguson, i was marching with a 90yearold jewish woman and the march was diverse. I do not want you to think for one second that this mission to uplift humanity is not a mission that is taken up by everyone. There are people of all races and religions and cultures who understand the humanity of what is going on and who are standing up and fighting for you and they are people who look like you helping with the destruction of it. We have to work with everyone who wants to work with us and stay away from those who want to work against us. I agree that we have a systemic problem when we are talking about the Cleveland Police department. The department of justice report amplifies why that is. We need to study history as you apparently are doing and we need to recognize all the progress that has happened since slavery. We have a long way to go to recognize do you know what happened on january 15, 1929 . Martin luther kings birthday and we should acknowledge that. His actual birthday is tomorrow. Am honored to be here celebrity i am honored here to be here to celebrate his birthday. I hope you are studying the civil rights movement. That was 50 years ago and my students think that was ancient history. That was my lifetime. I grew up during that time. I remember april 4, 1968 when he was killed. It has been 50 years since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights act of 1965. We have come a long way. We still have a long way to go. If people did not see color anymore, that is ridiculous. We all see differences that we need to embrace our differences with the we are ablebodied or lgbtq members or different religions, ethnicities as well as race. I could go back to what i saw about do black lives matter . Does that mean all lives should matter. Historically, black lives did not matter as much. They were considered disposable and ungrievable, treated with and we cant tolerate that anymore. We can all be treated with dignity and justice. We have a lot of work to do to achieve that vision still. [applause] i will lead it to autumn for closing. We have been participating in intense and enlightening thank you to shakira diaz, chief gonzales, Johnathan Gordon and bashir jones. Thank you for coming and i hope you learned a lot about your roles in the community and this forum is now adjourned. [applause] [bell] [applause] tonight on cspan, a discussion on Hillary Clinton and what the political future might hold for her. And for president s day, a look at president ial campaigns over the past decades. Ronald reagans announcement in 1979 and bill clinton in 1991. The New Historical society hosted a discussion last month on Hillary Clinton and the possibility of her running for president. A group of authors and journalists look at all former secretary of states career and her former bid