Tookie's Killer Targets the Hip-Hop Generation
| Tookie's Killer Targets the Hip-Hop Generation |
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| Written by Davey D ID2247 |
| Monday, 09 January 2006 04:07 |
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What's crazy about this whole push by the Terminator is the fact that Cali crime rate has decreased. If he intends on increasing the prison population by 83 thousand, who do you think he''ll be gunning for? That’s right you guessed the Hip-Hop generation best be on the look out. Schwartznegger is using a time honored tradition by politicians seeking re-election. He's declaring a war on Youth and minorities. That’s what Nixon did in the 70s and its continued ever since under different names. Can anybody say Willie Horton? Can anybody say War on Drugs? Can anybody in Southern Cali say Crash Task Force? Can anybody reading this say Hip-Hop cops? What’s even crazier is that the governor is not making room for all the corporate criminals on the loose. Cali got raped over in a big way by Ken Lay and the Enron scandal. We also have a bunch of crazy police officers who seem to be shooting and killing people everyday. In fact over the weekend police in San Bernadino shot a suspect who had his hands raised and was ironically preparing to train to become a cop... Maybe the Governor needs to build more jail cells for those committing those types of incidents... What we need to keep in mind is that the Criminal/prison industrial industry is big business and we have some very powerful police unions, correction officers associations and desperate politicians who wish to demonstrate how tough on crime they can be who have a vested interest in keeping the appearance that crime is running rampant. Hence they use their influence and resources to pump fear in the general public. For example, the other night while watching the news I sat through 15 minutes of stories about crimes taking place in LA. When I put it in perspective I realized they only reported on 5 incidents. LA metro area has over 20 million people, of course there will be incidents. However, after watching the news I was left with the perception that crime was everywhere and I need to be rolling with the governor and calling for more prisons.... PUBLIC SAFETY SHOCKER: 83,000 MORE PRISONERS? Public Safety Advocates dismayed by return of prison boom Sacramento, CA – In a State of the State address that left more than one jaw agape, public safety experts and community leaders from around the state are perhaps the most surprised -- and angry --over Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to increase state prison and jail population numbers by 83,000 people. The proposal, part of a sweeping “Strategic Growth Plan,” with which the Governor hopes to salvage his political career from last year’s special election debacle, includes more than $7 billion in prison and jail construction bonds, and two controversial new state prisons. The plan is a stark departure from his own Corrections Review Panel, which in 2004 recommended shrinking, not expanding, the prison system. That panel, led by former Governor George Deukmejian, declared that “shrinking the numbers” of prisoners was key to change. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has also consistently recommended reductions to the prison population. Education leaders also received Schwarzenegger’s plan skeptically. "Schwarzenegger's prison and jail building plan will grab even more state funds from education, health care and transportation to continue a massive and dangerous increase in imprisoment,” said Oakland teacher Jonah Zern. “Protecting public safety means shrinking prisons and jails to restore funds to education and health care." “We just witnessed the absolute end of any hope that the Governor has any intention of making a positive different in public safety in California” explained John Lum, Sacramento spokesperson for the Coalition for Effective Public Safety and former Chief Probation Officer for San Luis Obispo County. “Californians have rejected bonds for prison construction consistently since the early 1990s, and a strong majority of us favor decreasing the number of prisoners, not increasing. The Governor campaigned to reform California's prisons. Yesterday he broke that promise and told us he plans a return to the building prison after prison like Govs. Davis and Wilson." For Debbie Reyes, a community organizer in Fresno with the Prison Moratorium Project, the news is one more example of rural Californians getting the raw end of a deal. “More than 20 prisons have been built in the Central Valley since the 1980s. But Fresno is the poorest city in the nation. The south San Joaquin Valley has some of the worst air in the nation. In many of our communities, we can’t even drink the water – so how exactly have these prisons helped? We need to increase the minimum wage and school funding. Give him credit for that. But neither the Valley nor the state can afford one more single cage.” Schwarzenegger got the attention of national observers as well. “This is one of the most destructive, least appropriate, all-around worst plan for public safety I’ve seen anywhere in a long, long time,” said Rose Braz, Director of Critical Resistance, a national organization based in Oakland. “After correctly pointing out that decades of runaway prison growth was a disaster for California, he’s said that another decade of runaway growth is what we need. It’s a little unbelievable, to be honest.” --30-- ********************************* Aimee Allison for Oakland City Council District 2: www.aimeeallison.org/ Honor Stanly "Tookie" Williams'' Legacy at Education not Incarceration Coalition |
