Continuing violation of UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide in U.S. ? Charles Brown Thursday, 15 April 1999 Arizona Star News, Op-Ed Racism is a deadly force that runs rampant in U.S. By Julian Kunnie Last summer, the nation was horrified to learn of the beating, execution and decapitation of James Byrd, a disabled African-American man in Jasper, Texas, by three white men. One of these killers, John King, an avowed white supremacist, was recently convicted for the murder and sentenced to death. Expressing no remorse for his actions, King instead uttered an obscenity to the Byrd family outside the courthouse. Last fall, Tiyesha Miller was fatally shot 15 times by Riverside police in California while she sat traumatized from a diabetic disorder in a car. In October 1998, Donta Dawson, a teen-ager sitting in his own car, was shot to death by a policeman in Philadelphia, who claimed Dawson was reaching for a gun. Dawson was unarmed. This January, a Municipal Court judge dropped the manslaughter charge against the police officer, Christopher DiPasquale, based on his determination that the shooting was not criminal in nature. Five other police officers testified they would have responded in a similar fashion and the judge dismissed the case. On Feb. 4, black communities were shocked and outraged at the heinous killing of Mamadou Diallo while he stood in the doorway of his Bronx apartment. Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea, West Africa, was shot at 41 times, hit 19 times. On Feb. 25, a United Nations Truth Commission report concluded the United States was responsible for aiding, abetting and funding the Guatemalan military in the 1980s that was responsible for the deaths of 200,000 Guatemalans, most of them Mayan Indians. The report declared there was "an aggressive, racist and extremely cruel nature of violations that resulted in the massive extermination of defenseless Mayan communities." In all the instances recounted above, the victims were either African-American, African, indigenous Indian or Mexican. They were also of low-income status and poor. Even though hate crimes in America have been committed against persons on the grounds of ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion, more than 59 percent of all hate crimes in 1997 were associated with race, according to the March 8 issue of Newsweek. It is tragic the legacy of racism, derived from the near-extermination of the indigenous native peoples and the kidnapping and enslavement of Africans during the founding of our country, still persists. It is imperative we all understand the violently racist character of this society, which places innocent and poor black people on death row. Anthony Porter, for example, spent 17 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. Our society obliterates others through obsessive police firepower, as in the cases of Diallo, Miller and Dawson. Being black or Indian or Mexican and also being poor is double jeopardy, as these deaths so dramatically illustrate. We must also understand these deaths are not aberrations, as many in ruling circles claim, but a logical extension of a distorted socio-political and judicial system that criminalizes people of color. The pervasive character of racism leaves no stone untouched; all spheres of life are conditioned by a view of humanity that places higher value on those of European descent who are wealthy and devalues those of dark hue who are poor. Even the press falls in the ugly shadow of racist ignorance. Ever read a positive article on Africa in any major newspaper? Mumia Abu-Jamal, a well-known former journalist, now sits on death row for a murder he did not commit. His release has been called for by millions of people, including many European parliamentarians, as well as Nobel laureates Wole Soyinka and Desmond Tutu. Abu-Jamal captured the dispensability of poor black life poignantly when he avered: "Donta Dawson's life was cheap to the police; Donta's life was cheap to the judiciary for both cheated him, and by extension, his family and community. When one looks at the roots of the state's police, we can see clearly the historical traces of what we see today - police as agents of state, corporate, white power, organized to protect their interests and to oppose the interests of the poor and the black." How many innocent black and brown people among the 2 million persons incarcerated sit in the country's prisons principally because they are poor and defenseless, as the state views them as expendable? How many more thousands of poor indigenous people must die before this nation realizes the criminal justice system is more criminal than just because of its protection of the rich at the cost of the lives of the poor? True justice for all, particularly the poor, downtrodden, dispossessed and disenfranchised, made so by the strictures of race, class and gender, must be demanded. Racism kills. Julian Kunnie is acting director and associate professor of Africana studies at the University of Arizona. [Messages on BRC-NEWS may be forwarded and cross-posted, as long as proper attribution is given to the author and originating publication (including the email address and any copyright notices), and the wording is not altered in any way, other than for formatting. As a courtesy, when you cross-post or forward, we'd appreciate it if you mention that you received the info via the BRC-NEWS list. Thank you.] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BRC-NEWS: Black Radical Congress - International News/Alerts/Announcements ---------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 15 April 1999 Arizona Star News, Op-Ed Racism is a deadly force that runs rampant in U.S. By Julian Kunnie Last summer, the nation was horrified to learn of the beating, execution and decapitation of James Byrd, a disabled African-American man in Jasper, Texas, by three white men. One of these killers, John King, an avowed white supremacist, was recently convicted for the murder and sentenced to death. Expressing no remorse for his actions, King instead uttered an obscenity to the Byrd family outside the courthouse. Last fall, Tiyesha Miller was fatally shot 15 times by Riverside police in California while she sat traumatized from a diabetic disorder in a car. In October 1998, Donta Dawson, a teen-ager sitting in his own car, was shot to death by a policeman in Philadelphia, who claimed Dawson was reaching for a gun. Dawson was unarmed. This January, a Municipal Court judge dropped the manslaughter charge against the police officer, Christopher DiPasquale, based on his determination that the shooting was not criminal in nature. Five other police officers testified they would have responded in a similar fashion and the judge dismissed the case. On Feb. 4, black communities were shocked and outraged at the heinous killing of Mamadou Diallo while he stood in the doorway of his Bronx apartment. Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea, West Africa, was shot at 41 times, hit 19 times. On Feb. 25, a United Nations Truth Commission report concluded the United States was responsible for aiding, abetting and funding the Guatemalan military in the 1980s that was responsible for the deaths of 200,000 Guatemalans, most of them Mayan Indians. The report declared there was "an aggressive, racist and extremely cruel nature of violations that resulted in the massive extermination of defenseless Mayan communities." In all the instances recounted above, the victims were either African-American, African, indigenous Indian or Mexican. They were also of low-income status and poor. Even though hate crimes in America have been committed against persons on the grounds of ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion, more than 59 percent of all hate crimes in 1997 were associated with race, according to the March 8 issue of Newsweek. It is tragic the legacy of racism, derived from the near-extermination of the indigenous native peoples and the kidnapping and enslavement of Africans during the founding of our country, still persists. It is imperative we all understand the violently racist character of this society, which places innocent and poor black people on death row. Anthony Porter, for example, spent 17 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. Our society obliterates others through obsessive police firepower, as in the cases of Diallo, Miller and Dawson. Being black or Indian or Mexican and also being poor is double jeopardy, as these deaths so dramatically illustrate. We must also understand these deaths are not aberrations, as many in ruling circles claim, but a logical extension of a distorted socio-political and judicial system that criminalizes people of color. The pervasive character of racism leaves no stone untouched; all spheres of life are conditioned by a view of humanity that places higher value on those of European descent who are wealthy and devalues those of dark hue who are poor. Even the press falls in the ugly shadow of racist ignorance. Ever read a positive article on Africa in any major newspaper? Mumia Abu-Jamal, a well-known former journalist, now sits on death row for a murder he did not commit. His release has been called for by millions of people, including many European parliamentarians, as well as Nobel laureates Wole Soyinka and Desmond Tutu. Abu-Jamal captured the dispensability of poor black life poignantly when he avered: "Donta Dawson's life was cheap to the police; Donta's life was cheap to the judiciary for both cheated him, and by extension, his family and community. When one looks at the roots of the state's police, we can see clearly the historical traces of what we see today - police as agents of state, corporate, white power, organized to protect their interests and to oppose the interests of the poor and the black." How many innocent black and brown people among the 2 million persons incarcerated sit in the country's prisons principally because they are poor and defenseless, as the state views them as expendable? How many more thousands of poor indigenous people must die before this nation realizes the criminal justice system is more criminal than just because of its protection of the rich at the cost of the lives of the poor? True justice for all, particularly the poor, downtrodden, dispossessed and disenfranchised, made so by the strictures of race, class and gender, must be demanded. Racism kills. Julian Kunnie is acting director and associate professor of Africana studies at the University of Arizona. [Messages on BRC-NEWS may be forwarded and cross-posted, as long as proper attribution is given to the author and originating publication (including the email address and any copyright notices), and the wording is not altered in any way, other than for formatting. As a courtesy, when you cross-post or forward, we'd appreciate it if you mention that you received the info via the BRC-NEWS list. Thank you.] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BRC-NEWS: Black Radical Congress - International News/Alerts/Announcements -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: Email "subscribe brc-news" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: Email "unsubscribe brc-news" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: Email "subscribe brc-news-digest" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion: Email "subscribe brc-all" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive: http://www.egroups.com/list/brc-news (The first time, you'll need to "Join" and set your preferences to "Read it on the Web" mode) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions/Problems: Send email to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Black Radical Congress WWW Site: http://www.blackradicalcongress.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Want To Start Your Own List? 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