Jesse Jackson Should Not Be Demonstrating in Decatur, Illinois!

When some Black high school kids from a Decatur, Illinois school were expelled by the school board because of a fist fight during a ball game, Jesse Jackson should not be demonstrating, getting arrested and making a point. This is not the 1970s, this is the 1990s when other more effective strategies are available to get the message across America and the world about any form of injustice. The best thing Jesse could have done was to get hold of these kids, get them counseling to set them on the right path, and find scholarship for them to attend much better private schools. A couple of years later, Jesse Jackson can come back and present the children to the nation as a success created from those that were rejected by society. As a  minister he would be in his right place to say, look America, I helped to make something out of these children like the Bible says, "The stone that was rejected by the builders is made the head of the corner stone."

Although Jesse Jackson's action is greatly applauded by those who have experienced passionless treatment  from society because of inner mindset and preconceived notions or for whatever reasons,  we should not be fighting old problems with old strategies when there are more effective ways to deal with such problems. If they reject your children for whatever reason, you can make the welfare of your children your highest priority and put the school board to shame. It is not the time to go to the school board begging on your knees with tears running down your cheeks just to appease those whose minds have been turned against a certain segment of society. It is the time to learn to take care of your own.

Failure of Black Leaders

Why is Jesse Jackson the only person out there fighting for the kids? What happened to other Black leaders and celebrities? Although I do not believe in engaging in civil disobedience to make a point, but the complacency of many Black celebrities has intensified the harshness of treatment against people of color. We all know too well that if you call a particular group of people names or you dare to do something against them, the whole group (although they are minorities too) of people will rise against such a person, school or institution.

Black leaders  and organizations have failed the delinquent Black children particularly children from the inner cities who are presently being deprived of   normal basic education. It is their responsibilities to develop orchestrated efforts to solve problems of the inner cities to rescue Black children in trouble no matter the problem. We can not wait on a society who has never cared about those children to do any better than they have done. Evidently, the school board would never have treated their own children like they have treated these children if they had a fist fight. Would they? There are many well known Black celebrities that should have done more to help the Black children in trouble. Instead of helping to resolve these problems, being idolized by society is more important to those Black celebrities because it feels good to be accepted by the majority. Even those Black talk show hosts and hostesses who are in the position to educate America about the deepness of racial hatred and the harshness with which some minorities have been treated have failed. Consequently, the problem continues and more Black children will not graduate from high school because they did not receive adequate education. The future is very troublesome! Like the old saying, "When the good people keep quiet, the voices of evil will grow louder."

School Board's Action

Most minorities do not expect anything better from the school board because we lived in a culture of victimization and orchestrated anger against a particular group of people. The children were wrong to be fighting at the ball game. Such behavior should not be accepted. Although such fights happen everyday in schools across the nation regardless of color. We see professional ball players do the same thing all the time. However, should we throw a baby out with the bath water?

Many who applauded the school board's decision already accepted that the problem in most schools are due to unruly Black kids. Is this true? Evidently they would have been treated differently if they were children from another race. Perhaps society is still angry at all the shootings across the nation by White kids and Black children become a convenient target to deliver the message to the people. It is not fair, but that is the system that has been established in America. When you want to make a point to society, use the minorities as the scapegoat. Such action is always accepted by the people that are in denial about looking at the inner self but will rather point an accusing finger at other children. This is the basic aspect of institutionalized racism endured by many educated Blacks across the nation.

The school board is in the right position to use Black children as scapegoats because we are a culture that loves to celebrate racial intolerance. It is called being conservative! During the incident which happened in the military when White soldiers were shaving body parts of White women, getting drunk and partying like crazy, two minority officers were accused and about to be put on trial. It was 60 Minutes Magazine which exposed that these two officers, one Black and the other Asian were not even at the party. But, by American standard, they fit the profile of those to be used as scapegoats.

Conservative Radio Talk Shows

After the incident in Decatur, I listened to the voices of very angry Whites across the nation including those on KMOX Radio with Charles Jeco show, National Public Radio, jokes made by Kernie on KMOX about Jackson's arrest and many others. I was very dejected and felt sad for America as a racially divided nation. It is the only country racial hatred is accepted for being patriotic. Twenty years from now, we will see the full impact of the damage done to society by the so called "Conservative Radio Talk Shows"  whose agenda is primarily based on bigotry and divisiveness. These are the same talk shows that fostered the anti-government sentiments just because they support one political party against the other. After the Oklahoma bombing which killed close to 200 people because of anger against the government, President Clinton strongly appealed to the radio stations to watch their rhetoric. They refused, their negative rhetoric got stronger. The trouble continued. The same talk shows advocated for more guns in the streets and children are killing children with guns in the schools and also some are using guns to commit suicide, yet there is no call for restraints. The basic sentiment of these talk shows is to care less about minorities while strongly protecting the rights of the majority. They see minorities as threats to their existence, forgetting the minorities who utilized unpaid  sweat to build this country. Similarly, the voices of anger heard over the radios across the nation did not come alive when White children were shooting and killing other kids in schools across the nation.

When White children shot and killed many of their school mates, they were called "screwed up kids." When Black children had a fist fight at a ball game, they were called "criminals," and expelled from school. It is justice American style! What else is new?

Appropriate School Response

Part of the major problems in school today is the failure of the system to establish discipline using corporal punishment if necessary. The schools board should have dealt with the student as children not as Black children. They should have been punished and immediately returned to class. Those children were not treated as children, they were treated as out-casts by a society that loves to hate minorities and blame minorities for all the social problems. The school board should have treated the children the same way they would have treated their own children at home if they had a fist fight -- institute punishment and teach acceptable behavior. By throwing them out of school is to add to the problem and it is sad that most of those educators do not understand the difference between destructive punishment and restorative punishment. Children thrown out of school usually go down a destructive path very fast. Yet we always question ourselves how we create criminals without recognizing the resultant effects of action such as this taken against children which could have been salvaged. The school board's action did not do society any good.

Similar Incidents

In St. Louis a group of high school White kids had a party and went on a drinking binge. It was against the school's policy. So, the school suspended them from playing ball game -- meaning they will lose their scholarships. There was community outrage from these kids' parents supported by many other people that the punishment was too harsh. The school changed its position and the students were let off the hook. In another incident, a group of White parents rioted and beat up the referee after the game because their children's team lost. With amusement the incident was discussed on some radio shows questioning how parents were setting a bad example for their children. There were some that were sympathetic to the parents because the referee was unfair. Fights happen all the time in ball games across the nation whether by Black or by White kids, it makes no difference. But should we as adults condemn these children and expelled them from school? Are we not sending a message to minority kids that they are not wanted worsening the situation?

On November 19, 1999 a brawl broke out between an African American and a white student at Palmdale intermediate school, a suburb of Los Angeles. The black student received a blow to his head and eventually died of his wounds. The mostly white Palmdale school officials suspended the student for five days. There were no criminal charges filed.

About last year, a White boy from the USA and some of his friends were in Singapore jail to be flogged for defacing public properties, vandalizing cars as they went on a rampage. There was a national outcry that this nice boy is going to be emotionally damaged because of the punishment. People across the nation were pouring down their sympathy and expressing dissatisfaction for such punishment as barbaric. I wonder if society would have cared if they were Black children to be flogged in Singapore.

If they were White children doing things wrong, they are being children, but if they were Black children, they are criminals. This is how we as a society have created two nations because of preferential treatment for certain group and justice continue to elude minorities as they remain the target of victimization.

Blaming the Black Students

The major blame still lies on the shoulders of the students (and their parents) who got into a fist fight during the ball game understanding the consequences of such behavior. The kids acted as if they live in a nation where there is justice for all. Perhaps they will learn from now that there will always be one justice for minorities and another justice for other people. Such treatment is applauded by the society as bigotry continues to be a well celebrated  and accepted tradition in America. Those children knew what they were getting into, hopefully they would have learned their lesson.

Race Relationships and Reasons for Hope

On the overall national level, race relationship has gotten better -- not all Whites are racist and not all Black are racist either. When I evaluate the race relationship where I work, go to church and where I live, my hope and joy were renewed. In the north county of St. Louis nobody can conceal seeing young Black and White kids walking down the streets together. It is not unusual to see White grand parents bringing their Black grandchildren to grocery stores on Saturday or see a pregnant Black woman married to a White man  in a group of all White family members. It used to be many young Black guys in cars with young White women. Now, we are seeing the best of the best of the educated Black women being snatched and married to by educated White men. Some Blacks are not happy with this trend. But as long as there are more Black males in jail than in college, educated and more attractive Black women will continue to attract the passion and hopefully true love of educated White males.

Danger to Society

The danger to society is not the children's fist fight as much as the repercussion of the punishment handed down by the school board. If these high school students were deprived of proper education and socialization because of  one fist fight, society bears the life burden of watching them sink into delinquency. The same society may eventually pay for the outcome of perhaps criminal behavior by these children in later life or as adults.The major part of the purpose of education is to prevent such outcome. But it is easy to stiffen up our necks, bulge our eyes and yell the words, "Take responsibility for your action," or "What happen to accountability?"  --   primarily reserved for minority children. "Can any of the school board members treat their own children like that?" said one concerned White woman from the county of St. Louis. Her voice is a minority opinion just like on "Talk of the Nation" on National Public Radio discussing the same issue. Despite many Whites supporting the school board's action, a couple of Whites called to question the motive of the students' expulsion from school. There was a White woman who actually indicated that the action of the school board was based on racism, she cited the "Three strikes you are out" rule putting more Blacks in jail. She said, "How can America not see that this is racism?"

When we refuse to deal with problems, it will eventually come to haunt us. For example, the drug problems was ignored when it first started. It was portrayed to President Reagan as a Black problem. Later they found that more Whites are dropping dead due to drug overdose. By the time the government realizing the drug problem has no color, it was already too late. When Black gangs were established  in the inner cities, society refused to find the cause let alone find solutions. Seemingly and years later, the same problems are now besieging Whites kids and blood starts to flow in high schools across the nation. The saddest part of the issue is that we remained as a society in denial.

Book: Two Nations

We do not have many Blacks in jail because most Black children are criminals. It is because of the great disparity based on race and the harshness of sentencing over drugs. This put more Blacks in jail despite more middle class Whites use drugs more than Blacks. But, the law was designed to be "three strikes you are out" and the Blacks pay for the crimes of the entire society. It is not called scape goating but being conservative -- it is a fashionable tradition in America! So why should we blame the school board as Blacks remain a group society loves to hate? Why should they care about the welfare of those children?

Two Nations, Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal (257 pages, published by Ballantine Books, N.Y.) written by Andrew Hacker, a White college professor from New York. He defines the evils of racism in America and how it has adversely affected minorities and Blacks. He explores different aspects of American life and how racism permeated every one of them.  Andrew Hacker explains why racial disparity persist and why most Whites remain in denial because it is fashionable and accepted to be White in America. According to the author, America is an apartheid system with great denial from Whites who benefit from most of the opportunities. He claims that the attack on affirmative programs is a way to delude society that Blacks are being given undue preferential treatments when 100 percent of the quotas have always been reserved for Whites. "More Whites have come out against preferential programs and increasingly condemn Black for casting their race as victims who have no control over their conditions. America is inherently a 'white' country in character, in culture, in structure. Blacks as a people face boundaries and constraints set by the White majority," he says.

"We are left with the crushing effect of what we have done to ourselves by using race as our defining tool and lying most of the time about what we are doing." Roger Wilkins, The Boston Globe

Politicians are as Responsible for Racial Division in the Country

American media is directly responsible for prejudice against minorities since it created the fear in society that minorities are criminals. The same media refuse to present the achievements of middle class Blacks and other minorities. The society remains with the impression that minorities are criminals. There is almost nowhere such a label does not follow a member of a minority group in America depriving him or her justice and being subjected to ridicule and the hostility of discrimination. They are constantly subjected to the bigotry of racism and prejudice regardless of educational status.

Although it is not fair to blame politicians solely for racial division since it has been cultured into the system before their time. Some of them however took advantage of the division to win election votes just like Rush Limbaugh uses America's political division to win a jackpot becoming a millionaire created by mediocre minds who follow him.

When Jesse Jackson went to Decatur, many of the voices of Whites said he was playing a race card. When the former President Bush utilized the Willie Horton case of a convicted Black criminal to win political votes, he was playing conservative. Similarly, Jessie Helms' slogan of "You don't get the job because they gave it to an unqualified minority,"  -- he was applauded by fellow supporters as being conservative. These politicians were not playing the race cards according to their supporters despite utilizing bigotry to win political votes while Jesse Jackson was trying to bring racism to the attention of society as it raises it ugly heads over and over again. Sadly to say, racism remains an accepted and celebrated part of American culture. Until we look into the windows of our conscience we will never realize the damage we continue to do to ourselves and society because of this evil.

Book: Overcoming the Invisible Crime : Do we embrace Blacks the way we embrace Whites when they do good?