Few would doubt the charge of discrimination in the application of law enforcement and justice. My problem is with the elimination of personal responsibility. Where does personal responsibility end and mechanisms to combat the symptoms of systemic discrimination begin?
I'll have to take Brian Fesler's word that the program was conducted with a measure of justice. His representation of the program provided greater depth than the paper. As far as I could tell there was only one angry white folk involved in this discussion. Raising the spectre of 'angry white folks' was inappropriate. Regards, Jason Stone | Hale --- Michelle Gross <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > It's time for the angry white folks on this list to take a chill pill and > listen to some reality. At least try to open your minds to another > perspective. > > What Booker, Jonathan and others are trying to point out is that the > experiences of people of color with law enforcement are different than that > of whites. Not that they need me to speak for them, but it bears > repeating. To quote Pauline Thomas in her article in this week's > Spokesman, "we have not yet achieved the goal of providing justice for > all. Here in this state, and all across the country, in our everyday > lives Blacks are being treated differently. Our lives are different from > the dominant culture. And we pay a high price, not just in the courtroom > or the ballot box, but in our everyday lives. Our quality of life is worse > because we have to fight so hard to survive, and we are under constant stress." > > Let's face it folks. All day, every day, in every area of this city and in > the suburbs, folks commit minor traffic violations. However, since police > are not intensely scrutinizing the driving habits of everyone in every > area, most folks get away with it. Think about it--how many white folks do > you know who have been arrested or ticketed for a broken tail light? But > try having everything you do and every move you make put under a microscope > and see how well you fare under the strain. > > Under CODEFOR, HEAT and other such programs, police allege that minor > traffic violations lead to bigger crimes (an allegation that has yet to be > proven, even in NYC where such programs originated). Here in Minneapolis, > this law enforcement theory has been applied on primarily neighborhoods of > color and people of color and has resulted in widely disparate rates of > arrest for minor offenses. I say this with some authority as I currently > sit on the advisory group for a study being conducted by the Council on > Crime and Justice on low level offense arrests. My anecdotal observations > from spending so much time in court, especially in courtroom 1156 (the > arraignment room) back this up--lots of Black folks, some Latinos and > Asians, hardly any whites--all there for very minor stuff. And arrests for > minor offenses are used cumulatively against people of color to edge them > closer and closer to real prison time. The result is that Minnesota has > the highest rate of overprosecution and overconviction of Blacks of all the > states in the country, according to a number of studies. > > The studies use the term OVER because they showed that whites arrested for > the same offenses are just not being prosecuted (consequently convicted) at > the same rates. In other words, prosecutors are willing to cut white folks > deals or drop the charges but go after Black folks with a vengeance. Put > together with the fact that disparate numbers of Black folks are arrested > for the minor offenses in the first place, and you can see why jails and > prisons in this state and country are filled with Black faces. > > The restorative justice program last weekend was an attempt to level the > playing field just a bit. Personally, I'd like to see more such > opportunities. And, by the way, I've also had a parked car damaged by a > hit and run driver. I also had a car pretty well destroyed by a driver who > ran a red light and had no insurance. However, the thinking person does > not transpose their personal experiences on a whole group of folks whose > individual circumstances are not known. It's my understanding that charges > resulting from accidents in which there was property damage were not part > of this restorative justice program. > > One of CUAPB's board members was heavily involved in the event last > weekend. He tells me that while police were not allowed inside Pilot City, > they swarmed around outside of the building attempting to keep people > away. There was also an attempt to block some people from getting in line > to have their cases heard. Even with those problems, he considered the > event a big success. By the way, the event only allowed people the > opportunity to do work to clear up certain minor offenses. It did not > remove those offenses from their record. To do that, they would have to go > through the expungement process, which is a whole ordeal by itself. > > In a future post, I'll talk about why I believe some real criminals > (including some violent offenders) are allowed to operate unmolested by law > enforcement while many everyday ordinary Black folks are hounded by the > cops. But right now that would open up too big of a can of worms. > > Michelle Gross > Bryn Mawr > > TEMPORARY REMINDER: > 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject > (Mpls-specific, of course.) > > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
