Pat Butler has been working for the past few years to lessen the effects of her white privileged acculturation. In the process she has taken workshops, read books, watched movies, participated in interracial discussion groups and finally felt confident enough to speak to the City Council about its neglect to address the most important request in the resolution presented to the Council by the Raleigh Human Relations Commission. She feels that an apology without proposing corrective action is rather meaningless.
Pat spoke to City Council on October 10, 2023:
When the Raleigh City Council offered an apology acknowledging the city’s past participation in slavery, segregation, and enforcement of Jim Crow it received headlines. But the attention soon faded because there was no follow-up on the most significant part of the resolution — to establish a Racial Equity and Reparative Justice Commission.
An apology without actions does not make a difference in Black/African American lives, it lacks consequence. When a government apologizes sincerely and adequately, it is an acknowledgment and expression of remorse for the harms committed. This apology should include a commitment to change and plans for acts of repair to help restore dignity. The apology must do more than admit past wrongdoing, it must demonstrate that the apologizer is willing and prepared to make amends and to continually make a best effort to do better.
The task force should have a long-term vision for sustainable change.
Restorative justice is not only a way to acknowledge our past injustices but to focus on our empathy and compassion as humans for providing equal opportunities for our fellow human kind. It makes us better humans.
Reparative Justice is about a transformation, not a transaction.
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