Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 18:12:55 -0700 (PDT) From: chris niles <chajib at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Ralph on race To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Nor can he speak inspiringly about race. I certainly don't doubt Ralph's preference for a world free of "racism" and his response here is refreshingly free of any nasty personal digs. But he really did not answer the charge. Nor has he addressed the glaring fact that the Green Party, indeed, much of the movement world that supports him, is just as segragated as the rest of American society. Then again, folks like Manning Marable, as far as I can tell, have also chosen not to address that problem. Sigh.
I might be able to drag myself to the voting booth if Ralph Nader got righteously indignant about whiteness and how it serves as an obstacle to creative thinking, organizing and problem solving in America. Flash: How come Ralph Nader has not made any bold statements about how he might use the Executive Order to address some of his long standing concerns? Is he oppposed to its use?
Niles "If you think you are white, there is no hope for you." James Baldwin
--- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> [the guy just can't speak inspiringly about justice,
> can he?]
>
> Ralph Nader Responds to ColorLines
>
> On August 17, 2000, ColorLines published an article
> by Vanessa Daniel
> criticizing presidential candidate Ralph Nader for
> downplaying issues
> of race and racism in his campaign, and calling on
> him to make these
> crucial issues central to his campaign and the
> public debate
> surrounding the election. That article can be
> accessed at
> <http://colorlines.com.> Today we received the
> following response
> from Mr. Nader.
>
> *******
>
> After reading the ColorLines article entitled "Ralph
> Nader's Racial
> Blindspot" written by Vanessa Daniel, I want to
> respond and describe
> my record on advocating for the rights of people of
> color. Issues
> concerning racism have been central to the work I
> have done in the
> past, and continue to the present day.
>
> I have been very critical of the criminal justice
> system, which is
> highly discriminatory against people of color. Ever
> since I was a law
> student, I have opposed the death penalty--unlike
> Gore and Bush, who
> both support state sanctioned murder. It has been
> shown on numerous
> occasions that people of color disproportionately
> receive the death
> sentence.
>
> The lack of competent legal services for the poor
> results in an
> unequal justice system. Those who cannot afford
> competent legal
> counsel are more likely to receive harsher
> sentencing. In addition,
> racism inherent in the criminal justice system
> results in harsher
> sentencing of people of color. Racial biases of some
> judges play a
> role in sentencing.
>
> Other criminal justice matters that require
> attention as human rights
> and civil rights violations include racial
> profiling, illegal police
> violence, the prison industrial complex, and the war
> on drugs. Racial
> profiling, a blatantly discriminatory practice, is
> not a legitimate
> law-enforcement technique. It denies individuals of
> equal treatment.
> Where is "equal protection under the law" when
> people of color are
> suspected of wrongdoing before they have even done
> anything? I
> endorse the end of pretextual traffic stops and
> passage of the
> Traffic Stops Statistics Act.
>
> Community policing reduces police violence because
> police work and
> live in the neighborhood. When police are not
> trained properly and
> are not subject to penalties like everyone else, the
> system breaks
> down and the critical public respect for the police
> force dissipates.
>
> The prison industrial complex is a modern-day form
> of serfdom. The
> extensive locking up of individuals,
> disproportionately people of
> color, is an injustice, to say the least. There
> should be no
> corporate prisons. Incarceration is a public
> responsibility, not a
> private enterprise.
>
> The failed War on Drugs has been responsible for the
> imprisonment of
> many of our nation's citizens. Instead of
> criminalizing drug use by
> jailing drug addicts, we need to spend more time,
> energy, and money
> on treatment and prevention. We don't send
> alcoholics or nicotine
> addicts to jail. Incarceration of people who need
> treatment and
> economic opportunity is senseless. The Drug War has
> been a war
> especially against the poor and people of color.
>
> I actively supported the boycott against Coca-Cola,
> which
> aggressively markets to Black consumers, yet
> discriminates against
> Blacks as employees. Black employees at Coca-Cola
> are paid less than
> White employees, and are underrepresented in top
> pay-grade levels.
>
> I strongly support affirmative action measures in
> employment, which
> seek equal pay and equal partnership, to remedy the
> effects of
> discrimination. After more than 300 years of
> affirmative action to
> benefit White males, we definitely need affirmative
> action for people
> of color and women to offset historic wrongs as well
> as present-day
> inequalities.
>
> Another one of my battles has been to expose the
> biases of tests
> administered by the Educational Testing Service
> (ETS). Culturally
> biased tests are denying poor youngsters of color
> and other poor
> youth access to educational opportunities.
> Low-income families, often
> desperate, exploited and situated in brutish
> surroundings, cannot
> often offer a learning climate at home, or receive
> the same at
> dilapidated schools, that leads to higher test
> scores.
>
> African American teachers who do pass teacher tests
> score lower than
> whites on average, but beginning African American
> teachers earn
> higher performance ratings than their white
> counterparts, according
> to "The Effects of Competency Testing on the Supply
> of Minority
> Teachers," by Dr. G. Pritchy Smith, Professor at the
> University of
> North Florida. I advocate the elimination of such
> multiple choice
> standardized tests, which are a great barrier to
> opportunity for
> low-income people of color.
>
> I sponsored "Civics for Democracy," an educational
> guide, which
> extensively addresses slavery, Jim Crow laws, school
> desegregation,
> civil rights marches and boycotts events not dealt
> with adequately in
> public school texts.
>
> In 1993, our associates exposed home mortgage
> lenders who had been
> involved in the illegal practice of racial
> "redlining." I was
> involved in uncovering 49 home mortgage lenders
> across 16 cities that
> made little or no loans in neighborhoods of color.
> After pinpointing
> these practices, we called for federal
> investigation, prosecution,
> and new regulations to address this racist practice,
> which
> discourages people of color from pursuing home
> ownership.
>
> When considering the grave injustices that have
> occurred in the past
> and continue to occur in the present-day, it is
> necessary that we
> implement a system of institutional "Marshall Plans"
> to correct what
> has been taken away and is still being taken away
> from
> African-Americans and their children in terms of
> economic and
> educational opportunity, self confidence, and
> overall quality of life.
>
> Randall Robinson writes in his book, The Debt: What
> America Owes to
> Blacks, "When a government kills its own people or
> facilitates their
> involuntary servitude and generalized victimization
> based on group
> membership, then that government or its successor
> has
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