[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E756-E757]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

EXPOSING RACISM

______

HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

of mississippi

in the house of representatives

Thursday, April 22, 1999

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, in my continuing efforts to
document and expose racism in America, I submit the following articles
into the Congressional Record.

[From the New York Times, Feb. 24, 1999]

47 Percent in Poll View Legal System as Unfair to Poor and Minorities

(By Linda Greenhouse)

Washington--Despite having only a minimal knowledge of the
legal system, nearly half of the public thinks it treats
minorities and the poor unfairly, a survey conducted for the
American Bar Association indicates.
In the months before William H. Rehnquist raised his public
profile by presiding over the Senate impeachment trial, only
17 percent could identify him as Chief Justice of the United
States. More than one-third of those responding held the
mistaken belief that in a criminal trial, it is up to the
defendant to prove his innocence.
But a surprising 96 percent knew that a criminal defendant
who is found not guilty can still be sued in a civil trial.
The survey report, made public by the bar association today,
speculated that widespread knowledge of this ``relatively
obscure concept'' might be attributed to the intense coverage
of O.J. Simpson's consecutive criminal and civil trials.
While most people believe that ``the justice system needs a
complete overhaul'' and that ``we would be better off with
fewer lawyers,'' the public still agrees by a strong
majority, 8 out of 10, that ``in spite of its problems, the
American justice system is still the best in the world,''
according to the survey.
But of the 1,000 adults polled by telephone in August, 47
percent said they believed that the courts did not ``treat
all ethnic and racial groups the same.'' Thirty-nine percent
said there was equitable treatment of minorities and 14
percent had no opinion. Also, 90 percent of respondents said
affluent people and corporations had an unfair advantage in
court.
The bar group's president, Philip S. Anderson, who
commissioned the survey, said in a statement that while he
was cheered by the results showing public confidence in the
system, he was disturbed by the indication that substantial
numbers of people discerned racial unfairness in the behavior
of courts and law-enforcement authorities.
``We are concerned that the current perception of bias will
eventually erode confidence in our system of justice,''
Anderson said in remarks prepared for delivery on Wednesday
at the National Press Club.
The results of the nationwide telephone survey are to be
presented and discussed at a bar association symposium here
later this week on ``public understanding and perceptions of
the American justice system.''
An independent research firm in Chicago, M/A/R/C Research,
conducted the survey, which had a margin of sampling error of
plus or minus three percentage points.
The news media fared badly in public confidence, in fact
worse than any other institution. Eight percent of the people
had strong confidence in the news media, while 60 percent
expressed slight or no confidence. The Supreme Court, by
contrast, was at the top of the list, with 50 percent of the
people expressing strong confidence in it. Compared with a
similar survey conducted in 1978, public confidence in all
levels of the judicial system has increased, while confidence
in doctors, organized religion, public schools and Congress,
as well as the news media, has declined. A majority rejected
the statement that ``the courts are just puppets of the
political system.''
Anderson, the bar group's president, urged the Supreme
Court to enhance public understanding of the law by allowing
television cameras into its argument sessions.
``One television camera in the Supreme court will educate
more people more effectively in one morning than the
traditional methods can reach in one year,'' he said.
Some of the survey's results appeared certain to warm the
hearts of the American Bar Association's 400,000 members. Of
people who had used a lawyer within the past five years,
three-quarters were very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with
the quality of service, with 53 percent in the ``very
satisfied'' category.
Most people agreed that ``it would be easy to get a lawyer
if I needed one,'' while at the same time expressing the view
that ``it costs too much to go to court'' and ``it takes
courts too long'' to do their job.
____

Thompson Doesn't Condone Councilman's Actions

Jackson, MS.--U.S. Congressman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.,
says he doesn't condone the actions of former City Council
President Louis Armstrong, but he warns people not to condemn
his longtime friend.
Armstrong pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court
to charges of conspiracy to commit extortion and accepting
part of a $25,000 bribe to influence a council vote on
rezoning a topless bar. He is scheduled to be sentenced May
7.
Artie Armstrong, 30, his eldest son, faces trial March 1 on
bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges in the same case.
``Nobody really supports individuals doing wrong. As long
as the pursuit of the wrongdoers is within the confines of
the laws and on balance, then the general public will support
it. And I don't know any people that I talk to who support
people doing wrong,'' Thompson said.
``People sympathize with people who make mistakes. And
those people who are Christian hope that the people who do
wrong will see the error of their ways and seek some
opportunities for redemption.''
Former state senator Henry J. Kirksey says FBI
investigations into alleged corruption by black Jackson City
officials and business leaders, like Armstrong and his son,
are not based on race.
The veteran lawmaker who has been active in state and local
politics criticized those who are labeling recent FBI
investigations as selective prosecution of minorities.
Kirksey says last week's guilty plea by Armstrong, who is
black, to bribery and extortion charges reflects the
mentality of some politicians who have risen to power and
subsequently abused it in search of the dollar.
``They are teaching that to their children--`You get it
anyway you can'--and that's why the jails and detention
centers are loaded with blacks,'' Kirksey said. ``The problem
is there is something wrong at City Hall, and it's not all
just Louis Armstrong, either.''
Councilmen Kenneth Stokes and Robert Williams testified
during the December trial of two businessmen charged in the
FBI cable investigation that they were never offered any
money in exchange for their votes.
The councilmen have not been charged with wrongdoing. Car
salesman Robert Williams, 50, and snack food distributor Roy
Dixon, 56, were convicted Dec. 11 of conspiring to extort
$150,000 from Time Warner Cable in an attempt to influence
the city council's vote on the franchise renewal.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee gave Williams 21
months in prison and two years supervised probation.
U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott said the FBI's investigations
centered only on criminal actions of suspects, not their
race. He pointed to the guilty pleas of Armstrong and Clinton
Moses Jr., a confessed bank robber who on Friday admitted he
firebombed the Jackson Advocate and accused Armstrong of
hiring him.
``From the fact that both of them have every reason to
expect to go to prison for having confessed under oath for
their criminal conduct, I certainly don't see where the room
is to see that they're both just lying so that they can have
the chance to go prison,'' Pigott said.
Moses, who worked in Armstrong's 1997 re-election campaign,
told authorities that Armstrong paid him $500 to burn the
black weekly newspaper.
Pigott won't say whether Armstrong will be charged in the
Advocate's firebombing.
____

School Officials Say Racial Tension a Problem Among Students

Farmington Hills, MI.--School officials in several Detroit
area schools find themselves investigating incidents linked
to racial tension--and they're searching for ways to head off
violence within school walls.
Kim Kennedy, who is black, never thought her son, Jeffrey,
would have to face the kind of racial attacks she felt
growing up in Detroit. Her son attends Walled Lake Western
High School, where in January he was involved in a racially
motivated fight.
``I never thought my children would have to experience what
happened to us in the 1960s,'' Ms. Kennedy, 38, of Farmington
Hills told The Detroit News for a Thursday story.
``Sometimes, I question whether we made the right decision
moving here.''
Other recent racial incidents in area schools include:
Dearborn Edsel Ford High School. On Dec. 2, an altercation
between several Arab and non-Arab students escalated into a
food fight.
West Bloomfield High School. Last week, tempers flared
between groups of Chaldean-American and African-American
students in the school's cafeteria.
Saline High School. Three white students were charged with
felony ethnic intimidation in connection with a Dec. 17,
1998, hallway fight with two black students. A preliminary
examination is scheduled for March 23.
Experts say schools can and should take responsibility for
helping to solve ethnic and racial tensions--even though the
conflict usually begins outside the schools.
``Schools must be on top of what is creating the tension,
and be proactive, rather than waiting for something to
happen,'' University of Michigan education professor Percy
Bates said.
In Walled Lake, about 25 parents attended a ``racial
summit'' for parents a week after the Jan. 21 incident
involving Kennedy, 14, and several other students. Many of
the students--including Kennedy--were suspended and one was
expelled.
``We promised parents that the administration would meet
with them to discuss their

[[Page E757]]

concerns and to invite them to participate in our
initiatives,'' Walled Lake Western High Principal Gary
Bredahl told the News.
``I hope the African-American students here can sense that
we are reaching out to them to create a comfort zone to get
them involved in school activities.''
Experts say students often pick up their parents' feelings
about other races, said Juanetta Guthrie of Wayne State
University's Center for Peace and Conflict Studies.
``We are not born with the mechanism to hate. It's learned,
and it can be unlearned,'' Ms. Guthrie said.
West Bloomfield senior Brad Fayer agrees that parents play
a big role in raising their children to be free of biases and
bigotry.
``If you have open-minded parents they can teach their kids
to also be open-minded and fair,'' he said. ``They can also
teach equality.''
So school districts are taking up the challenge to help
combat conflicts.
In Dearborn, fights between Arab and non-Arab students have
led to the creation of the Dearborn Community Alliance to
establish clearer communication between members of the
community.
``I see more dialogue,'' Edsel Ford Principal Jeremy Hughes
said. ``At one time, the Arab students all sat along one wall
in the cafeteria, but now I see more interaction.''
But Alex Shami, the only Arab American on the Dearborn
public school board, said the district still has a long way
to go.
``I've lived in Dearborn for 24 years,'' Shami said.
``There was tension between Arabs and non-Arabs in the late
1970s and then it went down in the 1980s, but it is worse
than ever now. I don't like what I see because people seem to
be investing more on their prejudices than ever and I am
frustrated.''
In West Bloomfield, school officials say implementing
ethnic diversity programs is the key to heading off potential
problems.
``We have ongoing programs that get several kids from
different backgrounds in dialogue,'' said Sharkey Haddad, the
district's multicultural program director. ``If you don't
already have a program in place, then it's merely a reaction
to the problem.''
____

Mississippians to Get Chance to Tell History

(By Gina Holland)

Jackson, Miss. (AP)--Mississippi history will be told
through personal accounts of everyday residents as part of a
project approved by the Legislature just in time for the turn
of the century.
A bill passed by the House Wednesday would put $150,000
into a pilot project to collect interviews from residents in
five areas of the state. The Senate has already approved the
funding.
The University of Southern Mississippi, which has an oral
history department, and the Mississippi Humanities Council
would team up with community leaders on the work.
Residents will be interviewed about stories of their
communities, government and civic life, and historical
events.
Still pending in the Legislature is a request for $30,000
in continuation funding for an oral history program focusing
on the civil rights era.
Elbert Hilliard, executive director of the Department of
Archives and History, said the project will fill gaps in
historical archives.
``Most of the existing oral history collections are
interviews with prominent persons, political leaders, people
who have been involved in significant events,'' he said. ``It
will expand the scope of these interviews to have a
comprehensive approach.''
Hillard, who expect some of the interviews to involve civil
rights events, said he is hopeful the Legislature will also
provide money for the civil rights project at USM.
Under the proposal approved Wednesday, one site will be
chosen in each of Mississippi's congressional districts for a
pilot program. People will be taught how to conduct
interviews. The material will be archived and be made
available on the Internet and it could be displayed in the
communities.
Rep. Leonard Morris, D-Batesville, said his two teen-age
children. ``have no knowledge of what happened in the 1960s
and 1970s.''
``You don't want to dwell too much upon the negative part
of it, but you also want to be able to do research on what
happened and have an accurate documented source,'' said
Morris, ``How can you know where you're going if you don't
have a good idea of the past?''
Sen John Horhn, D-Jackson, said he would like to see more
work on the civil rights history.
``A number of the people who were involved in the movement
have passed away, many of them are getting older. It's
important we capture their stories,'' said Horhn.
The funding bill goes to the governor.

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