Sustained!: Talk is Cheap

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Talk is Cheap

Tonight the heads of several police agencies in the Houston area held a forum at the Houston Area Urban League to discuss racial profiling. It was a calm event were the attendees mostly wore suits and acted "dignified." Racial profiling is an offensive policing practice that has existed for decades. Progressive Americans use to associate it with unacceptable prejudice. But now, due in part to the dilution of the toxic potion of racism by conservative commentators and others seeking to stifle the eradication of racism's poison with labels (accusing people of "playing the race card" for example); it has become a tolerated practice. But had this event been in the "Hood" where our county's citizens encounter racial profiling more frequently, people might not have been as dignified and calm when they heard some of what was being said.

The leaders of Houston's largest law enforcement agencies spoke as if they were trying to develop ideas for combating racial profiling. They were still establishing goals. To the audience this seemed acceptable. I was astonished. Racial profiling has been a problem for far too long, yet local law enforcement was speaking about it as if it were a new issue with which to deal. Law enforcement, if they were sincere about addressing the issue, would have been much further along the road of finding solutions to the problem. Yet the crowd was not offended. I did not get the impression that they thought anything was wrong. Perhaps for some, being part of the discussion was sufficient. Many of these leaders are all too content with engaging in discussion. They travel a circuit of forums in overdrive to engage in discussions, but they idle in park when it comes to implementing effective change.

Such may be the result of the absence of strong legal interest groups seeking to change our justice system and seeking to ensure social justice. I am astounded by the evolu

tion (or devolution) of the Urban League and other historic civil rights groups from their innovative approaches through litigation, to their marketing efforts to improve their image by becoming more mainstream to gain funding. To my knowledge, there is no group which is seeking to eradicate racial profiling through litigation as the NAACP did in the 1950s and 1960s with desegregation. Even though access to justice was restricted during the Jim Crow era, Civil Rights organizations developed strategies and fought. Federal Courts SUSTAINED! their opposition to racist policies; and hard-fought legal victories brought about the death of Jim Crow. Racial profiling is no less offensive. Talking about the problem has gotten us no where. Litigation in the same manner that was employed by civil rights organizations in years past may be an effective means to bringing about change. If lawsuits become the norm, then law enforcement officials will realize that talk without action may be more expensive than implementing change.

2 comments:

AnonymousSep 18, 2009 10:29 AM
It seems as if all of our civil rights programs are designed for a profit rather than a resolution. It is so sad because without being embodied with a true spirit for the people things like "Their playing the race card again" are often passed through as mediocrity and a form of literature in the political stance book of how to over ride an objection. Now civil rights are not taking serious because it is just another movement of political renovation and advancement for those who sustain a program through a economic diversity where the goverment provides the resources. Therefore since the State or Goverment holds the strings to the check book they basically govern our civil rights programs. It doesnt' matter who sails the ship in their opinion, as long as it is being sailed as their governed orders commands.
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AnonymousSep 18, 2009 01:25 PM
The problem is that Whites do not typically see the problem with race. If they did,they would be forced to change. Change for Whites would put them on equal footing as all other races, an "equality" they don't really want. The Federal courts sustaining a ban on racial inequality only taught Whites to be more subtle in their racism. So, culturally, Whites are less vocal about race. Keep in mind too, that the vast majority of them are not proud of the slavery past - it paints their ancestors as monsters. Blacks are (too) vocal at times about race, or (too) quick to jump to the conclusion that race is the paramount issue. We do need to admit that we see race. We all see race. Now that I admit I see race, can I see past it? That is the move that this nation needs to make.
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