European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 5, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday. May 5,1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Anthony . Staggers Down path of hate revenge the acquittal of the police officers who clubbed Rodney o. King and the violent reaction in Black communities showed us an american society that has lost its Way. There were sophisticated explanations for the jury verdict in Simi Valley Calif the prosecution made mistakes the defense was shrewd. But no one can really doubt what happened. Suppose an unarmed White Man had been arrested after a car Chase by four Black policemen armed with guns and clubs. Suppose they had beaten him mercilessly and the scene had been captured on video. Would the jury have acquitted those police officers racism is what happened Clear simple brutal. Racism linked to fear and revenge Black people Are shiftless dangerous less human than us police Are entitled to take vengeance against any who disturb our peace. Blacks in America Are accustomed to being singled out by police. It is not just someone with a criminal record. Black professors Are taken in As suspects because of the color of their skin. This time Blacks thought the rest of us would understand what they face and do something about it for it was on tape a vicious police assault. But even that was not enough to make the difference. The morning after the verdict i had a Telephone Call from a Black Bank officer in new York. A a in a at work a he said a but i can to work. Since last night i have a feeling of such despair. It says to me a your life is expendable. If you Brush up against the Powers that be we will beat you physically mentally emotionally a and still have Justice on our a Blacks in los Angeles took their revenge burning and looting and killing. Their rage caused mostly self inflicted wounds on communities where Blacks live. King himself speaking with tearful dignity pleaded with the rioters to Stop. A a it a just not right a he said. A a it a not right. Its not going to change that is where we Are in this country fear begetting fear hate hate revenge revenge. And no one in our political leadership shows any meaningful concern about a Central problem of american life race. For a dozen years now our National government has ignored the race problem or used it in cynical politics. Ronald Reagan would never even meet with Black leaders. George Bush used a a quotas and Willie Horton As devices to win White votes. The Federal courts used to provide a voice of reason and Hope on racial issues. But presidents Reagan and Bush have packed the courts including the supreme court with judges chosen for their conservative ideology a and who Are largely insensitive to the realities of racism. Black americans have gained political Power in Many cities. There Are Black mayors in new York and Philadelphia and Atlanta and los Angeles. But it is an empty frustrating kind of empowerment because our cities have been starved of the resources needed to offer their people minimal decency is. American cities sen. Bill Bradley told the Senate on March 26, Are a poorer sicker less educated and More violent than at any time in my the new Jersey Democrat went on to say that both political parties bore responsibility a republicans have played the race card in a divisive Way. And democrats have suffocated discussion of self destructive behaviour among the minority population in a cloak of silence and denial. The Divide among races in our cities deepens with White americans More and More unwilling to spend the Money necessary to ameliorate the physical conditions or to Sec Why the absence of meaning in the lives of Many Urban children threatens the future of their own his last Point was crucial. We Are in this society together White and Black poor and Rich. We All suffer when the society is riven by fear and revenge. C the now Yore times Walter Mear privilege in politics carries heavy Price tag it was a week of business As usual nothing really remarkable. Of there was the annual Republican fund raising dinner and it did bring in a record take about 9 million political dollars. Then too there was the instinctive and unsuccessful attempt by democratic leaders to resist a sweeping subpoena for records of the old House Bank. The two episodes one for each party Are both in line with Washington custom and Are Likely to Widen the Gap Between the people in and around government and the world outside the capital Beltway. Both parties have annual dinners for big Money donors to raise party funds for their House and Senate candidates. The democrats held theirs on april 8 this year. It gained neither the notoriety nor the proceeds of the Republican dinner that featured president Bush last week. The democrats raised $2.5 million. The dispute Over House Bank records was a major controversy because of the politically charged bad Check Issue. But a subpoena involving the House or its members always gets special treatment for sound reasons Congress is an equal Branch of government with constitutional guarantees to guard against intrusions. Under its rules the House checks any subpoena against that Standard. So House speaker Thomas s. Foley d-wash., had precedent and constitutional grounds for trying to Block the special counsels subpoena. It sought microfilm copies of House Bank checks for a 39-month period not Only for the 325 current and former members who overdraw their accounts but for 170 who did not. The special counsel said he needed All the records to investigate the possibility that the Bank was used in a Check kiting scheme. Foley said the subpoena was so sweeping As to be unprecedented that it a touches upon the privileges of the House and of All the members of Congress. That May be sound Law but it was bad politics. Privilege is a problem this election year. And overdrawn checks on the House Bank now shut Down have become a wildfire Campaign Issue for the incumbents who wrote them. Although the whole business May have been overplayed it also is an Issue understood by the Check writing voter. Foley suffered an embarrassing repudiation wednesday night when Only 64 democrats sided with him against the 347 who approved a Republican Resolution to yield the Bank records. Democrats raised the Specter of a Republican special counsel poking through congressional checks and leaking embarrassing personal data. But republicans said resistance would be read As a cover up. Conceding Points of Law to the democrats rep. Fred Grandy a Iowa said a we Are in a court of Public opinion whether we like it or so too is the political fund raising process. That accounts for the attention Given to the $l,500-a-plate Republican affair with special handling for the biggest donors including one businessman who put together $400,000 in contributions. There Are limits on individual contributions to campaigns and political committees but they do not apply to donations for so called party building activities such As voter registration and turnout efforts. That a called soft Money which is gibberish to the average voter but big business to political fund raisers. For the Republican dinner there was a Price brochure describing the benefits available to the biggest donors including a White House reception with the president and Barbara Bush lunch with vice president Dan Quayle and his wife Marilyn or a Cabinet member or gop senator As a dinner table companion. While the Price list was a bit crass favors and Access for donors Are Standard fare in both parties. And the party that holds the White House has More to offer. Senate democratic Leader George j. Mitchell advocating an overhaul that would include Public financing of congressional campaigns acknowledged that democrats use the same tactics. Bush a press spokesman said the donors weren to buying influence Only Access. A a it a buying Access to the system yes a Marlin Fitzwater said. A a that a what the political parties and the political operation is All about. You re buying into the political and what about the voters who can to afford it a they have to demand Access in other c the associated press iwo tto bust this ask wipe opel i i ii ii i i Jil t i i i
