By Barbara Morris
It doesn't seem too long ago that local organizations and major media focused on the critical problem of babies having babies, and of young men fathering multiple children by different mothers. It was a natural tragedy, as was rampant crime. There was plenty of blame to go around, as many noted – prominent people betrayed their trust, thus setting bad examples.
Movies, television, and rap glorified such behavior and parents were sometimes too busy, or cared too little to do much about it. It became an absolute necessity that young people, in particular, had to be taught to respect themselves and to respect the opposite sex enough that such dangerous trends would stop.
More and more, I began to read high praise for women – graciously pronounced by men. The subject was, in fact, prominently mentioned at the Million Man March and thereafter, saying that black women have been the mainstay of the black family and have earned respect and protection. I know of no one who would disagree, except for criminal types whose uncontrolled fury sometimes drives them to do dastardly deeds. Rapists! Every woman's nightmare!
And a nightmare for those who care for them, or the law, as well. We have had our share of rapists here in southeast Queens and I had an ugly encounter with one.
I was luckier than some; I escaped. Many do not. Last year, in the Bronx, there was someone who had raped mostly black women, but some Hispanic women as well. Four police officers from the elite Anti-Crime Unit were chosen to stop the mayhem against these women and capture the perpetrator.
The four officers most unfortunately, happened to be white. They went out to protect women, not to kill, or even wound anyone, according to my best information – which I believe with all my heart. What followed with the tragic death of Amadou Diallo widened many gaps in understanding that many of us had fought for years to close. It was the expected, clarion call from the Rev. Al Sharpton that declared these officers racists and declared the shooting an act of deliberate police brutality. Many from all walks of life stood with him – some because someone else prominent and admired had joined in.
Somewhere in the crowds there were signs saying, “Kill the cops,” and similar proclamations. Norman Siegel of the Civil Liberties Union, has now, as before, forgotten, it seems, that even police officers who have made a tragic mistake, deserve a fair trial. I, for one, recognized when our officers faced machine guns while their weapons were .38 caliber revolvers, they needed more protection.
I worked as hard as I could do to convince the Police Department that they needed 9mm weapons, which they finally got. Unfortunately that has still not been enough protection for some of them, even though the 9mm are semiautomatic weapons.
An officer seeking a desperate criminal, such as someone who has committed multiple rapes, needs and deserves at least that minimal defense. When Amadou Diallo, seeming to fit the rapist's description, came into view, the officers' attempt to have him stand still so they could get a closer look at him, and have him answer questions, proved disastrous.
I don't know where all this will lead, or where the Rev. Al Sharpton intends his efforts to lead. Since I have only heard inflammatory words from him about the police and whites, I suspect he wants the gap mentioned earlier in this column to became even wider and, I'm afraid that many who haven't paid enough attention to him and his close associates, may be surprised at where they may be led.
He can be very convincing. I have seen him in person and been impressed. I have not been surprised by his unrelenting attacks on the police and Mayor Giuliani because that is the business he is about all the time. I even read that he ridiculed Mayor Giuliani's opposition to the so-called art display at the Brooklyn Museum, saying that if the mayor had ever read the bible he would have known there was dung on the floor in the manger.
Personally, I suspect the mayor did not read the Bible even beyond the part where the most famous man that ever lived did not receive a fair trial! Fair, to me, means without false testimony, (as was given, according to published reports, during another case in which the Rev. Al Sharpton was featured prominently).
Through this whole mess, I can't understand how anyone would really believe these four officers could possibly get a fair trial in the Bronx after so much inflammatory rhetoric. I can't understand why so many clergy who preach tolerance and forgiveness couldn't even wait to jump on the condemnation bandwagon, my own church included.
After all, it was in the Episcopal Cathedral in Garden City that the Rev. Jesse Jackson addressed the condemnation bandwagon after Colin Ferguson shot up a Long Island Rail Road train, most deliberately killing and wounding – not one – but many whites and Asians and he said, “You must forgive him.” And some, including Mrs. McCarthy, did.
You must let these officer have a fair trial – and try to be fair to the rest of the NYPD too.
