DEARBORN — From being an associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promoting diversity in education and urging the youth to pursue it, Dr. Robert Green has dedicated his life to the civil rights struggle. He says the faces of discrimination have changed from the peaceful march in Selma to the “riots” in Baltimore, but institutionalized racism has been a constant factor.

In an interview with The Arab American News, Green, 81, said education can play a major role in the fight for freedom. He explained that education does not end discrimination, but propels people to demand it from a stronger position. 

Green, the former president of the University of the District of Columbia, has a PhD in educational psychology from Michigan State University. He has received multiple awards and recognitions, including the International Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award for Human Rights and Peace Initiatives at Morehouse College.

“With a formal education, you learn to think and reflect, analyze and look at situations differently,” he said. “You are prepared to struggle; you are prepared to fight and you don’t have to beg. You insist on freedom. You demand freedom.”

Green added that Dr. King finished high school at 15 and earned his PhD by age 26. 

However, Green said low academic expectations from young Black men has damaged their perception of education. 

“In a lot of big cities— Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore, Los Angeles— Black males are suspended and expelled at a disproportionate level,” he said. “That affects their ability to do the right thing. Teachers in the classroom say one thing and believe something else, and kids know that.”

Green said there may be a slight disconnect between the Civil Rights movement in the 1950’s and 60’s and the contemporary movement against police brutality. “But once thing has been constant— systematic racism.”

Unrest erupted in Baltimore on April 18 during demonstrations against police brutality, following the death of 25-year-old Black man Freddie Gray of injuries he sustained during his arrest. Some demonstrators defaced property and threw debris at the police. 

Green said he does not condone the protesters’ violence in Baltimore, but also condemns the conditions that cause people to react this way. 

“Riots, as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, are the voice of the unheard,” he continued. “When people are employed; when people are treated fairly; when people are not abused by policemen, they don’t riot. They do to work every day. They go to school every day.”

He said nobody has the right to abuse property of others, but at the same time, property owners should not abuse the rights of the community.

“I am not going to spend time criticizing teenagers as they act out,” he said. However, he added that some of the protesters’ behavior in Baltimore, like burning down a senior citizens’ center, did not make sense. 

“The conditions that are causing this anger must be addressed and often they are not, but anger should not be a license to destroy,” he said. “Anger should be a license to plan and think and do something creative to end that injustice.”

He added that if he had to organized the demonstrators, he would have urged them to sit quietly and peacefully in the streets after the curfew. 

“Not happy about America”

Green, whose father’s best friend was lynched, criticized American foreign policy, saying that King, who opposed the war in Vietnam, would have stood against invading Iraq. 

“The real critical factor for America is to face justice and not take disadvantage, not only for people here, but people around the world,” he said. “America has not been a fair country. We have not treated people fairly across the globe. We spend our money all over the world when we have roads and bridges that need repairing; and we are there to monitor people, not to help them. I am not happy with America. Martin Luther King, Jr. wouldn’t be happy about America.”

Green said he was next to King on April 4, 1968— the day of his assassination— when King spoke against the Vietnam War at the Riverside Church in Memphis. 

“He said as long as we create misery around the world, people aren’t going to love us,” Green recalled. 

The civil rights leader said King would have been upset and disgusted at the drone attacks in that kill civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.  

He added that electing a Black president did not solve racism, but it was a step in the right direction, which showed that some White people had shifted their attitude about African Americans.

A call for cooperation

Green said racism continues to persist in the United States despite centuries of struggle because certain groups and individuals benefit from it. 

“Powerful people, heads of corporations, they profit from the misery of others; I call it misery-profit,” he said. “That has to end.”

He added that victims have a responsibility to demand their rights in a sound way. “Don’t burn; learn,” he urged young people.

“The economic model of America is get what you can, sometimes at the expense of others, just like a pie,” he added. “The pie can be large enough for everyone to have a full meal. The table would not run out of food if people cooperate and work together.”

Green said he wishes there was greater solidarity between the different ethnic and religious communities seeking justice, including African Americans, Arab Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and socially-conscious Whites.  

Asked about his advice to Arab Americans facing discrimination, Green, who was honored by the American‑Arab Anti‑Discrimination Committee (ADC), last week, said unity is the key for success when demanding justice.

“Working together as a unified people is very important,” he said. “If the Arab community came together, you wouldn’t have all the Palestinian difficulties that you have today. How can five million people, of course subsidized by America, subjugate such a large Arab population? If [Arab] factions can overcome religious differences, economic differences, they would be a powerful force that America and others would look at in a very different way.”