Commentary Clifton Harris California Black Media
“CA Still Tone Deaf On Racial Profiling”
I
was very disappointed after I read an article in the Sunday, February 26, 2017 edition of the Victorville Daily Press by Jose Quintero. The article was an interview conducted by the editorial board of Sheriff McMahon and comments by Assemblyman Obernolte regarding AB 953. This bill would enact the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, which would, among other changes, revise the definition of racial profiling to instead refer to racial or identity profiling, and make a conforming change to the prohibition against peace officers engaging in that practice. In the article, Sheriff McMahon is quoted as saying “it’s crazy” to have law enforcement officers have to fill out racial profiling documents to collect data on who and why citizens are being stopped and detained. According to the article McMahon is also quoted as saying “it will cause officers not to be proactive therefore allowing crime to increase and crooks will go unchecked.” Assemblyman Jay Obernolte is quoted as saying “he believes the bill is not a step in the right direction.” He also said, “he believes that it places guilt on officers by making the assumption that all of them engage in racial profiling.” One must ask these elected officials if they have been paying attention to the recent events in San Bernardino County and around the nation the last few years involving law enforcement and racial profiling issues. NEWS FLASH: For years in this country and in particular San Bernardino County law enforcement members in certain areas have fallen short in delivering the expected service to the citizens they serve. In recent weeks, a person of color was threatened with arrest without probable cause while seeking assistance from a sheriff’s station deputy as documented via video tape and news reports in the Victorville Daily Press on Saturday February 11, 2017.I wonder how that report would read after the citizen was told by the deputy that if he did not leave he would create a reason to arrest him.
From the Editor
I won’t get into names and agencies but, I am a retired officer of over 25 years and I know that there are many professionals in law enforcement doing the job day in and day out without complaints. Have you heard the regrets about the 1994 Crime Bill signed by President Bill Clinton and what it did to communities of color? Have you heard about Mass Incarnation and how it affected communities of color? When trust between law enforcement and the community is breached, the need for action on the part of those elected that are sensitive to the community needs, take action. Deficient systems and police culture inhibit many other complaints of police misconduct from ever being filed. These deficiencies keep unconstitutional conduct and practices hidden. This breach in trust has in turn eroded many law enforcement agencies ability to effectively prevent crime. In other words, trust and effectiveness in combating violent crime are inextricably intertwined. Racial profiling is not necessary in any form no matter the community, but it continues
to occur. AB 953 aims to curb the harmful and unjust practice of racial and identity profiling, and increase transparency and accountability with law enforcement agencies. Racial and identity profiling occurs when law enforcement officers stop, search, property seize, or interrogate a person without evidence of criminal activity. These practices not only humiliate and frighten law abiding Californians, but also divert limited community resources away from evidence-based policing, thus making us all less safe. I hope that soon the elected officials will familiarize themselves with twenty-first century policing issues when it comes to the communities that are effected that make it necessary for legislation such as AB 953. Note: Clifton Harris is a retired peace officer and the publisher of the San Bernadino American News.
LISA COLLINS Publisher
“Toto, We’re Not In Kansas Anymore”
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ple than Curren Price, who is up for re-election. And while I’m not in the habit of making political endorsements, let me add my voice to the chorus of those who know that —as he has proven by what he has accomplished —he is the man for the job. Then there is Measure H. If there is one thing all of us should understand in these changing times it is how so many of us are one medical diagnosis or a few paychecks away from the kind of financial challenges that could render one homeless. 47,000 are homeless in the city of Los Angeles and they’re not all crazy. Many of them have just fallen on hard times and need us to show the kind of compassion on March 7 that not only gets them the services and assistance they need to get back on their feet, but that also insures that if we find ourselves in that situation, that there will be help for us. Vote yes on Measure H. Now, with regards to our feature story on page 12, First Ladies are close to my heart. Not just because I’m a pastor’s kid who grew up with them and understand the challenges, or because so many of them are friends, but because I have seen their evolution into women who are impacting our communities in more ways than is generally known. When L.A. Focus established the Annual First Ladies High Tea 20 years ago, the efforts of first ladies went mostly unrecognized, but lots has changed since then and they have proven themselves to be forces in our churches and communities. Their stories are inspiring and in so many cases, they are the kind of role models we want our girls to see. What is most endearing is the way so many of them—notably Mae Blake, Dr. Betty Price, Togetta Ulmer, Judi Wortham-Sauls—freely share their wisdom with parishioners. Actress Lynn Whitfield, who plays a first lady (coincidentally named Lady Mae—no other similarities) on the OWN Network’s hit show, “Greenleaf”, shared at last year’s High Tea how the real “Lady Mae” (Blake) helped her through one of the most difficult times in her life, with kindness, compassion and spiritual guidance. So hats off to them. I thank them for what they do and for allowing me to be part of it. Keep the faith.
L.A. Focus/March 2017
n annual tradition in our household while growing up was my brothers and I gathering around the television for the airing of “The Wizard of Oz”. We were mesmerized by not just the production values and story, but I was even that early on struck by the deeper meanings of the film. So much so that throughout my life its metaphors have become engrained in my subconscious. Everyone knows “there’s no place like home”, but often when I got into trouble, I’d wish I could click some ruby red slippers three times and be gone. And while it was easy growing up to separate the good witches from the bad, unfortunately a splash of water didn’t tend the melt the wicked ones. It only made them madder. New York always reminded me of “the Emerald City”—probably because it’s so expensive. Of course, I was always looking for the yellow brick road—which to me symbolized the perfect career roadmap. And in the most challenging of times it seemed that everything good was somehow stuck over the rainbow and out of reach, but you could always go home. However, my favorite metaphor and scene from the movie is when Dorothy unmasks the man behind the curtain pulling the strings as a nice—but a bit of a fumbling idiot, who was perpetrating this grand guise of being a wizard. Kind of reminds me of what’s going on in Washington politics. Every day it seems someone is being unmasked with lightning speed, the latest being Attorney General Jeff Sessions and recent revelations surrounding his contact with the Russian ambassador. Ladies and gentlemen, we live in brave —and dangerous—new times, and while it’s difficult to know whether the men behind the curtain in Washington are fumbling idiots, one thing is clear, like the scarecrow who thought he needed a brain, but found out he already had one, we have the power to change things. That’s witnessed by the energy seen in political engagement movements springing up around the country and town halls bustling over with people who are mortified by what’s happening in Washington and have decided to—as Obama has said—be the change they want to see. What it all boils down to for me is this famous line from “The Wizard of Oz”: ‘Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.’ That’s why voting and getting involved is so important. It is part of being that change you want to see, keeping in mind that where we have the most to gain is in local civic involvement. That sets the tone for everything. Speaking of which, in “the new Ninth” (city council district 9), there is no greater political advocate for the peo-
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