Vision Circle

Returning to the idea of the old school, what is the old school stance on law and order? I remember when Chuck D. got up at the MTV Music Awards in the early nineties and before he gave out the award he was on stage for said the following: "Free all political prisoners. Free Geronimo Pratt. Free Mumia Abu Jamal. Free Mike Tyson."

Now the old school would hold that some people NEED to be in the joint. Both Pratt and Abu Jamal were activists who were basically jacked because of their political line. COINTELPRO looms large with both Pratt and Jamal though to be fair they may have actually railroaded the right guy in Jamal's case. But Tyson? Hell no. If Tyson's a political prisoner, them I'm Reggie Miller. White supremacy is pernicious, but it should in no way absolve us of our responsibility to act righteously. It's a hard line to hoe in many ways, especially given the stark statistics in places like Chicago, but it is what it is.

The rub here is that we take this stance not just in regards to black criminals...BUT TO POLICE OFFICERS. As the police are actually given the authority by the state to use violence, they should be held to a much higher standard. If a police officer is caught violating the law, the book should be thrown at him. Period.

Now since I've moved to St. Louis, there have been a number of incidents in which youth were killed by police. In one case a young boy was shot in the back by a cop as he was running away. Though a pop gun was found on the child's person, it hadn't been fired. The relationship between the police and black communities in St. Louis are so poor, that when I talked to high school classes (about 50 of them) about public opinion and used attitudes about the police as an example, all I got out of the black kids was laughs when I asked whether they felt they could trust the police.

I've talked about accountability as it relates to black leadership...in order for the police to properly serve and protect black citizens need to be able to hold them accountable. A citizens' review board is the appropriate institution for this task. The activists are right to call for one. But how are we to understand their communique to Magic?

The mayor's first response echoes that of a number of white citizens and probably some black ones, noting that black citizens would be hurt if Magic pulled out.

I understand that response. But it seems to me that anyone interested in ensuring the health and welfare of black citizens would be as interested in making sure the police serve and protect ALL of their citizens, as well as ensuring that business elites of whatever color have the proper climate in which to do business. Furthermore it seems to me that informing the black business elite of the climate in which his/her employees would work is all a part of the free market.

Full information and all that.

Posted by at October 21, 2003 10:14 PM | TrackBack