GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — The fact that officers are testifying against another officer in the Derek Chauvin trial is of particular interest to at least one local expert on diversity.
Ken James is Director of Inclusion with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. Today, 13 ON YOUR SIDE'S Nick LaFave spoke with him about that dynamic in the case and about the conversations he's now having with his own parents while watching the trial.
JAMES: I was shocked to see there are police testifying against police. It's been my experience that that Thin Blue Line is not crossed. To see that other police officers have used words like unnecessary or excessive when it came to the technique Chauvin used - which I saw play out - which again I think brings the gravity to the top of what we're experiencing here.
LAFAVE: You're visiting your parents right now. What are they saying about the trial?
JAMES: My parents were both raised in the very segregated South. They lived through Jim Crow and segregation. My father said, "I've seen things play out like this before." But what is now different is we can have this conversation. I'm one for, how can we reconcile. I'm hoping for a takeaway - things that haven't changed... how can they change now? We look at this case and say, "Where was the breakdown in the system?"
LAFAVE: Regardless of the verdict, what are you hoping comes out of this trial.?
JAMES: That we not hear anymore - that we're not having situations where can see a distinct dichotomy how certain people are treated and how people of color are treated. So if someone is being apprehended that they are judged by what is happening in the circumstance, not this approach where this someone I can treat as less than human because of a preconceived notion. Conversation, awareness, access, barriers, equity. Having access, eliminating barriers, creating equity. Those are the things I'd like to have in our future and I think the outcome of this trial will help address some of those things.
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