OPINION
CHICAGO DEFENDER
Robert S. Abbott (Founder) 1905 – 1940 John H. Sengstacke (Publisher) 1940 – 1983 Frederick D. Sengstacke (Publisher) 1983 – 2000
POWERED BY REAL TIMES MEDIA, INC.
E NOTES By Kai EL’Zabar
Defender Executive Editor
C
hicago Community Trust spearheaded, throughout the city, conversations with a host of guests last week titled “On The Table” to discuss major issues plaguing this city. More importantly, it was geared to seek resolutions that can advance our agenda in re-establishing Chicago as the “City that Works.” My participation was prompted by the evolving conversation on how to revitalize Bronzeville known as the Black Metropolis in its high time. The subject of our youth emerged inevitably since without their involvement, there is no future. We must allow their voices to be heard and we must listen. Perhaps there’s wisdom beyond our experiences and more to be gained from the vigor and fearlessness in the faith that youth often possess. We discussed the necessity to come together with our young people in a forum allowing their voices to give us clarity so we can understand exactly where they are rather than come in an accusative and self-righteous demeanor. Our children are our doing or our un-doing. At the end of the day, we are the ones responsible, no one but ourselves. We can blame it on the times, the economy, the gangs, the breakdown of the nucleur family, the failed public education system, the lack of resources, and yes, the systemic racism. But let’s remember we are the people who were told to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, yet we had no boots. Somehow we rose out of the bowels of nothing, wandering in wasteland with dried up dreams and hope
lessness surrounding us as we continued to push through the abyss. Here we are once more as we experience our children kill one another over much less than a life’s worth. We witness brillance with no where to shine and “gifts that have no where to live.” We concluded during our “On The Table” meeting that we must accept responsibility and cease to hold hands out to those we distrust but choose a life of self-determination, taking control of our homes, our children, our communities, our schools. From that point we move forward towards a future where our youth can survive and thrive. It was unanimous that it begins in the home, the first institution where adult human beings teach in partnership, setting examples to provide for their children for them to grow to become functioning contributing adults. We expressed the values that were monolithic among Blacks that carried us from under mental and emotional enslavement. Our faith in that greater than ourselves, believing education was our key to freedom, respect for elders, pride in our race, and acceptance that each and everyone is an ambassador of our race were the main ingredients in how we took care of our own. We took care of our people no matter how much or little we had. We shared our homes, our food and any other resources necessary to assist our extend-
Our Youth Is Our Future “We must allow their voices to be heard and we must listen.”
President/Publisher: Cheryl Mainor
ed family members in moving on up. In fact, we did not send our children away to the care of the government, instead we adopted within our families. Sister or brother or grandparents took responsibility by rearing and caring for children when parents could not or were in the process of improving their lives for the children. Single mothers could raise their children, particularly their sons with the confidence that family and men within the community would actively be engaged in their sons growth and development. It does take the community to create healthy wholesome human beings who grow up and become positive, contributive members of society. We must re-embrace, re-commit, re-es-
Rev. Walter P. Turner
Fingerprinting Requirements For Chicagoans Of Color: Legalized Discrimination? By Rev. Walter P. Turner Over the past month, there are aldermen considering the need for Uber drivers to go through a formal licensing process to include a fingerprint- based background check. In doing so, they’ve demonstrated how
06 May 18 - 24, 2016 • THE CHICAGO DEFENDER
Col. (Ret.) Eugene F. Scott (Publisher) 2000 – 2003 David M. Milliner (Publisher) 2003 – 2004 Michael A. House (Publisher) 2008 – 2013
they’ve lost sight of larger issues at stake in Chicago --- risking further alienation of communities of color. It is becoming clearer how policing has disproportionately impacted lives of Black men and women everywhere, therefore our city leaders should now be taking a closer look on how background requirements will allow racial profiling to linger. Fingerprinting for background checks cause problems. That is, they capture the innocent along with the guilty. The process compares an individual’s fingerprints alongside an out-of-date FBI database which often includes arrests that may never have resulted in criminal charges. Under this flawed system everyone whose been arrested could have their work
tablish, and re-institute the village, the entire, whole village. Beyond committed to continuing the stimulating dialogue, we committed to act upon all values we identified as necessary to implement change, to cause transformation. Join us in reclaiming our youth, our communities, and our future as the self-determined race we are.
terminated regardless of whether they were convicted or did anything wrong. An arrest should not automatically translate to a lifetime sentence. However, for many Chicagoans who have had any encounters with the law, that’s just what happens. That is not merely a handful of people. According to several studies, nearly one in three American adults have been arrested by the age of 23 and most for nonviolent offenses, such as drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and loitering. And who does it impact most? People of color. Why? They are more likely arrested, faced with harsher charges and tougher sentences. Throughout this country, African-Americans are 10 times more likely to be arrested and four times more likely to be jailed than Whites, even though there’s no correlation between race and criminal behavior. This is especially apparent in Chicago where Blacks represent 37% of the population under 18 years of age, but account in recent years for more than 79% of juvenile arrests. Further in Chicago, nearly 80% of working-age African-American men have criminal backgrounds. In Illinois, more than 100 jobs are entirely off limits to anyone who has been convicted of a felony. Research shows that well over a year after serving their sentence, people are unable to find ways to make a living. With restitution costs and legal fees that easily absorb a low-income household’s annual income, recidivism under these circumstances seems inevitable. Federal officials realize how devastating the cycle of incarceration and
recidivism has been on our communities. That’s why Attorney General Loretta Lynch launched an investigation into how local policing practices may need to change. Similarly, we need Chicago aldermen to recognize the long-term consequences of targeting communities of color and stop entertaining requirements that allow systemic discrimination within the law to persist. Realizing that a minor interaction with the justice system at some time in one’s life should not prevent an individual to be a driver for Uber or Lyft. A background check should not interfer with opportunity for anyone attempting to get back on their feet after falling on hard times. Such jobs are flexible and easy to get started. People with low-level, nonviolent offenses simply willing to work to put food on the table should be afforded the job opportunities after fulfilling their sentence and debt to society. It is a known fact that unemployed people are more likely to commit crimes and less able to provide for their children or aging relatives. A growing number of leaders from varying sides of the political spectrum are supporting removing work barriers for ex-convicts. As a pastor, I see daily how this matter impacts families in our communities. It is the difference between children growing up with parents who can support their families with honest work and children in broken homes under the weight of a parent’s lifetime sentence. The fingerprint-based background check defines the worst moment of a person’s life. There are fair and accurate ways to determine an individual’s qualifications versus inhibiting a person from changing one’s life for the better. While we all want safe communities, Chicago aldermen must draw a line between policies that keep us safe and policies that simply discriminate.
www.chicagodefender.com