Path to diversity, equity, inclusion has been a long, bloody struggle
Judge Stanley L. Hill Sr.
Photo caption: Illinois Supreme Court Justices
This is the fourth and final segment in a series by Black and Puerto Rican judges deliberating on racial justice as we commemorate the third anniversary of the Illinois Supreme Court’s Statement on Racial Justice and our shared goals related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In other words, fairness.
Historical context is important. In 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education, outlawed the separate-but-equal doctrine that had been the law of the land and ordered desegregation of public schools. However, that decision tore at the spiritual heart of all who believed that separate was equal in any facet of American society; the decision was rarely respected, often ignored and went unenforced. Those in power worked tirelessly to devise tricky and malevolent ways to get around the high court’s decision. Blacks still were not free.
Then came the early 1960s newsreel footage of Blacks beaten and bitten by dogs held by law enforcement officers. All because of the quest for freedom. Following President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson assumed the presidency. American presidents were bewitched by race. Johnson, however, understood that when three civil rights workers — Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney — went missing and were found murdered in Mississippi in 1964, a new era had begun.
On March 7, 1965, nine months after the Mississippi murders, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists gathered in an attempt to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in a quest for voting rights. A nation saw scores of marchers being viciously beaten. Northern cities were soon torched in widespread rioting.
Johnson knew the time had come, that Blacks would not retreat. King influenced Johnson to sign the landmark Civil Rights Act in 1964 that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, segregation at the workplace and segregation by facilities that served the public. In addition, later in 1965, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law.
My classes in the mid-1960s were the first beneficiaries of this legislation and represented the first large wave of African American youngsters admitted to impressive schools like Northwestern University as a result of Johnson signing into law what was probably one of the most powerful pieces of legislation for Blacks since the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. Johnson’s domestic agenda was dubbed Johnson’s “Great Society.” And because he was able to maneuver this legislation through Congress, I was able to attend the prestigious Northwestern after graduating from Wendell Phillips High School, an all-Black high school located in a poor neighborhood on 39th Street on Chicago’s South Side.
That fateful compilation of legislation, policy and activism is part of what got me there, but not all. It opened the door, but the hinges, the doorframe, the doorknob and the door itself were already there. It just needed to be opened. The true qualifications I already possessed — academic excellence, civic leadership and character fitness.
Intestinal fortitude, determination to fulfill my vision, community and family support helped me to stay there and to continue my journey, which has led me to where I am today.
King was a prophet who shed light on the enduring and urgent tensions between white and Black America. His “Promised Land” was the one he conjured on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, in his “I Have a Dream” speech, a place where God’s children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. However, if King were alive today, what would be his assessment of the confusion and discontent marking the violence plaguing our nation. There is some correlation between higher crime and violence and entrenched poverty. Cities with greater than average poverty and unemployment also experience rising violence. Elimination of greater than average poverty and unemployment is part of the solution.
As we grapple with the complexities of achieving the Illinois Supreme Court’s goals related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, I suggest we agree on one thing. A crucial measure of our success in life is the way we treat one another in our lives. When we lessen the burden of living for those around us, we are doing well. When we add to the misery of the world, we are not. To me, the simple philosophy of the Golden Rule makes sense and feels good.
Judge Stanley L. Hill Sr.
Judge Stanley L. Hill Sr. presides in the 4th Municipal District in Maywood as an associate judge of the Cook County Circuit Court. He is president of the board of directors of the Illinois Lawyers’ Assistance Program.
Editor’s Note: This article was first published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin on June 28, 2023.
Path to diversity, equity, inclusion has been a long, bloody struggle
Photo caption: Illinois Supreme Court Justices
This is the fourth and final segment in a series by Black and Puerto Rican judges deliberating on racial justice as we commemorate the third anniversary of the Illinois Supreme Court’s Statement on Racial Justice and our shared goals related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In other words, fairness.
Historical context is important. In 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education, outlawed the separate-but-equal doctrine that had been the law of the land and ordered desegregation of public schools. However, that decision tore at the spiritual heart of all who believed that separate was equal in any facet of American society; the decision was rarely respected, often ignored and went unenforced. Those in power worked tirelessly to devise tricky and malevolent ways to get around the high court’s decision. Blacks still were not free.
Then came the early 1960s newsreel footage of Blacks beaten and bitten by dogs held by law enforcement officers. All because of the quest for freedom. Following President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson assumed the presidency. American presidents were bewitched by race. Johnson, however, understood that when three civil rights workers — Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney — went missing and were found murdered in Mississippi in 1964, a new era had begun.
On March 7, 1965, nine months after the Mississippi murders, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists gathered in an attempt to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in a quest for voting rights. A nation saw scores of marchers being viciously beaten. Northern cities were soon torched in widespread rioting.
Johnson knew the time had come, that Blacks would not retreat. King influenced Johnson to sign the landmark Civil Rights Act in 1964 that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, segregation at the workplace and segregation by facilities that served the public. In addition, later in 1965, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law.
My classes in the mid-1960s were the first beneficiaries of this legislation and represented the first large wave of African American youngsters admitted to impressive schools like Northwestern University as a result of Johnson signing into law what was probably one of the most powerful pieces of legislation for Blacks since the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. Johnson’s domestic agenda was dubbed Johnson’s “Great Society.” And because he was able to maneuver this legislation through Congress, I was able to attend the prestigious Northwestern after graduating from Wendell Phillips High School, an all-Black high school located in a poor neighborhood on 39th Street on Chicago’s South Side.
That fateful compilation of legislation, policy and activism is part of what got me there, but not all. It opened the door, but the hinges, the doorframe, the doorknob and the door itself were already there. It just needed to be opened. The true qualifications I already possessed — academic excellence, civic leadership and character fitness.
Intestinal fortitude, determination to fulfill my vision, community and family support helped me to stay there and to continue my journey, which has led me to where I am today.
King was a prophet who shed light on the enduring and urgent tensions between white and Black America. His “Promised Land” was the one he conjured on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, in his “I Have a Dream” speech, a place where God’s children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. However, if King were alive today, what would be his assessment of the confusion and discontent marking the violence plaguing our nation. There is some correlation between higher crime and violence and entrenched poverty. Cities with greater than average poverty and unemployment also experience rising violence. Elimination of greater than average poverty and unemployment is part of the solution.
As we grapple with the complexities of achieving the Illinois Supreme Court’s goals related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, I suggest we agree on one thing. A crucial measure of our success in life is the way we treat one another in our lives. When we lessen the burden of living for those around us, we are doing well. When we add to the misery of the world, we are not. To me, the simple philosophy of the Golden Rule makes sense and feels good.
Judge Stanley L. Hill Sr. presides in the 4th Municipal District in Maywood as an associate judge of the Cook County Circuit Court. He is president of the board of directors of the Illinois Lawyers’ Assistance Program.
Editor’s Note: This article was first published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin on June 28, 2023.
Recent News
Mental Health Mayday: Americans on collision course with catastrophe
Hammond state lawmakers comment on school closures
Philips agrees to pay $1 Billion to patients who say they were injured by breathing machines
High school students achieve professional certifications and degrees pre-graduation