Commentary

The Walking Dead: Public Policy is Problematic for People of Color

“Once you get a felony conviction, your life is practically ruined based off of the current laws on the books in many states,” said nationally-recognized civil rights attorney Benjamin L. Crump. “It is as if you are walking dead, but they just haven’t given you the death certificate.”

Published

5 years ago

February 3, 2019

Oakland Post

By Jeffrey L. Boney, NNPA Political Analyst

According to the World Prison Brief, which is a unique database that provides free access to information about prison systems throughout the world, there are over 2 million people in prison and jails throughout the United States, which is approximately 0.66 percent of the country’s entire population. Out of those incarcerated individuals, more than 50 percent of them are detained or convicted for non-violent offenses and roughly 56 percent of them are Black.

It is, and always has been, a huge issue. One of the primary issues is the money associated with mass incarceration. Mass incarceration is a multi-billion dollar business — the annual cost of incarcerations is over $87 billion dollars.

Many of the people who have played a major role in ensuring that this economic engine remains intact are legislators and other elected officials at the federal, state and local levels.

This is why voting matters and elections have consequences.

Speaking to attendees and members of the Black Press at the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Mid-Winter Training Conference last week in Orlando, nationally-recognized civil rights attorney Benjamin L. Crump spoke passionately about the need to have people in office who care about the rights of people of color through public policy.

“Once you get a felony conviction, your life is practically ruined based off of the current laws on the books in many states,” said Crump. “It is as if you are walking dead, but they just haven’t given you the death certificate.”

In looking at each state and county, legislators and District Attorneys have the power to decide which rights they can strip away from people once they have been convicted of a felony. Of course, many of those rights continue to remain stripped away even after those individuals have served time for the criminal offense that they were convicted of.

On the flip side, legislators and District Attorneys also have the power to decide which rights individuals can regain once they are released from prison and/or are no longer on probation.

This is extremely important across counties and states in the United States, where, according to a study done by the Equal Justice Initiative in 2014, roughly 95 percent of the 2,437 elected state and local prosecutors in the U.S. in 2014 were White. The study went even further to show that although White men made up 31 percent of the population nationwide, approximately 79 percent of the elected prosecutors were White men, and 66 percent of the states that elected prosecutors had no African Americans working for them in those offices.

Although the rights of formerly incarcerated individuals are slightly different from state to state, there are some common rights that are customarily taken away*.

Federal law states that any person who is convicted of a crime that is punishable by a minimum of 12 months in prison, is prohibited from purchasing or owning a firearm, regardless of whether that person actually served time in prison or not.

Of course, voting is extremely important and voting rights vary from state to state.

The majority of states across the country deny convicted felons the right to vote, although there a few states where convicted felons are still allowed to vote while they are in prison or jail.

However, once a person is released from jail, the majority of states continue to deny formerly incarcerated individuals the right to vote until after they complete some form of probation. Even worse, there are a few states that prohibit formerly incarcerated felons from voting ever again in life.

There are several other rights that are impacted, such as prohibiting formerly incarcerated individuals from serving on a jury, stripping away their ability to travel outside the country, impeding their ability to obtain gainful employment in certain professions, impacting their parental rights, making it difficult to receive public assistance and housing, and many other quality of life issues that make life in America so much more manageable.

The prevailing culture within America’s criminal justice won’t change overnight, and it won’t change at all unless there is a conscious effort to advocate for that change.

Crump challenged the Black Press to “go to any courtroom across America and sit in the back of the room” to observe the visibly apparent disparate treatment that people of color often experience on a day-to-day basis.

Crump also expressed the importance of working with the Black Press to raise awareness and push for changes in the criminal justice system across America.

“We have to stand up for our children and speak up for our children,” said Crump. “We are together in this. The Black lawyers, Black law enforcement officials, and my Lord, the Black Press, are needed more now than ever before.”

Jeffrey L. Boney is a political analyst and international correspondent for the NNPA Newswire and BlackPressUSA.com and serves as Associate Editor for the Houston Forward Times newspaper. Jeffrey is an award-winning journalist, dynamic international speaker, experienced entrepreneur, business development strategist and founder and CEO of the Texas Business Alliance. Follow Jeffrey on Twitter @realtalkjunkies

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

7 days ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

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Opinion: Surviving the Earthquake, an Eclipse and “Emil Amok.”

Last Friday, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook New York City, reported as the “biggest earthquake with an epicenter in the NYC area since 1884” when a 5.2 quake hit. A bit bigger. The last quake similar to Friday’s was a 4.9 in 1783.Alexander Hamilton felt it — 241 years ago. That’s why New Yorkers were freaking out on Friday. They were in the room where it happens.

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

In New York City, the eclipse was about 90 percent visible. Good enough for me. Though a full solar eclipse is a celestial rarity, blockages of any sort aren’t generally celebrated. My one-man play is about growing up with the eclipsed history of American Filipinos and how I struggle to unblock all that.

By Emil Guillermo

I’m a Northern Californian in New York City for the next few weeks, doing my one-man show, “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host, Wiley Filipino, Vegan Transdad.”

I must like performing in the wake of Mother Nature.

Alexander Hamilton felt it — 241 years ago.

That’s why New Yorkers were freaking out on Friday. They were in the room where it happens.

And it just doesn’t happen that often.

Beyonce singing country music happens more frequently.

When I felt New York shake last week, it reminded me of a time in a San Francisco TV newsroom when editors fretted about a lack of news an hour before showtime.

Then the office carpeting moved for a good ten seconds, and the news gods gave us our lead story.

On Friday when it happened in NYC, I noticed the lines in the carpeting in my room wiggling. But I thought it was from a raucous hotel worker vacuuming nearby.

I didn’t even think earthquake. In New York?

I just went about my business as if nothing had happened. After living near fault lines all my life, I was taking things for granted.

Considering the age of structures in New York, I should have been even more concerned about falling objects inside (shelves, stuff on walls) and outside buildings (signs, scaffolding), fire hazards from possible gas leaks, and then I should have looked for others on my floor and in the hotel lobby to confirm or aid or tell stories.

Of course, as a Californian who has lived through and covered quakes in the 4 to 6 magnitude range, I tried to calm down any traumatized New Yorker I encountered by taking full responsibility for bringing in the quake from the Bay Area.

I reassured them things would be all right, and then let them know that 4.8s are nothing.

And then I invited them to my consoling post-Earthquake performance of “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host…”

It was the night of the eclipse.

ECLIPSING THE ECLIPSE

For example, did you know the first Filipinos actually arrived to what is now California in 1587? That’s 33 years before the Pilgrims arrived in America on the other coast, but few know the Filipino history which has been totally eclipsed.

I was in Battery Park sitting on a bench and there was a sense of community as people all came to look up. A young woman sitting next to me had a filter for a cell phone camera. We began talking and she let me use it. That filter enabled me to take a picture of the main event with my iPhone.

For helping me see, I invited her and her boyfriend to come see my show.

Coincidentally, she was from Plymouth, Massachusetts, near the rock that says the year the Pilgrims landed in 1620.

In my show she learned the truth. The Pilgrims were second.

History unblocked. But it took a solar eclipse.

Next one in 2044? We have a lot more unblocking to do.

If you’re in New York come see my show, Sat. April 13th, 5:20 pm Eastern; Fri. April 19, 8:10 pm Eastern; and Sun. April 21st 5:20 pm Eastern.

You can also livestream the show. Get tickets at www.amok.com/tickets

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1. He wishes all his readers a Happy Easter!

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Commentary

Commentary: Republican Votes Are Threatening American Democracy

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We needed to know the blunt truth. The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

Published

1 week ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening. That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

By Emil Guillermo

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We needed to know the blunt truth.

The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

And to save it will require all hands on deck.

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening.

That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

No man is above the law? To the majority of his supporters, it seems Trump is.

It’s an anti-democracy loyalty that has spread like a political virus.

No matter what he does, Trump’s their guy. Trump received 51% of caucus-goers votes to beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who garnered 21.2%, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who got 19.1%.

The Asian flash in the pan Vivek Ramaswamy finished way behind and dropped out. Perhaps to get in the VP line. Don’t count on it.

According to CNN’s entrance polls, when caucus-goers were asked if they were a part of the “MAGA movement,” nearly half — 46% — said yes. More revealing: “Do you think Biden legitimately won in 2020?”

Only 29% said “yes.”

That means an overwhelming 66% said “no,” thus showing the deep roots in Iowa of the “Big Lie,” the belief in a falsehood that Trump was a victim of election theft.

Even more revealing and posing a direct threat to our democracy was the question of whether Trump was fit for the presidency, even if convicted of a crime.

Sixty-five percent said “yes.”

Who says that about anyone of color indicted on 91 criminal felony counts?

Would a BIPOC executive found liable for business fraud in civil court be given a pass?

How about a BIPOC person found liable for sexual assault?

Iowans have debased the phrase, “no man is above the law.” It’s a mindset that would vote in an American dictatorship.

Compare Iowa with voters in Asia last weekend. Taiwan rejected threats from authoritarian Beijing and elected pro-democracy Taiwanese vice president Lai Ching-te as its new president.

Meanwhile, in our country, which supposedly knows a thing or two about democracy, the Iowa caucuses show how Americans feel about authoritarianism.

Some Americans actually like it even more than the Constitution allows.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1.