5A
OPINIONS/tiilie Ctarlottt $o«t
Thursday, December 1. 2005
Ron
Walters
Who will tell the
American people
truth about Iraq?
My fiusti’ation with the Democratic Party grows day by
day, as the leadership squanders its responsibility to its con
stituency and to the Ameiican p)eople.
So, who had to step up? Rep. Jack Murtha, a Democratic
member of Congress from Pennsjivania, and a decorated ex-
Marine, called for a pullout of American
troops not only because of his view that no
plan exists for how to pursue victory, but
because the American people are way out
ahead of their leadership.
In late August, a Gallup poll asked about
troop withdrawal, and a majority felt that
“the U.S. should withdi'aw some troops (27
percent), or aU of tliem (26 percent) fix)m
Iraq, In the most recent polls, a majority now
believes that going into fraq was a mistake
and that the troops should come home.
But the position of Demoa'atic Party leaders sounds like
it’s coming out of the White House. Hillary Clinton believes
that it would be a mistake to pull out American tiwps
because Iraq could dissolve into a civil war, creating a situa
tion “where terrorists are free to basically set up camp and
launch attacks against us.”
Let me get this straight,: terrorists need Ii*aq to launch
attacks against the U.S.? They didn’t need Iraq to bring
down the Twin Tbwers in New York City, so why would they
need Iraq now? I guess Clinton’s argument is that it would
be easier for them to do so. Yes, but we are also making it
easier by staying there; killing innocent civilians as well as
combatants, rousting families out of bed in the middle of the
ni^t, taking away theii* men, toiiuring them for informa
tion, in a scenario geared for them to love us for a long, long
time.
A 10 year-old could figure how why they hate us, and will
continue to do so, but a town full of Harvard, Princeton and
Yale Ph.Ds, in Washington, D.C. are stumped.
Black folks love Bill Clinton, and he has been critical of the
war saying to an audience sponsored by the Ladies Home
Journal that it can’t succeed. But more recently he said in
upstate New York that Bush’s sti'ategy could. Which is it?
His former aide, Dick Morris thinks it’s a case of “good cop,
bad cop” they are playing.
I’m more worried about Hillary, because if she runs in
2008, black people will be out there laying down the red car
pet. But that doesn’t make sense because black support for
George Bush is the lowest of any president in modem histo
ry and much of that is driven by black opposition to the war
in Iraq.
A recent, widely-cited NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found
that only 2 percent of blacks approved of Bush, while a Pew
poU, appearing about the same tune, had blacks at a 12 per
cent approval rate. I tend to favor the latter eis the more
accurate one, but either way, this is really low and black
opposition to the Iraq war, along with Katrina, account for
most of it. .
In one poll this year, blacks were twice as negative as
whites about the American involvement in this war.
Furthermore, blacks account for 25 percent of the entire mil
itary, but so turned off are they about the war that they are
a big reason why the Army for example, is not achievir^ its
recruiting goals. Five years ago, one in four recruits was
black, but now one in seven are black.
Hillary is not the only Democratic leader who has a “me-
too” position. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the
House has parted company with Murtha, and in a vote
where the Republicans forced the hand of Democrats to put
up or shut up on their view of whether the troops should be
immediately yanked - you guessed it - they shut up. Rep.
Murtha’s non-binding resolution that U.S. troops leave Iraq
as soon as is pra^cable went down to a massive defeat (403-
3), with only three Democrats, Rep. Robert Wexler (Fla,),
Rep. Cynthia McKinney (Ga), and Rep. Jose Seranno (NY),
the only holdouts. They alone had the guts to tell the people
the war should stop.
The administration is gambling to buy time for Iraqi troops
to take hold and provide security and for a real government
will come into existoice. Nothing we have seen suggests
that will happen. So, the American people question whether
oxu* resources will be devoted to the extension of democracy
and the rebuilding of the material infrastructure in the
American Gulf or the Persian Gulf The Republican-con-
trolled Congress has the audacity to question who will
rebuild the American disaster in New Orleans, Mississippi
and Florida.
The answer is obvious. Show the troops you love them by
bringing them home; spend the money taking care of your
own; and stop the illusion that it is possible to win a military
victory in a ^obal “war on terror.” Tbll the people the truth.
RON WALTERS is the Distinguished Leadership Scholar, Director
of the African American leadership Institute. Professor of
Government and Politics at the University of Maryland College Park.
Marian
Wright
Edelman
Criminalization of
children continues
The increasing criminalization of children has become a mtgor
crisis. Children are being suspended and expelled fix)m school and
incarcerated in the juvenile and adult justice systems at alarming
rates and at younger and younger ages.
This increased incarceration is not due to an inaease in serious
delinquent or violent criminal behavior by youi^ people. Juvenile
anests for violent crimes grew rapidly in the late 1980s and
peaked in 1994, but then began faUii^. Between
1994 and 2003, the juvenile arrest rate for ^fiolent
Crime Index offenses - murder, forcible rape, rob
bery and aggravated assault - fell 48 percent to its
lowest level since 1980. So if actual crime is not the
cause for the rise in incarceration rates, what is?
One piece of the puzzle is the rise of “zero toler
ance” policies in schools. Institutions began adopt
ing these policies in the late 1980s, taking the temi
fioni the war on drugs. Amidst debate in CJongress
over “super predators” and predictions of a coming
and dramatic surge in juvenile crime that never
materialized, these policies hit the national level
when President C^ton signed the Gim-Free Schools Act of 1994,
requiring a one-calendar year expulsion for possession of a fiiearm
and referral of law-violating students to the juvenile or criminal
justice systems. Most states and local school districts responded to
the new law by broadening the mandate of zero tolerance beyond
the federal mandate of weapons to include drugs, alcohol, figliting,
threats, or swearing.
Many school boairis continue to tou^en their policies, experi
menting with permanent expulsion for certain offenses. Others
have begun to apply school suspensions and expulsidnd.tp behav
ior that occurs outside of school. While zero tolerance pnce applied
to serious offenses involving safety, it is now an’overarching and
catdi-all disciplinary approach for real, perceived, and imaginaiy
weapons and imisbehaviori that is defined by highly subjective
terms like “disruption”and “disrespect.” Aspirin, Certs, and Mdol
are considered drugs. Paper clips, nail files, scissors, and spitballs
are considered weapons.
Punishment throu^ exclusion is the overwhelming response.
From 1974 to 2000, the mmiber of students suspended fix)m school
increased fix)m 1.7 to 3,1 million. While zero tolerance has a place
as a response to truly dangerous behavior, it has become a danger
to children and a potential way to exclude any student who may
need individualized help. CTiildren should not be put out of school
for any reason other than posing a real threat to themselves or oth
ers. Child behaviors that used to be handled at school are now
being handled by police. Five, ei^t, and nine-year-olds are being
arrested, creating stains on their records that blot their future.
Another disturbing piece of the increased criminalization of chil-
drCTi is the growing numbers of children sent into the adult crimi
nal justice system. Approximately 250,000 teens under 18 enter
the adult criminal justice system every year. More than half have
been charged with nonviolent drug or property offenses. The idea
of youth serving “adult time for adult crime” grew in popularity in
response to a sharp increase in di ug and firearms violations. But
the vast m^ority of teens tried and sentenced in adult court are
not the serious, violent, chronic offenders who might have been
subject to the juvenile death penalty a feature the U.S. Supreme
Court recently struck down in the Simmons case involving a juve
nile fium Mssouri.
In many states, laws now require prosecutors to file certain cases
in adult court—even if it is against their better judgment—simply
because of the nature of the offense or the age of the youth. Nearly
90 percent of youth who are transferred to the adult system fall
under a lowered age of adulthood in 13 states. In these states any
^ youth accused of an offense who is 17 years old (or 16 years old in
three of the 13 states) will be sent into the adult criminal justice
system for any offense, whether serious or not.
Another huge factor in the increased criminalization of children
stems fiom untreated mental health problems among children.
Seventy-five percent of children in the juvenile justice system have'
mental health problems. Children as young as seven are incar
cerated in juvenile facilities aroimd the country not because of
pending charges for a crime but because of untreated mental
health needs for which no treatment is available in their commu
nities.
Finally a key piece of the increase stems fix)m the disparate
treatment of black and brown children in the juvenile and crimi
nal justice systems. Minority youths make up 34 percent of the
adolescent population and 62 percent of juveniles confined to pub
lic facilities. In 1999, blacks outnumbered whites nearly two to one
in the number of youth under 18 admitted to adult state prisons.
For drug charges, the ratio was more than 8 to 1. A black youth is
48 times more likely than a white youth to be incarcerated for
comparable drug offenses. Data fix)m 18 of the largest court juris
dictions showed that 82 percent of juvenile cases filed in adult
court; involved youth of color. School suspensions are similarly
imbalanced in 2000, black students were suspended at a rate
almost three times higher than white students.
The road that has been taking more and more of our children to
prison and away fix)m their homes and schools and conununities
and off the path to college and productive futures is long and twist
ed. But we donlt have to keep allowing our children to be led
astray
MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN is president and founder of the Children's
Defense Fund.
Robinson
From colored
people to people
of color
By John McCann
NATIONAL NLWSI'ArLR tVHUSHLKS ASStK'lATtoN
Remember these plajgioimd lyiics?
I’m not a ni^er, I’m a Negix). When I become n nig
ger, I’ll let you know
It’s an oldie-but-not-so-goodie based on response
from folks upset that “60 Minutes” commentator
Andy Rooney believes notliing’s wix)ng witli ctiUing us
Negiws.
So here we go again.
Black people man, we have tlu* toughest time
with semantics. We cimH, figure out what to call our
selves. It’s like a science You almost need an
advanced degree to figure it out:
I mean, if I’m at work, where tliere’re only tJut^*
other* black people in the entire newsroom, tJaai, let’s
see, I better* not use the n-wor*d. But if my black co-
workere and I are riding to hmch in the sarnt^ car*,
tlieri I’m fi*ee to let the n-bombs flow.
But Negro’s not arr n-bomb. However, Rooney’s
rernar'ks show us just how explosive the worxl is when
a wliite guy wields it.
Here’s anotlier song for you;
Lift every voice and sing, till earlli
and heaven riirg. Ring with...
OK, you get the idea. Now, teU me,
what’s tlie name of that song? Come
again? A littU' bit louder? Gotcha!
Made you say it. Made yorr say Negro
- “The Negro Natiomd Anthem.”
But if it wasn’t a bad wor*d when
James Weldon Jolmson wrote the song,
then what makes it so wrorrg rolling off
the lips of a white guy like Rooney^?
Dig what I’m saying: Jackie Itobinson and Satchel
Paige and aU those cats didn’t have a problem play
ing baseball in the N*gix) Leagues.
Ther*e’s no shame in Lou Rawls’ game
when he gets down for tire Ujiited
Negro College Fund.
I’m reminded of an editorial cartoon
by a Univer*sity of Florida student. It
showed Kanye West holding a race
card, playing off the r*app(T’s com
ments ' about President Bush’s slow
response towaixl black hiuiicane sur
vivors along the Gulf Coast.
But the cartoon alsp depicted Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice retor’ting, “Nigga please!”
Granted, I’m no fan of tire n-worxJ. But when you
think about prim and proper (Condoleezza Rice saying
it, you have to laugh So don’t trip jirst because' a
white boy drew the cartoon. Chris Rock coirld say th( *
same thing and you’d just about pee in your* pants
fi*om laughing so harxl..
I’m telling you, be careful what you ask for*
Remember the Tbxas rongresswonian two years ago
wanting moi'e black-sounding hurricane names?
Don’t you wonder* how she felt when Katrina blew
through?
And speaking of what we call ourselvejs, if we’re
going to get all huffy with Andy Rooney about, the
word Negro, then answer* this: What’s up with a prx*-
historic name like National Association for the
Advancement of... (Jolorefi People?
Don’t sit there and say you wouldn’t get mad if a
white pei'soii called you color*ed.
And if you deny it, know what I’d teU you?
“Negro please!!”
JOHN McCANN is a columni.st for The Herald-Sun in
Durham.
Granted, I’m no fan of
the n-word. But when
you think about prim
and proper
Condoleezza Rice
saying it, you have to
laugh.
Rice
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