M a rc h 8, 2000
Page A4
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Justice For All?
B y B ernice P ow ell J ackson
Wife
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The judge instructed the jury to put
themselves in the shoes o f the police
officers. But when did they put
themselves in the shoe o f Amadou
D ia llo ? A lo n e , u n d o u b te d ly
frightened black man from another
c o u n try try in g to get into his
apartment in the early morning hours
and facing four armed white men in
plain clothes. Maybe he was trying to
get out his keys-from his wallet.
Maybe he was trying to get out his
identification papers or maybe just
trying to hand over his billfold to
those he believed w ere robbing him.
We will never know what Amadou
Diallo was trying to do in his last
moments oflife before those 19 bullets
entered his body, apparently even
including the soles o f his feet after he
had fallen over. We do know that at
least one o f his neighbors testified
that she did hear the police officers
identify themselves before she heard
the barrage o f bullets. We do know
that Diallo had no gun, as the police
testified they thought he had. We do
know that what they mistook for a
gun was that wallet.
We do know that all that Amadou
Diallo was guilty o f was, in the words
o f New York Times columnist Bob
Herbert, breathing while black. In
A glut of law, a dearth of order
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Joy Ramos
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Shawn Strahan
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see police officers after the Diallo
verdict. Many older black men who
may have been willing to give the
system the benefit o f the doubt in the
past will try to pass on survival skills
to their sons after the Diallo verdict.
Thankfully there weren’t feared riots
after the verdict. But that doesn’t
mean that the easeof Amadou Diallo’s
murder is not important for our
communities, not only in New York
but across the nation.
Instead o f rioting, many African
Americans have lost what little hope
they may-have had that they would
see in their lifetime a day when black
children would be judged by the
content o f their character and not the
color o f their skin, in the words o f Dr.
King. Amadou Diallo, that hard
working young man with the big smi le
who came to this country to make a
better life for himself and his family,
was not judged by the content o f his
character that morning in his lobby.
The Diallo case, together with the
abuses by the Los Angeles police
department that I will write about next
w eek, should give pause to all
Americans about our criminal justice
system. An unjust system which
criminalizes any group o f people does
not bode well for anyone in a
democracy. It makes us ask the
question, will there be justice for all?
anager
Gary Ann Taylor
C
other words, he was guilty o f being a
black man in America. The police
officers were, they said, looking for a
possible rape suspect who was a
black male and Diallo, a black male,
just happened to be coming home at
the wrong place and time. He looked
suspicious, they said. What man in
New York City, alot. -fate at night and
being approached by four unknown
men, would not be looking around?
What white male, entering his own
apartment late at night, would have
been shot at by police 41 times when
he reached for his wallet?The problem
is that we have so criminalized black
men in America that not only did
those four police officers feel they
had to fire not once or twice, but 41
times. We have so criminalized black
men in America that ajury, including
four African Americans, believes that
such action isjustified as selfdefense.
For many African Americans, the
Diallo verdict felt like the wind had
been kicked out o f our stomach. We
live knowing that this is a racist
society, but the depth o f that racism
is to much sometimes for our brains
even to accept. M any A frican
American mothers will clutch their
sons a little closer after the Diallo
v e rd ic t. M any y o u n g A fric a n
American men will feel a harder knot
in the pit o f their stomach when they
h o to g r ap h e r
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“ Let the punishment fit the crime” are
words from a patter song in a Gilbert
and Sullivan operetta, which is a work
o f fiction.
Equally fictional, an even marginally
cynical observer might conclude, is
much o f our so-called system o f
“ju stic e ,” a term that has been
shamefully mauled and disfigured by
the some o f the very Esquires and
Honorables sworn to uphold it.
Justice is supposed to mean fairness,
but what takes precedence in the real
world o f “Oyez, oyez, oyez!” is
jurisprudence, or knowledge o f the
law.
It is also important to make a clear
distinction here between law and
order.
Although these words are often used
together, they are as disparate in the
real world as flotsam and jetsam and
the opposite aisle-sides in the United
States S enseless and H ouse o f
Reprehensibles.
As time goes on, America experiences
an increasing number o f laws, but a
shrinking amount o f order.
Aristotle wrote that “law means good
order, “ but closer to reality was G-
Man/she-dresser J. Edgar Hoover,
who noted that “justice is incidental
to law and order.”
Getting back to our opening point,
the punishment fits the crime these
days only when the accused can’t
hire a lawyer w ho’s more clever than
the typically underpaid, overworked
and lesser-talented advocates for
“the people” - i.e., you-all and me-all.
Ifyou’re looking for an Exhibit A (for
atrociousness), check the upscale
golf courses until you find Orenthal
James Watzizname, a poster boy for
inept prosecution, equally inept
judging, super-slick lawyering and,
in the en d , n u llific a tio n o f a
monumentally unqualified jury.
If that swaggering specimen o f villainy
isn’t a double murderer, Hugh Hefner
is a virgin and the pope ain ’t Catholic.
Yet O. J. is as free today as his victims
are dead., .and our system o f ’justice”
has run its course (“Oy-oy-oy!”).
The Esquires and Honorables will
argue passionately that this apparent
inequity is a vital safeguard against
even an occasional miscarriage of
justice (as defined by the intricate
network o f law and precedence).
The E ’s and H ’s frequently cite this
admonition o f Sir William Blackstone
( 1723-1780), the Howard Cosell ofthe
English Law on which ours is based:
“It is better that ten guilty persons
escape than one innocent suffer.”
Were Howard around, I think that
he’d agree with me that, from our
point those are unappealing odds.
Stop, look and listen
for Miss Maude
by
J o e K i . o c k
“For all sad words o f tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘it might
have been.’”
Thus did John G reenleaf Whittier focus on the remorse that attends
doing “too little, too late” in human relationships.
How often have we heard (or said), “if only I had known,” or “if only
I had seen,” or “if only I had heard,” after a misfortune befalls
someone, when it is too late to lend a helping hand?
Becoming aware o f another’s need after the fact is an emotional
experience that usually brings out the noblest traits o f human nature,
including compassion and a genuine wish to be of assistance, but at
a time when less - if anything at all - can be done about it.
No matter how sincere or heartfelt a belated expression o f regret might
be, it is a frail substitute for anticipating others’ problems in advance
o f then suffering, and taking appropriate action.
Oneofthe more familiar highway signs is the “STOP-LOOK-LISTEN”
icon that challenges us at railroad crossings as a reminder o f latent
danger. It might also serve us as a valuable checklist in our daily
doings..
Do we STOP to find out what’s going on in the lives o f our relatives,
friends, co-workers and neighbors? Do we LOOK for problems that
are not easily seen and/or might be concealed due to their
embarrassment and/or our reluctance to “get involved?” Do we
LISTEN for the unspoken words that can reveal inner hurt and silent
screams for support?
Sadly, we modems have a tendency to “mind our own business,”
which dictates that we do no more than wave to our neighbors and
query our friends with superficial greetings like “howzitgoin’?” -
accepting responses like “OK” as though they were announcements
that heaven had suddenly come to their earth.
This is not to suggest that we should pry open the innermost secrets
o fth e people next door or psychoanalyze our friends and family.
Rather, we just need to be alert to subtle signs that might point to an
opportunity to be o f assistance to someone w ho’s hurting.
Nor is this a subject restricted to the material needs o f others. There
are times when a hug, a compliment, a word o f encouragement or a
shoulder to cry on can mean more than even great chunks o f money
- and such random acts o f charity should, as the old saying goes,
begin at home.
Someone once wrote that, if it were suddenly announced that the
world would come to an end in 15 minutes, every telephone on earth
would be held by someone calling someone else to say “I love you.”
M ore’s the pity that we don’t seize every opportunity while the
dreaded Apocalypse is still on G od’s “to do” list.
Noted philanthropist Mrs. John Dilbert is said to have told this story
on herself: Leafing through a magazine in the comfort o f her home on
a bitterly cold winter night, she came across a stunning cartoon. It
depicted two old women dressed in rags and shivering at a small fire.
One asked the other why she was smiling, to which question came
the reply: “I’m thinking about all those nice warm clothes that the rich
ladies will give us after winter is over.”
As the story goes (and I don’t care whether or not it’s true), Mrs.
Dilbert immediately plundered her closets and gave everything she
didn’t absolutely need to a local charity.
Stop, look and listen...there may be a Miss Maude somewhere near
you right now!