Nelson Mandela & the need for restorative justice

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http://blogs.detroitnews.com/politics/2013/12/03/reflecting-mandela-need-restorative-justice/

Dec 3, 2013, 12:15 pm

Dawud Walid: Nelson Mandela and the need for restorative justice

 

American cinemas will be filled this weekend with audiences watching “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” about the iconic South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela. While I’m anticipating going to see this movie, the struggle of Mandela and his people also reminds me of the need for societies to celebrate such personalities while also keeping in mind that true justice is restorative in nature.

Mandela, who served 27 years in prison for resisting racist apartheid, was not seen as a hero by many in our society.

Former President Ronald Reagan considered him to be a terrorist, and there were many in Congress, including Dick Cheney, who opposed legislation to hold South Africa accountable for its deeply institutionalized racism. Later, Mandela was hailed as a hero throughout America during his 1990 Freedom Tour, which included Detroit. He rose to become South Africa’s first indigenous president and was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush in 2002.

Despite greater political access for indigenous people, South Africa is very far away from having a just society. Due to white Afrikaners’ continued control of natural resources, means of distribution of goods and the legacy of mass accumulation of wealth and property, the majority black population has advanced little after two decades in terms of economic opportunities and standard of living.

America has a similar, though perhaps less pronounced, dilemma as South Africa. We just celebrated a national holiday of Thanksgiving, which has some mythology attached to it while ignoring the ethnic cleansing that Native Americans suffered shortly after pilgrims traveled here on the Mayflower. Despite some Native American reservations that generate casino revenue, Native Americans suffer the highest percent of poverty in America followed by the descendants of enslaved Africans.

Socioeconomic problems and depravity among marginalized groups didn’t magically pop up in vacuums. They have are historical roots and contemporary negative effects on groups of people.

Restorative justice is not simply about getting laws on the books that provide equality on paper, but active governmental involvement on the state and federal levels to ensure that all Americans have equal access to the same public education and economic opportunities. It’s about offering a level playing field, not based upon the legacy of privilege. If the playing field is not level, then there can be no real justice, only the further solidification of structural inequality. The playing field in America is still far from level.

So as we look at movies like “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” and celebrate similar personalities, let’s not treat them and their stories like warm and fuzzy Santa Klaus types that make us feel like we have gotten past the legacy of racism. Rather, reflection on such heroes should challenge all of us to think about how we can reach the ultimate destination that they strove for and what can we and our government due to assist in making America become truly the land of “liberty and justice for all.”

 

DawudWalid

Dawud Walid is currently the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which is a chapter of America's largest advocacy and civil liberties organization for American Muslims and is a member of the Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC) Imams Committee. Walid has been interviewed and quoted in approximately 150 media outlets ranging from the New York Times, Wall St Journal, National Public Radio, CNN, BBC, FOX News and Al-Jazeera. Furthermore, Walid was a political blogger for the Detroit News from January 2014 to January 2016, has had essays published in the 2012 book All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim, the 2014 book Qur'an in Conversation and was quoted as an expert in 13 additional books and academic dissertations. He was also a featured character in the 2013 HBO documentary "The Education of Mohammad Hussein." Walid has lectured at over 50 institutions of higher learning about Islam, interfaith dialogue and social justice including at Harvard University, DePaul University and the University of the Virgin Islands - St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses as well as spoken at the 2008 and 2011 Congressional Black Caucus Conventions alongside prominent speakers such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Congressman Keith Ellison. In 2008, Walid delivered the closing benediction at the historic 52nd Michigan Electoral College in the Michigan State Senate chambers and gave the Baccalaureate speech for graduates of the prestigious Cranbrook-Kingswood Academy located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Walid was also a featured speaker at the 2009 and 2010 Malian Peace and Tolerance Conferences at the University of Bamako in Mali, West Africa. He has also given testimony at hearings and briefings in front of Michigan state legislators and U.S. congressional representatives, including speaking before members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C. Walid has studied under qualified scholars the disciplines of Arabic grammar and morphology, foundations of Islamic jurisprudence, sciences of the exegesis of the Qur’an, and Islamic history during the era of Prophet Muhammad through the governments of the first 5 caliphs. He previously served as an imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit and the Bosnian American Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, and continues to deliver sermons and lectures at Islamic centers across the United States and Canada. Walid was a 2011 - 2012 fellow of the University of Southern California (USC) American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute (AMCLI) and a 2014 - 2015 fellow of the Wayne State Law School Detroit Action Equity Lab (DEAL). Walid served in the United States Navy under honorable conditions earning two United States Navy & Marine Corp Achievement medals while deployed abroad. He has also received awards of recognition from the city councils of Detroit and Hamtramck and from the Mayor of Lansing as well as a number of other religious and community organizations.

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