Jon Stewart, Racism, Symbolic Gestures, Public Policy, and Veggie Tales

Last week I read the New York Times interview with Jon Stewart.  I miss Jon Stewart for a lot of reasons but probably none more than his ability to cut through the noise to the heart of an issue – often while playing the role of court jester. 

What has stuck in my mind for the last few days is the following quote:

That last sentence has been a splinter in my mind for the last few days.  In the wake of reading this, I have watched: Aunt Jemimiah and Uncle Ben get banished, statues torn down, debates over making Juneteenth a national holiday, and endless discussions from white people over who is more “woke”. And I am becoming more aware of how little actual policy and much symbolism is in American politics.**

In the context of race in America, what is frustrating to me is that while I understand there may be some value in virtue signaling memes, articles or statements to our friends on social media, it really is just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.  Public policy matters and good public policy is the way justice happens (for my Christian friends – it is the way of Shalom, peace, or the Kingdom of God ). 

So, my Caucasian friends, what I long for my daughter and her community is not a “black out” on Instagram but for real and substantive police reform, criminal justice restructuring especially for drug offenders, eliminating the school to prison pipeline, better funding for majority minority schools, affordable housing in urban centers, and healthcare viewed as a human right. That will go much further than social media memes. 

From a policy perspective, the system we currently have is not “broken”, it is efficiently creating the results that it was created to make.  This was my thought process earlier today when I watched this 17-minute video from Phil Vischer: