[inaudible conversations] . .

was the executive director of the national rainbow coalition.

she is the author of arbitrary justice, the power of the american prosecutor which one in the wood. currently davis is a professor of law at american university washington college of law. she is the editor of "policing the black man: arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment" . please join me in welcoming angela j. davis to the atlanta history center. [applause] >> thank you. i want to thank the atlanta history center for having me this evening. i want to thank all of you for coming out. it is great to see so many familiar faces. i see people that i know and people i do not know. i'm happy to see everyone. so grateful that so many of you want to hear about this issue and talk about this issue. so thank you for being here. i want to start off by just talking a little bit about how this book came about.

i was approached about 2 and a half years ago about of essays that would explore and contextualize the many awful killings of unarmed black men and boys. that has occurred in recent years. when i was approached and asked, i seized the opportunity. because there is no issue more important to me than the unfair treatment of black and brown people in the criminal justice system in america today. in fact, it is the issue that keeps me up at night. i thought about who i would ask to join me in this project.i decided to reach out to authors, lawyers, scholars, advocates and activists who have been teaching and writing about, litigating, advocating and agitating and in many instances, living this issue. and i was really fortunate that

so many of them said yes. so i really want to just take this opportunity to thank them, the many authors that contributed to this project and i'm going to tell you a little bit about then and about the essays this evening. the first thing i want to do is read a brief excerpt from the book's introduction that i hope will give you a sense of what the book is about. why this book and why now? michael brown, eric garner, tamir rice, freddie gray, walter scott, sam dubose, alton sterling, philando castile and terence crutcher are just some of the names on a long list of unarmed lack boys and men who were killed by police officers in recent years.

although black men have been the victims of violence at the hands of the state since the time of slavery, technology and social media now permit us to literally bear witness to many killings. repeatedly. millions of people have watched the video of a police officer choking eric garner to death as he struggles for air. similarly, millions of watch the video of a police officer shooting walter scott in the back as he ran for his life. who can ever forget the grainy footage of tamir rice, the 12-year-old boy who was shot by a police officer while he played alone with a toy gun in a park near his home? two videos, one from a police helicopter and another from a police dashboard camera show terence crutcher walking away from police officers with his hands raised high in the air. just before he was shot and killed.

these images have evoke feelings of fear, sadness and outrage and serve as a reminder that the lives of black men and boys continued to be devalued and destroyed with impunity at the hands of the state. to date, not one of the police officers who killed these men and boys have been convicted of a single crime. from the arrival of the first slaves in jamestown in 1619 to the lynchings of the 19th and 20th centuries to the present day, black boys and men have been unlawfully killed by those who were sworn to uphold the law and by vigilantes who took the law into their own hands. the national museum of african-american history and culture was opened its doors on september 24 2016 includes exhibits that tell the story of many of these killings. yet these killings are not just a part of african-american history. they have continued well into the 21st century. almost 400 years after the beginning of slavery and

persist with remarkable frequency and brutality during a time when america elected its first african-american president. many of these race-based killings have inspired and reinvigorated movements for change. broke on the 14-year-old emmett till in 1955, the murder of civil rights activist -- 1963 and the assassination of martin luther king in 1968 all serve as markers on the civil rights movement timeline. as have so many other kinds of black men by white races. each tragic killing spark nationwide protest and renewed activism in the struggle for civil rights and racial justice in the united states. the killing of 17-year-old trayvon martin in 2012 was a pivotal marker of racial bias against black men in the 21st century. martin was killed by george jimerson, a white man who called the police when he saw

-- george zimmerman, a woman who called the police when he saw him. he called the police and said he looked suspicious and like he was quote up to no good were on drugs or something. ignoring the dispatchers warning that he should not follow martin, zimmerman ultimately shot and killed him. martin was unharmed and was on his way back to his father's house after buying snacks at a local convenience store. initially zimmerman was not charged with a crime. but after nationwide protest he was charged with martin's murder. a jury ultimately acquitted him. the killing of trayvon martin, the initial failure of the prosecutor to charge george zimmerman with a crime and is zimmerman's ultimate acquittal captured the attention of the nation. president obama even weighed in stating, quote trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. martin skilling also inspired the phrase, black lives matter.

the phrase trended on twitter and all forms of social media and was displayed on posters carried in protest at the martin skilling. and after every killing of a black man or woman by a police officer from that day forward. black lives matter ultimately became a social justice movement. with chapters throughout the united states and canada. many unarmed black men and boys have been killed since trayvon martin's tragic death five years ago. many of the killings occurred after police officers arguably engaged in racial profiling. stopping and harassing these men were no explainable reason other than the color of their skin. if all of the cases where black men were shot and killed officers claimed that they felt threatened, even though the men were unarmed. and often running away or retreating. in almost all of the cases, the police officers were never arrested or charged with a crime. the tragic killings of trayvon martin, michael brown, eric garner, walter scott, tamir

rice, freddie gray and others served as the catalyst for this. but this also inspired the contributing authors to think about all of the way that black men are police in the broad sense of the word. heavily and harshly at every step of the criminal process. in fact, black men are police and treated worse than their similarly situated white counterparts at every step of the criminal justice system. morass sentencing. these unwarranted disparities exist whether black men are charged with crimes or are victims of crimes. police officers stop, search and arrest black men far more frequently than white men engaged in the same behavior. prosecutors charged black men more frequently and with more serious crimes than white men who engage in the same behavior.

and they are disproportionate numbers of black men in the nation's prisons and jails. criminal defendants regardless of their race, our punished less harshly when the victims are black men. this anthology explores and explains the policing of black men from slavery to the present day and at every stage of the criminal process and beyond. many people have asked, why black men? why are you focusing on black men? are there other people in the criminal justice stem? that are not well or treated poorly. and the answer to that is yes. so how when i asked that question? black men are not the only people of color to be treated worse than their similarly situated white counterparts at every step of the criminal process. black women, latina women, latino men, native americans and other people of color also experience violence at the hands of the state. and discriminatory treatment in the criminal justice system.

and people that are gay, lesbian and/or transgender. this book focuses on black men and in no way trivializes the experiences of all people who base these harms. while acknowledging the other groups have been and continue to be oppressed and discriminated against, this book focuses on black men. in many ways, the experience of black men in the criminal justice system is unique. the most noticeable difference is that they are impacted more adversely than any other demographic in the united states. at every step of the process. black boys are disproportionately arrested and detained. black boys are more likely to be referred to the juvenile justice system than any other children. over half of the students arrested at schools in the united states and referred to the juvenile justice system are black and hispanic.

while black students represent only 60 percent of student enrollment, they represent 27 percent of students referred to law enforcement and 31 percent of students subjected to school arrest. black male students alone make up 18 percent of all referrals and arrests. black men are disproportionately arrested. african-americans are 2.5 times more likely to be arrested than whites. 49 percent of black men, almost half, can expect to be arrested at least once by the time they are age 23. black men are more likely to be killed or injured during a police encounter. while more whites are killed by law enforcement than people of color, african-americans are killed in a disproportionate rate. in fact, black men are 21 times more likely to be killed by police than white men. black men are disproportionately imprisoned and receive longer sentences.

african-americans make up approximately 35 percent of the prison population in the united states. 35 percent. and by the end of 2015, black men constituted 34 percent of the american prison population. in 2015, 5165 and 100,000 black men ages 5 -- 25 through 29 were imprisoned as compared to 2165 hispanic men and 921 white men of the same age, remarkably, the number of black men in prison or jail or on probation or on parole by the end of 2009 berkeley both the number and slave in 1850. one and three black men born in 2001, one and three, can expect to be incarcerated in his lifetime. blacks are also disproportionately sentenced to death.as of 2014, the

national death row population is approximately 42 percent black. of the overall black population it is only 13.6 percent. so this anthology focuses on the plight of black men and boys. the extraordinarily disproportionate mistreatment of black boys and men at every step of the criminal process is explored in depth in this book. as the essays make clear, the issues and problems are complex. as are the solutions. the authors that i invited to join me in this project are scholars, lawyers and activists who have studied and in some instances, personally experienced the phenomenon about which they write. so in their essays, they examine and explain the policing of black men. i want to tell you a little bit about the essays and then i want to talk about my own essay.my own contribution to the both which was about the prosecution black men and talk

to you about why i think that issue is so important. just briefly, i'll say the titles and hopefully it will inspire you to want to pick up the book and read it. the first essay is called a presumption of guilt. the legacy of america's history of racial injustice. it was written by bryan stevenson. the second is racial disparity in criminal justice by transport many of you know who he is.a remarkable hero of mine. the third essays called boyz ii men, the role of policing the socialization of black boys. written by professor kristin of georgetown. i will tell you all this as they almost did not make it to the book because it was so focused on black men and then, after talking to chris, is one of the nation's top leading experts on the juvenile justice system, i realized while!

we have to talk about black boys, the chapter is remarkable because black boys are treated worse in the system than blackman peers as pretty revealing. next is racial profiling the law and that policy and the practice ram by professor rence in the university maryland. racial profiling is housed for killing start and -- many may have heard of implicit bias. is it the necklace to all of these essays and is at the root of so many of these killings and we'll talk a bit about that tonight. it was written by professor catherine russell brown of the university of florida for the next chapter is called policing a model for the 21st century by professors tracy mears and tom tyler. professor mears served on president obama's task force on policing in the 21st century. the next chapters my own

chapter, is called the prosecution of black men. i will talk about that a little tonight. then, the grand jury and police violence against black men by professor roger fairfax. a lot of people are introduced to the grand jury after ferguson when they realized the police officer would not be indicted. so professor fairfax explains the history of the grand jury. it reveals something that would probably very surprising to many of you who witnessed what happened with a lot of these police officers. very different from ordinary systems with the grand jury. the next step is called elected prosecutors and police accountability by professor ron right. i focus a lot on left in good progressive prosecutors and that chapter will be reviewing. i will talk about how prosecutors are elected. the next chapter is called due black lives matter to the court? it was written by sherrilyn ifill who is the director counts of the naacp defense and

educational fund and also by -- who co-authored this was a staff attorney talking about the law and the history of the law. it will reveal a lot about this. when the courts are not exactly friendly to claims of discrimination anymore and other issues. the final chapters of poverty, violence and black incarceration by jeremy travis and bruce -- so those are the essays. i want to spend the remainder of my time for opening up the question talking about my own contribution to the volume which is called the prosecution of black men. also at this time, a little bit about these killings. and you know, how is it, why is it, how could it be? that these police officers have not been held accountable. i think that is a question i get and i'm not sure know the answer but we would like to explore and talk about what i think some of the issues are. a bit about my chapter, kate mentioned that i spend a lot of

my time writing about prosecutors. and i have. the reason for that is that prosecutors actually the most powerful officials in our criminal justice system. and it has always been a lot of focus on police officers and likely so, we know this should be a focus given all that has been going on. and by the way, you know, just to stress and i mentioned this before, the killings of black men did not start with trayvon martin. this has been going on since slavery. so this chapter lays it out and explains it so well. five, and of course this should be a focus on police officers. these officers have a term of this amount of power and discretion on the street to stop people, search them and the law is a very easy for them to do that. but i think people should focus also on prosecutors. i do not think people have been focusing on them a lot. they are the most powerful officials in our criminal justice system.

police officers absolutely have a lot of power to stop people on the streets. search them, frisk them, arrest them. the police officers can only bring people to the courthouse door. it is the prosecutor he decides whether they remain entrenched in the system and end up with a criminal record and all of that. the prosecutor has so much to do with that. and that is because, of the two powers that they have, the charging decision and the plea bargaining. those two decisions made by prosecutors almost predetermine the outcome of criminal cases. and why do i say that? well, is 1/5 police officer arrest a person on the street, they can only recommend charges to the prosecutor. they don't decide whether the person is in the criminal justice system for they can bracket to the prosecutor and the prosecutor can decide to take it and prosecute the case or they can dismiss it. it is totally up to the

prosecutor. even if there is probable cause to believe a person committed the offense and that is the standard, the very low standard of probable cause is what the standard is for charging a person. more probable than not, much lower than the much higher proof beyond a reasonable doubt that they need to convict. so it causes you to decide to charge a person at the point where they can decide not to charge a person. it is totally within their discretion. and they are accountable to no one but the chief prosecutor of that office. right? and that decision may trump it is made behind closed doors. it is not a public announcement i'm charging someone or not charging someone in here is why. they are not required to do that and they do not do that. they make the decisions behind closed doors. so you can see when they're that much discretion and power, that that is where disparities can come in. and where they do, right?

the prosecutor you know can see one kid brought in. let's say he is arrested with five bags of cocaine. prosecutors have a lot of options. the police officer might say well, he has five bags of cocaine. one of you charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine?which in most cases carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five, 10 sometimes more years. mandatory meeting if the person is convicted and must serve all that time no matter what. so the prosecutor looking at a potential defendant with five bags of cocaine, they can charge five counts, can charge five counts of possession with intent to distribute, charged the felony. but they can also just simply charge a misdemeanor possession. even though they may have the evidence for the felony, they can say just charge them with a

misdemeanor. for they can say i am going to dismiss it and not charge at all. they have the discretion to do any of those things as they do not have to explain those decisions to a judge or anyone else. it is made behind closed doors, the chief prosecutor is the only person in charge of that. that is a terminus amount of power chief you think about it. right? because one kid comes in and they say well you know i remember when i was back in college, i used to sell a little dope and useful in distraction, i turned out all right. and that kid, you know this ghetto here looks like you know, he looks a certain way. reminds me of me. when i was young and he has a future and i don't want to ruin that future with a criminal record. so i'm going to let this slide. there is another kid comes in, looking very different from a different neighborhood. right? and he is automatically, may be able charged with a felony. that is a tremendous amount of power.

and the thing is that it is complicated because i am not saying that the prosecutor is saying, you know, that is a rich white kid. i am going to give him a break, that's a poor black kid i am not. they might not even be consciously thinking that way. and that is when this thing called implicit bias comes in. right? these unconscious feelings and views that we all -- everyone in this room of all races and genders have, rightly the unconscious views that we all have based on negative stereotypes that we pick up in society around us and the media and everywhere. it can be based on race or gender or skin color or the hair or body size. we are not even aware we have those biases. is that thing that makessome people , when a black man walks into an elevator they do not even realize their bodies moving into the corner. right?not just white folks by

the way. i do know if anybody remembers i know we are on c-span, don't be mad at me. i don't know if you remember when reverend jackson came out walking down the street in washington dc. he said he looked behind him and was relieved to see it was a white man. reverend jackson employees to work for and i love but -- my point is that all of us carry these implicit biases. the problem is when people have tremendous power in the criminal justice system and they're making decisions that are impacting that by implicit bias. you have some is liberty in your hands in your being influenced by your unconscious views. you don't know what is happening but it is happening. the fact that it is unintentional does not mean it is okay. the fact that it is unintentional does not mean that the result will be different. it is still wrong if someone is

treated unfairly. if these two young man, similar, both charge with the same thinking maybe neither one of them had a record. that is one of the things that prosecutors take into account. right? but maybe the black kid did have an arrest record but guess what? none of those cases, he was not convicted because maybe it was a result of racial profiling and there was not a case there. so they're all kinds of complicated things that go into that charging decision. the same thing with plea-bargaining. so, if you watch the show, there are many law and order shows. [laughter] if you want any of them you think that all of these trials are going on, not so in the criminal justice system. there are not electrons going on.there are a lot of guilty pleas going on. 95 percent of all cases are resolved by way of a guilty plea. 95 percent. only five percent of criminal cases actually go to trial with a jury and all of that.

in that process, the plea-bargaining process, again, totally controlled by prosecutors. so how does it work? prosecutor says okay, i am going to charged with five counts of burglary.and that is everything, there is a phenomenon of overcharging. they may not even be sure they can prove all of those burglaries beyond a reasonable doubt. but they sure can charge a because all they have to do to charge him is to show probable cause. like more likely than not. so they pylon all of these charges and it gives them an advantage at the plea-bargaining. so let's say struggle again. five mandatory minimum charges. you're looking at 50 years on the bottom. meeting you, if you're convicted at the trial you will have to serve 50 years before you you see the light of day. tell you what, says the prosecutor, i will make you a deal. i will allow you to plead to one of these sentences i will dismiss the other four.

sound like a good deal, right? you can see how even an innocent person would plead guilty because going to trial is risky business. even if you're in a sense, you could be found guilty. and so many poor people, most of the people in the system are poor people. many of them are overworked, have public defenders, many good lawyers but don't have the resources to investigate the cases to find a defense, right? i think it happened in trial. even an innocent person under the circumstances might be compelled to feel like they should plead guilty. and many do. 95 percent. i am not saying plea-bargaining is a bad thing. if it were fair, it would be fine. by that i mean this. and a lot of times, these plea offers are made like a prosecutor can come up to the defense attorney and say, i tell you what. you know, i will give your guy a deal but expires at 5 o'clock

today. either takes, agreed to take the plea or it is off the table. and the defense attorney might say wait a minute, i have an ethical duty to investigate these charges. to find out whether my client has a defense could help can i advise my client to do this and i did not even know? too bad. that is not illegal actually folks in our criminal justice system. that is not the way just isn't supposed to work but it goes on every day in courtrooms across the country. where a defense attorney is going to the client saying look, i don't know. you might have a defense but they're making this offer and the decisions of the client. that's not the way justice is supposed to look. if the plea-bargaining process worked in a way that the prosecutor says here is my file, here's all the evidence i have against you. here's everything i know about the case. and i'm going to give you time to investigate, and then you let me know whether you want to take the plea. that happens sometimes.

i'm a single prosecutors act the way that i mentioned before. but many of them do. that is a system that we have an a lot of jurisdictions. there's a lot of pressure on everyone to move the case along, clear the calendar. justices love please. and i apologize if there justices in the audience. they love please because they only take a few minutes. trial stick sometimes days and they have got some of the calendar, right? but there's are human beings behind all of that. right? so, you can see why i think prosecutors are the most powerful individuals in the criminal justice system. and i could go on and on but in the interest of time i won't. i will say one more thing about prosecutors, you know, the problem is -- and i talked to some of my prosecutor friends and they say look, i say you guys make these decisions behind closed doors, you're not accountable to the public people, they generally are doing. there are racial disparities that you're causing maybe you

don't mean to but you are. and they save my constituents don't like me they can vote me out. and i say well, and theory. we live in a democracy and we hold those accountable to whom we grant power. prosecutors are the most powerful. democracies is all about transparency.and there is no transparency in the prosecution function when it comes to charging and plea-bargaining. those decisions i listed are made behind closed doors. so, most state and local prosecutors, and i should send their federal prosecutors. those are the us attorneys over the federal districts. then they are state and local prosecutors. only about 10 percent of all criminal cases are handled on the federal level. only 10 percent. 90 percent of all criminal cases are handled on the state and local level. so there are thousands of states attorneys, district

attorneys, they are called different things in different jurisdictions. there are only four. for states and the district of columbia do not have elective prosecutors but the rest of them are elected. they run for office. and it is a very imperfect system of accountability. because in ron white's chapter, you will read about how many prosecutors, they served for decades. run out opposed, people go to the ballot box and his election year and sometimes there's only one name there because people do not challenge them.and when they do try to challenge an incumbent, it is almost impossible to unseat them. and, when they run for office, they're not talking about the stuff i'm talking about here today. [laughter] right? they're not say to their constituents, they are nothing here my plea-bargaining policies and here my charging policies and here is what i'm doing about racial disparities in the criminal justice.

i doubt if you heard any das run on that. in the past, and still so in most jurisdictions they run on i am someone prime. and if they have an appointment, knows that i am tougher on crime. [laughter] and i don't really talk about what they do!they really, these are important decisions that they are making behind closed doors. so that's why software that will educate ourselves we can ask the hard questions. i bet if you go to a form for five prosecutor and raise your hand and save what you charging policy and plea-bargaining policy, they would faint right there. [laughter] and i urge you to do that. you should ask that question. right? but i say to you, it is really important to pay attention to your district attorney. it is really important for good people who care about justice in the criminal justice system to run for office and i'm happy to say 2016, a number of prosecutors were challenged around the country. and were unseated. not many but some. in a lot of attention has been paid to chicago, orlando, and i

can go on and on. so there is a movement i think of people pay more attention to prosecutors and what they do. and i am happy to hear that. i think it is really important that we pay attention to that. i just want to close again with some statistics and then open it up for questions. the united states criminal justice system is the largest in the world. at the end of 2011, approximately 7 million individuals were under some form of correctional control in the united states. including 2.2 million incarcerated in federal, state or local prisons and jails. united states have the highest incarceration rate in the world. dwarfing the rate of nearly every other nation. racial minorities are more likely than white americans to be arrested.

was arrested they are more likely to be convicted. once convicted, they are more likely to face this sentence. african-american males are six times more likely to be incarcerated than white males and similarly situated white counterparts.and 2.5 times more likely than hispanic males. if the current trends continue, one of every three black american males born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime. as can one of every six latino males as compared to one of every 17 white males. we have a problem in this country today, right? it is not a badge of honor to be number one in incarceration. it is a badge of shame, right? why is it we are so different from every other country? why are we doing this so differently? and why do we have these horrible racial disparities? as i tried to explain tonight it is complicated. there are a lot of complex reasons why.

but at the end of the day it is unjust and unfair system and we have to fight to change it. so thank you for hearing me out and i would be happy to take your questions. [applause] [applause] >> if you will come to the microphone -- >> i think that is assessed picture i've seen since the civil rights movement. there were men carrying signs saying i'm a man. it is painful to watch that. i believe that in police involved shootings, this person

is not seen as human and his fear. [inaudible] is not a cultural police issue. who can fix it? because that's so central. people that are unarmed, it is so painful to see that and they look at how dylann roof was treated. [inaudible] whose job is it? whose responsibility is it to fix it when you see this person unarmed or not? this african-american male is a human being. and deserves respect. >> thank you so much for that very insightful question and statement. what you said -- unit is already. what you just said is in a lot of the essays actually. yeah, you know, it is really

scary and sad and depressing that for black men and boys, their very existence -- they can be doing nothing, standing on a street corner talking. just being, right? just living. it creates suspicion in the minds of different people. they see black and they say criminal. or not human. you just said that and it is so true. in several of the chapters, the one on implicit bias, the chapter by catherine russell brown, the chapter on black boys -- they discuss these studies that are really quite shocking. they show, you know, particularly police officers they tried to say about implicit bias of the show the pictures about black boys and they repeatedly overestimate

the age and size of black boys. always seeing them as older and larger than they really are. because of this bias, immediately, that is what they see when it is not there. some of the police studies that were done in the chapter about implicit bias where they would ask police officers, each of these images very quickly and ask them to respond to shoot or not to shoot. they would see weapons in the hands of unarmed black men. and not see them in the hands of white men who were armed! because of this implicit bias. these studies show this! all right? so you know, it is an incredible burden to put on a black boy or a man quite frankly to say, you know what? act a certain way. you know a lot of people here have given their sons and daughters the top. don't talk back to police officers, put your hands on the wheel, the thing that's scary and maddening and infuriating

is that we saw in a lot of these videotapes right -- i believe it was philando castile for in another case, tamir rice, they were not doing anything wrong. sometimes acting a certain way will not save you all the time and that is where we can see your question, what can we do about it?we say it is not about training. lastly we think some of that is a big part of it because there is something called implicit bias training. people hear about diversity training and say i get it because i know a lot of the training is like -- not really -- but there was really good training around implicit bias. that is what katherine's chapters about that. when you make people aware of their implicit biases, that is the first step in getting rid of it. there's actually very good

implicit bias training on here. the few people that are doing it. i recently went to a conference on this washington d.c. where they brought together many different people in the criminal justice system. the woman doing the training, there was a specific training to try and -- there are several judges that are giving instructions to jurors about implicit bias. to make them aware of it before they make decisions. so i do think training is a big part of it. at least a step anyway. we are going to go to the side now. >> can i talk to you? can you hear? is it on? can you hear me? okay. i am an elderly white woman and i thought i did not have any bias. but i have read this book and i

found that i have implicit inherited bias from slavery. and when i grew up, i think we have implicit bias from when we did not think of a black person as a full person. we saw them as and a half person or -- and i think that a lot of people glance over the fact that we might be biased. and i had to look straight at it and it was uncomfortable.

and i am not there yet but i'm not a police officer. [laughter] and i -- i believe now that police officers and especially our prosecutor we have now. i hope he is not here. [laughter] >> he is here! [laughter] >> is very guilty of bias. >> thank you, i really appreciate your comments, i do. thank you. [applause] i really appreciate that you are here, i appreciate that you are reading the book and you say you feel -- like i said we all have biases. people of every race.

>> thank you ms. davis for coming out. i appreciate the racial makeup of the audience. i was transporting off duty black officer to the airport in this issue came up. he told me my number one priority was to get out of the situation alive. he says i'm not going to win -- he said if you want to fight, fight in the courthouse. and he said the battle i would even have the courthouse. but at least i am alive to fight. and second, the question is, this disparity in the courtroom -- would you call this a conspiracy? is that a good word for it? >> thank you for the comments. but i will say this about the officer, his number one priority is to get out of the situation alive. i think what we have to do is train our police officers that

you can get out of a situation alive without killing an unarmed person. [applause] right?none of these black men or boys had a weapon and philando castile, he said i have it, i have it legally, here it is, i am not reaching for it, my hands are out here. and he killed him anyway! so i want police officers, we need police officers to protect us. we get that. but they do not have to kill people to stay alive. that is the main point. is a conspiracy? i do not think it is a conspiracy. i think that most of it, maybe not all of it, some of it is intentional. i think some of it is intentional but not all of it. and i will give you an example of intentional. there was a case in new york city that i wrote about. floyd versus new york city. phenomenal case. not many people know about it. the -- they were stopping

searching and frisking illegally black men and boys. and they weren't doing intentional because at some police officers on the inside who wire themselves and caught them, the police chief telling them to go and stop black boys. it was incredible. without getting into details, my point is that not all of it is unintentional. but i do think of a lot of it is implicit bias. it does not make it right and it does not excuse it. it does not! because it is an injustice. we have to figure how to get to the biases, get rid of them, retrain people. and get rid of the people who refuse to do the job right. and it is really hard. [inaudible] >> it is really hard. it is hard to find police officers that have powerful unions you know and interestingly enough, some of

you may have seen, donald trump made a statement encouraging police officers to engage in police brutality. which is outrageous! i mean, i don't know why i continue being shocked by the things that he does. [laughter] but i was shocked that some of the claims to be the president of the united states would say to the police, be rough, physically, and you have a lot of this police organizations that say actually no, that is wrong. police unions -- they have not spoken to that. so, anyway. i think we are over here. >> is a big difference between a white person and a racist. a racist cannot be trained. they are steeped in the racism. they will never change? are there no intention of changing. so that is what you are working with. the ones who are ordinary white police officers, who really, they do have implicit bias and they are willing to work with

that. it takes a willingness. you know, and they can be trained to do better. but it is never going to be eliminated. the racism is they are and even the ones that we are talking about, can be trained. they are racist as well. there was a blue-eyed, brown -- she simply said america is a racist country. you might as well face it up. it is what it is. you did a very excellent job of tracing from 400 years ago, a pattern of behavior. we have had plenty of opportunity to address it but the malice is there, the intention to not address it --

is not to anyone's advantage that has power to address it. there is no incentive. it will not be addressed. there have been brilliant minds who have studied this. there is no hope and i know people do not like that, that is the picture and that is the way it is. also, basically that is it. if you keep looking at all the data and you look at all of the studies, you look at the longevity of what the racism has been. there is no cure for it. and i think that maybe people can unite and try to address it but forget it. the racism is here, it has been here, is part of the character of america, it will never go away. and we know it. if they want to be honest then you can address it. if you want to just keep on playing games and being nice -- you know, and one other thing, genocide. sounds like a conspiracy.

but when you follow these statistics, the data, the genocide, economic devastation has been long-term and systemic. it is not just the law enforcement and the justice system which is very injustice. it is america. this is what america is known for. outside of the borders. because this is what america is. >> thank you for your comments. [applause] i will say this. i agree with something to say and disagree with others. i do have to have hope because i have a child and grandchildren. [applause] i have to have hope. there are some racist people who will never change but there are some who will change. either because they get it or because they are made to change. right? so, you know, some people

decide you know when there is desegregation they decided they were going to go to school or let their kids go to school. but guess what? they were made to do that because the law required them to do it. so people who do not want to behave or people who are acting unconstitutionally or who are acting racist, you cannot be in this position of power is my point. so what i think is that racism is always going to be, i know we will always be there. but i also think that some people do change and i do not think that every person is a racist.i have to believe that. i also have to believe in the change element again because you say to people there is no hope, i am not going to say the two little black brown boys and girls that there is no hope. because what does that do to them? i think we have to keep fighting for it. i think they are good minded people out here. [applause] i have to believe that. yes?

>> president davis, thank you so much for coming to atlanta i appreciate you down here. i'm wondering if when you were writing and publishing this book if you intended to or have had any interaction with law enforcement after the publication of the book we i do not know if you saw any of that repair cannula and intentionally but i am curious about maybe the unintended audience of the book and if there has been dialogue there. >> this is only my second reading so we will see. [laughter] but i have had interactions with a lot of prosecutors who i talk to and talk about and so on. and police officers, because there are some police officers that are with the national enforcement of black offices and i know some of the leaders of the organization who actually agree with everything i am saying. if you believe it or not. so i think that there are some folks out there who know that there is a problem and it needs to be changed.

not enough of them, so, it will be interesting to see.so far i have not done any -- you all are a very friendly audience, so i appreciate that. [laughter] >> my boss is not here so i will let this continue but i do want to make sure that you're asking a question and not a comment. >> thank you for coming and i appreciate hearing this. you do a great job stating the problem. one of the things particular that you talk about implicit bias. i am interested in looking at solutions and i agree with you also. i'm not about giving up hope. i do think that things can change. things are always changing, okay? i am an artist, a working artist. one of the things i'm interested in and dealing with right now is the same issues that you are dealing with. i'm also a father and a grandfather of young black men.

and so, when i think about the implicit bias and the question i ask is where does it come from? one of the things i think may be very many areas and it comes from but subliminal messaging. i do think is important.and we can go back to looking at the birth of a nation. we can look at all of the cartoons and caricatures and all of the imagery that was created. and not just white people looking at that but black people as well. so today, we are the byproduct of all of that. >> exactly. >> so, a way in which to change the implicit bias in my mind is looking into the arts. looking at filmmakers, painters, dancers, performers, poetry etc. i guess the question i have for you is, what role do you see the artist or any arts in bringing about positive social change? >> you answer the question for me. a tremendous role!

a tremendous role! arts, film, theater, visual arts, so powerful and so important! photography, photojournalism, there are some examples of that. i think it plays an incredible role. the parts move people emotionally.we mentioned subliminal messaging and the -ones are there. no question that there are positive ones that play a role so keep making art. thank you for your question. [applause] >> i have a question i also want to make this a very quick comment. i'm very sorry! [laughter] i want to say hope everyone continues to have hope because i used to be extremely racist. i believe in the bootstrap theory and other things and people yelled at me and made me realize that these things were absolutely false. i feel like i understand that it is sometimes really hard to have hope, but the onus should be on black people anymore to

say stop treating us like this. i think we should have a louder voice and saying this has to stop because we spent enough time being bias and being very racist as well. so please don't lose hope. [applause] my question is that, during george's last legislative season had a bill introduced to the house. it was hb 116. the purpose of the bill was to expand the number of crimes that juveniles could be charged with that were sent to superior court. an offender is really upsetting because reading into it i found that the crime was actually armed robbery and i do not know of anybody else but if i was a victim of an armed robbery i would not want to see a 15-year-old go to an adult prison. >> unfortunately a lot of people do -- >> i'm curious if you know about whether there is a difference in the rate of recidivism versus when a juvenile is tried as an adult versus when they are sent to the juvenile justice system? and are there programs in place that actually reduce the rate of recidivism in the juvenile

system? >> great question. first of all, just say something about the bill. i'm not familiar with the details of it but the lastthing that we need is to create more crime . >> >> i had seen people charged

us all with a dangerous weapon but you can go with a shoe one. is a shoe on and now was the weapon. one of those kids was charged with when the weapon was issued that is a dangerous crime.

if you take that challenge and will not help them but they will get out at some point it is not it programs for the of a juvenile. because some people will have to be locked up. the majority of those are not locked up for those charges. and that is what we need to look at.

but they're not even in the adult prisons and for us to fight those kinds of bills. >> because every prosecutor in georgia is elected. because they did not do those correct things so if

the police come back again in answer questions about training but also because of the neighborhood unit but the way they were. >> and reviewing police behavior and it came about because 53 times because the informant did tell the cops who did go to jail for a short time but they busted

down the door and killed her. so please tell us or give us some advice. [applause] >> i don't have an answer for you because they don't have independence. and democracy is ugly. to let them know what we want as we is the people.

>> a question of the jury system. the juries have not convicted them that baffles me. >> thank you for that question that is something i have been thinking so much about. end to run away with his hands in the air because it was the videotape and when you see this with your own eyes iom murder when i see

one. and with eric garner not even being charged and from tolls of oklahoma they found it with his head up in the air. and to say it is so sad. because of law would require us so the law does favor police officers there is this reasonable standard for

the of for them to be in danger and if they use deadly force and a much wider way. but it is very clear the law of self-defense you have to be in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death. imminent means somebody is coming at you with a weapon now you don't have to give up your life for another person. and you don't have to be in eminent danger. it is day lewis safety standard. and when day were on trial

as a police officer. and with those acquittals to say when the police officer got on the stand i was about to be killed sometimes there is the videotape where it is clear there was no weapon. so it does seem reasonable widely think you're about to be killed? so juries are not required but it is not believable. so all jurors in all cases where the credibility of a the witness to say something that is unbelievable you could reject.

or those few police officers that if they say they feel that i am in danger that is not reasonable so the law did not require them to do that so it is the combination of the law but thank you for that. >> given 2006 stood there was a heavy white supremacist that made

specifically republicans and then they took another bite at the apple with homeland security with didn't napolitano to say we had this problem. >> we have a problem with a white supremacist we need to address this. janet napolitano rejected the reports out of hand and it was shelled again. i am understand implicit bias but also talk about the rights. one that was accosted or shot by police officers so i

understand that employs the racism. upward. [applause] i agree. i agree with everything that you have said. is not all implicit bias i appreciate you pointing that out. the lot is not very helpful with that requirement of discrimination but there are legal remedies so do charges have to be brought into that

situation? i agree with you entirely. >> to answer part of my question standing here but i want to ask you to elaborate so to set the standard so if you were given the background. >> that is the case of a kid who was diabetic?. >> yes. they thought he robbed a convenience store but he did nothing. >> said to have that diabetic situation and they

beat him of basically because they acted reasonably because this person was then a car with a high-speed chase and rammed his car are repeatedly crushing them tritium into a quadriplegic. and the supreme court said you could ever other people and he was speeding so that is what we are dealing with. >> we keep talking in circles about bad policy.

and even though it is shallow with those high morality points we try to the legislate going back through the '60s with the equity and marriage for gay brothers and sisters. what are the policy options? and what about specifically? we can say don't shoot me all day long so what is the policy options in the language we should use?. >> i you talking about police use of deadly force?. >> it is more of by a broad question so talking over and

over the lack of prosecution for black and brown people to be convicted add a higher rate. what is the language we should use to our legislators because we could stand in the street all day long and that is not a solution. >> to give them a specific legislative language. this is so important. we need folks marching industry per review think for one minute that will be

passed without people in the street you are mistaken. we do need both. for those of us and we know from history. >> but we didn't need new laws but in then depending on your issues so if you have bad people implementing a lot. and to get the bad prosecutor out. , . >> the new da in chicago to

was the prosecutor of that young black boy that was killed and alvarez had a videotape and to work with the fbi and lo and behold and then she started to scramble in charge. it is in just about police killings with those policies and practices and then that relief. because she has a progressive mindset.

and not seeking that death penalty. and the class's i am not doing and. it gets messy but from those progressive people it doesn't matter what the laws are. >> you can ask this question >> how're you doing?. >> i'm 24 years old and talking about young black teenage boys and girls.

so we just get tired of teaching them with that system of justice you could tell me and i could tell them. >> keep doing we were doing. and then to get discouraged. and then to say they are there. and did it is making a difference. so keep doing that. we cannot get everybody. i will take one more.

>> mine is very similar to his to establish the black student union and what they that caused the leak came up and there is a lot of interesting young people so for those going into college that would be a the necessary part and where the mines are needed the most. >> and so tell me what your dad is. i want to be a defender.

if you want to be a prosecutor and do that power to do good. to do positive and progressive things. the arts that someone mentioned whether policy or history and to promote social justice. the the best they can be. >> i would encourage you to encourage them. [applause]