Cynthia McKinney: Bell Verdict Shows Dred Scott Reality
"A cycle of protest
without punishment."
"[T]he legislation and histories of the time, and the language used in the
Declaration of Independence, show, that neither the class of persons who had
been imported as slaves, nor their descendants, whether they had become free or
not, were then acknowledged as a part of the people, nor intended to be
included in the general words used in that memorable instrument. . . .
[A]ltogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or
political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which
the white man was bound to respect."
And with that, the United States Supreme Court ensured that the 20th Century
would be defined, as W.E.B. DuBois wrote, by the color line. So, while we
might be outraged at the Sean Bell decision itself, it comes directly from the
flawed jurisprudence that gave us the Dred Scott Decision in 1857,
Plessy v. Ferguson
in 1896, Bakke
in 1978, Croson in
1989, Adarand
in 1995, Gratz
in 2003, and all of the Ward
Connerly-inspired attacks on the very same affirmative action hard won by
students facing water hoses and dogs; men and women facing jail, lynch mobs,
and death.
Interestingly, according to Attorney Roger Wareham of the December 12th
Movement's International Secretariat, the criminal justice system in this
country "always finds a rationale for letting off cops who kill black and
brown people." Indeed, police officers seem to know that they can
kill certain people with impunity.
Just in New York City alone, Wareham rattles off the murders that have defined
police-"communities of color" relations over two generations:
Clifford Glover, 1972
Louis Baez, 1978 shot (22 times)
Randolph Evans, 1979
Eleanor Bumpers, 1985 (a grandmother)
Amadou Diallo, 1999
Patrick Dorismond, 2003
Sean Bell, 2006
Sadly, New York City isn't the only city, with this plague. In 2001, the
Dayton Daily News reported that Cincinnati topped the list of police killings
of Blacks, having had 22 people shot, 13 fatally. All black men.
Three unarmed. Plus two additional deaths due to police use of chemical
irritants.
The 2001 "Cincinnati Intifada" lasted for three nights after a white
police officer murdered an unarmed black teenager. Timothy Thomas was the
fifteenth black male killed by Cincinnati police over a six-year period.
I traveled with Ron Daniels and others to Cincinnati to support the call by
black residents, including Reverend Damon Lynch III and 36 other ministers, for
a boycott of that city. Still reeling from the effects of the boycott,
Cincinnati made headlines again in 2003 when the world watched as one black and
five white police officers repeatedly beat Nathaniel Jones with batons and then
left him in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant, only to be pronounced
dead later at the hospital.
"The criminal justice
system in this country always finds a rationale for letting off cops who kill
black and brown people."
The "Benton Harbor, Michigan Intifada of 2003" lasted two nights after
the murder of an unarmed black motorcyclist by white police officers.
Adding insult to injury, the residents of majority-black Benton Harbor are
reeling under an attempted takeover of the last "undeveloped"
beachfront property on Lake Michigan. The residents are under attack by
the Whirlpool Corporation, that wants to develop "Benton Shores" and
move all of the residents completely out of the town. The purported goal
of the development is to turn Benton Harbor into one of the "hottest
vacation destinations in the country," to include a members-only indoor
water park, and a Jack Nicklaus golf course. According to Reverend Edward
Pinkney, the valiant leader who is trying to save Benton Harbor for the people,
Harbor Shores will result in a complete takeover of Benton Harbor, a city that
is 96% Black. Reverend Pinkney has been in jail since December 14, 2007
on trumped-up charges including violation of probation, for writing an article
calling the chief judge racist. Mrs. Pinkney called the Office of Michigan
Congressman John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee to ask for
justice for the residents of Benton Harbor and for her husband.
Shockingly, Chairman Conyers refused Mrs. Pinkney's plea to get involved in
this heroic struggle of a 96% Black community in his own state. When I
visited Benton Harbor, it was clear to me that Reverend Pinkney has the full
support of the area's residents, black and white, as they struggle to maintain
the character of their community. Reverend Pinkney is recognized by the
people as true hero and occupies a jail cell because of it.
Finally, however, someone broke the silence and admitted it. Former
Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper wrote in his book, "Breaking Rank,"
that white police officers are afraid of Black men. He develops this
theory in a chapter of the book entitled, "Why White Cops Kill Black
Men." Finally: a hint of truth coming from the other
side. In a June 16, 2005 interview with the Looking Glass News, Stamper
says that he personally believes "that white cops are scared of black
men. The bigger or darker the man, the more frightened the white
cop. I can't shake that; it's a belief I will take to the grave."
So while the corporate press would have us believe that reporting on what a
former Vice Presidential nominee says about a Presidential candidate is a
discussion of race, the prospects are that black and brown men and women will
continue to be murdered by police officers who, fundamentally, seem scared of
black people. That fear apparently extends to the larger community
because juries construct ways to let murderous police officers escape just
punishment.
Roger Wareham, and the December 12th Movement International Secretariat raise,
inside the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, the details of the type
of police abuse in which a 92-year old grandmother, Kathryn Johnston, is
murdered by police in Atlanta, Georgia and her family still has not seen
justice or been made whole. Or where a young black male, also in Atlanta,
can be sitting in his mother's car and is murdered because the police presume
that the car is stolen.
The December 12th Movement has asked for United Nations Rapporteurs to come to
the U.S. on fact-finding missions so that the U.S. can finally be listed as a
major human rights abuser and a Rapporteur assigned to this country.
Already, the Special Rapporteur on Racism and Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia
and Related Intolerance is coming to the U.S. from May 18 - June 6 and will be
in New York City on May 21st and 22nd. The December 12th Movement is
scheduled to have a hearing for him at the Schomberg Center where the issue of
police killings will be raised. The Rapporteur is also scheduled to visit
DC, Chicago, Omaha, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami, and San Juan.
"The prospects are that black and brown men and women
will continue to be murdered by police officers who, fundamentally, seem scared
of black people."
The United Nations Special Rapporteur for Summary and Arbitrary Executions, Mr.
Phillip Alston, is conducting a Mission to the U.S. in June. The
Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is also interested in
reports of police abuse. If a consistent and systemic pattern of abuse
exists (which it clearly does in the United States), the United Nations General
Assembly can pass a resolution which helps creates international public opinion
and perhaps the political will to stop it.
Certainly, doing the same thing - a cycle of protest without punishment - will
net the same results. Something different must be done. That's why
I authored legislation to deny federal funds and the use of federal equipment
to any law enforcement unit found to have violated the civil rights of the
people it is organized to protect and serve. Imagine if we had the laws
on the books and the apparatus of enforcement. Imagine if juries wouldn't grant
impunity to killer cops.
Some of you have written to me suggesting that we do something different:
perhaps a full-scale boycott. Perhaps a full-scale, all-out political
response - something many in this generation have never done before.
Bobby Kennedy always said, "Some men dream of things that are and say
why. I dream of things that never were and say why not."
It is not impossible for us to have justice. We don't have to lose
any more people to police abuse, brutality, or murder. But, in order to
change things, we're going to have to do some things we've never done before in
order to have some things we've never had before.
Are you willing to entertain that idea? Today? Right now? If
we demand more of our elected representatives, I'm convinced we will get
it. And it should be clear exactly what is needed if we don't get what we
demand.
Cynthia McKinney is a former Democratic congresswoman from Georgia and current
candidate for the presidential slot on the Green Party ticket. She is also an
organizer for the Reconcstruction Party. To read more of her writings, please
visit www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com.
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