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Page A4
August 8. 2007
O pinion
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
Our Criminal
Justice System
It’s time for change
b \
J i d g e G reg
M a i his
A ccording to a new
study released by prison
reform advocacy group
The Sentencing Project,
black A m ericans are in­
carcerated at nearly six
tim es the rate o f w hites.
T h e n e w s is n ’t so
sh o c k in g :
A fric a n -
A m ericans have alw ays known that
ju stice is not blind. We know the
system sees skin color and pun­
ishes black - and brown - skin
disproportionately.
W hat is shocking, how ever, is
the affect the current rates o f incar­
ceration will eventually have on
our com m unity: If trends continue,
one in three black m ales bom today
will end up in prison.
We know the
system sees skin
color and
punishes black -
and brown - skin
disproportionately.
creates hopelessness. Drugs and
alcohol are used to falsely ease
burdens, and the addic­
tion to drugs and alco­
hol fuels crim inal activ­
ity. G ranted, this is not
the case for all incarcer­
ated people o f color. But.
for most, it’s not too far
from the truth.
If the co untry’s pen­
c h a n t to in c a rc e ra te
people o f color on a m ass scale
persists we can expect to see fam i­
lies weakened.
Children with parents in the crimi­
nal justice system are at risk. A c­
cording to the U.S. D epartm ent of
Justice, w ithout intervention, as
many as 70 percent o f these chil­
dren will them selves end up in
prison.
Real reform is needed. W ithout
an acknow ledgem ent and analysis
o f the racial disparities in arrest,
sentencing and incarceration, the
crim inal justice system will be, in
effect, creating its next generation
o f prisoners.
In five M idw estern and N orth­
eastern states - Iowa, Vermont, New
Jersey, Connecticut, and W iscon­
sin - A frican Am ericans are incar­
cerated at more than 10 tim es the
rate o f w hites. Change should be­
gin here.
Perhaps a federal task force, one
that examines arrests and sentenc­
ing in these five geographic areas,
using a racial and ethnic lens, should
be created. The lessons learned there
could be applied to other states.
Laws also need to be changed.
M andatory m inim um laws need to
be done away with and judicial dis­
cretion needs to be restored. Judges
will then be able to hand down
sentences based on past crim inal
history and other factors, using
creative sentencing to ensure low-
level offenders get the rehabilita­
tive support they need.
It took years to build our current
racially-biased criminal justice sys­
tem. W e cannot repair it over night.
But we can take big steps in the
direction o f reform.
The crim inal justice system has
routinely sought out. institutional­
ized and attem pted to break the
spirits o f our men and, increasingly,
our women. W hen it com es to black
folk, there is no justice in the sys­
tem, it’sjust crim inal. And it's time
for a change.
More than 60 percent o f the two
m illion people in A m erica's jails
and prisons are racial and ethnic
minorities. One in every eight black
men in their 20s is in prison orjail on
any given day.
The racial disparities in incarcera­
tion are not indicative o f some pre­
disposition to crim e in people of
color. Rather, these inequalities are a
reflection of failed social policies and
economic and racial oppression.
The U.S. governm ent has, over
the years - intentionally or unin­
tentionally-created asystem where
Judge Greg Mathis is national
people o f color struggle to find vice president o f Rainbow PUSH
decent jobs and affordable hous­ and a Rational board member of
ing, where they lack access to a the Southern Christian Leadership
quality education. Lack o f access Conference.
(Clir
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D is tr ib u tio n M anager : M ark W ashington
C reative D irecto r : P aul N e u fe ld t
A dver tising : K athy L in d e r
O f f ic e M anager : Sharon S p a rry
R eporter : Sarah B lo u n t
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Promoting Blind and Fair Justice
Racial intolerance leaves
mark on the law
U.S. R ep .
C a r o l y n C. K il p a t r ic k
Children all across our nation,
stand and pledge their allegiance
toour flag which waves the prom ­
ises o f liberty and justice for all.
Yet in countless com m unities,
across A m erica, our judicial sys­
tem is being prejudiced by racial
intolerance, leaving an indelible
m ark on the law.
The most recent m iscarriage
o f justice has occurred in Jena,
La. A fter a series o f schoolyard
brawls involving African A m eri­
can and w hite students, six A fri­
can A m erican m ale students at
Jena High School have been
charged with attem pted m urder
and conspiracy. H ow ever, the
w hite students have yet to be
charged, jailed, or expelled, d e­
spite testim ony from w itnesses
by
Send address changes to Portland
w h o s a id
th e s e s tu ­
dents in iti­
ated some of
th e
con­
frontations.
The C on­
g re s s io n a l
Black Caucus
does not co n ­
done violence
o f any kind.
H ow ever, we
must speak out
against injus­
tic e a n d in ­
equality.
This tale o f
two standards
depicts a pattern o f gross viola­
tions. First, it is unfair to punish
only the African Am erican students
when all the students involved must
be taught to take responsibility for
their actions.
Next, the charges o f attem pted
m urder and conspiracy against the
factors surrounding these events
during sentencing o f M ychal Bell,
the first o f the six students to be
tried. A dditionally, we appeal to
the Jena District A ttorney, Reed
W a lte rs , to d ro p th e c h a rg e s
against the rem aining five students.
The Congressional Black C au­
cus, 42 M em bers from 21 states
representing Americans o f all racial
and ethnic backgrounds, believes
________
we must provide equal
access and opportu­
nity for all. T his in­
cludes equal ju stice
under the law.
If ju stice is truly
blind, the ju d g e and
will drop the charges
against all six young
men and pledge their
support to healing the
breach inthiscom m u-
nity.
If A m erica is to serve as the
for over nine m onths in Jena, Loui­
siana should have been contained global exam ple of racial sensitivity,
by school and elected officials. In­ we m ust w ork together to build a
stead, the students were left to battle united America.
Congresswoman Carolyn C.
this rage without institutional sup­
Kilpatrick, D-Mich., serves as
port or resources.
Therefore, the CB C urges the chairwoman o f the Congressional
ju d g e in this case to consider all the Black Caucus.
A frican A m erican students carry
an 80-year sentence; such punish­
ment farexceedstheoffen.se. A ddi­
tionally, the ju d g e set outrageously
high bails, ranging from $70,000 to
$ 138,000, resulting in thejuveniles
being stuck in ja ils for months. The
district attorney and the judge are
abusing their pow er and rem oving
the blindfold o f justice.
The racial hotbed that burned
The racial hotbed that
burned for over nine months
in Jena, La. should have been
contained by school and
elected officials.
Observer, P 0 B o x 31 37 , Portland,
OR 9 7 2 0 8
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THE
SPINACOLUMN
An ongoing series of questions and answers about Americas natural healing profession
Dr. Billy R. Flowers
Part 17. Understanding Pain:
Why do you have it? How can you get rid of it?
: My friend constantly takes and nervous system . W hen the health in other areas o f the body
pills. I'v e tried to convince body yells, “ Fire!" and you experi­ as well. O ur specialty is finding
ence pain; it is trying to get your the cause o f your problem and
her to see a Chiropractor. Can you
make any suggestions?
attention that it is being injured. taking care o f it. painlessly, w ith­
: You might try asking your W hen there is stress in the nervous o ut d ru g s ...J u s t as nature in ­
tended. If you suffer from pain,
friend this: “ If you heard a system , this is a serious problem .
stop pulling the alarm w ires from
T
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fire alarm going off in the middle of
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o
f
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the night, w ould you call the Fire
the
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o u t...fo r good!
and
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D epartm ent or w ould you
Yank the w ires out o f the wall
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You see, pain is your nervous
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system 's fire alarm. Pain pills may
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Q
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Flowers' Chiropractic Office
Phone: (503) 287-5504
I.
Days of Infamy
by
W
allace
R yan K
u r o iw a
In the afterm ath o f the J a p a ­
nese attack on Pearl H arb o r on
D ec. 7, 1941, th e n -P re s id e n t
F ranklin D. R o o sev elt ca lled that
m om ent, “a day th at w ill live in
in fam y .” S in ce th en , the p h rase
day o f in fam y has b eco m e sy n ­
o n y m o u s w ith that attack.
S ch o la rs h av e sin c e arg u ed
about w h eth er the “sneak attack "
w as an ticip ate d o r not. W h a t­
ev er the case m ay be, I w ould
su g g est th at the real day o f in ­
fam y cam e as one o f the final
stro k es o f the w ar S tuds T urkel
called "th e G ood W ar” : the d ro p ­
ping o f th e ato m ic b o m b s on
H iro sh im a and N agasaki on Aug.
6 and 9, 1945, resp ectiv ely .
A pproxim ately 140,000 people
died in the Hiroshima explosion and
another 40,(XX) at Nagasaki three
days later. M ost o f them w ere civil­
ians.
This first w eek in A ugust, the
62nd anniversary o f those days,
provides a som ber m om ent o f re­
flection on those tw o violent days.
I
I
I
I
I
A somber moment
of reflection
W e cannot pretend days such as
those will never happen again.
T he num ber o f nations that hold
n u c le a r te c h n o lo g y and retain
nuclear arsenals has continued to
increase since W orld W ar II. Iran
obviously w ants to jo in that club,
even though they protest that alle­
gation. North Korea has m om en­
tarily given up its threat to develop
its capabilities in that regard. And
we hold our breath lest som e terror­
ist organizations attain that capa­
bility.
O f course, the U.S. has enough
of an arsenal o f nuclear w eapons to
blow up the entire world many times
over. W e aim our w eapons at our
enem ies, real or perceived, hoping
the doctrine o f “ m utually assured
destruction,” aptly given the acro­
nym M AD, will protect us. M AD is
the prom ise that if you do it to us,
it will be done to you. This all gives
me cause to wonder.
W e arc assured that if a nuclear
h o lo cau st should happen in our
m idst, our n a tio n 's leaders will be
sa fe ly e n sco n c ed in a b u n k er
so m ew h ere, so that the political
and m ilitary affairs o f o u r nation
w ill co n tin u e u n abated. T h at is
sm all com fort.
I wonder how the others who wi 11
not be so protected will feel, ju st as
I w onder how the com m on folk in
H iroshim a and Nagasaki felt when
fire rained down from the skies. I
wonder how those airm en who (lew
those m issions felt, know ing the
devastation and horror they would
unleash on the many innocents
below.
I know w e cannot put the genie
back in the bottle. W e cannot go
back to the days before nuclear
warfare. W e have taken a bite from
the apple on the nuclear tree, and
we are the worse for it.
But, on this anniversary o f the
one tim e the United States used the
bomb, I pray we will not succumb to
the tem ptation ever to use it again.
God forgive us if we ever do.
Wallace Ryan Kuroiwa is a
member o f Witnessfor Justice Min­
istries in the United Church of
Christ.
n
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