Believing in racial equality first step to change

Many phenomenal acts or inventions are now easy to believe because of their existence. Only vaguely do we remember when those things weren't a reality.

Somebody believed that man could put vehicles in the sky and transport us anywhere on the planet within hours. Somebody even believed that you could hold a device to your head and speak with a relative in another country.

Even more outrageous, someone went as far as creating a World Wide Web that could convert money, lettered characters or images of you into binary code read on your handheld mobile device. Believing is half the battle, but achieving is what we most remember.

I believe the same way in eliminating the disproportionality that exists for children of color in our school system and juvenile justice system. These children should be given the same level of grace that many of us were given when we stepped out of line as children.

Requiring young people to remain perfect until adulthood is unrealistic. Too often, turning children over to the discipline of law enforcement and the justice system creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.

These children are members of our community, likely living alongside us and our children well into adulthood. Educating all our children in our educational institutions should be important to us because only then will our communities thrive, our tax dollars work appropriately and the future job force benefit.

If a portion of our population is receiving less than an above-average education, then you and I will certainly pay for it in the three aforementioned areas.

According to Cedar Rapids' 2014 State of Equity report, African-American students make up only 14 percent of the Cedar Rapids school district's population, but they account for 30 percent of all in-school and 39 percent of all out-of-school suspensions. In Linn County, African-American students make up 8.1 percent of all students but 39.6 percent of all school-related arrests. This is almost a 400 percent overrepresentation. These stats and figures should not please any of us.

Without intervention in these young peoples' lives, they either will remain in the criminal justice systems as adults or be undereducated and subject to living a life in poverty because of limited employment.

If these trends continue, many of the young people will turn from education and find a home among a group of peers who see the life of the streets and/or crime as their only safe haven.

Recently, five Linn County professionals spent a week at the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University learning about ways of preventing this problem. First, we were told to 'follow the data,” then study a perspective of the problem, and, finally, to select a solution to achieve. We are committed to piloting a mentoring program that serves in prevention and diversion for our youth.

We will need your help, as mentors for kids who we identify for our project. Spending time with your mentee and showing them success is possible; helping them consider their future while living in the present.

Working together, I believe we can alter the direction of these statistics for the better, ensure safety in our schools, and educate all of our children.

l Karl Cassell is president/CEO at Horizons, executive director of the Regional Economic Development Institute and a community representative to The Gazette's editorial board. Contact: kcassell@horizonsfamily.org