lanuaiy 5, 2005
Page A4
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Obsession with Incarceration
Biased drug
laws damage
society
up" approach has produced lower
crim e rates. This ignores the tur­
moil that soaring expenditures for
p risons has created for state-
funded social programs. Others
claim that a change in dem ograph­
For three decades now, the "get ics, increased crime prevention and
to u g h " p o stu re has d is to rte d better economic times in the 1990s
A m erica's response to the problem have far been more important. As
of violent crime and other so-called the former mayor of a big city—
street crim e offenses, particularly New Orleans— who led a coalition
drug use and drug trafficking. As a o f police and civic leaders in taking
result, inmates in the nation's jails a significant "bite” out o f crime, I
and prisons has ballooned from share the later view.
Although they comprise just 6
about 330,(MX)to2.1 million today.
Some boast that this “lock-em- percent o f the total American popu­
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And the same is be­
la tio n ,
A fric a n -
com ing true of Latino
A m eric an m a les
Americans, who, while
make up more than
making up 15 percent
44 percent, or nearly
of
the nation’s inmate
8 19,(XX)of America’s
population, which is
inmates. The corro­
close to their percent­
sive im pact o f the
age o f the total popu­
black-male incarcera­
lation, are actually the
tion rate has been
fastest-growing group
exacerbated in recent
o f those being impris­
years, according to
oned.
the Ju stice Policy Marc H. Morial
A recent U.S. Sen­
In stitu te , b ec au se
the number of African-American tencing C om m ission study d e­
females being jailed has now risen scribes the role o f the federal sen­
tencing guidelines as having been
sharply, too.
The follow ing statement in re­
membrance o f form er Congress-
woman Shirley Chisholm, who
died on Saturday at the age o f
80, is from U.S. Rep. Elijah E.
Cummings, chairman o f the Con­
gressional Black Caucus:
Our country has lost acivil rights
icon who made extraordinary con­
tributions to American history.
As a member of Congress from
1968 untill 983, Shirley Chisholm
was a trailblazer who exemplified
servant leadership.
In 1972, C o n g ressw o m a n
Chisholm became the first Afri­
can-Am erican wom an to be a
candidate for the nomination of
the Democratic Party for the of­
fice of President of the United
States.
As a founding member of the
We must remain
vigilant in our
efforts to remain
true to her vision of
creating an America
that affords equality
and justice to all.
Congressional Black Caucus, she
was a driving force behind the
C aucus’ mission to serve as the
‘Conscience of the C ongress,’
and to fight to include women,
children, African Americans and
all people o f color in the public
policy debate that so deeply af­
by
J udge
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D uring the political and so­
cial tem pest o f 2004, African
A m ericans experienced great
highs and som e frustrating
lows. For the m ost part, things
are im p ro v in g . O ur young
people co n tin u e to achieve
against incredible odds. In ar­
eas that range the spectrum
from education to culture to
politics, A frican A m ericans
led the way in 2004. But, there
w ere som e setbacks.
The year began with the posi­
tive news that nationally, the
African-American high school
graduation rate reached an all-
time high. More than 80 percent
o f all our youth graduated from
high school last year, compared
to only 70 percent 10 years ago.
Clearly, the community ’sefforts
to ensure that our students
graduate from high school have
not been in vain.
What makes this accomplish­
ment even more impressive is
that these students graduated in
light of over-hurdened teachers
and unrealistic and out-of-toueh
government educational policy.
Not only did “No Child Left
Behind" leave plenty of chil­
dren behind, it undermined and
under-funded teachers’ ability
to do their jobs.
On the collegiate level, we
saw more challenges in the area
of funding. The National Center
for Public Policy and Higher
Education reported that in 2004,
nationwide funding for public
collegiate institutions went up
by only 1.2 percent (the small­
est increase in a decade) while
college tuitions rose by nearly
20 percent.
The good news is the U.S.
D epartm ent of Education re­
ported that black youth were
the only ethnic group to sus­
tain an increase in engineering
graduates in the last three d e­
cades. Indeed, our youth are
excelling in engineering, acur-
riculum that requires the m as­
tering o f math and science.
future, in addition totheirow n.
Our children made greater
gains than ever before, even
as they faced num erous o b ­
stacles on the road to ex cel­
lence. The history o f A frican
A m ericans and education has
been a storied one. E ver-de­
nied possibility and privilege,
A frican-A m ericans tim e and
tim e ag ain ac h ie v ed g re at
things in spite o f negative near­
certainties.
In 2005, I hope that African
Americans can continue our in-
ln 2005, we must continue to
encourage our youth to excel in
math and science so that they
can determine the world's future,
in addition to their own.
Over a 20-year period, Afri­
can Americans experienced an
11 percent increase in engineer­
ing graduates. Out of this crop
of engineers could come the
next George Wash i ngton Carver
or the next Bill Gates. This is a
success for our community, our
p a re n ts and g ra n d p a re n ts ,
teachers and, especially, our chil­
dren.
In 2005, we m ust continue
to encourage our youth to ex ­
cel in math and science so that
they can determ ine the w orld's
credible educational successes
without so many of the obstacles
(government issued and other­
wise) that crop up in our way.
Don’t let anyone make you be­
lieve otherwise: African Ameri­
can s are an e d u c a tio n a lly
achieving people - despite the
odds.
Judge Greg Mathis is chair­
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fects their lives.
Throughout her career, she ex­
hibited remarkable political skills,
and remained steadfast on the is­
sues in which she believed.
She worked tirelessly to protect
programs that supported women
and children. As a member of
Congress, she introduced legisla­
tion toestablish publicly supported
daycare centers and to extend un­
employment insurance to dom es­
tic workers.
Even after holding office, she
continued herfight for equal rights
by establishing the National Politi­
cal Congress of Black Women.
Congresswoman Chisholm was
a pioneer in public service who,
through courage and wisdom ,
brought honesty and integrity to
the legislative process.
As we honor Congresswoman
Chisholm ’s legacy, we must re­
main vigilant in our efforts to re­
main true to her vision of creating
an America that affords equality
and justice to all o f its citizens.
We extend our sincere condo­
lences to the Chisholm family.
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argument has long since been dis­
proved, Congress has refused to
follow the repeated recom m enda­
tions of the commission and many
others to amend the guidelines and
eliminate the disparate treatment.
Doing so, the Com m ission re­
port notes, "w ould dram atically
improve the fairness o f the federal
sentencing system .” And it would
be one step in reducing A m erica's
own addiction to the incarceration
habit.
Chisholm was a Civil Rights Icon
VAI HUE DAY AND THE KNIGHTS O f SWING
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
both critical and devastating. Those
convicted o f possessing just five
grams of crack cocaine— acheaper
drug whose users and traffickers
overwhelmingly are black — re­
ceive a minimum sentence o f five
years. But it takes conviction for
possession o f 500 grains o f pow der
cocaine— the more expensive form
of the drug whose users overwhelm­
ingly are white — to trigger a five-
year mandatory sentence.
The original justification for the
gross sentencing disparity was that
crack cocaine was a more destruc­
tive form of the drug. But while that
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