Vol. 50 No. 29
November 7, 2019 - November 13, 2019
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue till they have resisted either with words or blows or words or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they suppress. —Fredrick Douglass (1849)
Racial profiling remains a daily dilemma for LAPD New report cites evidence of police bias
Publisher’s Corner Email: sbamericannews@gmail.com Clifton Harris Editor in Chief Publisher of The San Bernardino AMERICAN News
Remembering Congressman Elijah Cummings and the journey still ahead By Charlene Crowell
NNPA NEWSWIRE — Whites are caught with illegal drugs more often. However, according to the new analysis, Whites were more likely to be found with drugs, weapons and other illicit articles, at 20 percent of all searches, whereas Blacks were only at 17 percent and Latinx at 16 percent. The count included both pat-down and vehicle searches. The “Brothers, Sons, Selves” coalition’s manager, David Turner, remembered when his father told him to fear the cops, but didn’t understand why until an officer held a gun to him during a random traffic stop. By Isabell Rivera, OW Contributor
Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA
Although crime in Los Angeles has somewhat decreased over the years, certain areas—such as South Los Angeles—have witnessed an increase. And with high crime comes high police activity. The issue Since racial diversity between Whites and persons of color is practically non-existent in certain neighborhoods, the targets of police detainments/arrests are mostly people of color. Being at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and wearing the wrong colored clothes, or just being in the car, waiting for the traffic light to switch, or having broken headlights, might all be reasons to be stopped by the police. However, the color of someone’s skin might just be enough of a reason to look like a suspect. According to a new LA Times analysis, more than 20 percent of vehicle stops that involved African Americans were for equipment violation, such as a broken taillight or tinted windows were the reasons, compared to 11 percent of Whites who were stopped. Those types of violations can serve as a motive for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to look for more that isn’t as obvious at first glance. Those so-called “pretextual traffic stops” are legal but are taken with a grain of salt; since critics say that it gives law enforcement too much freedom to decide based on instinct versus
evidence. Metro Division under scrutiny One division of the LAPD has been under scrutiny: the elite Metropolitan (Metro) division. They are trained to perform various tasks in regard to diverse crime-fighting duties, such as surveillance, counter terrorism, as well as crowd control. Recently, they’ve been assisting the South Bureau to help fight crimes associated with gangs and drugs. “We’re trying to stop drive-by shootings,” Capt. Jonathan Tippet of Metro told the LA Times. “If we’re not here, it’s going to have a negative impact and allow people to go back to committing crime. If we’re not here to keep the peace, we’re going to have bloodshed.” The problem is that the “stopand-frisk” procedures mostly happen to people of color. In a city that is just 9 percent Black, 49 percent of the drivers stopped by the Metro division were Black. “African-Americans were not the quote-unquote target. And that’s my concern with the data point and how it’s being interpreted — that we just went out looking for African Americans,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said. “That’s not what crime suppression was involved in.” Statistics of other races that were stopped by Metro: Latinx at 44 percent, account for 49 percent of the city’s population. Whites on the other hand, accounted for less than 4 percent of the drivers
stopped but are 28-percent city population. Whites are caught with illegal drugs more often. However, according to the new analysis, Whites were more likely to be found with drugs, weapons and other illicit articles, at 20 percent of all searches, whereas Blacks were only at 17 percent and Latinx at 16 percent. The count included both pat-down and vehicle searches. The “Brothers, Sons, Selves” coalition’s manager, David Turner, remembered when his father told him to fear the cops, but didn’t understand why until an officer held a gun to him during a random traffic stop. “We’re watching all these movies, all these things that glorify law enforcement, we’re thinking they’re cool, but my dad [told me] ‘We need to be afraid,’” Turner said in an interview. “This is because of the things he experienced here as a Black man in Los Angeles. That trauma he had, he passed to my sister and I.” According to the LA Times, the LAPD’s former constitutional policing advisor, Arif Alikhan, said that the conducted analysis doesn’t account for the difficulties a police officer has in gauging the situation. “We don’t pull people over based on race. We’re not supposed to do that,” Alikhan said. “It’s illegal. It’s unconstitutional. And that’s not the basis [on which] we do it.” Alberto Retana, president of
Community Coalition, wasn’t surprised by the data, and gave a statement on behalf of the social justice coalition PUSH-LA, which stands for Promoting Unity Safety & Health Los Angeles, that advocates to reform policing. “To communities of color across Los Angeles, the article’s data is unfortunately unsurprising and verifies what we know to be true about the racial profiling happening by the LAPD. These vehicle searches are just the tip of the iceberg as the LAPD also has a long track record of aggressively searching the homes and schools of people of color,” Retana said. “This clear evidence of racial profiling has many harmful implications for Black and Brown families, including emotional and material impact when they get unjustly tangled in the mass incarceration system. Activists demand ‘real reform’ “The LAPD’s response that they don’t pull over and search people based on race should be met with heavy skepticism, especially given that of the 385,000 stops analyzed by the Times report, three quarters of them involved Black and Latinx people,” Retana continued. “Our community members in South LA and other overpoliced communities are terrified of the police and don’t feel protected or served. We want real reform and the PUSH LA ‘Reimagine Protect and Serve’ coalition will be sending a letter to Mayor Garcetti and Chief Moore with three key demands.” The purpose The first mission that’s on the LAPD’s agenda is the prevention of crime—especially gang-related crimes. In 2015, Mayor Garcetti and then-Chief Charlie Beck executed the “traffic stop and search” method to combat gang violence – mostly shootings – in South LA. And since most gangs in South LA are Black, people of color (continued on page 6)
Madeline Farlow Speaks on Goal Setting to Beautillion Knights Community News
The nationally televised October 25 funeral services for the late Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, paused partisan debates and revealed how a son of Baltimore worked tirelessly for his constituents and for this nation. In the days since his home-going, I have marveled at how his life’s work somehow brought together officials who held firm to their stark political divides but united to honor a man who believed that everyone deserved a fair chance at all America had to offer. Even in death he broke yet another barrier by becoming the first Black Member of Congress to lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda. This singular and posthumous honor was true testament to his 12 years as a Member of Congress, and the preceding 14 years he served in Maryland’s House of Delegates, where he became the first Black in the state’s history to be named Speaker Pro Tempore. To all who worshiped or wept at his passing, perhaps now is the time to remember how he lived, valiantly fighting for the promises of America and the belief that as a country, we could and should rise to right the wrongs for this and future generations. From civil rights to housing, consumer protections, gun violence, and more, Elijah Cummings used his powerful voice and influence to forge progressive changes across life’s many dimensions, notably by his early and strong advocacy for consumer financial rights. "For consumers, he was the voice who championed reforms to protect families from abusive payday lenders, predatory forprofit colleges, and housing discrimination,” noted Nikitra Bailey an EVP with the Center for Responsible Lending. “His legacy is a shining example of what public service ought to be— a fighter for truth, justice, and fairness.” In 2011 during the nation’s foreclosure crisis, Congressman Cummings called for the House Oversight Committee to use its subpoena powers to secure answers from mortgage lenders on practices that affected civilians and servicemembers alike. At the time as Ranking Member of this key committee, Cummings told POLITICO, “The thing that disturbs me is that not all of Congress understands how serious this problem is.”
In the aftermath of the 2015 Freddie Gray homicide, Rep. Cummings walked the streets of Baltimore using a bull horn to call for peace. Speaking to the spate of violence surrounding Gray’s death, Congressman Cummings said, “The American people have had enough, and so have I.” At Gray’s funeral services the Congressman spoke again adding, “I’ve often said, our children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see,” he said. “But now our children are sending us to a future they will never see. The following year, 2016, he teamed with Senator Elizabeth Warren to call for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to increase its oversight of nonbank mortgage lenders whose market share of mortgage originations was growing but were not federally regulated as banks, credit unions and other lenders were. Among the concerns cited in a joint letter to then CFPB Director Richard Cordray were consumer risks in a still-volatile mortgage market, as well as the role of mortgage servicers. In ensuing years and despite deteriorating health, Congressman Cummings remained diligent in his pursuit of justice in other policy areas as well. This March he joined Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici to co-sponsor the SAFE Lending Act (Stopping Abuse and Fraud in Electronic Lending), a measure designed to address many of the worst abuses of predatory online payday lenders. “In recent years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has turned its back on consumers being targeted by payday predators,” said Cummings this spring. “Our constituents, and consumers everywhere, deserve protection from payday lenders and rogue internet-based lenders who prey on hardworking Americans struggling to make ends meet.” He also returned to voting rights this year. As Chair of the House Oversight Committee, his fierce opposition to voter suppression led to an investigation into allegations of voter suppression in states where voters reported difficulties in the 2018 midterm elections. Voting restrictions resulting from a June 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision (continued on page 3)
Our Values, Mission, & Vision Statement
Front (L/R): Ms. Madeline Farlow, Dylan Mack Back (L/R): Kameron Brantley, Amari Osonduagwuike & Andrew Mitchell Ms. Madeline Farlow, one of the community leaders and employee of the Employment Development Department spent time with Social Lites, Inc. of San Bernardino Beautillion Knights on a beautiful
fall afternoon on Saturday, November 2, 2019 at the Center for Youth and Community Development. Ms. Farlow addressed goal setting, importance of professional
L/R: Kuzari Osonduagwuike, Thomas Ward, Amari Osonduagwuike, Dylan Mack, Andrew Mitchell, Kameron Brantley, Auston Malone, Dyvon Brown, Emmanuelle Ward, and Chance Ward appearance and role-playing with the participants in soliciting for ads for scholarships. The 53rd Beautillion Scholarship 2019-2020 program under the leadership of Mrs. Tina
Darling, Beautillion Chairperson is now in progress. Its’ not too late for young men seeking scholarship opportunities to participate in this scholarship and (continued on page 2)
Our Values: Treat all people with care, respect, honor, and dignity. Tell it as it is with love, truth and integrity. Promote the interests of advertisers and sponsors along their strategic interest for the betterment of the community and beyond. Speak truth to power. Our Mission: To continuously improve communication between all people of the world. Our Vision: To be the best community newspaper in our region and the nation. Provider of: A voice for the poor, the underserved, those that are marginalized, Positive and edifying news about people, places and businesses. Keep San Bernardino, Riverside, and Los Angeles Counties informed about global trends while retaining the consciousness of local events and processes. Memberships and Associations: The San Bernardino American Newspaper is a member of the California Newspaper Publishers Association, National Newspaper Association and addociated with California Black Media.