“Silly” Perspective: Restorative Justice in Contradictions

In the context of current political landscapes, where a Trump-Vance presidential ticket may confront a multi-racial alliance of Democrats led by the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, it is crucial to maintain a focus on the restorative principles below. The political rhetoric of equality and diversity must be scrutinized and replaced with actions that truly dismantle systemic oppression. As Quakers, one emergent role is to learn history with integrity in order to foster a regenerative justice that addresses deep-seated inequities of our society.

A “Silly” season makes light of the gravity of Now; we take politics as silly corporately, while we ignore the tragic impact of inequity. In moments of political and social intensity, conversations about social change often default to themes around “equality” and “diversity.” This is problematic because we exist in a society founded on white supremacist ideals that used words like “equality” without an understanding of structural racism. The baseline for how we measure success, defeat, and when and how to create change shouldn’t be guided by whiteness. Resist becoming “colorblind” and focus on creating strategies and amplifying work and narratives that are led by those most impacted — transgender and gender non-conforming people of color.

As members of a Religious Society of Friends, Quakers, we are called to live in accordance with our testimony of community, truth, peace, equality, stewardship, sustainability, integrity and simplicity. In doing so, it is imperative to examine the USA’s foundation and organization. By recognizing its chief international exports: war, racism, and capitalism. A growth understanding can enhance our integrity in truth-telling and restorative justice by addressing complexities of antiblackness and the intentional underdevelopment of marginalized populations.

War, Racism, and Capitalism: The American Export

War: We have a long history of military interventions aligning racial, cultural, economic interests, and power to impact BIPOC communities domestically and internationally. Militarism approaches exacerbate social inequalities and reinforce the power of hegemony over the rest.

Racism: The export of American racial ideologies has influenced global perceptions of race, reinforcing white supremacy on an international scale. Domestically, structural racism manifests in political and economic power structures, resource allocation, and narrative control. Gerrymandering, voter suppression, discriminatory lending practices, and biased media portrayals perpetuate the marginalization of African Americans and Indigenous peoples.

Capitalism: The capitalist system thrives on exploitation and inequality, perpetuating economic disparities along racial lines. Global capitalism has often relied on labor and resources from marginalized populations, further entrenching racial hierarchies and deepening the socioeconomic divide.

White Supremacist Structural Controls

Power: Political and economic power structures have historically excluded African Americans and Indigenous peoples. Examples include court rigging, gerrymandering, voter suppression, biased criminality and discriminatory lending practices, which all together (with others) maintain white supremacist control, segregate and disenfranchise marginalized communities.

Resource/Land: Historical theft of land from Indigenous peoples and systematic labor and socio-economic disenfranchisement of African Americans (e.g., redlining, lack of reparations, “welfare state”) continue to impact wealth and resource distribution. The ongoing struggle for land rights and economic justice underscores the need for Friends’ restorative measures.

Narrative Control: Media and educational systems often perpetuate stereotypes excluding contributions and histories of marginalized groups. The dominant narrative frequently omits structures of systemic racism, presenting a false colorblind ideology that ignores structural inequalities.

In social behavior is it “Silly” to find Justice in Contradictions? Among F/friends’ do we demur to acceptance of silly behavior, norms, or tropes?

Political, Social, and Cultural Spheres of Suppression

Despite advancements in various rights movements, racialization continues to place African Americans and Black Indians at the bottom of societal hierarchies. This persistent antiblackness is evident in: Political Suppression: Policies and practices, backed up by law, to purposefully limit political participation and representation of marginalized groups. Social Suppression: Systemic discrimination in housing, education, healthcare, and employment and more. Cultural Suppression: Erasure: misrepresentation of histories, cultures, contributions of marginalized communities.

Intentional Underdevelopment and Antiblackness

Intentional and/or biased underdevelopment of populations, based on antiblackness, creates caste-like classes that are at odds with one another and produce inequity and injustice. This underdevelopment is a strategic aspect of white supremacist control, ensuring that marginalized communities worldwide remain divided and disempowered. The U.S.A.’s exports of war, racism, and capitalism serve to reinforce these now normalized divisions, domestically and globally.

Quaker Integrity and Restorative Justice: Improving integrity in truth-telling involves

Recognizing Structural Racism: Moving beyond superficial notions of equality and diversity to address the underlying power dynamics and systemic barriers that perpetuate inequality.

Amplifying Marginalized Voices: Centering the experiences and leadership of those most impacted by oppression, particularly transgender and gender non-conforming people of color.

Challenging Capitalist Exploitation: Critically examining how capitalist practices perpetuate racial inequalities and seeking economic systems that prioritize equity and justice.

Resisting Militarism: Understanding how militarism and “industrial complexes” contribute to domestic and international oppression, and working towards peace and restorative justice.By aligning pracices with Testimony recognizing foundational contradictions of a nation we inhabit, we can contribute to a truthful and just society. This requires a comprehensive, intersectional approach to social change that addresses the foundational structures of oppression in the U.S., ensuring that our efforts are guided by those most impacted by these injustices.

A “silly” season makes light of the gravity of the now; we take politics as silly corporately while we ignore tragic impacts of inequity. In moments of political and social intensity, conversations about social change often default to themes around “equality” and “diversity.” This is problematic because we exist in a society founded on white supremacist ideals that used words like “equality” without an understanding of structural racism. The baseline for how we measure success, defeat, and when and how to create change shouldn’t be guided by whiteness. Resist becoming “colorblind” and focus on creating strategies and amplifying work and narratives led by those most impacted — transgender and gender non-conforming people of color.

As members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), we are called to live in accordance with our testimonies of community, truth, peace, equality, stewardship, sustainability, integrity, and simplicity. In doing so, it is imperative to examine the USA’s foundation and organization. By recognizing its chief international exports: war, racism, and capitalism, a growth “Society” can enhance integrity in truth-telling, deliver restorative justice, and address complexities of repair, #reparations #antiblackness #LandBack or underdevelopment that’s marginalizing populations.

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