It's not a diversity experiment.

June 24, 2018 12:00 PM

In the City of South Fulton’s justice system, black women hold all the reins. The city is the first city in American history where every criminal justice department head is an African American woman.

A few more news articles on the criminal justice system in South Fulton, Georgia—a newly-incorporated city with a population of about 100,000:

Essence: The Criminal Justice System In This Georgia Town Is Led Solely By Black Women

Bustle: In South Fulton, Georgia, Black Women Hold Every Position In The Criminal Justice System

CNN: The entire justice system here is run by black women. It's not a diversity experiment. They do things differently.

posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The (5 comments total)

The makeup of the leadership seems secondary to the fundamental rights they have built into South Fulton's legal codes. All in all this is amazing, and hopefully a model for municipal legal departments going forward.
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:22 PM on June 24, 2018

It's been too long since I read a news story about the US that was unambiguously hopeful. Huzzah!
posted by eotvos at 12:58 PM on June 24, 2018 [3 favorites]

I feel like the makeup of the leadership and the fundamental rights they have built into the legal codes may not be totally unconnected. I also feel like it must be pretty powerful for some folks i.e. black women to enter a courtroom and see that literally everybody running the show looks like them. This is an experience that I routinely have as a while male, to the extent that it's totally unremarkable and usually goes unnoticed by me, yet in courtrooms in America it had literally never been possible ever until just now.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 1:36 PM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

This is pretty cool. When we lived in Atlanta, my spouse taught at a high school in what is now South Fulton. It was a cool area and a great school, and looks like the demographics of the leadership in the new city reflect the demographics of the populace, as well as their ideals. It's really nice to see.
posted by biogeo at 1:53 PM on June 24, 2018

I feel like the makeup of the leadership and the fundamental rights they have built into the legal codes may not be totally unconnected.

I believe that deeply, because privilege often blinds us to systemic problems other groups face even when we mean well. Having minority groups in positions of power is the only thing that I think can help us fix stuff because otherwise, a lot of valid concerns simply won't be considered.

So this is heartening to see, and I hope more places can follow suit. Thanks for the post - I needed good news today.
posted by mordax at 2:15 PM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]