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5A OPINIONS/ The Charlotte Post April 25, 1996 Why are so many sisters in prison? to young brothers Bernice P. Jackson The poet T.S. Eliot once wrote that April is the cru- elest month. \^en it comes to African American men, Eliot was certainly right. On April 4, 28 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., we lost three black men of excellence, three black men who were pioneers and role models and leaders not just for black America, but for all America. Within 24 hours we lost Carl Stokes, Haywood Burns and Ron Brown. Rev. Jesse Jackson, at the funeral of Carl Stokes said, “God was lining up his giants.” Carl Stokes was the first African American elected mayor of a major American city. We have so many African American elected officials now that it is hard for you to know the feeling of pride and excite ment on that November day in 1967. But Carl Stokes' elec tion was hard-fought and it was only the power of his charismatic smile, quick wit and intelligence that enabled his victory. After his political career, he went on to become a municipal judge, a television commentator and finally, a United States ambassador. Carl Stokes lived a life of excellence. Carl Stokes, Haywood Bums and Ron Brown all came from humble roots. But they were men who did not internalize their ghetto limitations and the defined roles that society had placed on them as black men. “They turned bitter into better,” said Rev. Jackson at the Stokes funeral. Now it's up to you, our young black brothers, to pick up the mantle, to strive for excel lence, to ignore the stereo types and to never forget the dreams and aspirations of your people. You have big shoes to fill. But if you do, then their living will not have been in vain. BERNICE POWELL JACK- SON is executive director of the Commission For Racial Justice in Cleveland, Ohio. ^ ^ Now it's up to you, our young black brothers to pick up the mantle, to strive for excellence, to ignore the stereotypes and to never forget the dreams and aspirations of your peo ple. You have big shoes to fill. But if you do, then their living will not have been in By Earl O. Hutchinson NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCUTION Some years ago, I briefly worked as a social worker. Occasionally, I would visit clients in jail to determine their eligibility for continued benefits. They were all men - with one exception. She was a young black woman serving time for theft. She had two small children. She entered the visiting room handcuffed to another woman dressed in drab prison garb. We talked through a rein forced glass window. The guards stared hard and barked out gruff commands to the women. The idea of a woman in prison was a novel ty to me then. It isn't today. The number of women arrested for serious felonies leaped from 12,331 in 1960 to 62,936 in 1992. Since 1992, the percent of women impris oned soared 275 percent, near ly doubling the percentage increase in men jailed. Black women have been hit the hardest. More are now behind bars than at any time in American history. They fill jails in greater percentages than black men and are seven times more likely to be impris oned than white women. Yet many Americans still believe that mostly men, especially black men, are locked up. The media continually reminds the public that one out of three young black men is in prison, on probation or parole. They make up half the prison population in America. I counted nearly 100 features in major metropolitan news papers between 1992 and October 1995 on the plight of young black males in or facing prison. During the same peri od, there were three articles on women in prison and none specifically on black women in prison. Black women have almost single-handedly expanded the prison-industri al complex. From 1930 to 1950, five women's prisons were built nationally. During the 1980s, 34 were built. Even this hasn't kept pace with the swelling number of women prisoners. Women's prisons are under staffed, overcrowded, lack recreation facilities, serve poor quality food, suffer chronic shortages of family planning counselors and ser vices, obstetric and gynecolog ical specialists, drug treat ment and child care facilities, and transportation funds for family visits. A century ago researchers claimed that crim inally-inclined women had enlarged craniums, or mal formed bones or were natural sexual deviants. Today we laugh at this, but some experts still propagate myths about women and crime. M5fth: Women commit violent crimes for the same reasons that men do. Fact: Women are less likely them men to assault or murder strangers while committing crimes. Two-thirds of the women jailed assaulted or killed relatives or intimates. Their victims were often spouses, lovers or boyfriends. In many cases they committed violence defending themselves against sexual or physical abuse. Myth: The women's move ment encouraged assertiveness and competition among women. This weakened tradi tional family values. Fact: The majority of black women jailed are poor, lack education and job skills. The goals of the women's move ment were largely geared toward middle-class, career business and professional advancement. Poor black women gained little, middle- class, white and black women gained the most from this. Also more than 80 percent of women prisoners have children (9 percent give birth while in prison). These women did not reject traditional family rela tions. They and their children were rejected by husbands and lovers. More black women are behind bars for these rea sons: • Crime and hard punish ment. One out of three crimes committed by women is drug- related. Many state and feder al sentencing laws mandate minimum sentences for all drug offenders. This virtually eliminates the option of refer ring non-violent, first time offenders to increasingly scarce, financially strapped drug treatment, counseling and education programs. Stiffer punishment for black cocaine users than for whites will insure that more black women land in prison. • The feminization of pover ty. More than one out of three black women has an income below the poverty level. One out of seven is unemployed. One out of two is a single par ent. One out of three is employed in a low wage, semi or unskilled service job. One out of three did not complete high school. • The racial stereotyping of black women. Black men are media-typed as violent, drug dealing “gangstas.” Black vain. 99 Affirmative action set for a fall By Michael B30Tie SPECIAL TO THE POST RALEIGH — The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' March decision in Hopwood v. Texas declared a minority- preference program at the University of Texas Law School unconstutional. Considering other recent court decisions, Hopwood places university minority-preference programs, including those in North Carolina, in jeopardy. Since 1978’s Supreme Court case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, univer sities could legally consider race as a “factor” in admis sions. In Bakke, Justice William Powell reasoned that seeking a "diverse" student body could be a “compelling interest,” permitting other wise unconstitutional racial classifications. Powell believed that “benign” or “remedial” discrimination — against whites, benefitting minorities — is “different” than the reverse. Bakke is the linchpin of uni versity minority-preference programs across the U.S. UNC's affrimative action admissions policy is based on the Bakke decision. In fact, the UNC Law School applica tion even contains chunks of the Bakke decision reprinted verbatim. In recent years, the Supreme Court has reexamined the notion of promoting racial equality through racial dis crimination. Two cases, 1989’s City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson and 1995’s Aderand Constructors v. Pena, gave serious blows to affirmative action programs. The cases made clear that racial classifications, “benign” or otherwise, must automati cally be presumed unconstitu tional. Unless the classifica tion serves a "compelling gov ernment interest" and is "nar rowly tailored to accomplish that interest," it is unlawful. What does this mean for North Carolina? UNC's prefer ence programs are under fire. A lawsuit recently filed in fed eral court challenges UNC's “Minority Presence Grants” — payments to minorities who attend historically-white UNC institutions as well as pay ments to white students who attend historically-black UNC schools. In the wake of Hopwood, defense of such pro grams is much more difficult. Hopwood exposes the consti tutionally rotten foundation of race-based admissions. It is an acknowledgment, as the Supreme Court noted in Croson and Aderand, that equal protection applies to all races. UNC could take the high road and change to color blind programs before being forced to do so at the cost of untold taxpayer dollars. Published statements suggest, however, that UNC adminis trators will continue to stand in the schoolhouse door, exclaiming: “Racial prefer ences today, racial preferences tomorrow, racial preferences forever.” MICHAEL BYRNE, an attor ney, is a contributing writer for the Locke Foundation, a conservative think tank in Raleigh. An unfulfilled promise to African Americans By Claud Anderson NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Economic affirmative action for black Americans is morally justifiable and is still needed. Affirmative action policies were initially instituted to level the playing field for the black race. Today's public policies have amorphous goals that fail to address the original Constiutional intent. The newer policy equates blacks to women and non-statutorily handicapped ethnics. Unlike these groups, blacks are locked into the lowest level of a real-life Monopoly game. Blacks were left out of the original distribution of wealth resources at the beginning of the game and it is extremely difficult for them to compete or win. Blacks play the game but whites control or own nearly 100 percent of this nation's income, wealth, busi nesses, resources, powers, privileges and government. Black America is so far behind the starting line that the out comes of any socio-economic competihon are racially foreor dained. Voting “thumbs up” or “down” on this nation’s affirmative action policy should not be a difficult task. The current policy is so off tar get and diluted with gender and ethnic groupings that even if it were terminated, blacks would lose very little. Contrary to popular belief, white society receives directly and indirectly the greatest benefit from affirmative action. White women consis tently receive the lion's share of benefits even though they co-own, control, influence, have access to, or will inherit nearly 100 percent of the pos sessions of white males. Hispanic immigrants, like white women, get double ben efits and are the second largest beneficiary group. Free of the legacies of slavery, segregation and racism, Hispanics compete with blacks in minority programs even though 85 percent of all Hispanics are classified as whites. The conservative backlash to affirmative action for black Americans is not new. There is a historical and natural antithesis between conser vatism and affirmative action. History shows that every time the black race has attempted to alter its life con ditions, conservatism arose to reassert and reconfirm white values, authority, and domi nance. Conservatives have long defended the status quo, accepting advantages and privileges for whites, and the systematic subordination and deprivation of blacks, as the norm. The mere mention of any policy or device to alter the foreordained conditions of blacks can trigger anger and strike a nerve in conservative whites. Most of white society lives in a state of denial about how their race acquired its wealth and resources. Most cbnserva- tives ignore the historical reality that racial discrimina tion against blacks constituted preferential treatment for whites, and that Jim Crow segregation was nothing more than a 100-year set-aside poli cy that reserved the best jobs, schools, neighborhoods and business opportunities for whites only. They refuse to acknowledge that the advan tages and privileges they enjoy today are the direct legacies of black slavery and Jim Crow segregation. They pretend not to understand that any present day removal of barriers against blacks is simply a removal of unjustifi able, preferential advantages for whites. Understandably, conservatives now argue for a color-blind society simply to avoid giving preferential treatment to blacks. The 13th, 14th, and 15th constitutional amendments were the first affirmative action policy for blacks and ended slavery and gave blacks political and civil rights. But, all corrective action for blacks was cut short. Conservative whites enacted “black codes” in the 1870s that denied blacks not only their “40 acres and mule” but the freedoms and civil rights promised in the Constitutional amend ments. President Lyndon B. Johnson attempted to recap ture the spirit and intent of the constitutional amend ments and all the subsequent civil rights laws for blacks. In 1965, he proposed compen satory economic resources to black Americans so that they could overcome the effects of historical discrimination and injustices imposed on them by • the dominEuit society. Black America can respond to the affirmative action debate in several ways. It can reject the current policy and seek black reparations similar to that received by Native Americans, Jews, indentured white servants, and Japanese Americans; seek modifications that exclude gender and eth nic groups...Or, it can contin ue to spend political capital supporting a policy that gives few benefits. CLAUD ANDERSON is author of “Black Labor, White Wealth.” women are typed as sexually loose, conniving, untrustwor thy, welfare queens. Many of the mostly middle-class judges and jurors believe that black women offenders are menaces to society, too. The quantum leap in black women behind bars has wreaked severe dam age on black family relations. Their 167,000 children are raised by grandparents, or warehoused in foster homes and institutions. Many children of imprisoned women drift into delinquency, gangs and drug use. This per petuates the vicious cycle of poverty, crime and violence. With the public locked in a “harsh punishment vice,” law makers will not increase fiind- ing for job training, skills drug treatment, education, child care and health, and parent ing skills programs. But this is still the best way to keep more black women from wind ing up behind bars. EARL OFARI HUTCHIN SON is the author of “The Assassination of the Black Male Image. ” His recent book titled, “Beyond O. J.: Race, Sex, and Class Lessons for America,” was released in January 1996. Responses may be e-mailed to Hutchinson at: ehutchi344@ aol.com Letters to The Post Sound the alarm Is it me or does it appear that some of our young people are more interested in their right to cruise and having Freaknik than to develop strategies to mount a chal lenge to the current right wing movements in this coun try? Does it appear that our polit ical elders are more interested in the next bachelor auction or banquet than preparing and nuturing young leaders to carry the black struggle into the next millennium? For those who think that I might be cynical or an alarmist, I will just mention a few names: The Freemen, the Christian Identity Movement, and the patriot and militia movement. Who are these groups and why should the black community be con cerned? Well, people, just like our ancestors had to be aware of the Klan and White Citizens Council, we must be aware of these groups who are far more dangerous and evil than a bunch of rednecks in pickup trucks. These domestic terrorist groups are made up of armed, angry white men who believe that white people are being systematically oppressed by an illegal, totali tarian government intent on disarming it and creating a one world government. They declare w;ar on the federal government. An example of their handiwork is the bomb ing of the federal building in Oklahoma City last year, in which 168 people perished. Another target of their rage is the Jewish and black com munity, or mud people as we are known in hate group cir cles. According to their twist ed beliefs, Jews were spawned of Satan and black people are sub-human and there will be a war. And the Aryans will destroy blacks and Jews and overthrow the government. Scary stuff, but these groups are out there planning and building while in our commu nity we are debating our rights to cruise or dance on the hood of a car at an embar rassment called Freaknik. With the NAACP convention coming to town in a couple of months, this would be an excellent opportunity for local leadership to put on the table a discussion on the black com munity response to these racist movements that are popping up like crabgrass all over the coimtry. Robert D. Hampton Charlotte
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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April 25, 1996, edition 1
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