Forum
Compare Jail Time for White Suspects
As Opposed to Blacks in Denny Case
Many people said a national calamity was
! avoided on Saturday, April 17, when the split
decision verdict was read following the trial of
.four club-wielding police officers charged
with depriving Rodney King of his civil rights.
Some observers said the finding of two offi
cers guilty would please black people and lib
erals and that the finding of two innocent
.would please those who applauded the all
.white jury's verdict of innocence for all. Oth
ers approved the verdict because they thought
,it was a compro
.misethat "gave
something" to both
4sides and circum
vented another
t uprising.
Most of the
black persons with
Rodney King was seen all around the world.
The treatment of blacks in the United States
was condemned all around the world ? even
in South Africa where the media l4rubbed it
in."
But those who breathed a sign of relief
when the two officers were .convicted in Los
Angeles had better take a deep breath and pre
pare to hold it again. The trial of the four
black men charged with beating Reginald
Denny is set for July 1.4 and the sentencing of
MINORITY REPORT
By JAMES E. ALSBROOK
whom I spoke com
plained that all four police officers should have
been found guilty. Several white friends
expressed the same opinion. Other Whites
said the verdict was fair because the two most
?J X ... . ? *
' blameworthy offenders ? Sgt. Koon who was
in charge and Officer Powell who did most of
the beating ? were found guilty. Officer
Bresino testified that he thought the beating
' was "excessive" and regretted it, and Timothy
Wind was a mere trainee who had no authority
' but some participation.
Reactions from newspapers in Europe,
" * Africa, Asia, and Australia should be available
* within the next two weeks. But it is interesting
' ' that of more than 30 foreign newspapers trans
' lated for libraries by scholars, all blamed last
year's riots in Los Angeles and elsewhere on
the racial and economic policies of Reagan
' and Bush. These critical newspapers were
' among the largest in England, France, Ger
' many, Italy, Japan, Israel and Australia.
The most direct indictment came from
' Asia in the Hong Kong. Standard. It said:
"Any advanced society that allows the devel
opment of a huge, under-employed, under
' educated, impoverished underclass that lives in
^^iolenCe-racVed r drug- ri dden slums is storing
? up for itself a sort of trouble that the United
States is now experiencing."
The Tokyo Times spoke at the last year's
. Lj verdict of innocent for all four poljp&.gffipprs:
' "This jury could not have done more damage
? ; ; to their country's image abroad if they had
- tried."
The videotape showing the beating of
officers Koon and Powell is set for August 4
? only three weeks apart. If Koon and Powell
get short sentences and the four black men get
long sentences, we should expect some kind of
trouble.
Although black people thought that the
guilty verdict for only two of the officers was
"half a loaf," the reverberations of this verdict
have been felt far and wide. Influential edito
rials in some big daily newspapers have sug
gested that America take a closer look at its
supposed even-handedness in law enforcement
and are suggesting closer examinations of
police practices in their own areas.
Moreover, if Rodney King wins his
scheduled lawsuit providing millions of dollars
for him and draining millions from the City of
Angels, a powerful message and corrective
action will have been taken across the nation.
All city fathers become skiddish and cranky
when struck in a very vulnerable place ? the
pocketbook. Those who boss the bosses will
make changes mandatory.
Two very positive factors have resulted
from this Rodney King episode. First, the
nation and the world have seen a shocking
example of thf terrible^5olice~brvnal ity suf
fered for many years by black men in Amer
ica. Second, the nation and the world know
now that black insurrections with heavy finan
cial losses on all sides occur when abuses
make black people's lives intolerable and their
"cups runneth over."
The days of double standards in law
enforcement are limited.
Clinton Administration Looks to
Get Youths Working Again
The Clinton administration has come up
? ? with a number of fresh new ideas to get the
? ? Yiation moving in the right direction again.
A long, lean period in which national
4 ? administration's avoided the new and gutted
' . the old appears to have come to an end But
? the Clinton proposals, ranging from a sweep
% ing economic revival plan to a health reform
? . program, face considerable obstacles.
? . ? Perhaps the biggest obstacle is the huge
national deficit, which stands as a barrier to
; , funding and implementing new initiatives,
large or small.
One initiative that shouldn't get lost in the
shuffle is a national service program for young
? -people.
The administration's national service plan
is very modest ? a pilot summer program that
? would employ only
.1,000 students at.
the minimum wage
plus a grant towards
' college or other
tuition. But it's
planned to expand
to 100,000 students
in four years, at a
projected annual'
cost S3.4 billion.
Such a slow start may disappoint some
. who see a National Service Corps as essential
to help young people make the transition to
adult responsibilities.
Many back mandatory national service for
all 18-or-19 year-olds, who would either
enroll in a full-time program like VISTA or
. ^ yvork for nonprofit organizations.
But it's doubtful the Congress or the
country is now ready for such a mandatory
plan. For now. national service supporters
realize that given budget constraints and the
ambitious reforms needed in other areas, a
, slow start is better than no start at all.
The administration's plan deserves sup
* port because it is a sound program in itself, and
- because it can lay the foundations for a univer
sal national-service plan in the future.
Why is national service a good idea?
First, it can serve as a way to bind the
next generation of Americans to the responsi
. -bilities of citizenship.
In such a diverse national culture, there
needs to be a way of bringing people together
to interact with others of different backgrounds
and to affirm their common national heritage.
In the past, the armed services fulfilled
that function. But with the end of the draft and
the reduction of forces, that avenue is now
closed.
Second, national service can spur young
people to continue their education and prepare
themselves for a 21 st century economy.
The best investment America ever made
was the GI Bill, which helped an entire genera
tion of Americans to secure educational oppor
tunities and laid the groundwork for post-war
economic growth.
A similar program applicable to all young
people could do the same, enabling youngsters
from poor and moderate income families to get
TO BE EQUAL
John E. Jacob
the college and technical training they ? and
the nation ? need.
Third, there's an enormous amount of
work to be done, from staffing libraries and
hospitals to conversation and neighborhood
safety.
It's not being done now because cities and
non-profit institutions can't afford to hire peo
ple. It can be done if the federal government,
through stipends and tuition grants for service,
recruits young people to do it.
During the Depression, the Civilian Con
servation Corps recruited half a million young
people to help preserve national parklands, and
similar local urban and rural programs since
then have also been successful.
So we know that the national service can
work. It can be a vital step in helping all of
our young people become responsible, mature
and educated citizens.
MIKE, WHATS THIS " TAKE OUP
DAUGHTERS TOUJORKPKtTAlSX
is so excited about*
f
I THINK IT'S
A SElf - ESTEEM
&WT...
THIS MEPNESCWi WE'RE ALL
suppose? TO take OUR GRUS
70 WORK SO UJE CAN SHOOU
THEM HOOU MUCH THEYU,
3E VALUED IN THE WORK
PLACE. \
wTuenwr
VALUEPiN THE
UJORKPLACE.
/
I KNOW.
I VUAG
THINKING
OP BORROW
ING SOM&
ON&SOmC*.
\
ujeu.kjdpo,
KXW ISTAKE
ourmughters
TQUJORKOAY"!
/
THAPSOKAY,
cmv. i
CAN HEAR
ABOUT IT
FROM THE
OTHER
NONSENSE'
VU'REOO
INGT060
70W0RK
WITH US!
/
BUT I'VE ALREAPf\
RJPPEN IN MOMfc]
TAXI A ZJLUON
TIMeS, ANP YOU
JUST IUORK AT THE
KITCHEN TABU!
HEY, THAT5 HOT ALL
IPO. I ALSO WORK. AT MY
PRATT! NO BOARP, WHERE
1 PO LAYOUTS ON A PROFES
SIONAL SKETCH PAP! ANP I
MAKE PHOTOCOPIES! ANP I
MKT ID HES _ _
SEE ME 60tN6
FAX AN 10 MAKE **?*
ACTUAL ME STAY &*"
POCUMENT f HOME ', \
UElL,LEPS6eT'7AKE0UR
PWSHTERS TO WORK PAY"
ONTHERCAP, SHALL MB,
/ SQUIRT?
FIRST OFF, THIS IS POPPY'S
PEZK. THIS IS WHERE J COME
UPWTTH ALL MY IPEA6. AS YOU
CAN SEE, I'M SURROUNPEP BY
THE TOOLS OF MY TRADE.
S
PENCILS, PENS, RULERS ?
YOU NAME IT. EVERYTHING
I NEEP FOR SKETCHING
OUT MY /PEAS RJOHT HERB
ON THIS PROFESSIONAL,
WW, OANI
isve *e eoioecHOOL
{LfiL* noujtipont
HAPPENS... umTTOBE
LATE.
SO WHERE PO I SET MY IPEAS?
6000 QUESTION! IPEAS CAN
COMB FROM ANYWHERE -TV,
BOOKS, NEWSPAPERS, PERSON
AL EXPERIENCES
you know, honey, Ycuenouum
WORRY SO MUCH ABOUT GETTING
IN TROUBLE. GIRLS ARE ALWAYS
MUCH TOO PREOCCUPIEP WITH
Bam 600P , WITH ALUWS 7M
ING 70 PIBASt OTHER PEOPLE,..
THE WHOLE POINT OF 'TAKE OUR
DAUGHTERS' IS TO PUT YOU
IN THE PRJVE&S SEAT, 70
GIVE YOU A SENSE OF CON
TROL ANP MASTERY OVER
YOUR..UH...YOUR...
T
WE'RE LOST W, PEAR,
AGAIN, AllBtf
m./HOMUY?
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