Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 7 January 1995 — Page 2

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1995

Ijil Lsm VN VIHU.IS

Make 1995 the year of our children

EDITORIAIS

The bottom line of crime prevention Attempts by local officials to supposedly get tough on juvenile crime have a hollow ring. It’s politically correct to talk about getting tough on juveniles and, on the surface of things, it sounds logical. The harsh reality is the criminal justice system is over-burdened at every level and efforts to get longer sentences for juveniles will hardly slow down local criminal activity. Just a couple of days ago, police sent out a notice that some 15,000 arrest warrants needed action of some type and police also issued a list of 20 people who were wanted for various serious offenses. Apparently, no one can find these people. It is obvious that the police are a little behind in their investigation and apprehension activities. Recently, Gov. Evan Bayh spoke of plans to build a new prison to keep up with the demand for space. The proposed prison will be filled to capacity by the time the mortar dries on the bricks. In another report, it was noted that arrests for possession and sale of crack cocaine has skyrocketed. In a related story, it has been determined that infant mortality rates have again risen and the rise seems to be associated with the use of crack cocaine. Every one of these reports and problems are concerned with crimes which already have been committed. If the public continues to allow public officials to talk about reacting to crime, as opposed to talking about ways and means to help prevent crime, then crime rates will continue to increase. If, for example, the availability of crack cocaine continues to grow on our city streets, then crime will increase no matter the scope of sentencing policies of the juvenile court. In fact, these polices are irrelevant as they concern drug-related crimes. Juveniles are not importing and manufacturing drugs. They have become consumers and low-level distributors of these drugs. The big tiipe dealers seem to be all But immune to capture and prosecution. We. need to ask our elected officials why this seems to be the case. If the market for drugs continues to grow in the United States, we will not be able to build enough prisons to house all of those associated with buying and selling illegal drugs. We simply cannot pay for all of this punishment. We can begin to pay for prevention. We need to insure that young people have access to opportunity. We need to quit emasculating our schools and begin rebuilding the process of schooling, among other things. We need to reinvest in our children much the way the American automobile industry reinvested in itself and improved its products. In fact, the taxpayers of America during the 1970s invested billions, at substantial risk, in the Chrysler Corporation, yet we refuse to take the education of America’s youth seriously. We’re sending young people to prison at record rates and at record costs and there is no end in sight. And if we think allowing the juvenile justice system to lock kids up for longer periods is going to solve some aspect of the problem, then we deserve what we’re going to get and that is simply soaring crime rates at skyrocketing expense. We need to be investing in our youth programs and organizations and we need to start today. We can cut down on the supply of criminals, if we give our youth program workers and teachers tools they need. Anything else is just a continuation of an American tragedy.

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New Year’s resolutions are usually broken before the next snowfall, but one that should be firmly kept throughout 1995 is one that everyone should make, to dedicate ourselves to preparing all children for the challenging world

of the 21st century.

That should come fairly easily for parents who want the best future for their children and who are making daily sacrifices to secure

isn’t functioning. In large part, that’s why those of us who don’t yet have children or whose children are grown, must also dedicate ourselves to making 1995 the children’s year. It is in our best

„ it. interests.

But, many parents need help. They’re If all — and I really mean all — children working at severaljobs to make ends meet and don’t grow up to become productive, can’t be home for their kids when school lets economically self-sufficient, law-abiding out. Many need assistance in knowing how to citizens, America will not be competitive in the monitor their children’s school performance, world economy and our democracy will be

And too often, the old support system of imperiled.

community centers and after-school programs The results of that will be felt even by

today’s childless adults, whose social security pensions would be endangered by the shortage of skilled workers and tax revenues those workers pay into the social security system. Closer to today’s concerns, the growing alienation felt by many young people endangers the future of a civil society. Without appropriate guidance and outlets for their energy, some tu;n to gangs for the acceptance they lack in the home and in the community. The result is a decline in the vitality, quality of life and sense of security in our cities and their suburbs. How a society trains its children and imbues them with sound values determines the future of that society. We’re not doing well on that score. We have to do better. And we can’t do better unless each of us pitches in. I’ve often pressed the idea of creating community Youth Development Funds to put caring adult youth workers in the I ives of every child who could benefit from such helpful guidance. But there’s more we can do, in addition to supporting such an effort with our checks. Especially in the inner city, we can help foster a culture of achievement that inspires our children to academic excellence. Many children are ambivalent about striving for academic success out of fear of being chastised by their peers. Adults can counter that negative peer pressure with positive rewards that recognize all forms of accomplishment. For example, our Urban League affiliates plan to work with community groups such as tenants associations, block associations, churches and others to sponsor celebratory events like parades, block parties, street festivals and assemblies which bring out parents, children and community people. These events would recognize academic progress, artistic prowess, community service and participation in extracurricular activities. Local merchants might contribute prizes, discounts on merchandise and admission to museums and amusement parks. Beyond that, church an social groups can provide space and volunteers for tutoring programs. Even outside an organized framework, individuals can become involved in positive activities such as taking kids to museums and other cultural activities. The important thing is for groups and individuals to become involved in our children’s lives in ways that help kids grow into successful adults. That’s a big job and it will take all of us to get it done.

The dangers of America’s prison-industrial complex

The Republican control of the Congress of the United States holds some ominous signs for Black America, not the least of which is the prospect of an unchecked growth in the hew prison industrial complex. When President Eisenhower left office in 1960, he warned’the nation about the dangers of a growing military industrial complex. It turned out to be a warning well worth heeding. During the Cold War, politicians whipped up and exploited anti-communist sentiments to give a virtual blank check to the defense/war industry. At the height of the Reagan years, despite the clamor for cuts in spending and reductions in the size of the government, the federal government was spending 55 cents of every composite tax dollar on the defense/war industry. The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson is now warning that Black people and people of good will need to pay attention to a new and dangerous phenomenon, the prison-industrial complex. While disgruntled voters are stridently demanding tax relief and reductions in the size of government, one area seems to be exempt from this demand, the prison-industrial complex. The military-industrial complex was fed by the Cold War and the fear of communism. The prison-industrial complex is being fed by the war on drugs, the war on crime and growing anxieties over personal security. According Jackson, the danger is that the prison-industrial complex, like the militaryindustrial complex, may take on a life of its own. This concern seems to be confirmed by a recent article by Stephen A. Holmes which appeared in the New York Times. * The United States now has the dubious distinction of having more people in prison than any

nation other than Russia. A little more than one million people are now in U.S. prisons and jails. In his article, Holmes says that “the nations inmate population has been climbing at a rate of more than 900 new prisoners a week for about the last decade and a half.” In 1994, it is estimated that “federal, state and local governments will spend more than $30 billion on corrections...including (building) new prisons and expanding existing ones, up from $4 billion in 1975,” writes Holmes. State government spending on prison construction has increased by a whopping “612 percent, adjusted for inflation, between 1979 and 1990.” Despite these amazing statistics, most jails and prisons are drastically overcrowded and scores of new jails and prisons are being constructed across the country. There appears to be no end in site. The Omnibus Crime Bill recently enacted by Congress with its provisions for tougher sentencing and longer sentences will inevitably result in the need for more jails and prisons. With politicians feeding the get tough on crime frenzy, more local, state and federal crime bills are likely to be enacted. In the State of Georgia, for example, the legislature recently passed a “Two Strikes and Out” bill for violent offenders. The Republican sweep in the recent election is also likely to give greater impetus to the

demand for more police, tougher sentencing and more jails and prisons. The tragedy is that there is absolutely no assurance that this strategy, with its huge and escalating outlay of tax dollars, will have any significant impact on crime. On the contrary, there is ample data to suggest that these precious tax dollars, as Jackson has repeatedly suggested, would be much better spent on education, jobs, housing, headstart, daycare and urban revitalization. Once again, however, the subtext for this seeming irrationality in the (white) American electorate is race and racism. The majority of people who are being hurled into the criminal justice system are Black people and people of color. One in four African-American males is now in prison or under some form of correctional supervision on ahy given day. Rather than pay the cost of dealing with the root causes of crime in America, particularly in communities of color, white

America would rather create and feed a more costly prisonindustrial complex, which largely warehouses Black people and people of color but employs and provides business opportunities for various sectors of the white community. Therein lies the ultimate danger. As the prison-industrial complex expands, more and more white constituencies will have a vested interest in promoting what will become the “stay tough on crime” fever. Tough anti-crime policy is creating a highly lucrative and profitable sector of the economy for white America. Hence, the criminalization of Black America and people of color is becoming one of the most dramatic growth industries in the United States. As Holmes cautions in his New Ybrk Times article, “The prison-building surge may create its own constituencies which will have a vested interested in maintaining the status quo. The growing prison-jail-industrial complex poses a real danger to Black America.”