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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 2017)
December 13, 2017 Page 13 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. O PINION Black Identity Extremists Who Don’t Exist Resisting the FBI’s new racial targeting however, did a masterful job in questioning U.S. Attorney Gener- al Jeff Sessions about it at a House Judiciary Committee hearing and read it into the record. She gave him no quarter as he hemmed, hawed and hedged, by D r . M aulana K arenga dissembled, pretend- It is the wisdom ed and demonstrated of the ancestors that ignorance, and sought “if you know the be- sanctuary in feigned ginning well, the end confusion and mercy will not trouble you.” requests to be allowed Therefore, when we to review and submit receive news that the answers in writing lat- FBI released a so- called “intelligence assessment” er. She forced him to admit there pretending a threat from a group of “black identity extremists” that doesn’t exist, we need not be shocked, shaken or even sur- prised. For throughout history, it has been the devious way of oppres- sors to deny and divert attention from their own brutal oppression by constantly indicting and de- humanizing the oppressed. It is also their way to justify practices of repression already in place and to signal and drum up support for policies to be intensified and ex- panded to deal with black dissent, is no evidence of any black iden- defiance and resistance. The FBI report, issued Aug. 3, tity extremist group which has is titled “Black Identity Extrem- targeted police; that there are ists Likely Motivated to Target white groups who do this and that Police Officers.” It claims to be the government has written no a report alerting the country to similar report on “white identity an emerging threat from “black extremists”; and that “activists identity extremists” who are ideo- around the country are very con- logically motivated to retaliate cerned that we are getting ready for “perceived police brutality” to repeat a very sad chapter in our history where people, who are against black people. Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., rightfully protesting” injustice, are unjustly labeled as extremists and subjected to surveillance and harassment. And she requested that he “essentially roll back what is listed in this report. Because it’s not accurate.” The “sad chapter of our history” reference is from the Counter-in- telligence program (Cointelpro) of the 1960s and 70s. Initiated in the 50s, it became especially focused on us as a people in the 1960’s when J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, established it as a pro- gram to crush black resistance. Hoover listed as his essential tration and disruption; invasive surveillance; legal and extra-legal harassment and violence; media myth-making, attacks and disin- formation. As a result of this classifica- tion, targeting and attacks, we suffered police suppression, polit- ical imprisonment on trumped up charges, and were forced under- ground and in exile in other coun- tries as other groups. Surely, this new FBI report is a beginning variation on the Cointelpro, revived with greater technological capacity for dis- Surely, this new FBI report is a beginning variation on the Cointelpro, revived with greater technological capacity for disruption and disinformation, and in a climate of seeded and cultivated racialized fear and hatred, conducted by a man at the top of the heap addicted to name calling, dog whistles to racists and early morning twiddling and tweeting. aims “to expose, disrupt, misdi- rect, discredit or otherwise neu- tralize black nationalist organi- zations.” And to “neutralize” still carries with it an open-ended range of means to achieve its end. Above all, he wanted to prevent our unity, he said, because “in uni- ty there is strength.” Black nationalist groups were identified, targeted and subjected to various forms of assault; infil- ruption and disinformation, and in a climate of seeded and culti- vated racialized fear and hatred, conducted by a man at the top of the heap addicted to name calling, dog whistles to racists and early morning twiddling and tweeting. It might seem to be about one group, but it is actually about the black community. It is a contin- uation of racializing crime and criminalizing the race, and thus an attack on black identity and black people, making us all suspects and offenders and subject to the harsh- est measures, especially activists. It is also, then, to criminalize and discourage black resistance, an attempt to intimidate and ter- rorize activists and potential ac- tivists, sowing fear, doubt and heightening concern for safety, security and stigmatization for work, career and life. It is also an attempt to redefine the emerging overarching black movement for racial and social justice as extrem- ist rather than righteous struggle against injustice and oppression. And finally, it is an attempt to shift attention from state-sanctioned white supremacist and police vio- lence against black people and to justify increased police presence and repression in the black com- munity. History and hard lessons of life and struggle have taught us there is no substitute for freedom and justice with dignity. Safety and security come not from resigna- tion, but resistance; not from con- ceding in silence, but confronting in audacious and effective ways; and not from surrender to evil, in- justice and oppression, but from united righteous and relentless struggle on every level and every battlefield and battleline. Dr. Maulana Karenga is pro- fessor and chair of Africana Stud- ies at California State Universi- ty-Long Beach; executive director of the African American Cultural Center; creator of Kwanzaa; and an author. Empowering Young Adults to End Social Injustice Tomorrow’s leaders form alliance group b asMa i sMail Now that hate crimes are on the rise, minorities suffer the most. Although they have affected all minorities, the spike has been ob- vious against Muslims, Jews and LGBTQ communities in 13 ma- jor US cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. A national survey by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics found that between 2004 and 2015, there were likely a staggering 250,000 hate crimes each year in the coun- try, the majority of which go un- reported to police. If no change takes place, then our nation will by continue to suffer the loss of its young men and women. Within 10 days of elections earlier this year, the Southern Poverty Law Center tracked 900 bias-related incidents against mi- norities. In 2016, the year of the presidential campaign, in what some analysts call the visible tip of the iceberg of hate, the FBI re- ported more than 6,000 such inci- dents. Only a few of them of them resulted in conviction and report- ing was agency-voluntary with at least 2,000 police bureau’s sub- mitting no information. One of the scariest days in modern US history was the white supremacist event on Aug. 12h with protestors chanting “white lives matter” and “blood and soil”. A speeding car rammed into anti-racist protestors the second day of the event killing 32-year- old Heather Heyer and injuring19 others. Two state troopers were killed upon a helicopter crash and the city of Charlottesville de- clared a state of emergency. What is needed is empowering young adults with education, re- sources and the tools necessary to make the change which is over- due. By empowering them and providing them with knowledge, we are eliminating bigotry and hatred as we teach and take lead- ership in our communities and use these incidents as teachable moments. We can teach our neighbors, our classmates and our families what it means to be different and eliminate fear. We can replace violence with peace and bring justice too many if directed in the right direction. Momentum Alliance is an or- ganization that empowers as well as prepares youth of all races and ethnicities to realize their strengths and mentors youth to become the future’s social jus- tice leaders. Some of the prac- tices taught at the organization are: “Diversify decision-making in the public, private and non- profit sectors; alter relations of power; and make systems more equitable, demonstrate effective, ethical leadership and ally ship, take collective action and impact individual, cultural, political and systems change.” It’s time for all young men and women in this country to learn how to make a difference in someone’s life. Together we can prevent 250,000 incidents from being repeated or a loved one from becoming another statistic. Let’s replace hate with action and knowledge instead. Knowl- edge is power and the more knowledge we have the better we can help as well as protect our- selves and everyone around us from bigotry. You can make a difference. You can change laws. Contact MomentumAlliance.org for more information about their free sum- mer camps along with other re- sources available to help you be- come tomorrow’s leader. The time for change is now. Every day that goes by without a change is another day of hate crimes being committed. Basma Ismail is a Conflict Resolution student at Portland State University.