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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2000)
(Ebv Uní* ©bssemr * March 1, 2000 Focus An American Dilemma encounters betw een police and minority males escalate into violent co n fro n tatio n s, term in atin g in assaults that may result in serious injury or death, such as the deaths o f Johnny Gamage in Pittsburgh, PA in 1995 and Tyron Lewis in St. Petersburg, FL in 1996, both as a result o f deadly force employed by police who were trying to apprehend them fo r a lle g e d sp e e d in g violations. This problem o f“driving while black or brown” has led to individual or class action lawsuits in at least eight states (Maryland, California, Indiana, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Oklahoma) and the introduction o f legislation to monitor police stops for racial bias in more than a dozen states. Legacy o f Police Misconduct and Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System Most African Americans view the police as agents o f social control with a primary mission to punish and oppress the community, not to protect and serve its members. Thus, the major institution established to preserve law and order is perceived by many African Americans as an oppressive arm o f local and state government, primarily designed to “keep black people in their place.” If this society is going to eliminate inequities in the criminal justice system, we must not only root out police misconduct and abuse and make police accountable to the community; we must monitor the m edia and insist on accuracy, objectivity, and the elimination of negative stereotypes and threatening images in their portrayal o f minority groups; and we must resist the rhetoric o f politicians who thrive on demagoguery and division, and, when all else fails, will invoke the “race card” to create fear and anxiety in their constituents to win elections, and then interpret their victories as a “public mandate” for further police repression against people o f color, the poor, and the powerless in our society. As we welcome the millennium and anticipate a nation that will have no clear majority by the year 2050, it is time, as President Clinton has proposed, to confront our fears and fantasies about race, and to develop a balance between the legitimate B la c k needs for law and order in a heterogeneous society and the basic guarantees o f due process and equal justice for all citizens, irrespective o f color, culture, creed or social class. J e w e lle T a ylo r G ibbs, Page 5 H M istorv onth Ph.D.,clinical psychologist, is the author ofRace and Justice: Rodney King and O.J. Simpson in a House D ivided (S.F .: J o sse y -B a ss Publishers, ¡996). She recently retired as a professor at the School o f Social Welfare, University o f California at Berkeley. Hot Lips Pizza Recognizes B lack H istory M o n th Prison from page 3 the rope and helping their brothers and sisters up and over to join them. But would they really sabotage generations o f African Americans to ensure their positions and those o f their children? The answer, sadly appears to be Yes they would and are. Because it pays w ell, all a ro u n d , and everybody’s getting “phat” except the ones on the losing end, who are growing old in prisons, leaving behind sons and daughters as well as their w ives, girlfriends and mothers. Muddying up the water o f trying to change the system o f incarceration are some myths that have been proliferated. It is a myth that there are more Black men in prison than in college in America. This is the same sort o f solipsistic thinking and s ta tistic a l le g e rd e m a in by overzealous advocates who in the early 1990s tried to say there are 7 million homeless people roaming the streets o f America. It ain’t so. Som e o f th e m ore leg itim ate advocates have am ended their statistics and definition thusly: there are more Black men under court supervision, such as probation and parole, than there are in college. That’s more like it. Still, its not a good thing even with all the added qualifications. This also has a dark political dimension. The voting patterns in some urban areas are said to be out o f whack because o f the large numbers o f Black men who have temporarily lost the right to vote while being incarcerated or under court supervision. T h is has lo n g -te rm p o litic a l ram ifications for urban Black/ Brown political power, it is feared, especially w ith the US Census coming this spring. Raleigh Hills 4825 SW 76th 297-8424 Downtown 1909 SW 6th Ave 224-0311 Bar & Banquet Room Available For Private Parties Full Bar Available For Private Parties! Complete with Bartender & You can order Beers of your of choice! 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