Victimized youth organize against police brutality
By
Kathy Durkin
Published Jun 14, 2007 10:25 PM
It was a somber day in May. Thirty-two grieving young people were walking to
the subway train in Bushwick, a Brooklyn neighborhood. They were on their way
to a wake for a friend, Donnell McFarland, who had been tragically murdered at
the age of 18.
Then, like a bolt from the blue, as the youth neared the Myrtle Avenue station,
police swooped down on them, harassing, cursing, and terrorizing them. They
were all searched; nothing illegal was found.
All of these Black and Latin@ women and men—some as young as 13 years
old—were handcuffed, arrested and taken to the 83rd police precinct. The
majority were charged with so-called unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct.
Several were held overnight, some for 38 hours.
In his investigation of the horrendous May 21 police attack, journalist Bob
Herbert interviewed several of the young people involved, who are all students
at Bushwick Community High School, as well as other eyewitnesses including
Kathleen Williams, a parent who was traveling with them. Everyone said that
youth did absolutely nothing wrong. Williams was threatened with arrest herself
when she objected to the arrests. (New York Times, 5/26/07)
The police even taunted them about their deceased friend. And later, to justify
their outrageous actions, the cops pointed to the memorial T-shirts the youth
were wearing with McFarland’s picture on them, and tried to claim the
gathering was “gang-related.”
The young people called it what it was—a clear-cut case of racial
profiling.
This is business as usual by New York City police. The callous mistreatment,
racist humiliation, harassment and intimidation of youth from oppressed
communities is a commonplace, citywide occurrence—on the streets, in the
subways and even inside the schools.
There is a reign of terror against the Black and Latin@ youth of this city.
In fact, by their own admission, a New York Police Department report issued
earlier this year stated that cops stopped-and-frisked 508,540 people in 2006,
85 percent of whom were Black or Latin@. The majority of these intimidating
acts were leveled against young oppressed women and men.
Inside the schools, thousands of students every semester are verbally abused,
intimidated, threatened, sexually harassed and physically assaulted by cops and
security guards. Teachers and parents who come to their aid are also
targeted.
A New York Civil Liberties Union report issued in March, “Criminalizing
the Classroom: The Over-Policing of New York City Schools,” details the
aggressive practices of the New York Police Department’s so-called School
Safety Division, which subjects students to “invasive practices and other
forms of abuse everyday by nearly 5,000 SSA’s, many of whom are
armed.” (www.nyclu.org)
But the students are fighting back! On June 5, the Student Coalition against
Racial Profiling met with City Council members and community organizers to
organize opposition to these racist police practices. Among those attending was
City Councilperson Charles Barron, who expressed his solidarity with the young
people there.
Dana Jordan, a Bushwick Community High School senior and a founder of SCARP,
said, “We are coming together to let the community know what has been
going on with the cops, the excessive stop-and-frisks, the profiling, to let
them know that it is time for a change in our community. We started SCARP
because we wanted the community to know that we are trying to fight this battle
against police profiling and that we need their support.” (New York
Times, 6/6/07)
Public officials, right up to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner
Ray Kelly, who have said nothing, must be held accountable. These racist
attacks must be stopped!
The Bushwick 32 will be in court in mid-July. This is a time for progressive
organizations and activists to come out in solidarity with them and to spur a
larger struggle to stand with the oppressed youth of this city and demand an
end to police abuse.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
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