Dr. Nsenga Burton on Empathy and Judge King's Story

BEP Narrator: 00:00:02

A black executive perspective now presents need to know

2

: 00:00:06

with the award winning hyphenated Dr.

3

: 00:00:08

Nsenga Burton.

4

: 00:00:09

Dr.

5

: 00:00:09

Burton, what do we need to know?

6

: 00:00:13

Dr. Nsenga Burton: Good morning and

welcome to need to know with Dr.

7

: 00:00:16

Nsenga Burton.

8

: 00:00:17

I am Nsenga and I am

happy to be here today.

9

: 00:00:20

So today I want to talk to you about

a case that's going on in Detroit

10

: 00:00:24

involving judge Kenneth King.

11

: 00:00:26

Judge Kenneth King was giving up

his time and was Talking to at risk

12

: 00:00:32

youth about various issues going on

with the court system and things of

13

: 00:00:36

that nature when one of the teens

Fell asleep when she fell asleep.

14

: 00:00:40

He ordered her to be shackled and

put into an inmate's uniform and

15

: 00:00:45

threatened her And he said he did

this because she had a bad attitude.

16

: 00:00:50

All of this to say, um, things did not go

well for her that day, which was awful.

17

: 00:00:55

And things did not go

well for him after that.

18

: 00:00:58

Uh, he has been, his

docket has been suspended.

19

: 00:01:01

And, uh, he was also a professor

at Wayne State University where

20

: 00:01:04

he now has been, uh, suspended.

21

: 00:01:08

Uh, he was an adjunct there.

22

: 00:01:10

I've worked in education for 23 years.

23

: 00:01:12

I doubt he'll be picked back up.

24

: 00:01:14

And all of this happened because of Judge

King's unwillingness to understand the

25

: 00:01:20

population with which he is serving.

26

: 00:01:24

So, this young woman, it turns out,

young teenager, I'm sorry, she is

27

: 00:01:27

a girl, turns out, is unhoused.

28

: 00:01:31

So, she's had housing insecurity.

29

: 00:01:33

So, she didn't fall asleep because she was

disinterested, or she wasn't, didn't want

30

: 00:01:36

to be there, or anything of that nature.

31

: 00:01:39

But she is, Unhoused

along with her family.

32

: 00:01:42

So when you are housing insecure when

you're food insecure all of those

33

: 00:01:45

things that affect large populations

of children in this country Um,

34

: 00:01:50

then, you know things happen.

35

: 00:01:51

They're indicators of that happening

whether it's an education gap Whether

36

: 00:01:55

it's you falling asleep in class, whether

it's you Uh not attending school on a

37

: 00:02:00

regular basis because you have other

things that you have to attend to When

38

: 00:02:03

you are caring for yourself in this case,

she is not she lives with her mother

39

: 00:02:06

Um But when you are facing those kinds

of adult trials and tribulations at a

40

: 00:02:13

young age, sometimes you do behave in a

way that is not welcome by those who are

41

: 00:02:20

around you, but it should be understood.

42

: 00:02:24

So what you need to know is

that children deserve empathy.

43

: 00:02:27

The first response to what

you would call inappropriate

44

: 00:02:29

behavior should not necessarily

be one of punishment or attack.

45

: 00:02:35

It's important to understand

where people are coming from.

46

: 00:02:37

I hear people talk a lot about students

and young people being worthless.

47

: 00:02:42

These are, this is a language that

people use when they're talking

48

: 00:02:44

about our future generation.

49

: 00:02:46

There's snowflakes, they're

soft, all of the things.

50

: 00:02:49

They're not ready for anything.

51

: 00:02:51

You know, they can't handle anything.

52

: 00:02:52

They're mentally unstable,

all of the things and people

53

: 00:02:56

in my particular generation.

54

: 00:02:58

We had all of those things,

but they were either beat out

55

: 00:03:00

of us or punished out of us.

56

: 00:03:04

Or you were in jail as a teenager

or 21 year old, um, or in the system

57

: 00:03:09

in some way, shape or form for many

people who were in my generation.

58

: 00:03:13

So there wasn't empathy, you

know, it was black and white.

59

: 00:03:16

Either you stayed awake and you fell

asleep, you paid attention or you didn't.

60

: 00:03:19

You did well in school.

61

: 00:03:20

You didn't.

62

: 00:03:21

No one was really thinking about

the causes, the root causes, and

63

: 00:03:25

we had all of the root causes.

64

: 00:03:26

Our parents had all the root causes,

so forth and so on, particularly

65

: 00:03:29

people, uh, who come from historically

disenfranchised backgrounds.

66

: 00:03:33

So when you fast forward to 2024,

and you have young people who are in

67

: 00:03:37

your care, and that is what she was.

68

: 00:03:40

She was in his care.

69

: 00:03:41

And you see that they are going,

uh, in the, which you would say

70

: 00:03:44

maybe the wrong direction, falling

asleep, which is not acceptable.

71

: 00:03:47

It isn't.

72

: 00:03:48

Um, and even have an attitude,

which is not acceptable.

73

: 00:03:50

It isn't.

74

: 00:03:52

I think you need to know that that is

a teachable moment, a teachable moment,

75

: 00:03:55

meaning that you can demonstrate empathy.

76

: 00:03:57

At that time, you don't have to always,

you know, throw down the gavel, uh, pun

77

: 00:04:02

intended, uh, you don't always have to

make a sacrificial lamb out of somebody

78

: 00:04:07

so that other people don't do it.

79

: 00:04:08

You don't have to embarrass

or humiliate people.

80

: 00:04:10

That was a common practice,

um, in our communities and it

81

: 00:04:14

still is in many instances.

82

: 00:04:16

Um, it's not really necessary.

83

: 00:04:18

It is not helpful.

84

: 00:04:20

You know, this young girl now has PTSD and

she's afraid of the court system, which

85

: 00:04:26

should be of service and a benefit to her.

86

: 00:04:29

That's the exact opposite

of why she went there.

87

: 00:04:32

Um, and now, you know, her, her mother

and others are seeking legal remedies

88

: 00:04:37

against this judge whose life has

been turned upside down over this

89

: 00:04:41

one that we know of bad decision.

90

: 00:04:44

So, I think there are lots of lessons

here, but the biggest one, I think,

91

: 00:04:48

is that children deserve empathy.

92

: 00:04:49

They are imperfect because

they are imperfect, and this is

93

: 00:04:52

someone who taught for 23 years.

94

: 00:04:55

Because they are imperfect because

their brains are still forming.

95

: 00:04:58

You have to think about them in that

way, because they are young, because

96

: 00:05:02

you cannot assume that they all have

the same level of guidance that you had.

97

: 00:05:05

You can't assume that they have the

same upbringing as you, you know,

98

: 00:05:08

when the covert hit, and I was a

professor at Emory University, I

99

: 00:05:11

learned that some of my students

in my class were housing insecure.

100

: 00:05:16

And some of them had to

drive to restaurants to get

101

: 00:05:20

wifi to take their classes.

102

: 00:05:22

You wouldn't have known that prior to

this, because they just blended in.

103

: 00:05:26

So you just never know what's

going on in someone's life.

104

: 00:05:29

Um, so you should choose kindness and

when you have the opportunity to have a

105

: 00:05:35

teachable moment, and I think that's what

Judge King forgot, you know, um, I don't

106

: 00:05:40

want to demonize him by this one issue.

107

: 00:05:41

I'm sure he's done great things in life.

108

: 00:05:43

There's a reason why he was chosen

to speak to the kids, all of those

109

: 00:05:46

things, but choosing empathy.

110

: 00:05:50

Will not bring harm to you.

111

: 00:05:52

Um, but when you decide to go

overboard or, you know, line step or

112

: 00:05:59

just really, um, humiliate someone,

especially a young person, um, then

113

: 00:06:05

you need to know there probably will be

consequences cause it is a different day.

114

: 00:06:09

So, you can say what you will, you

can talk down about our students

115

: 00:06:12

and about, um, our young people,

but ultimately they are here.

116

: 00:06:17

They are who they are.

117

: 00:06:18

They have had significant challenges.

118

: 00:06:20

I mean, Covid alone is a major challenge.

119

: 00:06:23

Um, so I just say that you need to know.

120

: 00:06:27

To lead with empathy, particularly

when it comes to our young people.

121

: 00:06:32

I'm not saying be a pushover.

122

: 00:06:33

I'm not saying, you know, don't have

boundaries or rules or integrity.

123

: 00:06:37

I'm not saying any of that.

124

: 00:06:38

I'm saying teach, but use

that as a teachable moment.

125

: 00:06:41

A moment to say, listen, I

understand you're really tired.

126

: 00:06:44

Why don't you go and

take a walk and wake up?

127

: 00:06:46

If you don't think you can

wake up, you might want to sit

128

: 00:06:47

outside because it's disruptive.

129

: 00:06:50

That's a different type

of response, right?

130

: 00:06:52

So that you're still putting your

boundaries in place, letting them know

131

: 00:06:55

that the action is wrong, but also giving

them an alternative to what they can do.

132

: 00:07:00

And making the choice, there's then

they have to make the decision if they

133

: 00:07:03

make the decision to leave this on them.

134

: 00:07:05

If they make the decision to stay,

they know what the requirements are.

135

: 00:07:08

They fall asleep again.

136

: 00:07:09

And then you go off and they'll

understand why, but, um, I just think

137

: 00:07:14

you need to know to leave with empathy.

138

: 00:07:15

And I think that people in

my generation need to know.

139

: 00:07:18

That you will be judged

and punished harshly.

140

: 00:07:22

Cancel culture is real.

141

: 00:07:24

You could spend your entire

life doing wonderful things.

142

: 00:07:27

And it only takes one incident to

change the trajectory of your career

143

: 00:07:33

and of your life, and to diminish the

wonderful legacy that you have built.

144

: 00:07:38

So be mindful of that as well.

145

: 00:07:40

So without further ado, this is Dr.

146

: 00:07:43

Nsenga Burton for the need to know,

please join us next week for a

147

: 00:07:46

black executive perspective podcast.

148

: 00:07:50

I'll see you next week,

149

: 00:07:55

BEP Narrator: a black

executive perspective.