Bryan Stevenson on how America can heal

Jul 20, 2020

Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of "Just Mercy," dives into America’s path to healing and reconciliation. He emphasizes the need for truth-telling about our historical injustices, particularly racial inequality. Stevenson discusses how confronting our past can foster empathy and communal healing, drawing lessons from nations like Germany and South Africa. He advocates for a shift from punitive justice to accountability and community support, urging a compassionate approach to societal issues for a more equitable future.

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ANECDOTE

Black American Commitment

Despite enduring slavery and subsequent injustices, Black Americans remained committed to the American ideal.
This commitment underscores the potential of a shared national identity if we acknowledge harmful aspects of our history.

ADVICE

Cleansing the Legacy

Engage everyone in conversations about cleansing the legacy of slavery.
Begin with understanding that slavery's true evil was the ideology of white supremacy, not just forced labor.

INSIGHT

Institutional Truth-Telling

Truth-telling is essential for recovery from human rights abuses and should occur at all levels.
Institutions like colleges, corporations, and sports leagues must acknowledge their complicity in racial inequality.

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What would it take for America to heal? To be the country it claims to be?

This is the question that animates Bryan Stevenson’s career. Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a clinical professor at the New York University School of Law, a MacArthur genius, and the author of the remarkable book Just Mercy — which was recently turned into a feature film, where Stevenson was played by Michael B. Jordan.

I admire Stevenson tremendously. He has lived a life dedicated to justice. Justice for individuals — some of whom he has rescued from death row — and justice for the society he lives in. He’s one of the fairly few people I’ve found with vision for how America could find justice on the far shore of our own history. That vision is particularly needed now and so I asked him to return to the show to share it. To my delight, he agreed.

This conversation is about truth and reconciliation in America — and about whether truth would actually lead to reconciliation in America. It’s about what the process of reckoning with our past sins and present wounds would look and feel and sound like. It’s about what we can learn from countries like Germany and South Africa, that have walked further down this path than we have. And it’s about the country and community that could lie on the other side of that confrontation.

Book recommendations:

The Souls of Black Folks by W.E.B Du Bois

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

From Slavery to Freedom by John Hope Franklin Evelyn Higginbotham

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Gilead by Marilyne Robinson

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Producer/Editer - Jeff Geld

Researcher - Roge Karma

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