BECAUSE
REALITY DOES NOT SUIT HIM
THINKS “STOP
& FRISK” SHOULD BE MORE “MEET & GREET”
President
and CEO of the NAACP, Ben Jealous railing against the
NYPD
practice known as “Stop & Frisk”
(Monday February 18, 2013. New
York, NY) It’s not easy being Ben Jealous these days. As the president and CEO
of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) he is
struggling to find relevancy for the oldest civil rights organization in
America. The NAACP has a long and storied
history and was at the forefront of the movements that blossomed into the civil
rights events in the 1950’s and 1960’s that literally changed the complexion of
the country in many profound ways. Born
in the days after the Civil War the conclusion of that conflict may have
brought legal emancipation to African Americans but it did little to alter the
rampant, endemic racism, segregation, and oppression of Black citizens
particularly in the “Jim Crow” Deep South.
The legacy of 400 years of slavery would not be easily relegated to
history and organizations like the NAACP played a vital role in the long, often
bloody march to racial equality under the law in the United States.
THE LONG MARCH UPWARDS
As desegregation of public
institutions such as schools became law in certain States in the 1950’s it
became obvious immediately that legislation alone could not induce the type of
behavioral change and cultural shifts that would afford African Americans the
right to live and work, educate and house their families and children as White
Americans could. The epic confrontations
in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and other locations were led by men and women
of almost unfathomable courage and fortitude.
Americans of a certain age can recall some of the seminal moments in
that protracted movement. From the
church bombing in Birmingham to forced busing in Boston, newspapers and
television brought the brutality of the era into the living rooms of America.
From Jane Pitman and Harriet
Tubman to Rosa Parks; John Lewis and Reverend Abernathy to Martin Luther King,
Jr., Malcolm X and Medgar Evans to Thurgood Marshall, the civil rights movement
produced more than its share of invaluable individuals and groups. Sadly there are entire generations of younger
Americans today who have no real knowledge or appreciation for the efforts and
sacrifices of those stalwarts.
Unfortunately many young African Americans equate the likes of
self-appointed “activists” and “leaders” such as the Reverends Jesse Jackson
and Al Sharpton with the civil rights movement when they were, at best, peripheral
players who rose to prominence in the aftermath of the real victories such as
the Voters rights Act of 1965.
The racial progress that has
transpired over the last 50 years is nothing short of remarkable in many
ways. That it took so long after the
Civil War for reality and law to overtake prejudice and culture only serves to
underscore the weight of those 1960’s victories. In recent years much of the civil rights
movement and those associated with it have become nothing more than race
baiting blowhards, self-important activists without a noble cause. Now, in the early days of the second term of
the first African American president, Barack Obama, there remain no more glass
ceilings for African Americans to lay claim to.
No, just the fact that America has twice elected a Black man by
substantial electoral margins has not righted all wrongs, leveled all playing
fields or lifted all boats on a rising tide of racial equality, tolerance,
acceptance and understanding. No, not by
a long shot; yet circumstances and reality are so much different today indeed.
THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW
To say times have changed in
racial terms is an understatement; to think that problems do not still plague
our society would be naive. But the
issues of today pale in comparison to those of just a few decades ago. Decades of Affirmative Action initiatives and
countless other measures have drastically improved the prospects if not the lot
for African Americans. Still, as a “minority group” they appear to suffer from
a disproportionally high rate of social and cultural maladies from poverty,
crime, drug addiction, and broken families to name just a few.
In some cases it appears that
the “issue” of the day is somewhat contrived or overblown; in still other cases
the issue seems fabricated. In the
absence of real profound systemic inequalities and injustice a never-ending
litany of perceived wrongs become the cause du jour often where no wrong exists
to begin with. Those individuals who
self-identify as activists and leaders are struggling to remain relevant in today’s
America. One case in point is Mr.
Jealous and the NAACP; so far removed from any significant value to Black
America he lurches from incident to incident in a callous attempt to reacquire
a sense of purpose. If it is not a march
protesting the shooting death of the Florida youth Trayvon Martin, then it is a
shrill rant about the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the
controversial policy known as Stop and Frisk.
The trouble with Mr. Jealous
coming here to incite the perpetually aggrieved, professional “victims” of an
unjust, unfair, inherently “biased” Police Department is that his argument is
flawed; his position counterproductive to improving the overall relationship
between the African American community and NYPD. With New York City experiencing historic
lows in all major crime categories, most new Yorkers would be hard pressed to
not feel that these substantial reductions in crime have no correlation to the
NYPD policies and procedures. To posit
that Stop and Frisk has not played a role in reducing criminal activity, particularly
the offenses known under the rubric of “street crime”, is disingenuous at best,
just plain ignorance at worst.
The most vocal opponents of
Stop and Frisk complain that it amounts to nothing more than racial profiling
targeting young Black and Latino men.
The fact of the matter is that 10% of the population is responsible for
100% of the crimes committed in our City.
That the 10% is disproportionally Black and Latino is undeniable. While it may represent a level of social
pathology not found in other demographic groups, it is what it is. Mr. Jealous claims that an increasing number
of members of NYPD contend that they “oppose” Stop and Frisk adding that in
their collective opinion it “does not work”.
There are members of the 34,000 strong membership of NYPD who have
issues with a variety of tactics, policies, and procedures. In an organization of that size there will
always be some amount of dissention.
That said, in candid conversations with scores of members of NYPD over
the course of the past nine months, we have found a significant majority in
favor of the practice despite the controversy that has become associated with
it due, in large part, to the “activists” protesting.
Perhaps Mr. Jealous should pay
a visit to Chicago where the homicide rate is skyrocketing and “Black on Black”
crime of every sort is running rampant.
It is curious that “leaders” like Mr. Jealous and his counterparts in
other civil rights groups never offer constructive, practical, affordable
solutions to the plight of the communities they insist they “represent”. Mr. Jealous has probably not spoken to some
of the Black and Latino citizens in the rougher parts of New York City who have
expressed full throttle support for NYPD and Stop and Frisk. He likely hasn’t concerned himself with the
epic violent crime escalation in Chicago because that would entail too much
effort, maybe even some work, and tangible work.
CALL IT WHAT YOU WILL
Sometimes we get caught up in
jargon, confused by labels, and mislead by nomenclature. The term “Stop and Frisk” itself is loaded,
it conjures up a certain image that is more ominous than actual. Americans like our bumper sticker phrases and
slogans. From the pentagon’s “Shock and Awe”
to the Department of Justice “Fast and Furious”, anything we can assign a
catchy brief slogan to we will. To that
point perhaps the practice the NYPD has been employing to interdict, mitigate
and prevent crime before it is committed should have been called “Meet and
Greet”. Maybe it would be more
acceptable to folks like Mr. Jealous if it was called “Kiss and Tell” or “Ask
and Answer”. Yes, our verbiage can cause
undue troubles, so we live and learn, deal with truth and consequences, bump
and grind our way through the thicker weeds of our diverse society, seek and
destroy when we can after we lock and load.
Of course we can cut and paste and wine and dine our way around reality
but that would just be smoke and mirrors.
If only the heart of the matter was just a matter of lingo.
What is reality is that since
Stop and Frisk has been an operational facet of “routine patrol”, New York City
has seen dramatic decreases in Assault and Battery, Breaking and Entering, and
every other crime against persons and property. For you to ask our Mayor
Michael Bloomberg to “repair the damage” he has condoned by supporting NYPD
Commissioner ray Kelley and the men and women of NYPD, serves no positive
purpose at all. Quite the contrary; it
only allows others of your ilk to fan the flames of division.
Sorry Mr. Jealous but you
should get your facts straight, stop and think, search high and low for the
nuts and bolts of what you and the NAACP can do to contribute to the solutions
rather than just hem and haw, huff and puff, while you seek to divide and
conquer and drag the debate down into the gutter portraying it in the old,
tired terms of a Black and White issue.
TAGS: NAACP, BEN JEALOUS, “STOP & FRISK”, “MEET & GREET”,
NYPD, STREET CRIME, NYC SAFEST BIG CITY IN AMERICA, CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT,
VOTERS RIGHTS ACT, DESEGREGATION, JIM CROW, 1960’S TURMOIL, CURRENT CHICAGO
CRIME WAVE, MAYOR BLOOMBERG, NYPD
COMMISSIONER RAY KELLEY, ROUTINE PATROL
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