Individual accountability is not the same as systemic justice

Almost a year after the murder of George Floyd, and less than a week ago, although it already feels a lot longer than that, Derek Chauvin was found guilty on three counts: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. I happened to be picking my son up from near the Barclay Center at 4.15pm while so many held their breath to hear the verdict. As we walked home we could hear helicopters hovering overhead in preparation for the verdict, and although we didn't talk to anyone, it seemed like people were on edge.

I was on edge, knowing that no matter how guilty he was found, it would be a mere drop in the bucket of centuries of systemic violence against Black and Indigenous folks, as well as other people of color.

I don't begrudge Black folks who found joy and healing in the verdict.

But the fact that so many were understandably on tenterhooks to hear the verdict felt all the more enraging to me. There's the violence itself, and then there's the violence enacted by the responses or lack of response to the violence.

And then there's the cognitive dissonance or continuous loop of gaslighting that comes from a system that is supposedly meant to "protect and serve" but was in fact quite specifically and intentionally designed to only "protect and serve" white land-owning men by monitoring and enacting control through violence towards African descended slaves.

Derek Chauvin, and the many other perpetrators of this violence, are not "a few bad apples" but the system working exactly as designed.

And while it may seem trivial to bring pop culture into the conversation at this moment, I haven't been able to stop making connections between this trial and Marvel's latest TV series, Falcon and Winter Soldier.

To me, John Walker, the new blond, blue-eyed, white, government-designated Captain America IS America - just like Derek Chauvin, he is not an aberration, but the exact intended product of the system. He is white entitlement, white mediocrity, and white violence. The scene at the end of episode four (you know the one I mean, if you've been watching) took my breath away because I felt like they WENT THERE unflinchingly, even though I'm pretty sure it was not intended as an indictment of white culture, and instead, another story about an individual.

The thing that America's obsession with individualism doesn't recognize is that individuals exist within a social and systemic context. We are the products of our environment, and while I do believe we can transcend our socialization, it's hard to do if we can't recognize or name our socialization.

John Walker recognized it to some extent, with his outburst in episode 5 where he is held accountable for his violent actions.

"I lived my life by your mandates. I dedicated my life to your mandates. I only ever did what you asked of me, what you told me to be and trained me to do, and I did it - and I did it well."

I can imagine Derek Chauvin thinking the same thing as his eyes darted back and forth with incredulity as he was found guilty.

This is not at all to excuse his behavior, but to ask the question - where is accountability for the system that created Chauvin and others like him? Where is the systemic justice that would mean that Black folks did not have any reason to live in constant fear of losing their lives to police?

Chauvin is a murderer who deserves to be found guilty, but he is in some sense also a scapegoat for a system that can deny or avoid culpability. Finding Chauvin guilty is a necessary step but the danger is that it makes it seem like it's an individual and not the system.

This happens all the time in the workplace too, where toxic individuals are blamed without any consideration for the culture that enabled, supported and in some cases cultivated that behavior. Bystanders get to pat themselves on the back for being "one of the good ones" without considering their role, and without considering the community's role in creating a culture where this behavior was overlooked, tolerated or in many cases rewarded, often for decades, at the expense of those most deeply impacted by that behavior, often people of color, women, LGBTQ+ folks, and all those who don't have the privilege of conforming to dominant culture.

The resulting violence results in a tragic loss of potential for all of us. What might George Floyd, or Breonna Taylor, or Daunte Wright, or Ma'Khia Bryant, or Trayvon Martin, or Eric Garner, or Sandra Bland... or any of the countless folks have become not only if they hadn't been killed but if they hadn't had to fight every day for privileges that are handed unearned to others, to their detriment as well. As far as I can tell, it's not like the white men I know are reveling in joyful liberation, achieving self-actualization and contributing their brilliance to the world. In some ways they are the least likely to be because they've never had to, just to get by.

The entire system is one long con. While it doesn't impact us all equally, it impacts all of us. Individual accountability can lead to systemic justice but only if we force ourselves to make the connection between the individual/interpersonal and the institutional/systemic every single moment of every single day, in the various different ways that we each determine we can make the most impact.

Anything less is a disservice to us all.

Banner photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash.

Self-coaching for DEI Advocates and Leaders

Join me for a free weekly email series and check-in on co-creating real and lasting shifts towards diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism at your company or organization. Sign up here.