The judicial system in America is promulgated to sustain a caste system. The bedrock of any caste system is to preserve privilege, nurture greed and undergird power. Racism is the bedrock of America’s caste system!

On November 18th, in Kenosha, Wisconsin a jury of his peers found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges. Six days later, a jury in Brunswick, Georgia found the vigilantes that murdered Ahmaud Arbery guilty on most of their charges. The system worked for Rittenhouse. The system failed the vigilantes in Brunswick.

February 23, 2020, and August 23, 2020 will forever connect the lives of two African-American young men. On February 23rd, 25-year-old Ahmaud Marquez Arbery was murdered by three white neighborhood domestic terrorists near Brunswick, Georgia. In Kenosha, Wisconsin, exactly six months later, 29-year-old Jacob Blake, was gunned downed by a police officer, rendering him paralyzed from the waist down. Blake’s shooting, a continuation of a national string of senseless murders and maiming of blacks at the hands of police, was the accelerant for protest in Kenosha. A 17-year-old white male vigilante shows up, having been driven across state lines, carrying an assault-style rifle. This vigilante, Kyle Howard Rittenhouse, shot three white men who were protesting the shooting of a black man. Rittenhouse killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber while seriously wounding Gaige Grosskreutz.

Rittenhouse and the domestic terrorists in Brunswick are well indoctrinated into the rules of the caste system. Namely, people of color are less than the dominant caste and are inherently dangerous. How many times has the tired trope, “I was frightened!” been used to exonerate those who have extinguished or incarcerated another person of color? The lynch mob in Brunswick replicated what their ancestors did. They recorded for posterity the execution of a black man as a trophy of their commitment to the caste. Their fatal flaw was they used videos rather than stills. Without the graphic videos, the system would have worked as planned.

We, the people of PIIN, are grateful the system did not work in Brunswick, Georgia! We also lament the reality the system had to fail for the Brunswick domestic terrorists to be held accountable for their atrocities on Ahmaud Arbery.

What then must we do in the midst of an abhorrent system?

• It is a flawed system that must be perpetually challenged by people of goodwill for the egregious consequences of the system.
• Caste systems are intrinsic; thus, our work demands eternal vigilance.
• Do the work of self-examination to check any individual contributions being made to sustain the caste.
• Actively engage in electoral politics. VOTE for those who passionately support a system of justice for all.
• Provide financial support to organizations, such as PIIN, who are committed to staying in the fight against an unjust system.

We the people of many faiths that comprise PIIN commit ourselves to realizing justice as the norm for all peoples. Join Us in the Work!