No Humans Involved: An Open Letter to My Colleagues

Introduction

• Sylvia Wynter addresses societal systems' dehumanization of young black males.
• Critiques use of the acronym NHI (No Humans Involved) by public officials in Los Angeles.
• Context: Post-Rodney King beating, acquittal of police officers led to the Simi Valley jurors' controversial decision.

Systems of Classification and Dehumanization

• Public officials use NHI to categorize certain cases, essentially allowing police to treat black males as less than human.
• Reference to Daryl Gates' statement about black males having abnormally different windpipes as a justification for harm.
• This classification extends beyond black males to dark-skinned Latinos.

The Origin and Impact of the Classification System

• Question: Where did the classification come from?
• Significance: System educated professionals adopting harmful perspectives.
• Use of classifications in judicial offices influences broader societal views.
• Peggy McIntosh's analogy of jobless young black males to conceptual “other” to being North American.
• Similarity to historical classification of Jews in Germany.

Moral Obligation and Perception

• Ralph Ellison's concept of inner eyes formulate our perceptions of each other.
• Inner eyes in Rodney King event: Examining collective responsibility.
• Helen Fein’s concept of “universe of obligation”: Young black males pushed outside this moral universe.

Historical Context and Recurring Classification

• Historical precedents: Genocide of Armenians and Jews due to societal alienation.
• Connection drawn between historical genocides and modern NHI logic.
• Statistics regarding black males' disproportionate representation in prison.
• Sociopolitical implications: Economic allocations and perceptions of black males linked to historical systemic biases.

Educational Systems and Misrepresentations

• Addressing present educational practices that perpetuate racial biases.
• WEB DuBois and Elsa Goveia: The classifying logic of the present educational system sustains racial inequalities.
• Woodson's critique of educational system: Demotivating black students while socializing white students to maintain hierarchies.

Environmental Links and Hidden Costs

• David Orr and environmental destruction paralleled with human discarded lives.
• Jesse Jackson: Calling out societal neglect of