THE ANDERSON FILES from Page 5
maries advocating for not only racial justice but a full array of progressive reforms similar to Bernie Sanders (who supported him). The GOP was becoming increasingly white and Southern. Republicans stoked white racial resentment but with a coded, dog-whistle bigotry. Then “No Drama Obama” showed up. Barack Obama was cool, calm and eloquent. His message of hope was popular. Some said this was the birth of a “post-racial” America. Obama knew better. But after his election, he was determined to be the president of all Americans, not just blacks. Still, he was frequently reminded of his ethnicity in a negative way. The signs at the Tea Party rallies featured grotesquely racist caricatures of him. The birthers, led by Donald Trump, kept asking for his birth certificate. Obama pushed criminal justice reform in his second term. Since the Republicans blocked him in Congress, he used his Department of Justice (DOJ) and issued many executive orders on prisons, sentencing and policing. He made it illegal for most federal agencies to ask job applicants if they had been convicted of a crime. He ended the practice of placing federal juvenile prisoners in solitary confinement. He began phasing out the use of private prisons for federal inmates. He launched several initiatives promoting community policing and alternatives to incarceration. He commuted the sentences of a record number of federal prisoners. He issued clemency to nearly 1,000 inmates during his time in office, more than his last three predecessors combined. The president commissioned the 21st Century Task Force on Policing after the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, and hosted roundtables where criminal justice activists and law enforcement officials discussed issues. New York magazine reporter Jonathan Chait notes: “The last few years of the Obama administration were one of the most productive periods of criminal justice reform in American history. The Obama administration changed sentencing guidelines to reduce the disparity in the treatment of drug crimes that had disproportionately harmed 6
I
black defendants. As part of an effort to inculcate a ‘guardian, not a warrior’ mindset, it restricted the transfer of surplus military equipment to police departments. Most importantly, it formed consent decrees with more than a dozen police departments to force them to change their practices.” Under Obama, the DOJ vigorously pursued “patterns and practices” interventions into civil rights violations of police departments. These probes increased more than 50% over the Clinton and Bush years. His administration used these investigations to impose federal oversight on eight big city police departments over its two terms. In their 16 years combined, Clinton and Bush oversaw only six. Philip Atiba Goff, president and co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity, said, “There was a moribund civil rights division (of the DOJ) that was rejuvenated like Lazarus when Obama took office in 2009.” When Trump became president, all of this was swiftly reversed by his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions. His second attorney general, William Barr, didn’t have any Obama reforms to destroy. But Barr has made it clear that he hates criminal justice reform. He denounced the election of “district attorneys that style themselves as ‘social justice’ reformers, who spend their time undercutting the police, letting criminals off the hook, and refusing to enforce the law.” In another speech, Barr said, “If communities don’t give [police] that support and respect, they might find themselves without the police protection they need.” In 2017, Trump addressed a police gathering in New York state and joked about police brutality toward people being taken into custody. The local police department felt compelled to issue a statement saying they didn’t support “roughing up” prisoners. Now Trump tweets about deploying “the most vicious dogs and most ominous weapons.” The overwhelming majority of protesters are peaceful while a small minority are engaged in idiotic vandalism. Sound and fury signifying rage, despair, hopelessness. I am worried that the vandals may help reelect Trump. This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder JUNE 4, 2020
Each breath, each dream and DACA by Armando Peniche, Motus UndocuAmerica Monologist
J
une 15, 2012, was one of the happiest days of my life. It’s the day I finally saw light at the end of the tunnel. How amazing that an administrative action of a president can have such an impact! This is probably the same feeling African Americans experienced when they fought (for) and earned their civil rights; probably the same feeling same-sex couples felt when they found out they could finally marry after so many years of battling. Yes, June 15, 2012, the day DACA was created, was my time, our time. The chance to finally put my dreams into action; the time to show what an awesome person the country had been missing when it said I didn’t belong. I remember gathering in front of the TV with my family to watch President Obama give the invitation to come out of the shadows: my brother and sister, right there with me; I could see, and feel their joy — it was my joy too. But the face that most impacted me, was my dad’s. I
remember turning and seeing something even sweeter than joy. His eyes revealed an indescribable sense of relief that finally, after all this time — all the sacrifices and missed opportunities; all the relatives we lost when we crossed the border; all the hours working at lowpaying jobs, paying taxes and still being called illegal and other names; after all of this, his children were finally going to be free. And now I’m on my fourth DACA renewal, and with every approved application I feel like I have 24 months of oxygen left in the tank. My dreams literally get a renewal. The Supreme Court is about to announce the future of DACA. I am breathing deeply trying to stay calm. Each day I take a step towards my dreams. I don’t take a single step, or a single breath for granted. I want each breath, each dream and DACA to last. This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.
Yes, July 15, 2012, the day
DACA was created, was my time, our time.
I
BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
