Jackson Free Press

The ACLU and the NAACP say that they support DA Faye Peterson's investigation into Mayor Frank Melton's police tactics. In particular, they are concerned that Melton may be engaged in racial profiling (yes, African Americans can profile African Americans), denying citizens due process and illegal searches. They also make reference to police brutality, presumably because of the recent assault by police against Michael Black. See the press release here.

Previous Comments

ID

172198

Comment

Oh No! The ACLU & NAACP has messed up now. I wonder if he would launch an investigation on these organizations?

Author

Lspd2

Date

2006-05-04T21:39:13-06:00

ID

172199

Comment

You know, if anyone had any doubts about who's in the right here, all you have to do is look at where Nsombi and Derrick stand. Two of the most intellectually honest people in the city--folks who don't drink ANYBODY'S Kool-Aid. I'll follow them into battle any day. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-05-04T22:39:12-06:00

ID

172200

Comment

Me, too. Outstanding young Jacksonians.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-04T22:52:43-06:00

ID

172201

Comment

I dunno why he did that - not here to justify it or not. But several years ago, a student stabbed another at Murrah. right there in the hall bathroom. And like it or not, Provine and Lanier have their similar problems. The only real experience I have with them is when I went to a basketball game between them - it broke out into a riot. Metal chairs being thrown everywehere on the court. That's not meant to be race-bated - it's just a fact. It is what it is. And those problems are not problems shared by the much hated private schools on this board. I can assure you that the JA v. Prep game never escalated, at the game or with later parents' participation or not, into a riot. But it damn sure saw one P v. L.

Author

MAllen

Date

2006-05-04T22:58:08-06:00

ID

172202

Comment

AND, stupid fans have been disrupting sports all over the world for ever. P and L have been rivals forever what you don't kn0w is that most of the disruption came from former students and young adults who could not contain themselves. Why are you changing the subject this has nothing to do with what the NAACP and ACLU are planning for Melton. We know that JA and Prep fans are to "good" to do anything wrong. I heard Melton say that he even had to help some of those students. Keeping them at his house and everything else he does for his kids. You sound intellegent so maybe you just need to grow up.

Author

jada

Date

2006-05-05T01:01:15-06:00

ID

172203

Comment

I'm having a hard time figuring out what Matt's comment has to do with this thread, exactly. I get a vague connection to racial profiling, but it reads like a non sequitur to me. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-05-05T01:06:21-06:00

ID

172204

Comment

I'm glad Frank didn't try to trash the people running the organizations or the organizations although I expected him to. Maybe he's slightly seeing the light.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2006-05-05T09:39:19-06:00

ID

172205

Comment

Matt needs to drink the kool-aid, or maybe he's had too much. In two threads i can't see the relevance or pertinence. The reason there is no backlash aimed at the leaders and organizations might be because frank is out of town again or maybe because it's raining. MAllen does crime go down when it rains because the unemployed don't have a government umbrella? get it. it's a metaphor.it can be taken literally and figuratively. Add mix sugar water, close your eyes, drink. Take it in feel the power of the kool aid pass over the lips through the gums watch out gullet here it comes.

Author

*SuperStar*

Date

2006-05-05T10:16:04-06:00

ID

172206

Comment

Why are you changing the subject this has nothing to do with what the NAACP and ACLU are planning for Melton. Maybe Matt is trying to explain why people who go to "those" schools on the other side of the track from his pristine ones don't deserve the same rights ... because they're all thugs anyway. Sounds similar to his sentiments on the Michael Black-WLBT thread and, come to think of it, to his non sequitor comments on the Batman thread about how all the folks there using it for further thought and discussion were on the "other side." It's starting to sound like the "other side" is the place to be.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-05T16:33:54-06:00

ID

172207

Comment

Then, again, maybe it all comes down to "government assistance." You deign to eat government cheese, you give up your rights and have to receive hugs on demand from the mayor. You don't eat (or need) government cheese, you don't get your head bashed in when you're wearing handcuffs. Or a visit in the middle of the night. Or unwanted mayoral affection. It's all clear now, no?

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-05T16:37:37-06:00

ID

172208

Comment

"Part of the problem facing Jackson is what I refer to as the "rural issue." We are a rural state. The people in most parts of the state are not used to cities. If they had to live near or in Memphis, Houston, New York, take your pick of any city, they would make the same complaints. But crime is part of city life. Humans aren't perfect. I'm glad there are those who have a zero-tolerance attitude, but hold out as you might, crime will always be here. "It's not really about Jackson to these people. It's just about cities. "And with cities to these people, it usually about black people. They can say what they want, but when you cut to the chase, they see a black person and they think crime. Period. They may not think that about their business partner, but they sure as hell think it about the guy they see at the gas station. "It's sick, but it's the truth. I've heard too many subarbanites confide it to me to think otherwise. If Jackson were all-white (and thank God its not), there would be lots of investment from these same people. -- Matt Allen, from a post made on April 18th, 2006. I said in response: "Matt, that is quite possibly the best post I've ever read on this site about crime perception in Jackson. Brilliant. I'm saving that one for later reference." This wasn't the later reference I had in mind. When I read stuff like this from people I expect to see it from, that's one thing. But when I read stuff like this from people I respect, people who know better, I just get depressed. This speaks, I think, to the necessity of running in integrated circles. I have made a rule out of avoiding groups that have only white faces. This is a large part of the reason why. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-05-05T17:25:04-06:00

ID

172209

Comment

Yeah, it feels like whiplash. Are there two Mallens out there? And hear, hear to the integrated circles. You can't know what you don't observe or discuss. That's why with all the book-learning in the world, young people who only go to school with people like them have a huge hole in their education. I see it around here, and I saw it at Columbia University.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-05T17:27:08-06:00

ID

172210

Comment

Well, I technically only went to school with people like me--because I only went to school with me--but my mother did something VERY brilliant early on by making sure that my main childhood social outlet, the place I made virtually all of my friends from age 4 to age 14, was integrated. The State Street YWCA was beautiful, a rare example of a place where blacks and whites hung out together in relative perfect harmony. That's probably why certain white philanthropists decided to kill it. When it closed down, my "white" phase lasted from then until I got involved in the Hispanic Ministries program of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, which was also arguably killed by white philanthropists. I am learning not to trust white philanthropists. Donna, I wrote a lengthy email the night before last to a black activist from up North, someone we both had coffee with last summer, and in explaining why I could no longer "lift a finger to support" an activist project we had discussed, I said this: "It may sound silly to someone from up North, but down here activists have to be _very_ race-conscious if they don't want to be part of the problem. This is especially true of white activists, who often go about projects with the best of intentions and somehow end up creating a new generation of segregationist institutions." Segregation is what makes it possible for someone as brilliant and moral as Matt to occasionally say astonishingly stupid and immoral things. And hell, N-JAM is largely a reflection of that--these aren't, by and large, deliberately wicked people. They just have sheltered hearts. And to that extent, they're victims of institutional racism, too. It's all very sad. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-05-05T17:39:42-06:00

ID

172211

Comment

You don't get any argument from me. The N-JAM followers are definitely victims, and I feel compassion for them, even it borders on what the Buddhists call "idiot compassion," which you have to be careful about. They surround themselves with a defensive shield, and then argue themselves into corners where it can get very lonely. If that's not being a victim, I don't know what is. Exposure is the key. Exposure to ideas and challenges and actual logic and real debate. There's hope in that.

Author

ladd

Date

2006-05-05T18:01:12-06:00

ID

172212

Comment

Yep, sad but true. It seems that all too often, what passes as diversity is crowd that is 1/3 "Preppie", 1/3 "Redneck", and 1/3 "ordinary 'down-to-earth', 'commonsense-oriented' small town or suburbanite types who live next door". All these groups mentioned (NOT all individuals in these groups) tend to have only superficial differences - income, education, occuption, and perhaps hobbies/interests. The basic average values, attitudes, and mindsets of these groups are essentially the same. Not a conducive environment for learning about people who hold perspectives radically different from your own. Interpret this the way you want to.

Author

Philip

Date

2006-05-05T22:13:19-06:00