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(ommentary The next election in black and white ! This November will be one f the most important elec ions in our life time. We ust vote. The control of the .S. Senate is up for grabs. here is a stiff challenge for orgia’s governor’s man ion. Issues of prison reform, quitable social programs, education, and many more portant issues are staring g: in the face. We have to respond ! George Bush and his 'l:ronies are looking to this flection for a mandate for heir bandit style of politics. We must send them a mes sage that we aren’t pleased with their domestic agenda, foreign policy and rogue pol i We need togtudy the issues 'TO BE EQUAL By Hugh B. Price : e The Louima case and persistence of memory On September 20, a New York Times news story told of a remarkable pattern seen in the sifting of potential jurors for the last federal trial stemming from the sen sational case of the savage sexual assault of Abner Louima by New York City police officers in a precinct station bathroom in 1997. - The Times story said that a noticeable “racial divide in perceptions about the case” was evident between black and white potential jurors. Generally, the white jurors had: only very hazy recollec tions of the details of the case; but blacks’ remem bered even relatively minor details clearly. “Many of the blacks described Mr. Louima’s ardeal as they would a cul tural touchstone,” the Times report noted, “like the case of the Scottsboro boys or the Birmingham church bomb ing.” < In one sense, the jury ques tioning was for naught, hecause Charles Schwartz, ‘Marable . From page 10A Mississippi’s NAACP branch who was brutally assassinat ed in front of his home and family in 1963; Septima Poinsette Clark, who created the Citizenship Education program which taught thou sands of poor and illiterate blacks to read, write, and to register to vote; Robert Moses, a young mathematics . teacher, who went into Mis _.sissippi to organize voter peducation and registration ccampaigns; the Vanderbuilt ;Divinity student, James <Lawson, who trained civil .rights activists in civil dis ,obedience techniques and taught them the philosophy .of non-violence of Mohandas ;Gandhi; the courageous Ella . Baker, veteran of civil rights .organizations who inspired the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1960; the leg sendary Fannie Lou Hamer, a .former cotton field laborer (Who co-founded the Missis tßippi Freedom Democratic -Party, and challenged the whites-only state delegation .at the 1964 Democratic tNational Convention; and .John Lewis, who in his early <twenties participated in . “freedom rides” to desegre jgate ‘interstate bus routes, ;and led non-violent “sit-in” .demonstrations at whites jonly lunch ooulne:e;s;_ Thur good Marshall, lead attorney . of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and later the first in the o By The Rev. D 4 Ralph C. Watkins ) and make sure we under stand them. We can’t allow misguided, racist media out lets to influence our votes. There has been a series of attacks on our leaders and we must show them that we aren’t stupid. We know who has our best interest at heart. Our votes should be influ enced by issues. Knowledge is the key. We have.to study the former officer federal prosecutors said helped in the attack, struck a deal that canceled perjury and civil rights violation charges against him in exchange for a five-year sentence for a prior perjury conviction in the case — and the unusual stip ulation that he cannot pro claim he is innocent during ‘the duration of his sentence. Yet, the “racial divide” about this case the jury ques tioning uncovered reveals something very important about the workings of histo ry and justice. Five 'years ago the unspeakably brutal assault Louima endured ushered in an intense period of high lighting and challenging police misconduct, especially against people of color, in New York City and other communities and states. The officer who attacked Louima, Justin Volpe, pled guilty to the crime in 1999 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. The Schwarz plea bargain black Supreme Court Jus tice; 'and .Gloria Hayes Richardson, who led the desegregation campaign in Cambridge, Maryland. Creative and talented indi viduals often help to define a moment in history, yet histo ry is fundamentally made by ordinary people, who work every day, who sacrifice for their children, and find social meaning through their struggles and contribu tions to their communities, voluntary organizations, and religious institutions. The struggle for freedom was ‘always. expressed in collec tive terms for the African- American people. The spirit of freedom was expressed in their celebrations of what was first termed “Negro His tory Month” held every Feb ruary; through celebrations such as ‘Juneteenth,” hon oring the date of June 19, 1865, when blacks in Texas first learned of their emanci pation from slavery; to the popular national liberation flag of the black masses inspired by Marcus Garvey, a flowing colorful banner of “red, black, and green.” The fierce and unrelenting character of white racism, and the structural barriers that inhibited and flourish ing of full democratic life in the U.S., constructed a national consciousness and political culture that expressed itself through a myriad of institutional and organizational forms. Black people regardless of their social class deeply felt a sense of linked fates, which and fully understand the issues that affect our people and then decipher where each candidate stands on these issues. If you want to learn more so that you can go to the polls as an enlight ened voter then I encourage you to come to the Town Hall Meeting on October 9, 2002. On October 9, from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. at Beu lah Grove Baptist Church, 1434 Poplar Street, a Town Hall meeting will hosted by the civil rights giant, Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery and The Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda. The for mer congressman, ambassa dor and mayor of Atlanta, Rev. Andrew Young, will be in attendance along ‘with recently means that the legal system’s effort to punish all of the criminals on the New York City police force respon sible for that heinous act concluded wtih what can best be described as only a half measure of justice. Federal prosecutors had tried through three trials since 1999 to prove that Schwarz was the officer who pinned Louima to the bath room floor for Volpe, but fed eral juries could never agree on that (a jury in 2000 did convict Schwarz of perjuring himself when he sdid under oath that he had not escorted Louima away from the precinct’s front desk toward the bathroom the night of the attack.) It appears that the plea arrangement was the best that could be hoped for, even though it means that the identity of the police officer who directly aided Volpe that awful night will remain, for the time being, unanswered. It means several other things as well. well as to their collective his tory of resistance. The suc cess of any one member of a disadvantaged community are, in many ways, shared and experienced by all. The médern desegregation movement was successfully constructed, and was able to transform America’s politi cal and social institutions, because it fully reflected that national black con sciousness, a collective iden tity borne of triumphs as well as tragedies, the fruit of deferred dreams and demo cratic aspirations. During the desegregationist phase of the struggle for civil rights, from roughly 1954 to 1965, voluntary organiza tions supported a number of national political groups, all espousing civil rights, but disagreeing sharply over the appropriate strategies and tactics used to achieve them. Middle class-oriented blacks usually favored the moder ate approaches of the NAACP and the more con servative National Urban League, both of which favored coalitions with white liberal constituencies in gov ernment, business, and phil anthropic agencies to imple ment racial reforms, such as affirmative action and minority economic programs to promote the development of black capitalism. The African-American religious community and faith-based institutions pro vided the necessary resources to King’s South ern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), founded in 1957. Unlike the NAACP AUGUSTA FOCUS George Curry of the Nation al Black Newspaper Associa tion, Rev. Timothy McDon ald of Atlanta, and Sister Felicia Davis. They will lead a discussion around issues. This Town Hall meeting will be a dialogue. You will have the opportunity to share your concerns as well as listen to some of our most respected leaders share their perspective on the key issues facing the African-American community. I will be there! Will you be there? Dr. Watkins is a-seciology professor at Augusta State University and can be reached at (706) 737-1735 or e-mail: rwatkins@aug.edu One is that, although the assault was committed in the midst of a busy police precinct, most likely wit nessed -by several other police officers, and its details ‘were soon known to numer ous other police officers who were in the station house that night, some number of police officers are still stand ing behind the “blue wall of silence,” disgracing them selves and their unifdrms and the city they have sworn to protect and serve. - This is particularly bitter for many African Americans and Haitian Americans, of whom Louima is one, because the Louima case — coming before police racial profiling of people of color became an explosive national issue — crystallized African Americans’ justifiable skep ticism, borne of long experi ence, that the criminal jus tice system can be depended upon to protect them not only from criminals, but from arbitrary and unjust behavior by police, too. which emphasized litigation and legislation, the SCLC practiced civil disobedience mass campaigns, designed to mobilize church congrega tions to pack the jails, in order to pressure authorities to eliminate discriminatory laws. The SCLC used eco nomic boycotts and tactics of peaceful civic disruption to force local business and political leaders to change their policies towards blacks. To their left politically, were the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), founded by James Farmer and Bayard Rustin in 1941, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), launched from the “sit-in” student protests during the winter and spring months of 1960. Throughout most of its his tory, CORE was a racially integrated organization that actively used civil dis obedience tactics, such as “git-ins” and “freedom rides” to challenge Jim Crow laws. SNCC activists also desegregated lunch coun ters and initiated voter education and registration drives in many of the most poverty stricken and dan gerous areas of the rural South. But they also described themselves, with youthful elan, as_ the “True Believers,” absolutely dedicated to placing “their bodies on the line” in the struggle to outlaw Jim Crow. SNCC frequently used the “jail in” tactic of breaking seg regation laws and refusing Who are the terrorists? The American blue chip cerporations are the true terrorists in America. They are the ones creating terror with their lies, trickery and deception. They are the ter rorists who are: 1. Creating terror in the workplace. 2. Causing millions of Americans to lose every thing. ; 3. Causing former employ ees to commit suicide. 4. Bringing down the Dow But there is also another way to look at the half meas ure of justice produced by the legal conclusion of the Louima case. It is to believe that the search for justice in this case — that is to say, the search to understand and not forget its more profound meanings — will go on. It is to believe that, in fact, the limitations of the legal system in this case under score the historical role of two other forces: One is per sistence. The other is per sistence of money. The importance of persist ence was evident in the refusal of federal prosecutors to succumb to the disingenu ous “advice” of some that the public was “weary” of the case and that they should give up their efforts against Schwarz. The Times story starkly shows that many blacks (and some whites, too) are not and will never be weary of pursing justice. And the importance of per sistence was evident in the to pay fines or to post bail, preferring to overload the capacity of the criminal justice system to manage public resistance in black communities. Although all of these formations dis agreed with each other about many issues, they all came together in a common front to eliminate the Jim Crow regime. The varia tions and divergences rep resented by their different styles of work were really a strength, not a weakness. That diversity reflected the complex and sometimes contradictory constituen cies and competing inter ests within the African- American community as a whole. The mass democrat ic movement for desegrega tion, over a period of many years, had finally con vinced the majority of white Americans to end their longstanding commit ment to legal segregation. Proven R Leadership Courageous § Al Fighter Dedicated ,( (8 Visionary Georgia House District 97 www.aosmith.com Paid for by the Committse to elect Otis Smith OCTOBER 3, 2002 Jones and other financial markets. 5. Stealing the investors’ confidence in this country by no longer investing. 6. Stealing retirees’ pen sions and health benefits and veterans’ benefits. Warning America: Prepare yourself for a rough, bumpy ride because only a few cor porations have been exposed. Ron Vinson ; Augusta, Ga. Call 722-4222 to Subscribe Only $24.95 final statement this past weekend of Abner Louima himself. : He said: “This is not the way I wanted this to end. But ... fighting the good fight established the principal that what has happened to me will not be tolerated and will never happen to my chil dren or anyone else’s chil dren.” These words, even as Louima ended by saying now it was for himself and other people to get on with their lives, underscored the second force —the persistence of memory. Yes, of course, we will get on with our lives, as we have while the various trials of this case have come and gone. But there will be no forgetting what happened. And there will be no forgetting what remains to be done so that Louima’s hope for “my chil dren or anyone else’s children” can become a reality. Hugh B. Price is president of the National Urban League. The struggle for black reparations will ultimately be won, but the length of time it will take to get there depends on our abili ty to learn from our own history. The next stage of the African-American free dom struggle, the demand for reparations, must become the new political consciousness of the great majority of our people, in order to win. Dr. Manning Marable is Professor of History and Political Science, and the director of the Institute for Research in African-Ameri can Studies at Columbia University in New York. Along the Color Line is dis tributed free of charge to over 350 publications throughout the U.S. and internationally. Dr. Marable’s column is also available on the Internet at www.manningmarable.net. 11A