Reed College
Reed College

Office for Institutional Diversity

November 19, 2021

Dear Reed Community,

So, we have another verdict.

Our judicial system has determined that Kyle Rittenhouse was a victim. He alleged that he found himself in a dangerous place, with dangerous people who wished to harm him, and luckily he was in a position to defend himself. He just happened to be carrying an assault rifle in his moment of need, and he used it because, well, he felt he was in danger. He left untold carnage and misery in his path. Two dead, one seriously injured. But Kyle Rittenhouse has been declared the victim.

As perverse as this seems, this is a completely predictable outcome of our deeply flawed legal and judicial systems, which amplify and support the systemic racism that asks and answers the questions: Who can control and who is to be controlled? Who is seen as a threat, who is seen as a protector? Who is presumed innocent and who must prove their innocence? Who deserves the benefit of the doubt?

This pernicious system can declare Kyle Rittenhouse prey rather than predator; a role he assigned himself. He drove across state lines to Kenosha to control people. He planned to do so by the threat or actual use of deadly force. That’s why he needed a loaded assault rifle. He had learned that it is perfectly OK to initiate and escalate volatile interactions until, after killing two unarmed victims, someone feels compelled to respond to his mayhem and then to claim self-defense in subduing that response.

Ahmaud Arbery’s killers also needed control. Specifically, they needed to control, by way of deadly force, who could be in their neighborhood. Literally, be. They needed to control who could live and breathe in their midst. They were absolutely confident that both law and tradition were on their side. And they may be right. They are counting on a civil war era statute still on the Georgia books created to allow private citizens to detain people who they believed to be breaking the law. In 1863, those were Black people who might be runaway slaves, who, by virtue of being out of their master’s direct control, were, indeed, breaking the law. Amhaud Arbery was Black and not under anyone’s control, therefore, his killers believed he was breaking some law. So they hunted him down, and when he made a desperate attempt to defend himself against two armed men, they claimed that he was the aggressor and again, they were the hapless victims.

And so, the cycle of sanctioned vigilantism continues. One of my housemates in college had a pet boa constrictor that needed to be fed a live rat once a week. She would put the rat in the cage with the snake and it would sense the imminent deadly peril. It would desperately try to build a little fortress of wood chips, the only available material, between it and the snake. Chips would fly around, some in the direction of the snake. Eventually the snake would strike, instantly killing its prey. In America, the snake could claim self defense on account of those little wood chips flying in its direction. In America, if you are White and armed and claim you are protecting something, that’s defense enough.

For some of us, this verdict is all we will think about today. We will feel the weight of this centuries old oppression sanctioned yet again by our legal system. We will mourn these precious lives lost, justice again denied. Please give space and grace to those among us for whom this weight is heaviest.

We can’t bring Ahmaud Arbery, Joseph Rosenbaum, and Anthony Huber back to life or their loved ones. So how are we to respond? Here in Portland and Oregon, there are a number of community groups working to reform policies, procedures, and laws involving policing, vigilantism, and other aspects of the criminal justice system. We invite you to learn more about these opportunities:

Please take care of yourself today and, if you can, someone else as well.

Sincerely,

Mary James
Dean for Institutional Diversity