The Issue Is: Fighting racial injustice; a one-on-one with Gov. Newsom
LOS ANGELES - Another difficult week for The United States.
This, as in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, protests spread from coast to coast.
While many peacefully took to the streets, calling for justice reform and systemic change, others used the opportunity to loot and riot. Major cities instituted nightly curfews, starting as early as 1:00PM in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills. Thousands were arrested.
All this unrest coming as states continue to navigate reopening efforts in the face of COVID-19.
Elex Michaelson broke down this and more on The Issue Is.
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The conversation began with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who was in South LA to meet with community leaders and business owners. He spoke exclusively with Michaelson, who served as pool reporter.
As the nation reels, the Governor spoke about what he had learned from the impacted communities he’d been meeting with:
“No one wants patience, people want intentionality, they want action, they don’t want to hear the old staid rhetoric,” he said. “I don’t think they want to hear speeches from guys like me either, they want to know we listen, they matter, we care, and we’re going to meet this moment head on through consistency and constancy in terms of the institutional efforts that are necessary.”
The conversation with Newsom, recorded Wednesday, took place as news broke Derek Chauvin, the officer seen on tape with his knee on Floyd’s neck, had his murder charge elevated from third- to second-degree, and that the other officers had also been arrested and charged with aiding and abetting.
Newsom said the charges were “encouraging” and “long overdue.”
“It was murder, we witnessed it with our own eyes,” Newsom said. “We’re putting people away for 15, 25 to life for murder. And so, the idea of 3rd-degree murder never sat well for any of us.”
“But again, this is episodic,” he continued. “What do we do with the next one? And until we foundationally and fundamentally address the issues of institutional apathy, disparities, and the need for institutional reform, then I really fear we won't have learned the lesson from this moment. This is so much bigger than the tragic death and loss of one individual… this is the cumulative neglect of decades, centuries, in this country that needs to be addressed.”
So, what does that foundational and systemic change look like?
Newsom, citing the 2017 book Kennedy and King, said nothing has fundamentally changed in his lifetime, and that lip service and legislation alone do not alter behavior or culture. Instead, it’s about acting in a way that builds trust within black and minority communities.
Next, Michaelson asked the Governor for his take on the rampant looting seen across the state, and what Newsom points to as the cause for the seeming breakdown of societal norms.
“‘When you have nothing else to lose, what the hell do you have to lose?’ That’s an expression of our complete abject failure as a society to give people any semblance of hope that they matter and that their lives are worthy,” Newsom said. “We have a hierarchy in this country based on race, and we’ve had it for years and years and we’ve allowed it to normalize and we’ve allowed it to metastasize, and that’s just being exposed.”
“COVID exposed what lies underneath,” Newsom continued. “As it relates to disparities and deaths in the black community, and as it relates to testing, and access to health care, educational opportunities, and the like… but what is the foundational Marshall Plan in this frame that connects the dots, federal, state, to local level, so the application of these efforts is real and it’s manifested?”
Speaking of COVID, as thousands take to the streets to protest, there have arisen concerns from medical professionals about a second wave to coincide with California’s current reopening efforts. Before that resurgence though, Newsom said he is still concerned about the first wave, especially as the state has yet to see a steady decrease in cases.
"We were trying to very thoughtfully and methodically and in a phased approach reopen businesses. And then, of course, trying to avoid the mixing of households. And then, of course, this sparked,” the Governor said. “You can't moralize that. You can't condemn that. You have to recognize and understand that. But it also reinforces our responsibility if we do see an increase in spread to address it in real-time, and that's on all of us.”
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Next, Michaelson was joined by two friends of the show for a discussion on race in America: FOX News analyst Gianno Caldwell, and author, attorney and activist Areva Martin.
Their conversation kicked off with how Caldwell and Martin are coping after such an emotional week.
“For the first time, in a number of years, folks feel heard, African Americans all across this country are beginning to feel heard,” Caldwell said. “We’re starting to see people of all races and backgrounds come together and unite against racism.”
Caldwell added that while this is an exciting moment of change, an important time to discuss the history, stories, and pain of African Americans, people cannot wallow in that pain, but should instead work together to bring about solutions and systemic change.
Martin said the week has been a painful one, especially as she considers the experience as a mother of a black son, and what his encounters with police may one day be.
“As a civil rights lawyer, I just feel like I’ve been here so many times before, after Mike Brown, after Trayvon Martin, after Eric Garner, after Philando Castile,” Martin said. “But I’m cautiously optimistic, because I feel like we’ve been at these points before, we get really close to these uncomfortable conversations about race and rather than push through the pain, we tend to retreat, we pull back, and we don’t make the kind of progress we could make if we were willing to keep going, and I just hope this moment is that moment in history.”
Caldwell said he believes this time could be different, saying this isn’t an issue only for African Americans, but that all of America is tuning in.
But at this turning point, when conversations are being had, and change looks like it may already be taking place, one concern remains for the protestors: justice for George Floyd in the form of convictions for the four officers involved.
Speaking historically, Martin expressed reservations about that outcome.
“Police have a special place in the hearts and minds of Americans, people see them as protectors, people who protect and serve,” Martin warned. “So when [people] sit on juries, it’s very difficult to see [police] as criminals…. we hope that that doesn’t happen in this case.”
Beyond her concerns about convictions, Martin made clear that securing justice is not something the black community can do alone.
“We need white people to move beyond these statements of ‘we stand with the protestors,’” Martin said of the corporate statements she has received from the likes of Uber and Nordstrom, adding that those companies can take internal action to improve the well-being of minority employees through promotions, corporate policy, wages, and other means. “You need to do more than talk about standing with protestors, you need to be about the business of working to make the lives of those protestors better.”
The conversation wrapped up with a discussion of where the Black Lives Matter movement goes next, and the likelihood of reforms actually being implemented.
While cautiously optimistic, Martin was still somewhat skeptical about progress, noting that President Trump’s touting of the May job report shows the administration is not focused on the right things.
Caldwell expressed greater hope that both sides of the aisle are open to coming together for meaningful reform, pointing to actions from both President Obama and Attorney General William Barr to show there is desire on both sides to fix systemic problems through the likes of training, consent decrees and police accountability.
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The Issue Is: with Elex Michaelson is California's only statewide political show. For showtimes and more information, go to TheIssueIsShow.com.