"Send a racist to the museum program"

I am, let's say, just a little bit curious about the sentence received by Josiah Spaulding III, son of the Wang theater president, in response to his brutal attack of 2 young black women with a metal baton. The idea that a rich young white man, or anyone for that matter in Boston in this day and age, can receive as his punishment for a racially motivated physical attack a visit to a museum to learn about African American history; a trip to Washington DC to learn about Jewish history; some minor cosmetic surgery to remove tattoos; all followed by the opportunity to learn about the plight of the homeless by volunteering at a shelter tells me that there is something very, very wrong with this city. Or maybe they are just testing out a new concept for yet another reality show called "How Much Will Your Dad Pay?"

This ridiculous sentence is a slap in the face of young people, black people, and women. Even more so, it is a show of contempt for all of us in a city that has arguably one of the most scandalous histories in modern race relations and has worked hard to erase the causes of same. He does not go to jail why? Is money that powerful, or have we as a city become so complacent that if it’s not happening in our own specific neighborhood, we don’t really care? With malice and forethought this crime was carried out in front of an audience of friends and onlookers. The idea that Josiah the Younger left his home on that evening carrying a collapsible metal baton indicates to me that he had a goal, and that goal was connected to violence in some way. I don’t feel that his sitting in a museum café having a kosher lunch is the way to help those two women regain a sense of peace.

So it goes: another story of how money and power wins out over morality and justice. We all work hard so that out children can have the things we never did, and the Spaulding family is no different than any other. But we in this society are supposed to have mechanisms to protect all us from the people who would do us harm, the people who would take advantage of us – and it shouldn’t cost extra.

So I am outraged, and as the popular bumper sticker says, “If you’re not outraged you’re not paying attention.” And that does not just apply to the war in Iraq, Lebanon or poverty in the streets. It applies to our criminal justice system for kowtowing to the rich and influential and leaving the rest of us unprotected.