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5A OPINIONS/ tEiie C(inlottt Thursday December 4, 2003 Needed: Serious judicial reforms By Ada M. Fisher M.D. SPECIAL TO THE POST Recently approached for help by a man convicted of a felony at 18, it became clear how crazy and illogical our judicial punishments are. For passing a few bad checks, not only was he sen tenced to a few days in jail with a suspended sentence because he hadn’t had a pre vious violation, but he also lost his right to vote. He has had good jobs with exem plary performance and now in view of 9/11, his back ground check has cost him a job and future opportunities. If he shoots for a college degree, he won’t be able to qualify for student aid. And his right to vote is question able in some places. He has served his time and hasn’t had a violation of any law in the last ten years, but can’t seem to catch a break. There are instances when the death penalty may seem quite logical, say for a Timothy McVeigh or a Richard Speck (the Boston Strangler) or a Jeffrey Dahlmer. But the recent not guilty ver dict for the man who admits to killing “a friend” and then dismember ing his body brings into question our whole sentenc ing system. Should Hinkley be allowed to walk free when he is now being described as mentally okay? The unequal sentencing based on the Fisher quality of one’s lawyer or political clout not one’s guilt or innocence also should make us look to bring some equity to our judicial process. Why is it okay to propose executing children or the mentally ill who are guilty of murder when we are willing to let a man walk away who not only admits to a murder but whose dismemberment of the victim’s body points to possible premeditation on his guilt? The three strikes and you’re locked up mentality is also clogging up jails for non violent and in many instances victim-less crimes. When one in eight black males will have some encounter with the criminal justice system including jail, have we just written off their lives? When crack is sen tenced differently than cocaine though the same drug is involved, but the kids reflect socio-economic a dis parity does the punishment fit the crime? When three of eight existing Presidential Candidates and the sitting President admit to problems with substance abuse what does this say to those penal ized for doing much less? Should people have to pay forever for their misdeeds? When sexual abuse by predators and priest often goes unpunished but the lives of their victims are destroyed, what is it exactly that is being said? Is there no redemption of sin or must kids wear a scarlet letter for ever with no hope of a 2nd Chance? Is it not time to rethink our approaches? Why can’t those found guilty of non-violent and vic timless crimes be sentenced to work on farms to decrease our utilization of illegal aliens or staff services for the needy? Why can’t communi ty service encompass the needs to rebuild cities or infrastructure repair? And then, why shouldn’t those who have done the crime or done restitution, be allowed to start over entitled there after to a civil life and an open slate? ADA M. FISHER M.D. is a physician, licensed teacher for secondary education in mathe- matics and science, previously elected school board member, and was a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. Contact her at P. O. Box 777; Salishmy, NC 28145; telephone (704) 637- 6134. Disinfomiation today’s enemy of equal rights By Sherman N. Miller SPECIAL TO THE POST U.S. civil rights struggles are symbolized as big street demonstrations by African Americans over some injus tice perpetrated against them by the economic main stream. However, one must ask, “Is this yesteryear street demonstration strate gy still valid today?” The African American civil rights struggle has morphed into a mainstream equal rights quest. On Nov. 26, Kevin Rothstein of the Boston Herald reported on Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romneys assessment on where today’s civil rights effort should be focused. “One of the real civil rights issues of our day, if not the pre-eminent issue of our day, is how to close the achieve ment gap based on race and ethnicity in America in edu cation,” Romney said. The achievement gap bat tle is not your stereotypic civil rights struggle but an equal rights battle that will require an expanded set of tools to vrin. Clearly, educa tion is a conduit to gaining entrance into the economic mainstream and vrithout a quality education; you will find yourself simply left behind. Tbday, the rise in the nonwhite population now makes it imperative that all American citizens regardless of race and ethnicity be included in the bounty of this great nation for it to remain competitive in the world marketplace and militarily strong. Disenfranchised groups cannot be allowed to become beachheads for for eign terrorists to dupe in their efforts to implode this nation by exploiting some sort of internal strife. President George Bush’s “No Child Left Behind Act” symbolizes the development of all racial and ethnic group people by making account ability for all of American children’s educations become a national priority. This act is forcing the closure of the chasm between todays form of public school racial deseg regation (intra-school build ing racial segregation - White children on college preparatory tracks and minority students taking general or special education tracks) and racial integra tion (wanting to teach and encourage minority children to reach their full potential). Although racial desegrega tion was ballyhooed as a way to improve public school edu cation for minority group children, white flight has re segregated many of these schools into overwhelming minority group student enclaves. The impact of White flight on dashing the hopes for integrated public schools is appreciated in an Oct. 16 Chicago Tribune arti cle written by Lori Olszewski entitled, “Expert says bias still in schools.” Olszewski reported on the feelings of U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocaras where she writes, “Kocaras said it would be impossible to integrate the schools now that white stu dents make up less than 10 percent of the district’s enrollment.” However, one of the tough equal rights issues for today’s civil rights activists is what is the honest data on minority group children’s performance. Pam Easton, Associated Press, in a Sept. 8 article entitled, “Definition of Dropout Disputed,” offers a disquieting look at data reported to the general pub lic. “According to TEA (Tbxas Education Agency), the state’s overall dropout rate for 2001-2002 in grades 9-12 was 1.3 percent or 15,117 students, down 0.1 percent from a year earlier. (Maria Robledo Motecel, San Antonio-based director of the Intercultural Development Research Association) Motecel’s numbers show in 2001-2002 the dropout rate was 39 percent, or 143,175 Tfexas students.” Since education is a local issue, it appeared that this new equal rights struggle must be fought at the local level. The first issue is truly defining the problem vrith credible data. Nevertheless, finding credible data is not always an easy exercise. The city of Wilmington, Del., public school students feed into four New Castle County metropolitan public school districts but it is difficult to know what percent of the city public schools entering the 9th grade graduate four years later from their respec tive high schools. What is very disturbing is the ability to make bad data look good. Norman Lockman, associate editor of the editorial page of the News Journal in Wilmington, Del., puts things into perspective. In his October 27, 2003 column appearing in The Reporter (a Wisconsin newspaper) enti tled, “Commentary: Bogus basic diploma shunts aside failing kids,” Lockman makes the case that a new Delaware three diploma sys tem makes a mockery of Delawareans’ common sense. He allows the power ful voice of Dr. Allen L. Sessoms, the new president of Delaware State University, to point out the silliness in giving some poor performing students a cer tificate of attendance versus a real high school diploma. “...This is more than a dodge. It is outrageous,” Sessoms said.” ... It is noth ing more than an effort to flush poorly performing kids out of the system and out of their hair,” Sessions contin ued: “They clearly don’t care if these kids, most of whom are minorities, get jobs or educational opportunities. This basic certificate isn’t even a GED (General Equivalency Diploma) diplo ma. It means nothing and it’s an insult.” If one cannot get direct answers, one has the poten tial to use inferential tech niques to gain an assess ment of the truth. Therefore, the 2000 U.S. Census data gave some insight on what desegregated metropolitan public schools were doing with children from the Northeast Section of Wilmtagton - one of the city’s poorest sections. According to the U.S. Census, 25.6 per cent of the people in the city of Wilmington who arel8 yeais old and older do not have a high school diploma. However, in census tracks 7 and 8 combined (Northeast Wilmington) for young peo ple in the age range 18 to 24, the data indicate that 63 per cent of people don’t have a high school diploma. This high non-graduation rate is particularly disturb ing when you consider Caroline Wolf Harlow’s spe cial report for the Bureau of Justice Statistics, revised on April 15 entitled, “Education and Correctional Population.” She writes, ‘^oung State inmates were more likely than older inmates to have failed to complete high school or its equivalent. Over half of 24 or younger had not completed the 12th grade or the GED (52 percent), while just over a third of those 35 or older did not have a high school diploma or GED ...” What is suggestive from the data above is the failure to get a high school diploma significantly increases one’s chances of landing in jail. It also highlights the ability of white-collar perpetrators to exploit aggregated data to mask real problems thereby legitimating unrealistic reports. Hence, the Urban League and NAACP must help their local branches combat today’s equal rights enemies of misinformation and disinformation. SHERMAN MILLER is a writer and educator from Wilmington, Del. HE X* pcjwp EKouoH 1?% \ SMCW HiS Wa AROUW NEH, M 9AG 1 ArfP THl SltlGH AR( ... ChfHV TMV ALV/AY6 fVXTN MKHAKL J /. 9ECAOSE HE HAS SiSPOtm Wliy iWaVE-YMe-OLD POYS AND THEN CASIMUY TflL(^S mST IT ON NATIONAL TlLWiSlON. y Airp TMArd ^ A CAZMC AU OF A i Our voices Help kids understand consequences of sexuality This letter is in response to the article printed November 6, written by Lynn Elber, The Associated Press. The author promotes vari ous entertainment TV shows such as “Friends” as an edu cational opportunity to teach sex education to our chil dren. The author also states that “watching or discussing entertainment shows such as “Friends” with an adult reinforces or clarifies the lessons carried by television such as the use of condoms in and pregnancy. First, television shows such as “Friends”, “Living Single,” among other sitcoms promote behaviors such as premarital sex, promiscuity, single parenting, cohabita tion and homosexuality to name a few. According to various research these type behaviors produce unhealthy relationships. How is this a positive for our teens with the many social problems that we are cur rently experiencing? I asked my students (approximately 150 in high school) who watched TV and discussed sex education with their parents, not one of them stated that this is something that they do. Let’s be realistic. According to studies, very few parents watch TV or supervise their children during this activity. The author also stated that children are learning about the proper use of condoms. How effective is this infor mation if this is true? Studies have found that even with education about the use of condoms teens are not using them correctly or consistently. Among black American adolescents, there is an epidemic of teen preg nancy, and sexually trans mitted diseases to include HIV. According to research one in every four teens have a sexually transmitted disease and over 1 million teens become pregnant a year. Should we as parents’ consid er the use of a sitcom enter tainment show to educate or reinforce sex education with our children? Our teens are under tremendous pressures from the media, music, videos and television presen tations. We have a responsi bility to educate them as parents. Lastly, God created sexual intimacy to be enjoyed with in the safe boundaries of a publicly-declared, life-long commitment of marriage. This promotes healthy rela tionships. Before we hastily promote various TV shows we must consider the consequences. It is not the responsibility of the media, government or any other entity to educate our children. We must teach our children to make the right choices and make a dif ference in this dying world. Linda Cru?. via e-mail Connect with Send letters to The Charlotte Post, P.O. Box 30144 Charlotte, NC 28230 or e-mail editorial@thecharlot- tepost.com. We edit for grammar, clarity and space where necessary. Include your name and day time phone number. Letters and photos will not be returned by mail unless accompanied by a self- addressed, stamped envelope.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 4, 2003, edition 1
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