Ethics & Religion
Column # 2,027
June 17, 2020
Reforming America for Blacks
By Mike McManus
These past weeks have been very encouraging - with whites and blacks
marching together for racial justice. Genuine reform is possible - and is
needed.
Unfortunately, there is no agreement on what should be done by Congress. The
House and Senate are developing their own bills - but they are
contradictory. They only agree on no more police chokeholds.
The President announced executive action on policing, but the plan was
swiftly rejected by Democrats as falling far short of what they call a
culture of systemic racism and brutality that sparked nationwide protests.
The President formally unveiled steps to offer new federal incentives for
local police to bolster training and create a national database to track
misconduct. Trump pledged that "African Americans who died at the hands of
police - will not have died in vain."
But he surrounded himself with uniformed police union officials, saying. "I
strongly oppose radical and dangerous efforts to dismantle and dissolve our
police departments. Without police there is anarchy; and without safety
there is catastrophe."
Few are proposing dismantling police departments. However, my column last
week proposed adopting a merger of the Camden, N.J. Police Department with
county police, and thus create a county community force instead. That
allowed the city to get rid of the unionized police that cost $182,168 with
benefits per officer in favor of a non-unionized county police costing only
$99,608 per officer. That enabled Camden to expand education reform and
workplace development.
House Democrats are developing a legislative package that would strictly ban
police chokeholds, make it easier for victims of police violence to sue
officers and departments and create a national database of police
misconduct.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected the House proposal as a
nonstarter. One Republican proposal is overturning federal court precedent
barring individuals from suing police.
What major reforms are needed? Here are six suggestions made by Byron Allen,
Chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, one of the largest privately-held
media companies with 9 cable television networks, and 64 original TV series
on the air and 15 ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliate TV stations nationwide.
- Police Reform which includes zero tolerance of chokeholds and severe
punishment for police brutality, corruption and murder.
- Justice Reform. Black men are sentenced to prison terms that are 20% longer
than white men committing the same crime. That should change.
- Reparations. America must acknowledge and apologize for enslavement of
African- Americans and a lack of compensation for their helping build the
nation since the Civil War.
- Economic inclusion. Banks have not been lending money to black people.
Blacks need equal access as whites to capital to buy homes or start a
business.
- Health Care Reform: Every American needs access to health care, free of
charge. "We need to completely eliminate hunger and food insecurity
nationwide," says Allen.
- Jobs, Opportunities, Internships and Mentorships: Byron Allen's mother
earned a degree at UCLA and a Masters in Cinema/TV. She asked a network if
she could have an internship as an executive - and got it. Her son saw
tapings of shows with Johnny Carson, Redd Fox, Bob Hope and many others.
That inspired him to start his own company now called the Allen Media Group.
He asserts, "America will never have true peace until America stops
protecting, nurturing and fostering hate groups."
One reform not being talked about on the streets - but deserves priority
attention by Congress - is to make the District of Columbia America's 51st
state. Washington D.C. pays more federal taxes than 22 states - yet has no
voice in the House of Representatives or the Senate.
Surely the 700,000 tax-paying people of the District deserve statehood.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser spoke out recently on behalf of the
descendants of slaves "who helped build the Capitol and the White House and
this nation." She correctly charged, in a Washington Post column, "Every
District resident is still treated as a second class citizen."
When she tried to create a "Black Lives Matter Plaza," a line of federal
police blocked her efforts. She charged that the president became "the
latest to trample our rights as citizens." She pled with Americans "to join
us in our fight for statehood. That is a problem Congress can fix. Help us
elect a Congress that believes in democracy. Help us elect a president who
won't occupy our city
"Help us push, more unified than ever before, for the District to become the
51st state."
It is time for these reforms to be implemented.
_________________________
Copyright (c) 2020 Michael J. McManus, President of Marriage Savers and
a syndicated columnist. To read past columns, go to
www.ethicsandreligion.comm. Hit
Search for any topic.
|
|
Since 1981...
2000+ Columns |
|
LATEST ARTICLE |
|
Februrary
23, 2021: Column 2063: RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE |
|
Recent Columns |
|
Observing Lent |
|
Celebrating Marriage Week |
|
A Case for Pro-Life
|
|
End
The Death Penalty? |
|
Christian Choices Matter |
|
2020 Was A Terrible Year |
|
Suicides Rates Are Rising |
|
The Biblical Sexual Standard |
|
How to Cut the Divorce Rate in Half |
|
Divorce Rate Is Falling |
|
How To Save Marriages |
|
55 Years of Marriage |
|
How To Cut America's Divorce Rate |
|
Suicide Rate Rising |
|
Overcoming Porn Addiction |
|
The Devastation of Pornography |
|
Marriages Are Falling - But Improving |
|
Divorce Rates Are Falling |
|
Cohabitation: the Enemy of Marriage
|
|
How To Reduce Suicide |
|
How To Stop Drug Addiction |
|
Cut Federal Funds for Planned Parenthood |
|
The Horror of Soaring Suicides |
|
Make
Adoption More Appealing |
|
The Addictive Nature of Pornography |
|
Abortion Becoming Illegal |
|
Protecting Girls from Suicide |
|
The Worst Valentine:
Cohabitation |
|
Pornography: A Public Health Hazard |
|
Sextortion Kills Teens |
|
Cohabitation: A Risky Business |
|
Recent Searches |
|
gun control,
euthanasia,
cohabitation,
sexting,
sextortion,
alcoholism,
prayer,
guns,
same sex marriage,
abortion,
depression,
islam,
divorce,
polygamy,
religious liberty,
health care,
pornography,
teen sex,
abortion and infanticide,
Roe+v+Wade,
supreme court,
marriage,
movies,
violence,
celibacy,
living+together,
cohabitation,
ethics+and+religion,
pornography,
adultery,
divorce,
saving+marriages |
|