Terrill's open letter...(jobs as alternative to gangs)
Now Playing: institutional racism perpetuated by inaction
Topic: Police / Gang violence
Diane Wiley wrote,

"A little statistic about jobs I read in the Nation -- there was a study where they had adult males, black and white, in Milwaukee go out to get jobs with similar resumes. The white males with HS diplomas and a criminal record got called back almost twice as much as the black males with HS diplomas and NO criminal record..." -- Fw: [Mpls] Terrill's open letter...

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development obtained similar results in its 1990 and 2000 housing market surveys, using black and white teams with similar qualifications who are looking for dwelling units to lease or buy.

I advocate setting up programs to detect patterns of illegal discrimination in the employment and housing markets, and to prosecute and punish the discriminators. That would certainly complement efforts to steer African-American youth away from street gang and drug trade activity.

The city government in Minneapolis played a big role in enforcing laws that institutionalized race-based segregation and discrimination. And the city of Minneapolis recognized its responsibility for enforcing laws against race-based discrimination by setting up a Civil Rights Department and a Civil Rights Commission.

Is the DFL in favor of perpetuating institutionalized racism by failing to step up efforts to enforce laws against discrimination? Where do the mayoral candidates and other city council candidates stand?

Action speaks louder than words.

-Doug Mann

New snitch law / Rounding up the usual suspects / No alternative?
Topic: Police / Gang violence
Tyrone Terrill's open letter to the African American community calls on the community to support a police crackdown on gang activity. And it is possible to discern important elements of the not yet disclosed Minneapolis police crackdown plan. In addition to rounding up and locking up the usual suspects, i.e., young African American males, the police will round up those who "harbour" gang members (family members, friends, etc.).

A few things to keep in mind:
1) The illegal drug trade is a big source of revenue for gangs.

2) A large percentage of arrests, convictions and incarcerations are for drug related offenses.

3) Today's Star Tribune reported on the planned merger of the State's gang and narcotic strike forces, to improve police coordination in these areas.

4) A proposed new mandatory snitch law is working its way through Congress. The proposed new law will make it a crime to not report illegal drug use or dealing to police within 24 hours of acquiring knowledge about it. The text of an E-mail from the Marijuana Policy Project about this proposed new law is at my blog site
https://educationright.tripod.com/blog/index.blog?entry_id=1123151

5) Given the incredibly high proportion of African American youth (including adults 18 to 30 years of age) who are under court supervision (prison, parole, etc.), there is certainly a huge network of police informants in the African American community.

Chuck Wexler, the city's out-of-town crime policy expert has been in town to brief those-who-need-to-know what's up, such as high-ranking police officials, the mayor, and a few trusted leaders of the African American community.

Terrill's open letter to the African American community, on St. Paul Dept. of Human Rights letterhead, isn't a lighting-bolt out of the blue. It was issued several weeks after the Star-Tribune's call for a police crackdown on gang activities. Chuck Wexler had already been in town to offer his expert advice on putting it together.

And we should note that Mayor RT Rybak's resume includes being a reporter for the Star-Tribune and a Public Relations consultant. Getting a lot of African American preachers and other African American leaders to call for a police crackdown is worthy of RT Rybak. If it was entirely Rev. Terrill's idea, I am sure that RT Rybak was quick to support it from behind the scenes.

The important thing, you see, is to DO SOMETHING about the gang problem. It doesn't matter whether the strategy of choice is effective. It doesn't matter how it affects the African American community. And anyone who isn't for the latest "solution" to the gang / crime problem, is against doing "something" about it.

I believe that an effective strategy to curb gang activity and gang related violence in the African American community must include steps to rapidly change conditions that motivate people to join gangs. I recommend more aggressive enforcement of laws against illegal, race based discrimination in the fields of employment, housing, education and law enforcement.

-Doug Mann, King Field
candidate for 8th ward city council
http://educationright.com

Star-Tribune Editorial: Minneapolis needs a police crackdown
Topic: Police / Gang violence
[Mpls] Editorial: North Side gangs/City needs a crackdown
[originally posted by] Shawn Lewis
Tue, 08 Mar 2005 04:37:13 -0800
http://www.mail-archive.com/mpls@mnforum.org/msg34795.html
Star-Tribune link:
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5278748.html

Without question, some areas in North Minneapolis needs some help-NOW!!!!
New voices and new leaders need to be tapped into not the same old people.
___________________________________________
What to do? Vigils, flowers and prayers aren't enough.
Minneapolis needs a police crackdown.

Chief Bill McManus says he'll soon deliver one by returning proactive policing to the hottest crime zones. It's high time. For months, the north neighborhoods have been calling for more aggressive law enforcement, to no avail. They deserve better service from their Police Department.

Proactive policing means that cops will question loiterers and jaywalkers, stop cars for minor violations and get into the faces of more people. It's a proven tactic: Stopping petty offenses also stops major ones. But it also requires the cooperation and understanding of neighbors. They should expect cops to be reasonable and respectful. But they should also expect them to be aggressive and to make an occasional human mistake.

The police also need more information from neighbors and more intolerance -- not toward the police but toward criminals and their drug-buying customers.

Mayor R.T. Rybak is right when he says that every suburban party boy with drugs in his pocket is aiding the cause of killers. The North Side gets the bodies and the fear, but the whole regional drug market is culpable. So are the Bush and Pawlenty administrations for their drastic cuts in local government aid. Those cuts have cost Minneapolis 120 police officers and numerous jobs programs that might have deterred youngsters from taking up the gangster life.

Crime's greatest ally is a kid who lacks hope. Neglectful parents hurt, too. City Council Member Natalie Johnson Lee was right to scold them: "Mom, if you don't know where your kids are, find out; Dad, if you're not taking care of your kids, take care of them."

With heroic work by corporate, community and state leaders, Minneapolis remade the once-notorious Phillips neighborhood over the last decade. Now that energy must turn northward. Criminal gangs have been a part of the American scene for 150 years. But that's no excuse for tolerating gangland violence in north Minneapolis, or anywhere in Minnesota. It's time for a crackdown -- from police, from the neighborhood, from the wider community.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5278748.html

-Doug Mann, King Field
candidate for 8th ward city council

Gang bangers of Linden Hills / suite gang terrorism
Mood:  silly
Now Playing: A lame attempt at humor
Topic: Police / Gang violence
You might have seen them at city hall, attired in Armani suits, whitecollars, silk ties, and soft leather shoes accessorized by $1,000 leather briefcases. They peddle Twins stadium proposals & corporate welfare dust. They are...the suite gangs of Linden Hills.

They are the cronies of RT Rybak and Peter McLaughlin. They run city hall and the Minneapolis Public Schools. They set up nonprofit foundations funded by General Mills, the Minneapolis Foundation, and others. Politicians who "play ball" can always get a fat corporate job if they are voted out of office.

Entry level suite gang members get appointed to nonprofit boards of directors and city commissions, are included in lists of endorsers of DFL machine candidates, get staff positions with the Mayor, city council members, non-profit agencies, etc. And mid-level suite gang members are appointed to $100,000 per year department head jobs at City Hall and 807 NE Broadway (School board HQ).

The gang bangers of Linden Hills also engage in hostile takeovers of organizations representing the African American community. Of the names listed below,those preceded by *** denote past or present Minneapolis NAACP officers,including 3 branch presidents.

-23 April 04 newsletter, Communities United Against Police Brutality
Mayor RT Rybak has named four finalists for the position of Civil Rights
Director:
Harry W. Davis, Jr.
Jessica Lynn Jackson
Jayne Baccus Khalifa [Minneapolis Civil Rights Director]
WH Tyrone Terrill [director, St. Paul Human Rights Dept.]
http://www.charityadvantage.com/CUAPB/4-23-04Newsletter.asp

Reappointed to Mpls long range capital improvement commission in 2005:
***Duane Reed, Minneapolis NAACP president.

Council on Crime and Justice, Sept 2003 newsletter
"A warm welcome to our newest board members, all of whom have joined our board over the past year."

Tom Boardman, Deputy GeneralCounsel, 3M Company
Wilson Bradshaw, President, Metropolitan State University
Judge Lawrence Cohen, Former Chief Judge, Ramsey County
Song Lo Fawcett, Partner, Kelly &Fawcett, P.A.
***Reverend Albert Gallmon, Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church
***Jesse Overton, President, Skytech Inc.
http://www.crimeandjustice.org/Pages/Publications/onlinenewsletter.htm

PEACE FOUNDATION BOARD
Bill Beard – Treasurer, Beard Group Inc,
Ferome Brown - One Hundred Men Take a Stand
***James Everett – Founder Sub-Zero Collective
Jenny Heiser – Community and labor organizer
Michael Labrosse – Secretary, Corporate Leadership Institute
Michelle Martin – Foundation Director, ex-officio board member, PEACE
Foundation co-founder
William McManus – Chief of Police, Minneapolis
Sherman Patterson – Jordan outreach worker
Jane Ranum – State Senator, Hennepin County prosecutor
Kevin Reich – PEACE Foundation co-founder and Vice President
Don Samuels – Minneapolis City Council Member, PEACE Foundation co-founder
and President
Peter Thompson – Hamline University Professor of Law

INSTITUTIONAL DONORS (Peace Foundation)

Thanks to our institutional partners who have donated their resources to this effort. As of April 1, 2004, the following corporate and institutional
donations were committed:
(Top five donors)
North Memorial Medical Center $30,000
General Mills $35,000
Kemps $5,000
American Iron $5,000
Franklin Bank $2,750
http://www.citypeace.org/foundation/donors2.html

-Doug Mann, King Field
candidate for 8th ward city council
http://educationright.com

If you don't demand social justice, you won't get it
Topic: Police / Gang violence
Subj: Re: [Mpls] Terrill's open letter, reply to Michelle Hill
Date: 5/31/2005 9:21:41 AM Central Standard Time

In a message dated 5/30/2005 6:00:46 PM Central Standard Time, Michelle Hill writes, [in response to a comment by Dennis Plante],

"I commend you for all that you have tried to do for African-American children and your community. But you miss my point. We are all against gang-members, or "bangers" as you stated. I beg to differ when you say that Tyrone Terrell did not say the family should be prepared to suffer the consequences of continuing to be in their lives of those believed to be gang-members. He said it on KMOJ and he has said it to many of us in the African-American community. That is the only area he is meeting criticism and that is the reason the NAACP has asked him to step down." --Re: [Mpls] Terrill's open letter, NAACP response & Peace Foundation

I noted two other criticisms advanced by Ron Edwards:

1) the infamous "open letter" implies that African-Americans are the problem and that locking up more and more African Americans is the solution.

2) It lets whites [and the DFL] off the hook. The City government has done very little to combat the root causes of street crime / gang activity, such as poverty and restricted access to jobs, housing and education due to illegal discrimination.

If you don't demand social justice, you won't get it.

Below are links to editorials by Tyrone Terrill and Ron Edwards, published in the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder, and related e-mails sent to the Minneapolis issues list by Doug Mann and Michelle Hill.

-Doug Mann

Say no to gangs by June 1, 2005
An open letter to the African American community
By: Tyrone Terrill
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 5/11/2005
http://spokesman-recorder.com/News/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=56955&sID=16

Terrill and Samuels’ ‘Final Solution’
By: Ron Edwards
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 5/18/2005
http://spokesman-recorder.com/News/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=57237&sID=16

Posts to Minneapolis issues list by Doug Mann

Responses to Terrill's open letter to the African American community
Minnesota moving toward a 'Final Solution' of 'African American Problem'
https://educationright.tripod.com/blog/index.blog?entry_id=1117151

Re: Responses to Terrill's open letter to the African American community
Reply to Dennis Plante
https://educationright.tripod.com/blog/index.blog?entry_id=1117131

Doing something about gang activity
mpls list discussion re: Terrill's open letter
https://educationright.tripod.com/blog/index.blog?entry_id=1117523

African Americans didn't choose to be segregated
more mpls list discussion re: Terrill's open letter
https://educationright.tripod.com/blog/index.blog?entry_id=1117527

Terrill's open letter, NAACP response, &Peace Foundation
https://educationright.tripod.com/blog/index.blog?entry_id=1118493

Posts to Minneapolis issues list by Michelle Hill

Re: [mpls] Booker Hodges &Don Samuels
http://www.mail-archive.com/mpls%40mnforum.org/msg36998.html

Re: [Mpls] Terrill's open letter, NAACP response &Peace Foundation payoff
http://www.mail-archive.com/mpls%40mnforum.org/msg37106.html

Re: [Mpls] Terrill's open letter, NAACP response &Peace Foundation
http://www.mail-archive.com/mpls%40mnforum.org/msg37114.html
-

Terrill's open letter, NAACP response, & Peace Foundation
Topic: Police / Gang violence
Date: 5/29/2005 9:08:14 PM Central Standard Time
From: Socialist2001
To: mpls@mnforum.org

Dennis Plante writes,

"It appears on some points, I do agree with Doug Mann. I agree that street gangs do exist in every ethnic segment of our society. It is a plague that affects all ethnicities, white, black, latino, asian, native american. If we can all accept that street-gangs exist in every segment of our society then we must also accept that it is equally bad for all segements of our society."

Doug Mann responds.

What? All ethnicities and races in our fair city are equally affected by street gangs? The same logic that led Dennis Plante to draw that conclusion would also lead one to conclude that all ethnicities and races in our fair city are equally affected by poverty, unemployment, police brutality, low quality educational programs in the public schools, racial discrimination, etc.

If all ethnicities and races are equally affected by gang activity, why did Rev. Terrill write his sermon about parents saying no to gangs in the form of an open letter to the AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY. And the theme of that sermon: individual responsibilty as a solution to crime, unemployment, etc. suggests that the problem is lazy, shiftless African Americans. That's why the Minnesota State Conference of the NAACP and the St. Paul Branch of the NAACP responded to the open letter by calling on Rev. Terrill to resign his post as head of the St. Paul Human Rights Department. Duane Reed, the Minneapolis NAACP branch president has been silent on this matter.

COULD THE PEACE FOUNDATION GET A PIECE OF THE ACTION?

Dennis Plante contends that Rev. Terrill was merely expressing his feelings about gang activity. However, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder columnist Ron Edwards noted that Terrill's reference to gang activities as "terrorism" is consistent with a plan to bring the Patriot Act into play in the war against gang "terrorism" in the Twin Cities. And that would create an opportunity for outfits like Don Samuels' Peace Foundation to obtain grant awards from the Department of Homeland Security.

-Doug Mann, King Field
Candidate for 8th ward city council
http://educationright.com

African Americans didn't choose to be segregated
Now Playing: more mpls list discussion re: Terrill's open letter
Topic: Police / Gang violence
Date: 5/28/2005 5:10:47 PM Central Standard Time
From: Socialist2001
To: mpls@mnforum.org


In a message dated 5/28/2005 11:16:23 AM Central Standard Time, Re: [Mpls] Responses to Terrill's open letter to African American community, Dennis Plante writes:

<< There are cultural differences that exist between all ethnic groups. These cultural differences remain intact to a large degree because we choose the remain isolated from each other and never take the time to open our eyes and realize that it is okay to be "different" from your neighbor. But it is NOT okay to think that your neighbor is less of a person BECAUSE they are different.>>

Although at one time or another immigrants from various European countries were far more "ghettoized" in many Northern US cities than blacks were on the eve of the 20th century, it has been unusual for members of a "ghettoized" European nationality to be the majority in their own ghetto [American Apartheid: Segregation and the making of the underclass, page 32].

It was through the action of a white Supremacist movement of the so-called progressive era (1890-1920) that a pattern of racially segregated housing was achieved throughout the Northern US. Neighborhood associations were formed during the first decade of the 20th century that employed a variety of methods to cleanse their neighborhoods of black residents, including arson and murder.

The Segregation of the Housing market along racial lines began not long after the 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which allowed the States to enact laws that required separate accommodations for blacks and whites, so long as the accommodations are equal.

However, as Justice John Marshall Harlan, the lone dissenting Supreme Court Justice noted, racial separation was the only aspect of the "separate but equal" doctrine that would be enforced.

The "separate but equal" doctrine was justified as an acknowledgment of the "natural affinity" that members of each race had for others of their own kind. Prior to 1900, however, there was no evidence that blacks had a stronger preference to live among others of their own kind than other distinctive ethnic groups in cities outside of the Deep South. Blacks were scattered widely throughout the urban landscape, though distributed more heavily in working class districts, and rarely accounted for more than 30% of the population on any block, according to studies from that era. In 1890, the closest thing to a ghettoized black population was in Indianapolis, where the average black lived in a neighborhood that was 13% black [from American Apartheid: Segregation and the making of the underclass, page 23].

To refer to the segregation of African Americans in Minneapolis and other cities in the Northern US as de facto rather than de jure is misleading, the implication being that segregation was not state-sponsored as in the South, that it "just happened."

Though less elaborate and rigid than the system of apartheid that existed in the Deep South, the expulsion and exclusion of blacks from "white" neighborhoods, "white" public schools, and "white" jobs in the North was a matter of public policy and enforced through the courts.

The creation of black ghettos in cities across the Northern US was accomplished through such policies as the promotion of neighborhood associations that enforced agreements which prohibited the sale and leasing of dwelling units to blacks in the "better" neighborhoods, siting public housing projects in predominantly black neighborhoods, "redlining" neighborhoods where blacks reside in significant numbers by financial institutions (loans are made less available or unavailable within the redlined areas), and the non-enforcement of fair housing laws in predominantly white neighborhoods.

After 1910, the color line was chiefly maintained by restrictive convenants, contractual agreements among property owners which did not allow blacks to buy, lease or occupy property. Typically, these agreements were enforceable through the courts if 75% of the property owners in a defined neighborhood signed on, remained in effect for twenty years, and were binding on the minority of property owners (and their successors) who didn't sign on [i.b.i.d. page 36].

By the 1920s, the expulsion and exclusion of blacks from most of the residential housing market resulted in the formation of predominantly black ghettos in cities throughout the Northern US

After the Supreme Court declared restrictive covenants to be unenforceable in 1948, the color line was maintained by overt discrimination and terror against blacks who attempted to move into white neighborhoods.

However, the Civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s forced the federal government to enact a fair housing law and desegregate the schools and other public accommodations, which greatly reduced the level of hostility towards blacks that was socially acceptable among whites.

Even though the Fair Housing Act of 1968 outlawed racial discrimination in virtually all housing transactions, most of the housing market in the US is still off-limits to African Americans. The Fair Housing Act left it up to the victims of racial discrimination to enforce its provisions through private legal action. However, because racial discrimination is done covertly, its victims are usually unaware of their victimization, or may suspect that it is happening but can't prove it.

-Doug Mann, King Field
candidate for 8th ward city council
http://educationright.com

Doing something about gang activity
Now Playing: mpls list discussion re: Terrill's open letter
Topic: Police / Gang violence
Date: 5/28/2005 5:18:06 PM Central Standard Time
From: Socialist2001
To: mpls@mnforum.org

In the thread, Re: [Mpls] Responses to Terrill's open letter to African American community, Dennis Plante writes:

"And quite succinctly, whether you are right, or wrong in your opinion as to what is fostering "black-on-black" crime and street gang activity, it still affects black youth in a very severe manner. We all know and accept that to be the truth. To sit-by and doing nothing because of your opinion as to what is fostering this phenomenon could be likened to using these children as pawns."

Doug Mann responds:

In my opinion, more aggressive enforcement of laws against race discrimination in employment, housing and public education is "doing something" to reduce the allure of gang membership, to reduce gang activities, and to reduce black-on-black violence.

The "something" that Terrill advocates is, in my opinion, worse than doing nothing, and is basically the same approach taken by the Minneapolis School Board of "fixing communities of color" while implementing policies that undermine educational programs at schools that serve a large majority of students of color, such as the school district's annual ritual of laying off large numbers of teachers it plans to rehire or replace.

-Doug Mann, King Field
candidate for 8th ward city council
http://educationright.com

Responses to Terrill's open letter to the African American community
Now Playing: Minnesota moving toward a 'Final Solution' of 'African American Problem'
Topic: Police / Gang violence
[Mpls] Reponses to Terrill's open letter to African American community
Socialist2001
Fri, 27 May 2005 11:33:52 -0700

Referring to Tyrone Terrill's guest commentary in the Spokesman Recorder (May12-18, 2005), 'Say no to gangs by June 1, 2005: An open letter to the African American Community,' Ron Edwards wrote:

<< "Tyrone Terrill, director of St. Paul's Department of Human Rights, circulated his infamous open letter to the communities of color April 28, calling for drastic action against gangs and those related to them. We responded with our open letter to Tyrone on our webpage (May 8, #51)http://theminneapolisstory.com -- We asked Tyrone why he was stabbing his own people in the back, making us the problem instead of part of the solution, and letting Whites off the hook.
<< "Then Don Samuels emailed Tyrone saying, "I am all for this," and called for everyone to get on board, including "the black papers,...KMOJ...black cable show hosts." -- Terrill and Samuels' 'Final Solution' for Twin City Blacks. Spokesman-Recorder, May 19-25, 2005

Why is the head of St. Paul's Human Rights Department setting forward arguments in favor of taking away human rights? Isn't his job supposed to be about enforcement of laws that expand human rights?

African Americans in the Twin Cities do not have access to education facilities, employment and housing on the same basis as whites due to illegal discrimination on the basis of "race." And not much is being done to enforce laws that prohibit race-based discrimination. That is why gang activity, and laws that criminalize people who are related to alleged gang members, pose a more immediate and serious danger to African Americans than to Whites.

The City of Minneapolis is also poised to implement a plan of action against gangs, and those related to gang members, along the lines advocated by Tyrone Terrill in his open letter. The chief architect of the plan in Minneapolis is Chuck Wexler, a consultant for the City of Minneapolis and the General Mills Foundation. Ron Edwards refers to Wexler as "...the architect of Minnesota's new Nuremberg Laws." At his blog site, Ron Edwards wrote,

"Here is our concern: the consultant, Chuck Wexler, who has been brought in “to help the department deal with the rising violence in several North Side neighborhoods,” is being paid by the General Mills Foundation. What the Strib is so far not telling (are the editors blocking it so as not to embarrass their friends?) is that the police are telling us they can't tell us what is in the plan because it is the General Mills Foundation plan."

In my view, the Minneapolis Plan to deal with gangs must emphasize the defense and extension of human rights, not an erosion of rights that moves us in the direction of a NAZI-style 'final solution' of the "African-American Problem."

-Doug Mann, King Field
candidate for 8th ward city council
http://educationright.com

Re: Responses to Terrill's open letter to the African American community
Topic: Police / Gang violence
Re: [Mpls] Reponses to Terrill's open letter to African American community
Socialist2001
Fri, 27 May 2005 18:39:05 -0700

Dennis Plante Responds:

"Here, here Doug, you're absolutely right.... I only have one question. If gang-related terrorism in our inner-city neighborhoods is not a significant problem, then why are such a disproportionate number of homicides related to black-on-black crimes?..."

Doug Mann responds:

I am absolutely right, but...? The rest of Dennis Plante's "response" is argumentation against a straw man that he sets up by putting words in my mouth. For example: Where did I say that "gang-related terrorism" in our inner-city neighborhoods is not a significant problem?

In my opinion, street gang activity and related black-on-black violence are fostered by a political and corporate establishment run by mostly-white gangs, whose interests are served by doing as little as possible to enforce laws against race-based discrimination in the job and housing markets, public education, and ... law enforcement.

Why do gangs recruit African American youths more than white youths? Why are so many young African American men under court supervision? Is it because of... a) irresponsible, lazy, shiftless, black, parents? b) a defective African American culture? c) Gangbanger genes? or d) none of the above?

My answer to the above multiple guess question is d) none of the above.

Dennis Plante also writes:

"Discrimination exists in many forms, at ALL levels of our society. All that Tyrone Terril and CM Samuels are pointing-out is that there is a personal responsibility that ALL of us have in teaching our children what is acceptable and what is unacceotable behaviour."

[And, the concluding paragraph of Dennis Plante's e-mail goes] "There are MANY rock-solid african american mothers AND fathers out there that need the same tools we give the white mothers and fathers in our society. DON'T take these tools away from them because we have not achieved racial equality in our society..."

Doug Mann responds:

So, making it a crime to be a parent of an alleged gang member is a tool to teach African Americans how to be good parents? To me it looks like a tool to increase police powers in the black community, a tool that is not designed to bring about racial equality in our society.

-Doug Mann, King Field
candidate for 8th ward city council
http://educationright.com