On Monday September 24th, 2012, the City of Stockton released a press release:
The Marshall Plan Stakeholder Committee on Public Safety convened early in
2012 with the goal of implementing a comprehensive community-wide plan, developed by a diverse group of community leaders and criminal justice experts, to reduce violent crime. The Committee has worked with consultants who for months have gathered data and conducted in-depth interviews with a broad range of stakeholders. The Committee and consultants have completed the initial analysis and background work, drawing on the experience and perspectives of the representatives, and determined that Project Ceasefire is a model that will have an immediate impact. The Ceasefire model has
been implemented across the country and is a proven violence reduction strategy in cities such as Boston, Chicago and Cincinnati, resulting in dramatic reductions in firearms violence and homicides.
In 2009, the State of California enacted AB 109, which is best known as "realignment." This legislation transfers responsibility for certain felony offenders and state parolees to county probation and jails and directs funding to counties for realignment implementation. The funding is directed by the local Community Corrections Partnership, which includes representatives from throughout the County criminal justice system, as well as the Chiefs of Stockton and Lodi Police Departments. Through discussions at the Marshall Plan Stakeholder Committee with County Probation, Stockton Police Department and other partners, it was determined that Project Ceasefire is an effective model and appropriate for funding and implementation.
Background:
The Marshall Plan Committee was announced in March of 2012 as a result of public pressure and media scrutiny towards the lack of a comprehensive response from the mayor and city hall towards the escalating crime and violence which set a record homicide rate for the city in 2011. A “Marshall plan” was announced as part of Mayor Johnston’s State of the City Address in May of 2011 as a solution to the chronic levels of crime plaguing the city. The name of the plan is inspired by the United States’ plan to rebuild post WWII Europe as a way to combat the spread of Communism as overseen by Secretary of State George Marshall. It was predicated primarily on building up industry and economic stability as a way of combating chaos and keeping the Soviet Union at bay. Although it was announced by Mayor Johnston in May of 2011, it was actually the idea of City Manager Bob Deis as an all encompassing plan to bring progress to Stockton while addressing the crime rate as mentioned to myself in a meeting with him and Councilman Holman in October of 2010.
The month after the mayor announced the creation of such a plan, there were 12 murders in the city, many occurring in brazen attacks in public during the day. As the crime rate and violence soared over the summer and into the fall, the mention of such a “Marshall Plan” would not be heard of again until another man was shot in the head in traffic crashing into another car on Wilson Way, one of the city’s busiest streets in broad daylight. In response to this crime that brought Stockton closer to a new record, Tim Daly of News10 would catch the mayor off guard asking her what ever happened to the plan. Her response made it apparent she did not have the answer and there was no such plan to announce despite a record crime rates in the 6 months since her State of the City Address. She asked for 4 more weeks to unveil that plan. In December, 4 weeks later the mayor and city hall announced they would be on vacation and it would be announced in yet another month on January 31st, 2012. In the meantime Stockton reached an all time record for homicides in the city boundaries, which did not take into account those in the unincorporated parts of the city, police officer involved shootings, and “justifiable” homicides. 42 “unjustifiable” homicides had occurred since the announcement of creating such a plan.
http://www.news10.net/video/1386655905001/1/Stocktons-Marshall-Plan-to-bring-down-crime
The following year on January 31st at a city council meeting, still no plan was announced. Instead what was presented to the public was the “initiative” adopted by the council that called for adopting and creating such a plan from a city council meeting in April of 2011. In essence it was a commitment to make a plan to make a plan. Absolutely nothing was new or different from the document adopted 9 months earlier, despite promising to the city and media to create an actual “Marshall Plan” would be unveiled at the meeting.
http://www.news10.net/video/1429832160001/1/A-closer-look-at-Stocktons-Marshall-Plan
http://www.news10.net/video/1403165284001/1/Mayor-unveils-details-on-Stocktons-Marshall-Plan
Instead of an actual plan, the creation of a committee was announced and approved the following month. During this meeting it was also announced that an outside consultant would be paid $150,000 to “facilitate” meetings of the committee every 2 months with a “plan” being ready to be announced a year later in 2013. Many members of the community expressed outrage at spending yet more money while the city was facing bankruptcy just for someone to run meetings. There was also concern expressed to the make up and members of the committee and how qualified and connected to the issues of the community they were. As of September 2012 the committee has only met 4 times despite an even higher crime rate than 2011, which proved to be a record year. Since the announcement of a “Marshall Plan” in May of 2011, 92 have been murdered I the city limits.
Press release continued:
"The work of the Marshall Plan Committee and the collaboration between the City and County to fund and implement Project Ceasefire is unprecedented in our community," said Mayor Ann Johnston. "We're now ready to launch Project Ceasefire, which is an immediate response to our highest priority - the safety of our community."
The City and County will immediately move forward with Project Ceasefire to take action related to violent crime in the City.
The Committee will continue working in the spectrum of prevention and intervention programs into 2013 through the final phase, which is to develop an implementation roadmap for community crime reduction and a better criminal justice system, beginning in spring 2013.
For additional information, please visit www.stocktongov.com or call (209) 937-8827.
At first glance it again appears that something new and innovative is being done for the city by its “leaders” just as was the case with US Marshals and a Top 10 “worst boys and girls” list. But in looking further into the program it appears, just with the US Marshals, this program is nothing new to Stockton. It was implemented in 1997 when as usual crime was out of control in Stockton. Reports from California Partnership for Safe Communities touts the success of the program in Stockton from the 90’s as having an 80% reduction in youth homicides (http://partnershipforsafecommunities.org/who-we-are/the-partners). Their approach is to deal with gangs and youth prone to create violence by:
“We work with community alliances to craft and communicate a powerful anti-violence message that is part of a broader change strategy. The anti-violence message is delivered to around 20 highest risk young people at a time. These meetings are hosted by a range of partners that might include school principals, coaches, local employers, residents of communities affected by violence, young people formerly involved in violence, advocates, service organizations, criminal justice agencies, family members, and faith leaders.”
In 1997, 19 of Stockton’s 37 homicides were gang related (Reynolds, Lessons from Stockton, Monterrey County Herald, 2009). In Stockton as of August 12 of the 40 homicides were gang related, showing not only has violence skyrocketed, but also it has spread past the involvement of violent gangs.
http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-stockton-homicide-numbers-broken-down-20120809,0,5198036.story
This reality also illustrates the importance of considering and weighing different factors such as the economy, education, and law enforcement tactics such as the Gang Street Enforcement Teams (GSET) used in the 90’s. http://articles.latimes.com/2001/sep/24/local/me-49255
Ceasefire Programs as modeled after the one used in Boston in the 90’s are non effective unless they are coupled with effective police tactics such as GSET in Stockton as illustrated in the LA Times article above and only when police can be an effective partner:
“Operation Cease- fire was a “relationship intensive” intervention based on trust and the ability of a diverse set of individuals to work together towards a common goal. Unfortunately, the description of Operation Ceasefire that generally circulates in criminal justice circles oversimplifies the Boston experience, which is a recipe for frustration and eventual failure. Trust and accountability are essential in launching a meaningful collaborative response to complex youth violence problems. The need for such collaborations does not guarantee that they inevitably arise or, once developed, that they are sustained. As Eugene Bardach has noted, different agencies are reluctant to give up control over scarce resources that could compromise their traditional missions; and they face difficulty aligning individual work efforts into a functional enterprise, or developing a collective leadership among a group of individuals aligned with the needs of their individual organizations.7
A central problem in creating and managing effective capacity-building collaborations is over- coming the corrosive problem of distrust. Like most cities, distrust characterized the relationship among criminal justice agencies and between criminal justice agencies and the inner-city community in Boston. (Braga, Anthony A. and Christopher Winship. "Creating an Effective Foundation to Prevent Youth Violence: Lessons Learned from Boston in the 1990s." Rappaport Institute Policy Brief (2005)).
This can be a hurdle in a diverse community such as Stockton where White people are only 27% of the population, but constitute 70% of the police department; 60% of whom overall don’t even live in the city. The demographics of offenders and criminals contributing realty to the violence must be considered in comparison to this.
It should also be considered how this Ceasefire program in Stockton will be different when the original one is still in existence, although severely understaffed. Although this is being promoted as a new idea, the Peace Keepers program we have today is what’s left of the Ceasefire program of the 90’s.
http://www.montereyherald.com/gangs/ci_13328352?source=pkg
Even as this program is being touted as part of the “Marshal Plan” we must ask why the issue of crime and violence hasn’t been given a higher priority from city leaders. The situation has declined to the point where areas of the city previously considered and taken for granted as safe are locations of heinous crimes that are committed in public in broad daylight. Even the elderly are not exempt from such crimes as reinforced by recent robbings and killings. Unlike the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe, Stockton has yet to produce such focus. Our unemployment rate has reached as high as 22%, our overall poverty rate is 25% with some areas of town experiencing rates higher than 40%. Our median income is only $19,000 a year. Only 16% of our population has a BA degree or higher, well below state and national averages. Illiteracy and obesity rank among the worst in the entire nation. Or schools along with parents are failing to produce educated citizens at an acceptable pace.
Our leadership has been non-responsive, incompetent, and incompatible to progress and in the case of the mayoral race this year the opponent is an even worse alternative who was part of the fiasco that was the SUSD school board, which allowed a 54.6%, drop out rate in the high schools. Until all of these factors are addressed in a comprehensive, inclusive, and intelligently strategic way- the problems of Stockton, for which crime is just a symptom, will remain for generations more.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Why We Should Not Support Susan Eggman for Ca State Assembly
Dear friends and fellow community members,
Hello my name is Motecuzoma Sanchez. I am a resident of Stockton, community advocate, public servant, and active citizen. I am involved in many aspects of volunteerism and tireless advocacy for the purpose of improving our community of Stockton. As such, it has to come to my attention, with great concern, that current Stockton councilwoman Susan Eggman is running for State Assembly with the hope of representing our community at the state level. I am asking for your reconsideration of any endorsement or support for Ms. Eggman.
While she touts her self as a champion and advocate for the community, her actions speak to quite the opposite. One only need look at her voting record on the Council, and her failures to advocate for issues critical to community welfare, to see the true colors of her character and gauge what we could expect from her representation in the Assembly.
For someone who got her start as a grassroots candidate, opposing big developers who have reeked havoc on our city and have controlled the status-quo for generations now, I find that her current support for and financial assistance from these same developers is but one of the many signs indicating her true lack of integrity.
As a veteran I have watching in disbelief as she has been part of a Council playing political games to delay the new VA facility at the struggling County Hospital where I was also born and would like to see survive. Veterans are depending on that facility for care.
Despite the blind endorsements and support from Latino organizations, as a Mexican American I have watched on many occasions as she has failed to deliver, advocate, or support our community, although she has no problem showing up for Cinco de Mayo parades as well as any other ethnic events so long as (and only as long as) the cameras are present.
I have not forgotten that in February of 2009 when there was a vacancy on the council and 5 of the 11 qualified individuals who applied were Mexican descent, not one received a single vote from Susan Eggman despite their credentials. “I'm really angry that Susan Eggman didn't step forward,” Hadley said. “She is the only Latino voice on the council and as far as I'm concerned, there is no Latino voice” ( Latino Times, February 2009). She says she believes in working with people from different segments of the community to “make tough decisions”, yet she justified her unwillingness to cast a single vote for the community she says she represents because of “differing views” on certain issues.
She said her choice was best suited for the job over the other applicants because he was retired and could devote his attention to the matters of the council. We must ask ourselves if this is her ideal criteria for a councilman, then why does she feel she can best serve us while splitting her time as a professor, councilwoman, and now candidate for State Assembly? Apparently the standards she has for others do not apply to herself.
And I have not forgotten her lack of concern for our community when the council was requested to stand in solidarity with civil rights justice and pass a resolution against racist law SB 1070 in Arizona. San Francisco and Sacramento (much larger cities) found the time to stand with their residents. Susan Eggman’s response was, “ What will it actually do? It won’t do anything” ( Record, May19th, 2010).
As a Democrat I have not forgotten her endorsement of Clem Lee for Mayor in 2008, a clear decision to defy the party choice and labor unions and stand with big development. Perhaps it was a show of solidarity with a supporter of subsidizing of failed Paragary’s, which tax payers are still footing the bill on. Indeed Susan Eggman voted in favor of paying the contractor well beyond the amount specified in the contract to retro fit the Stockton Hotel for Paragary’s after the contractor made such requests a year after completion of the project.
We must also question Susan’s judgement in her endorsement for and support of, against better logic and the best interest of the district and its children, of dysfunctional and disgraced SUSD superintendent Tom Amato. Once again working against labor and the needs of the community.
As a social worker and professor of such at CSU, Sacramento, she is well aware of the Social Worker Code of Ethics which states:
4.06 Misrepresentation
Social workers should make clear distinctions between statements made and actions engaged in as a private individual and as a representative of the social work profession, a professional social work organization, or the social worker’s employing agency. (this would be Sac State where I am also a student)
(b) Social workers who speak on behalf of professional social work organizations should accurately represent the official and authorized positions of the organizations.
(c) Social workers should ensure that their representations to clients, agencies, and the public of professional qualifications, credentials, education, competence, affiliations, services provided, or results to be achieved are accurate. Social workers should claim only those relevant professional credentials they actually possess and take steps to correct any inaccuracies or misrepresentations of their credentials by others.
Yet Susan had no problem issuing this response regarding official city business involving a contract with the Podesto Teen Impact Center:
“ I would suggest we not respond to this. As a mental health professional I would suggest we have no further contact with Mr Sanchez” (Eggman, Apr22nd, 2011).
This response came in an email sent out to the entire City Council as well as many staff, despite the City Attorney recommending against honoring the contract which was negotiated by the former Executive Officer gone rogue, without the approval of our Board of Directors for which I am Chair. This unwarranted and unprofessional attempt to discredit me, implying that I had mental problems in her professional opinion, not only violated much of her profession’s Code of Ethics, but also the City’s adopted Civility Principles, which she voted to approve a month prior to making such statements: “The City Councilmembers are the elected leaders closest to the people. The Council is in a unique position to have a positive impact on behavior-individual and collective and to lead by example. The civility must begin here.
1.In order to restore civility in our communities and through them to our nation, we pledge to the following principles for civility: Respect the right of American’s to hold different opinions, Avoid rhetoric intended to humiliate, de-legitimize...Strive to understand differing perspectives, Choose words carefully, Speak truthfully without accusation, and avoid distortion...
2. We further pledge to exhibit and encourage the kinds of personal qualities that are emblematic of a civil society: gratitude, humility, openness, passion for service to others, propriety, kindness, caring, faith, sense of duty, and a commitment to doing what is right.”
I was doing what was right as a volunteer Chair of a non profit as well as a citizen of my City. In case her statement may have been taken out of context she reconfirmed her sentiments in May, “If I were a plumber on the council, and if I could see the sewer backing up, I would still feel obligated to offer a professional opinion.” Once again the expectations Susan Eggman has for others do not apply to herself and her pledge is meaningless. Are we to expect different from her once in the Assembly?
In light of such an endeavor, I am asking for your reconsideration of any endorsement and or support of Susan Eggman for State Assembly and your consideration of her record as a city council representative for Stockton. It has been on her watch that Stockton has been ranked 1st twice and 2nd twice, as the most miserable city in America. It has been on her watch that Stockton has become the 2nd most dangerous city in California and one of the top ten in the nation. It has been on her watch that Stockton has seen an 18.4% unemployment rate. Rather than focus on helping our city it appears Susan is more concerned with furthering her political career which is why she is running for another office half way into her term on the council. When she asked for our vote in 2010 was it with the expectation that she would not complete her term? Aren’t Assembly races every two years meaning she could still run for Assembly in 2014 after her term on the council is up? If she is not elected to the Assembly will her position on the council be her fall back/second choice?
Indeed our community and city deserve better. One must ask if Susan Eggman is more concerned with progressing our city or her political career. It is no mistake that she only chose to run for Assembly once the district was reshaped, thinking she would have full support from a community that has blindly supported her, as her decisions and actions have shown to be contrary to the needs and desires of that community. I ask you all to stand for integrity and demand higher standards and accountability. In fact in speaking with many of you, the best reason many have offered for supporting Susan has been , “what if the next person is worse?” Such reasoning is not only telling, but also disappointing and enabling to someone who should not be trusted in such a position. Our community deserves better. Our city deserves better. Our state deserves better. Our future deserves better.
Progress is made, not found, Motecuzoma Sanchez
Hello my name is Motecuzoma Sanchez. I am a resident of Stockton, community advocate, public servant, and active citizen. I am involved in many aspects of volunteerism and tireless advocacy for the purpose of improving our community of Stockton. As such, it has to come to my attention, with great concern, that current Stockton councilwoman Susan Eggman is running for State Assembly with the hope of representing our community at the state level. I am asking for your reconsideration of any endorsement or support for Ms. Eggman.
While she touts her self as a champion and advocate for the community, her actions speak to quite the opposite. One only need look at her voting record on the Council, and her failures to advocate for issues critical to community welfare, to see the true colors of her character and gauge what we could expect from her representation in the Assembly.
For someone who got her start as a grassroots candidate, opposing big developers who have reeked havoc on our city and have controlled the status-quo for generations now, I find that her current support for and financial assistance from these same developers is but one of the many signs indicating her true lack of integrity.
As a veteran I have watching in disbelief as she has been part of a Council playing political games to delay the new VA facility at the struggling County Hospital where I was also born and would like to see survive. Veterans are depending on that facility for care.
Despite the blind endorsements and support from Latino organizations, as a Mexican American I have watched on many occasions as she has failed to deliver, advocate, or support our community, although she has no problem showing up for Cinco de Mayo parades as well as any other ethnic events so long as (and only as long as) the cameras are present.
I have not forgotten that in February of 2009 when there was a vacancy on the council and 5 of the 11 qualified individuals who applied were Mexican descent, not one received a single vote from Susan Eggman despite their credentials. “I'm really angry that Susan Eggman didn't step forward,” Hadley said. “She is the only Latino voice on the council and as far as I'm concerned, there is no Latino voice” ( Latino Times, February 2009). She says she believes in working with people from different segments of the community to “make tough decisions”, yet she justified her unwillingness to cast a single vote for the community she says she represents because of “differing views” on certain issues.
She said her choice was best suited for the job over the other applicants because he was retired and could devote his attention to the matters of the council. We must ask ourselves if this is her ideal criteria for a councilman, then why does she feel she can best serve us while splitting her time as a professor, councilwoman, and now candidate for State Assembly? Apparently the standards she has for others do not apply to herself.
And I have not forgotten her lack of concern for our community when the council was requested to stand in solidarity with civil rights justice and pass a resolution against racist law SB 1070 in Arizona. San Francisco and Sacramento (much larger cities) found the time to stand with their residents. Susan Eggman’s response was, “ What will it actually do? It won’t do anything” ( Record, May19th, 2010).
As a Democrat I have not forgotten her endorsement of Clem Lee for Mayor in 2008, a clear decision to defy the party choice and labor unions and stand with big development. Perhaps it was a show of solidarity with a supporter of subsidizing of failed Paragary’s, which tax payers are still footing the bill on. Indeed Susan Eggman voted in favor of paying the contractor well beyond the amount specified in the contract to retro fit the Stockton Hotel for Paragary’s after the contractor made such requests a year after completion of the project.
We must also question Susan’s judgement in her endorsement for and support of, against better logic and the best interest of the district and its children, of dysfunctional and disgraced SUSD superintendent Tom Amato. Once again working against labor and the needs of the community.
As a social worker and professor of such at CSU, Sacramento, she is well aware of the Social Worker Code of Ethics which states:
4.06 Misrepresentation
Social workers should make clear distinctions between statements made and actions engaged in as a private individual and as a representative of the social work profession, a professional social work organization, or the social worker’s employing agency. (this would be Sac State where I am also a student)
(b) Social workers who speak on behalf of professional social work organizations should accurately represent the official and authorized positions of the organizations.
(c) Social workers should ensure that their representations to clients, agencies, and the public of professional qualifications, credentials, education, competence, affiliations, services provided, or results to be achieved are accurate. Social workers should claim only those relevant professional credentials they actually possess and take steps to correct any inaccuracies or misrepresentations of their credentials by others.
Yet Susan had no problem issuing this response regarding official city business involving a contract with the Podesto Teen Impact Center:
“ I would suggest we not respond to this. As a mental health professional I would suggest we have no further contact with Mr Sanchez” (Eggman, Apr22nd, 2011).
This response came in an email sent out to the entire City Council as well as many staff, despite the City Attorney recommending against honoring the contract which was negotiated by the former Executive Officer gone rogue, without the approval of our Board of Directors for which I am Chair. This unwarranted and unprofessional attempt to discredit me, implying that I had mental problems in her professional opinion, not only violated much of her profession’s Code of Ethics, but also the City’s adopted Civility Principles, which she voted to approve a month prior to making such statements: “The City Councilmembers are the elected leaders closest to the people. The Council is in a unique position to have a positive impact on behavior-individual and collective and to lead by example. The civility must begin here.
1.In order to restore civility in our communities and through them to our nation, we pledge to the following principles for civility: Respect the right of American’s to hold different opinions, Avoid rhetoric intended to humiliate, de-legitimize...Strive to understand differing perspectives, Choose words carefully, Speak truthfully without accusation, and avoid distortion...
2. We further pledge to exhibit and encourage the kinds of personal qualities that are emblematic of a civil society: gratitude, humility, openness, passion for service to others, propriety, kindness, caring, faith, sense of duty, and a commitment to doing what is right.”
I was doing what was right as a volunteer Chair of a non profit as well as a citizen of my City. In case her statement may have been taken out of context she reconfirmed her sentiments in May, “If I were a plumber on the council, and if I could see the sewer backing up, I would still feel obligated to offer a professional opinion.” Once again the expectations Susan Eggman has for others do not apply to herself and her pledge is meaningless. Are we to expect different from her once in the Assembly?
In light of such an endeavor, I am asking for your reconsideration of any endorsement and or support of Susan Eggman for State Assembly and your consideration of her record as a city council representative for Stockton. It has been on her watch that Stockton has been ranked 1st twice and 2nd twice, as the most miserable city in America. It has been on her watch that Stockton has become the 2nd most dangerous city in California and one of the top ten in the nation. It has been on her watch that Stockton has seen an 18.4% unemployment rate. Rather than focus on helping our city it appears Susan is more concerned with furthering her political career which is why she is running for another office half way into her term on the council. When she asked for our vote in 2010 was it with the expectation that she would not complete her term? Aren’t Assembly races every two years meaning she could still run for Assembly in 2014 after her term on the council is up? If she is not elected to the Assembly will her position on the council be her fall back/second choice?
Indeed our community and city deserve better. One must ask if Susan Eggman is more concerned with progressing our city or her political career. It is no mistake that she only chose to run for Assembly once the district was reshaped, thinking she would have full support from a community that has blindly supported her, as her decisions and actions have shown to be contrary to the needs and desires of that community. I ask you all to stand for integrity and demand higher standards and accountability. In fact in speaking with many of you, the best reason many have offered for supporting Susan has been , “what if the next person is worse?” Such reasoning is not only telling, but also disappointing and enabling to someone who should not be trusted in such a position. Our community deserves better. Our city deserves better. Our state deserves better. Our future deserves better.
Progress is made, not found, Motecuzoma Sanchez
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
The More Things Change
As the old saying goes: the more things change, the more things stay the same. This certainly holds true for our nation in regards to progressing towards equaliity. When Barrack Obama was elected as the first Black President of the United States in 2008, many tried, erroneously, to proclaim it the begining of a post racial society. They couldn't have been more wrong. I asked how much progress had been made, genuinley, when, although Obama was President, young Black men like Oscar Grant were still getting shot in the back while in handcuffs, by Police, in public? Has "progress" been made since the Civil Rights movement, which really was an extension for equal rights fought for since our country's early history? I think one can make the argument that there has been some progress. Now instead of Mexicans and Blacks being segregated in parks, movie theatres, and schools, from Whites, now they get to be segregated in prisons. To say that we live in a post
racial society where everyone is equal and has the opportunity to pull themselves up by their proverbial bootstraps, is a fallacy. Not only that, but it's a Red Herring to distract from the real issues of inequality. I don't want my ethnic heritage to be denied or ignored, it's not what was being asked for, the point is not being held back as a result of it. There are still serious issues regarding not only race but economic class, that need to be addressed and rectified in this great work in progress that is our nation. Perhaps as a result of the declining public education system, which I fear is by design as a way of the Republicans keeping the populus ignorant enough to support and vote for them against their own best interest, that we have lost sight of history and are therefore are doomed to repeat it. From the blatantly racist laws of Arizona regarding racial profiling and the attack on Ethnic Studies, to the scapegoating of illegal immigrants in
Californian politics, the Tea bagger movement, the attempt of Texas education officials to censor the truth in textbooks about slavery and civil rights, to the expansion of modern day slavery: prisons. All of the gains fought for and paid for with lives to move this nation towards the principles it was founded on, are now under attack with a desperate zeal. The more things are progressing, the more they are being attacked as an attempt to go back in time, an attempt to be blind to the truth that has been exposed through the struggle and sacrifice by those who sought to lead our nation towards the rhetoric it was founded upon. So it becomes neccessary for us as a nation who truly value the vision of what this country is suppossed to be, to fight now as before, perhaps even more, to make those dreams embedded in the conscience of our nation a reality. I've seen the past and I am not going back.
Motecuzomatzin
racial society where everyone is equal and has the opportunity to pull themselves up by their proverbial bootstraps, is a fallacy. Not only that, but it's a Red Herring to distract from the real issues of inequality. I don't want my ethnic heritage to be denied or ignored, it's not what was being asked for, the point is not being held back as a result of it. There are still serious issues regarding not only race but economic class, that need to be addressed and rectified in this great work in progress that is our nation. Perhaps as a result of the declining public education system, which I fear is by design as a way of the Republicans keeping the populus ignorant enough to support and vote for them against their own best interest, that we have lost sight of history and are therefore are doomed to repeat it. From the blatantly racist laws of Arizona regarding racial profiling and the attack on Ethnic Studies, to the scapegoating of illegal immigrants in
Californian politics, the Tea bagger movement, the attempt of Texas education officials to censor the truth in textbooks about slavery and civil rights, to the expansion of modern day slavery: prisons. All of the gains fought for and paid for with lives to move this nation towards the principles it was founded on, are now under attack with a desperate zeal. The more things are progressing, the more they are being attacked as an attempt to go back in time, an attempt to be blind to the truth that has been exposed through the struggle and sacrifice by those who sought to lead our nation towards the rhetoric it was founded upon. So it becomes neccessary for us as a nation who truly value the vision of what this country is suppossed to be, to fight now as before, perhaps even more, to make those dreams embedded in the conscience of our nation a reality. I've seen the past and I am not going back.
Motecuzomatzin
Thursday, June 3, 2010
If Crying Were a Crime
I have know for some time that police and firefighter contracts must be revisited and revised. I have known that there are some majors that need to be addressed with the department and the way they police, in particular minority communities. But I am appalled by the new low they have slipped to with their citywide billboards. One says " welcome to California's 2nd most dangerous city" and another " Dear Stockton residents, we can no longer gurantee your safety." Which is it, if they were providing gurantees of safety then why are we the 2nd most dangerous city, on their watch? The most troublesome sign is one that uses a tally of Stockton's murders so far as. The undertones are threatening as if to say more trouble is on they way from which only they can protect us. The police do no exist to protect, or prevent, they are reactionary. All of the police in the world can not change the crime in Stockton as long as we have 18% unemployment, 24% below the poverty line, and a 54% drop out rate. Their contracts are plush as it is, yet they expect to be immune from the effects of an economically troubled tax base that provides for their salaries. We cannot exist as a city soley to support police and firefighters, the mojaority of which don't even live in the city they've sworn to serve and protect. Their behavior in using Stockton's misfortune, as well as the victims of homicide, as a bargaining chip is unprofessional and unbecoming. They have a choice to take slight cuts and concessions in lieu of layoffs and last time they chose layoffs, then cried like it was forced on them. So the question remains, are they more concerned with upholding their oaths and protecting the public or their pockets?
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