Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 15 November 1997 — Page 2

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15,1997 Z.

EDITORIALS

More jail space available National statistics released by the Drug Use Forecasting program say crack cocaine usage is down in Indianapolis. Members of this study are males and females being booked in the Marion County Jail. According to the National Institute for Justice, the crack cocaine epidemic in the city showed a dramatic increase in 1992 and peaked in 1994. The overall rate of detected cocaine for those arrested and booked in Marion County increased from 24 percent in 1992 to 50 percent in 1994. Forty percent of females tested recently showed positive results for cocaine. While this is down from its peak of 60 percent positive tests in women for cocaine, they continue to test 20 percent higher than men in the Marion County Jail. Expect those figures to rise. The grand opening for the Marion County Jail II is Saturday. It is a 340 bed facility and waiting to house more Blacks. Jail officials say it was built because of the overcrowding problem, which is true, because more African Americans are committing crimes, being railroaded for crimes they did not commit and locked up everyday. Under the Ronald Reagan regime drug czar William J. Bennett said. “The typical cocaine user is white, male, a high school graduate, employed full-time and living in a small metropolitan suburb.” No one listened to Bennett and he was right. One of America’s best kept secrets is the war on drugs is a war on Blacks, especially Black men. What else can we call it? The 1992 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse said 8.7 million whites used drugs in one month than 1.6 million Blacks. White high schoolers were likely to use drugs than Black high schoolers. They weren’t being swept out of suburbia and into prison the way Blacks were and are being swept out of their neighborhoods. Police and many politicians say it isn’t racism. Many are convinced more Blacks deal drugs and create a greater menace to their communities. Not true. White males began using heroin at a younger age than Black males and used it longer. It shouldn’t be hard to figure out why. They have the money and the connections. They know the suppliers. They don’t live in the ghettos. They are less likely to be arrested. They are not all over the streets. They are inside the cozy confines of suburban apartments and high-rise office buildings. Consider the time, effort, personnel and resources it would take for law enforcement to find, surveil and build a strong case against the ”big boys.” When they do nail them, they can’t make the charges stick. Well-connected dealers know how to twist the law, and if they don’t they will find an attorney who will. Back in the Black communities it’s business as usual. Hie number of poor individuals who use the stuff or the petty crooks who deal it grow bigger and more desperate everyday. Indianapolis now has another place to accommodate them.

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Teaching children survival skills

I remember when I first heard a parent talking about. It was right after the Bernard Goetz incident on New York City subways where several Black youth were shot by a man who claimed they were menacing him. The mother was talking about teaching her teenaged sons how to survive in New York City, how not to look “threatening” how to dress, what to look at on the subway. According to a recent New York Times article, parents of children of color are feeling the need to teach their children, especially sons, how to act when they are stopped by the police. A new kind of survival skill for children of color. One African American parent, a banker, had a strategy with his son prior to buying him a new car. They planned what to do when a police officer stopped the son because he was driving a nice car. They decided the son would cany his father’s business card and offer to let the police officer call his father. A Hispanic parent told how her child, despite much coaching from his parents, already had been stopped three times at gunpoint by police. Each time he was in a car police suspected of carrying drugs, but no charges were ever brought. Some agencies which work with young people are teaching them survival skills in dealing with police officers. One Bronx-based youth program is beginning lessons in legal and civil rights issues for youth and a Harlem agency already is teaching a course called Conflicts with Cops to help young people in heir encounters with police jfficers. Minority police officers issociations counsel youth on how ;o deal with police. The president of the Latino Officers Association, tells young people to note the officers names and to use it throughout their encounter. Targeting youth of color is not a

tactic of every police officer, but it happens too often, across class, education and political lines. Children of itiiddle class families are just as subject to be stopped as children of the poor. Girls are v ictims as well as boys. One African American mother told how her daughters, 17 and 18 years old, were coming out of a subway station with their boyfriends when they heard gunshots. All fourfound themselves pushed against a wall with guns to their heads by police. Her son, a champion fencer, was stopped in a subway station in a white community and asked what he was doing there. When he repl ied he was going to a fencing club down the street, he was taunted and not believed by police. Make no mistake about it, this is

just a New York City phenomenon. Parents of color in cities across the nation are finding they must teach their children these new survival skills. Polls show people of color believe that police officers do not treat people of color and whites with equal fairness. That is one of the greatest chasms between white Americans and people of color, their belief in the justice of the

criminal justice system. The fact many police officers do not live in the communities they serve aggravates many of the stereotypes some of them have about youth of color. Thus, they scoff at the story by the Black youngster that he is a fencer or they believe only a drug dealer could be; driving a nice car. It’s a sad commentary for children of color. It’s a sad commentary forour nation. As long as parents of color find themselves having to teach their children how to surv ive an encounter with police, we will know racism is alive and well in this country. In the words of one parent, “It’s depressing. If I had not told my son to be cool and respectful, he would probably be dead.”

On Zendejas, Bayh, Gore and Others

I’ll make this clear and direct. It is time for Dr. Esperanza Zendejas to

go!

One month ago, she said she couldn’t work with the Indianapolis Public Schools Board, didn’t want to be the focus of next spring’s board elections, wanted to look for a new job, so she asked to leave by June, 1998. Dr. Zendejas didn’t express this

Just Jellin' it By AMOS BROWN

What an excel lent opportunity fo the Clinton/Gon Administration t< make points witl our community b} having Mrs. Gon speak briefly at thi NAACP dinner That’s what Con gresswoman Julii

privately to her board. Instead, she called a Carson thought. Carson asked Mrs. Gore I press conference, TV stations interrupted soap step across the hall and pop into the NAAC

operas as Dr. Zendejas announced she was dinner.

throwing in the towel. Mrs. Gore and her staff hesitated. You se Now, 30 days later, after the Board sug- the wife of a Democratic Vice-President of tli gested Dr. Zendejas leave in January, our IPS United States must ask permission from th superintendent flip-flopped positions, declar- Clinton White Housejusttodrop by an NAAC

ing she wants to stay until the end of her dinner!

contract - June, 1999. Under pressure from Congresswoma Those ofus living (and paying taxes) in IPS Carson, Mrs. Gore’s staff called the Whil have become tired of Dr. Zendejas’ cliffhanger House and permission was granted. In her bri< style of management by media. There’s no remarks, Mrs. Gore never mentioned the woi evidence that- if Dr. Zendejas stays till 1999, “NAACP” nor talked about republican effori she II change her penchant of not communi- to derail Lee ’ s nomination, a longtime attome eating with our Black community. for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. For the sake ofIPS, students, parents, teach- The administration missed an opportunit ers and staff - the IPS school board needs to to score points with a Black community that pull out its checkbook and cash Dr. Zendejas been indifferent to Clinton/Gore for five yean out. The sooner the better! The annual NAACP Life Membership Dir

ner did something few organizations in oi

Heard in the Street community have had a chance to do, honor D Thursday Tipper Gore, wife of Vice-Presi- Frank P. Lloyd, Sr., a living legend. Dr. Lloy dent A1 Gore, addressed a meeting of Demo- is the most significant African-American Hoc cratic women at the Westin Hotel. Down the sier in the 20th Century. The areas he touchec hall was the annual Life Membership Dinner media, finance, business, politics, health care of the Indianapolis NAACP. That same day, all bear his positive imprint. I know he’s <hal die Clinton Administration was battling the ing his head as he reads this, because Dr. Lloy Republican Senate overconfuming Bill Lee as is among the most unassuming and humbl Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, individuals I’ve ever met. I’m proud ou

NAACP honored this lion. The tribute was well deserved and long overdue! Democrats began the 1998 campaign by unveiling their two biggest guns - the Bayh Twins. The 2-year-olds were with their dad and mom at a downtown rally last week, where the former Governor all but announced what everyone already knows - he’s running for the U.S. Senate. Evan Bayh’s biggest problem next year, will be getting our Black community excited about his Senate campaign. Bayh needs to be visible, speaking to our Black community - early and often - shoring up his support and getting Blacks, especially those outside Center Township, excited about his candidacy. If Blacks stay home next Nov. 3, Democrats will be in trouble, possibly imperiling Julia Carson, Prosecutor Scott Newman is to be com-! mended for his common sense and courage in proceeding with a new trial of those cops involved in the infamous Meridian Street Brawl' Let’s hope the judge in this case allows ALL the evidence to be heard. Kudos to WTHR, Channel 13 for its “Save OurStreets”reports. WTHR’s Jane Harrington visited Boston where Black-on-Black murders have dropped because the Black community works closely with police. The same Boston police department that, several years ago, was considered one of the most brutal and racist in America. If Blacks and police in Boston can work together to curb street violence, why aren’t we doing it here? Where’s our silent Black leader^ ship? Where’s our silent mayor? Maybe if Mayor Goldsmith spent less time meddling iri IPS and more time working to end violence in our streets, something’d get done! While giving Channel 13 a bouquet, I’m disturbed they’re emulating Channel 8 in disrespecting Black female anchors. Why has Channel 13’s eminently qualified Black anchor Anita Smith been removed from the anchor desk at 5:30 p.m? Smith, a multiple Emmy winner, has been relegated to ‘Top Story Anchor.” Instead of co-anchoring a crucial news-; cast, she’s limited to one brief live report. My sources tell me “research” was the reason for Smith’s demotion. What research Channel 13? Detailed Nielsen Ratings haven’t been released, so what prompted the change? Is : Channel 13’s news “consultants” telling station officials whites won’t watch afternoon newscasts with qualified Black anchors? It’s! time our community demands straight answers from local TV as to why it seems they’re eliminating Black anchors. I’ll have more to say on this issue. See ‘ya; next week. Amos Brown’s opinions are not necessarily those of The Indianapolis Recorder. Brown, can be reached at (317)293-9600or e-mail at' ACBROWN @ AOLCOM.