Opinion
Blacks More Supportive of Spying
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
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A
lthough the federal govern-
ment secretly spied on Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
and other civil rights leaders in the
past, Blacks are more willing than
Whites to have their privacy rights
invaded if it will help investigate
possible terrorists.
A recent joint poll by the Pew
Research Center and the Washing-
ton Post showed that a majority of
Americans support the National
Security Agency’s tracking of tele-
phone and Internet records of mil-
lions of Americans in an effort to
make them safe from terrorists.
On several key security issues,
Blacks were more accepting of
government
intrusion
than
Whites.
When you drill down to the race
of registered voters who were
interviewed, there were signifi-
cant racial differences. Of Whites
polled, 60 percent said yes, the
government should be able to
monitor everyone’s email and
online activities; 36 percent
objected. Among all people of
color, 67 percent said yes and 30
percent said no. But among regis-
tered African American voters, 75
percent – 15 percent more than
Whites – replied that such inva-
sions were fine with them while 23
percent objected.
Respondents were also asked:
As you may know, it has been
T HE C URRY
R EPORT
George E.
Curry
reported that the National Security
Agency has been getting secret
court orders to track telephone call
records of MILLIONS of Ameri-
of Whites – 53 percent – found
such activity acceptable, com-
pared to 44 percent who consid-
ered it unacceptable. Among
African-American voters, 62 per-
cent found the practice acceptable
and 37 percent found it unaccept-
able.
Amazingly, Blacks are more
trusting of the federal government
even considering its past abuses.
As I mentioned in a column col-
umn last year: “From 1956 to
1971, the FBI operated a program
called
COINTELPRO,
an
If anyone has reason to distrust the
federal government’s monitoring of its
citizens, it’s African Americans. Yet, we
continue to hope against hope, placing
our trust in people and institutions that
have sought to destroy us.
cans in an effort to investigate ter-
rorism. Would you consider this
access to telephone call records an
acceptable or unacceptable way
for the federal government to
investigate terrorism?
Overall, 56 percent of Ameri-
cans said the NSA action was
acceptable and 41 percent said it
was unacceptable. A bare majority
acronym for Counter Intelligence
Program. Initially established to
spy on organizations suspected of
communist ties, the program was
expanded by J. Edgar Hoover to
include the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC),
the Student Nonviolent Coordinat-
ing Committee (SNCC), the
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), the Black Panther
Party, the Nation of Islam, the
Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE), the National Lawyers
Guild and other left-leaning
groups.
“A congressional committee,
chaired by Senator Frank Church,
issued a report that concluded,
‘Many of the techniques used
would be intolerable in a demo-
cratic society even if all of the tar-
gets had been involved in violent
activity, but COINTELPRO went
far beyond that…the Bureau con-
ducted a sophisticated vigilante
operation aimed squarely at pre-
venting the exercise of First
Amendment rights of speech and
association, on the theory that pre-
venting the growth of dangerous
groups and the propagation of
dangerous ideas protect the
national security and deter vio-
lence.’”
The goal of COINTELPRO was
to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, or
otherwise neutralize” organiza-
tions that the FBI deemed “subver-
sive.” The FBI harassed harassed
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. until
his final days.
Read the rest online at
www.theskanner.com
What Black Parents Must Do This Summer
T
turn off the television,
here is a three year gap
between Black and White R AISING B LACK S TUDENTS read a book and write a
report that her sister
students. Many people
would grade!
love to believe it’s due to Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu
I have a theory that I
income, fatherlessness, educa-
tional attainment of the parent and lack of can go into your house and within 5 minutes
parental involvement. I believe a major reason tell you the type of student who lives there and
for the gap is we continue to
close schools for the summer as
if we are an agrarian economy.
Very few Black youth will be
farming this summer. If you mul-
tiply 3 months by 12 years you
will see the 3 year gap. There is
nothing wrong with Black youth
if their schools remained open
during the summer and/or their
parents kept them academically
engaged.
Middle-income parents who value education predict their future. I believe that engineers,
enroll their children in some type of academic doctors, lawyers, accountants etc. need differ-
experience during the summer. They also visit ent items in their house than ballplayers, rap-
libraries, museums, zoos and colleges. Other
parents allow their children to sleep longer,
play more video games, watch more television
and play basketball until they can’t see the
hoop. These students will have to review the
same work they had mastered in May in Sep-
tember.
Black parents cannot allow their child to lose
3 months every year. Black parents cannot say
they cannot afford the library. It’s free! Most
museums have discounted days.
A male friend of mine shared his experience
with me when he took his family to the muse-
um. He wondered why so many people were
staring at him. His wife and children had to tell
him he was the only Black man in the building!
I am appealing to every father to take his chil-
dren this summer to the library, museum, and
the zoo. I am appealing to every mother if he
won’t, you will.
We need every parent to make sure their child
reads at least one book per week and to write a
book report. I am reminded of the formula
Sonya Carson used to develop Ben Carson to
become the best pediatric neurosurgeon. This
low-income single parent, with a third grade
education, had enough sense to tell her sons to
Page 4 The Portland Skanner June 19, 2013
pers, and criminals. I am very concerned when
I visit a house that has more cd’s an downloads
than books.
My company, African American Images, has
designed a special collection of books for boys.
Research shows one of the major reasons boys
dislike reading is because of the content. The
set is titled Best Books for Boys. We
also have one for girls, parents
and teachers. Enjoy your summer.
Let’s close the gap. I look forward to
your child’s teacher asking your child
what did you do for the summer? And
your
child
answering
we
went to the library, museum, zoo, col-
leges and other great educational
places.
I am appealing to every father to take
his children this summer to the library,
museum, and the zoo.
I am appealing to every mother if he
won’t, you will
Author of, “There is Nothing Wrong
With Black Students: Changing School Culture
For Black Males and Raising Black Boys”