December 13, 2017
Page 13
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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.