And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
From: "CATHERINE DAVIDS" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
As I read Roberto and Patrisia's latest column I remembered a report I
saw on NBC news last night. The report was about the impact of gun
violence on medical costs. A one-shot bullet wound averages about
$17,000 per emergency room in the United States. This covers
immediate medical attention, surgery, and subsequent physical
therapy. This does not include costs of persons who are paralyzed
and live the rest of their lives in wheelchairs and who rely on
government assistance because they can no longer work. These
figures do not reflect funerals either. The annual estimate for gun-
related injuries in the United States is approximately $2.5 billion
dollars and this debt is paid for by the United States taxpayers and
appropriate government agencies which are funded through tax
dollars. Kind of makes me wonder about the mentality of rich white
guys who think gun ownership is a right. They are not the ones in
the slums or barios dealing with realities of life. All they deal with is
the privileges of life. NBC's report went on to state that when the
"first amendment" was written gun ownership was not an issue...it
was written for the militia. Less than 4% of the population in the
United States had guns at that time because guns were very
expensive. The report stated that most people in the United States
have a skewered idea of history and of what these amendments really
mean and what was happening at the time they were written.
Anyhow...here is Roberto and Patrisia's excellent column.
Catherine
****************************************
* Due to travel schedule, sorry for lateness in sending you this week's
column. RR & PG
-------------------
FROM UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
FOR RELEASE: WEEK OF JULY 30, 1999
COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS by Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez
BEYOND THE VIOLENCE OF HATE
Six people flee their native country and just a few yards before
reaching U.S. soil, they're met with water pumps and pepper spray. Welcome
to America. They've just been baptized as unwanted Mexicans on live
television. However, in this Florida case, the baptized are Cubans and the
perpetrators are the U.S. Coast Guard.
While the six are now free, Cuban-American activists "believe the
directive that says you have to literally reach U.S. soil (or else be
repatriated) should be changed to the internationally recognized 12-mile
limit," says Mariela Ferretti, of the Cuban-American National Foundation.
In reality, this is larger than an immigration or a U.S./Cuba
relations issue. It's more than about the permissibility of violence
against, and the dehumanization of, people of color. It's about the
prevalence of violence and our reliance upon it to seemingly solve all of
society's problems.
Armando Morales, a professor at the Neuro Psychiatric Institute at
UCLA and an expert on violence, says the United States is arguably the most
violent country in the world. "We are No. 1 in the rates of executions of
prisoners, incarcerations, homicides and suicides," he says.
That's not even counting domestic violence, rape or other violent
assaults. Add the violence that our society perpetuates internationally, and
it's hard to argue that we're not No. 1.
Just a few months prior, President Clinton appeared in Littleton,
Colo., to tell the nation that we should talk through our problems, rather
than resorting to violence, this while NATO forces were "mistakenly" bombing
civilians in Kosovo.
We're even more violent than that. In the past three years, there
have been 37 homicides in schools nationally. At the same time, there have
been 1,800 gang-related murders in the Los Angeles-area alone, says Morales.
Another example is the National Council of La Raza's just released
report "The Mainstreaming of Hate," which shows that hate violence against
Latinos is now a part of Americana. It documents hundreds of cases annually
and found that this upsurge in hate violence comes not simply from racial
extremists, but also from law enforcement agencies, says Carmen Joge,
co-author of the study.
The hate fomented by politicians against immigrants has led to
skyrocketing violence and harassment against Mexicans/Latinos, asserts Joge.
The real problem, when speaking of hate violence, is that the vast majority
of it goes unreported and undocumented. "The data isn't even there," she
says. "The problem is massive, especially within the context of
immigration." And within that context, many people see that violence as
justified.
Further, in the past 20 years a general hostility has been directed
against people of color, resulting in this upsurge. In part, this violence
is highly underreported, particularly when it is perpetuated by law
enforcement, because it is they who compile the hate crimes reports.
The very definition of a "hate crime" contributes to the
underreporting, notes Morales. "You can beat and kill a person of color, but
as long as you don't use racial terms, that's OK." Similarly, law
enforcement can racial profile populations and falsely incarcerate them --
as long as they don't use racial language. Incidentally, we believe gang
violence is a form of (self) hate violence.
The larger problem is that this society encourages gun ownership and
celebrates violence. If arming oneself was a solution to violence, gang
members, most of whom are heavily armed, would not be getting killed at such
a high rate, concludes Morales. "It's a failed model."
A better model is the establishment of special prosecuting attorneys
to focus on hate crimes, independent and not beholden to law enforcement,
and the creation of independent civilian review boards with actual power,
says Joge. Perhaps.
When it comes to solutions, it's difficult to ignore the example of
the many hundreds who protested the violence against the Cuban rafters.
Civil disobedience is seemingly the only recourse in confronting this
violence. We still hold out hope that perpetrators of hate violence can be
imprisoned or taken to international human rights courts.
That failing, interests that allow, aid and abet this maddening
violence should be subjected to nonviolent crippling economic boycotts or
lawsuits similar to the NAACP national lawsuit against gun manufacturers,
which seeks changes in how the industry does business instead of financial
damages. And more cities should take the lead of the 25 municipalities that
have recently sued gun manufacturers.
According to the Firearms Litigation Clearinghouse, the 16 lawsuits'
various allegations include negligence, false advertising, and the charge
that manufacturers have contributed to public nuisance, increasing police
costs and emergency medical health and the loss of productivity of residents
who become victims of violent crimes.
It would also be good for our leaders to do as they preach.
COPYRIGHT 1999 UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
* If you would like a copy of "The Mainstreaming of Hate," or if you would
like to reach the authors of the report with reports of hate crimes, violence
or intimidation, call or write NCLR at: 202-785-1670 or go online at:
www.nclr.org
Gonzales & Rodriguez can be reached at PO BOX 7905 Albq NM 87194-7905
505-242-7282 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine
of international copyright law.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE
http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
