In 1990, Yusef Salaam went to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
Salaam was one of five Black and Hispanic teenagers convicted in the physical and sexual assault of a woman jogging in New York City’s Central Park in April 1989. The group would become known as the Central Park Five and later, after DNA testing showed a different man committed the crime, which generated a media firestorm, the group became known as the Exonerated Five.
Despite being eventually exonerated of the crime, Salaam served nearly seven years in prison for the attack. Today, he’s a New York City council member. He shared his story of overcoming injustice — an experience he described as the “American nightmare†— at the inaugural Nebraska Summit on Justice and Disparities held Friday at Creighton University.
Despite the injustice against him and the four others and the divisions that resulted from the affair, Salaam advocates for an opposite tactic for people to overcome injustice: One of unity.
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“Our unity is more powerful than an atomic bomb,†he said.
That unity appeared to be on display when at least 200 people from different backgrounds discussed and brainstormed ways to address injustice as it related to the justice system’s effect on minorities. Hosted by the Iowa-Nebraska chapter of the NAACP, the justice summit drew area civil rights activists, court officials, law enforcement officials, government officials and others to find solutions to make for a more equitable justice system.
“What has been amazing is the interest across all sectors of society,†said Betty Andrews, president of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP. “We are all on the same team as we are moving toward making changes.â€
Summit workshops included addressing racial disparities in arrests and traffic stops in Omaha. Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer presented statistics during a morning keynote address showing that traffic stops involving Black people, who make up 12.3% Omaha’s population, account for just over 27% of the total number of traffic stops so far this year.
While Schmaderer said law enforcement agencies in general have recorded similar statistical discrepancies, he added that reducing the traffic stop discrepancy will be a point of emphasis for study within the Police Department and community.
“I don’t want to live in everybody else’s paradigm,†he said.
Other workshops included improving support programs for those within the criminal justice system and crime victims and survivors; creating more diversity on juries to facilitate fairer verdicts; and changes for inmates made within the Nebraska Department of Corrections.
Given the high attendance of the workshop, which nearly filled a ballroom at Creighton’s Harper Center, Andrews expects the Summit on Justice and Disparities to be held again.
She said organizers hope to add more voices, including those representing other minority groups and other parts of Nebraska.
“There are so many things that we want to talk about, discuss and put into action,†Andrews said.