Some fairly recent developments have prompted me to question white folks’ sanity. (OK, in fairness, there are some white folks whose sanity has always been in question.)
I refer specifically to the modern trend of proudly wearing racism as a badge of honor, and even more specifically, to the mindset that it’s fine to use the n-word, even in front of n-words. Not only has the syndrome worsened, its tacit approval by like-minded white folks is likely to get someone killed, or at the very least punched in the mouth.
If you read as many Internet blogs and newspaper comment sections as I do, you’ve probably noticed it too.
Since Michael Vick’s signing last year by the Philadelphia Eagles, and especially since his elevation last week to starting quarterback - local pundits, bloggers and blowhards have not minced words in their racially-tinged denunciations of not just the player himself, but his African-American fan base.
Even a cursory glance at the comments section on philly.com will send chills up your spine. A few examples: “Vick has stained the franchise and it will take years for the smell to subside. The only fans Vick has are in the city and slums, where the people there have no morals anyway.” How about: “Black people are Vick fans regardless of what he did. The scum protect their own. It’s like the OJ Simpson trial.” And my personal favorite: “The problem with this country is the blacks are too lazy to go to school and get jobs.”
For more evidence of this widespread epidemic, you need look no further than the hand-made signs proudly held aloft by the knuckle-dragging morons at GOP and Tea Party rallies. You’ve seen them – President Obama as an African witch doctor, complete with a bone through his nose. Or the White House lawn covered in watermelons. A few years ago, this would have shocked even other white folks into repudiating the behavior. Today, the slightest peep of protest from African-Americans to this foul racism is met by complaints of “political correctness” and “playing the race card.”
Last summer, celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton got into a physical altercation with singer will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. While their stories differ on whether Hilton called the singer the n-word, or as Hilton claims, a nasty epithet usually reserved for gays, the result was that Perez ended up with a black eye.
In later defending himself on his blog, Hilton wailed that no matter what he said, will.i.am is at fault because he responded with violence, while Perez only engaged in words. Words, no matter how offensive or inflammatory, he argued, should never be met with violence.
At the time, I laughed off this assertion as naiveté on Hilton’s part, assuming that all white people know instinctively that calling a black man the n-word to his face almost always ends in a black eye.
Turns out, I was the one who was naïve.
Earlier this week, there was a dust up following the Chicago Bears – Green Bay Packers game. On his way into the tunnel leading to the locker room, Green Bay safety Nick Collins stopped to argue with a Bears fan, and then threw his mouthpiece in the fan’s direction. Collins later said the fan spit on him and called him the n-word, and the NFL is investigating the matter.
More interesting than the actual event, though, was the reaction of many fans on sports websites. Calling Collins everything from unprofessional to crybaby, they argued that a professional athlete should take whatever fan abuse is heaped upon him, citing the old “sticks and stones” defense.
Like Perez Hilton, they believe that Collins’ reaction was over the top, and since those people call each other the n-word every day, why should that word be taboo for white people?
You also heard it a couple of months ago from talk radio’s Dr. Laura Schlesinger, who repeated the n-word like a broken record on her show. Ironically, the caller was asking Schlesinger’s advice on how to deal with her white husband’s friends, who casually and repeatedly used the word in her presence.
For the last time, white folks, here’s the reality: Calling a black man the n-word is going to get your butt kicked. Consider it an overreaction if you’d like, but you’re still going to get your butt kicked. Debate African-Americans’ own unfortunate use of the word, but it’s a debate you’ll be having from your hospital bed.
Something to think about before you start yelling it at an Eagles’ game.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Straining Out The Gnat
There’s an old saying: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
In Philadelphia this week, it’s been more like, “While the superficial things may change, the really important stuff stays the same.” I’ll explain:
This week marked the inaugural trial balloon for the long-awaited Sugarhouse Casino, which has been more than five years in the making, and the subject of hot debate every step of the way.
Neighbors and community organizations in the nearby Fishtown area have been opposed from the beginning. Their fear is that the glitzy casino will bring increased crime, traffic jams, parking nightmares, open prostitution and general drunken stupidity to the neighborhood like never before – and frankly, they have a point.
Casino supporters, on the other hand, cite the hundreds of jobs the casino brings the city in a down economy, lick their chops over the potential billion dollars in tax revenues from the venue and see Sugarhouse as the goose that laid the golden egg. They, by the way, have a point too.
In the end, the casino will gleefully strip cash from the sweaty palms of desperate people trying to find a quick way out of debt; neighbors will suffer and complain about the traffic and parking, and the rest of the city will go about its daily business.
We’re also spending a great deal of time and a couple of barrels of ink talking about Michael Vick’s sudden promotion to Eagles’ starting quarterback. Happens all the time in the NFL, but because it’s Vick, its national news, and the talk of the town.
Vick is the superior quarterback over Kevin Kolb right now, concussion fully healed or not. Kolb stunk to high heaven all pre-season, and right up until the moment he left the field in the opener against Green Bay with a pounding headache and a mouth full of grass and dirt.
Michael Vick, on the other hand, has clearly matured as a player. The old Vick was a threat with his legs, no doubt about it, but he was undisciplined; running wildly without looking downfield. The new Vick is also a threat with his legs, but maturity makes him twice as dangerous. Now he uses his running ability as a psychological threat – freezing the defense in place while he scrambles around in the pocket.
They can’t afford to take their eyes off him, because he can take off like a jet at any second - but they can’t afford to leave their receiver either, because the new Vick is looking downfield while he scrambles, and will fire one right to the open man.
I’m happy to see the brother finally come into his own, and it really does appear that he has learned a lot about football - and about life - since his public downfall. But let’s be honest, it’s just football, and next year he could be playing somewhere else.
Less ink and less time has been spent this week on a subject that hasn’t changed much in any of our lifetimes, and has become as famous a Philadelphia tradition as water ice and mustard pretzels – police brutality.
The videotaped beating of West Philly’s Askia Sabur, 29, outside a takeout restaurant on Lansdowne Avenue last week sparked community outrage and protest, as well it should have.
Given the circumstances and the extent of his injuries, there is plenty of evidence the arresting officers were unduly aggressive in Sabur’s apprehension, and in their treatment of the gathering crowd – including one woman who alleges she was roughed up for shooting the incident with her camera phone.
But that level of aggression is not uncommon, and has been popular since the days when Frank Rizzo ruled the city with an iron fist and a baton in his cummerbund. The police baton was then, and is now, the preferred method of dealing with community members who make the mistake of giving an officer a little too much lip on the wrong day. As just as in the 1970’s, that beatdown might come at the hands of a black officer as quickly as a white one. The only modern difference is that thanks to cheap technology, today thousands of people get to watch it on YouTube.
Not to get all biblical on you, but our sidetracked attentions this week remind me of that verse in Matthew 23 about straining out the gnat while we gulp down the camel.
How’s that camel taste, by the way? Mine is a little tough.
In Philadelphia this week, it’s been more like, “While the superficial things may change, the really important stuff stays the same.” I’ll explain:
This week marked the inaugural trial balloon for the long-awaited Sugarhouse Casino, which has been more than five years in the making, and the subject of hot debate every step of the way.
Neighbors and community organizations in the nearby Fishtown area have been opposed from the beginning. Their fear is that the glitzy casino will bring increased crime, traffic jams, parking nightmares, open prostitution and general drunken stupidity to the neighborhood like never before – and frankly, they have a point.
Casino supporters, on the other hand, cite the hundreds of jobs the casino brings the city in a down economy, lick their chops over the potential billion dollars in tax revenues from the venue and see Sugarhouse as the goose that laid the golden egg. They, by the way, have a point too.
In the end, the casino will gleefully strip cash from the sweaty palms of desperate people trying to find a quick way out of debt; neighbors will suffer and complain about the traffic and parking, and the rest of the city will go about its daily business.
We’re also spending a great deal of time and a couple of barrels of ink talking about Michael Vick’s sudden promotion to Eagles’ starting quarterback. Happens all the time in the NFL, but because it’s Vick, its national news, and the talk of the town.
Vick is the superior quarterback over Kevin Kolb right now, concussion fully healed or not. Kolb stunk to high heaven all pre-season, and right up until the moment he left the field in the opener against Green Bay with a pounding headache and a mouth full of grass and dirt.
Michael Vick, on the other hand, has clearly matured as a player. The old Vick was a threat with his legs, no doubt about it, but he was undisciplined; running wildly without looking downfield. The new Vick is also a threat with his legs, but maturity makes him twice as dangerous. Now he uses his running ability as a psychological threat – freezing the defense in place while he scrambles around in the pocket.
They can’t afford to take their eyes off him, because he can take off like a jet at any second - but they can’t afford to leave their receiver either, because the new Vick is looking downfield while he scrambles, and will fire one right to the open man.
I’m happy to see the brother finally come into his own, and it really does appear that he has learned a lot about football - and about life - since his public downfall. But let’s be honest, it’s just football, and next year he could be playing somewhere else.
Less ink and less time has been spent this week on a subject that hasn’t changed much in any of our lifetimes, and has become as famous a Philadelphia tradition as water ice and mustard pretzels – police brutality.
The videotaped beating of West Philly’s Askia Sabur, 29, outside a takeout restaurant on Lansdowne Avenue last week sparked community outrage and protest, as well it should have.
Given the circumstances and the extent of his injuries, there is plenty of evidence the arresting officers were unduly aggressive in Sabur’s apprehension, and in their treatment of the gathering crowd – including one woman who alleges she was roughed up for shooting the incident with her camera phone.
But that level of aggression is not uncommon, and has been popular since the days when Frank Rizzo ruled the city with an iron fist and a baton in his cummerbund. The police baton was then, and is now, the preferred method of dealing with community members who make the mistake of giving an officer a little too much lip on the wrong day. As just as in the 1970’s, that beatdown might come at the hands of a black officer as quickly as a white one. The only modern difference is that thanks to cheap technology, today thousands of people get to watch it on YouTube.
Not to get all biblical on you, but our sidetracked attentions this week remind me of that verse in Matthew 23 about straining out the gnat while we gulp down the camel.
How’s that camel taste, by the way? Mine is a little tough.
Friday, September 17, 2010
The ‘Low Information’ Revolution
Some week, huh?
The crazier-than-ever Teabaggers are gaining a national foothold, and seem determined to throw grenades at everyone in office, especially Republicans. A few miles down I-95, good ol’ Mike Castle, a fixture in Delaware politics since the Civil War, was unceremoniously booted from public life Tuesday night by losing the GOP primary race for U.S. Senate to a previously unknown woman named Christine O’Donnell, whose only actual occupation anyone can find seems to be as official spokesperson for the lunatic fringe.
O’Donnell’s platform goes far beyond the standard right-wing harangue about abstinence. No sir, that’s not nearly conservative enough. Her principal advocacy is an all-out effort to stem the widespread epidemic of people engaging in – how to put this delicately - let’s just call it self-love, shall we? It’s a form of lust, says O’Donnell, and all who engage in the act are doomed to Perdition. She’s been spreading the word, and even founded an organization dedicated to ending the practice once and for all.
Uh-huh. Good luck with that one. (Just so you know, I typed the m-word into my online Thesaurus and got “No Results Found”. Clearly no one at Merriam-Webster went to my junior high school.)
Despite endorsements from local and national GOP leaders, Castle, the former state legislator, congressman and governor, was ousted - not so much by Christine “Hands Free” O’Donnell, who is obviously nuts - but by a Republican electorate increasingly willing to endorse frothing-at-the-mouth Tea Party maniacs over their own tried and true party politicians.
It’s happening in Nevada, Kentucky, and even New York, where Teabagger Carl Paladino put a whipping on perennial GOP favorite Rick Lazio Tuesday for the party’s gubernatorial nomination. Paladino, you’ll recall, is the candidate who advocates transforming New York’s unused prison space into dormitories for welfare recipients, where they could take lessons in ‘personal hygiene’. In his spare time he also enjoys sending racist and obscene e-mail blasts depicting President Barack Obama and wife Michelle in the most foully offensive ways possible.
Most Democrats – grasping desperately to maintain their tenuous control of the House and Senate - are giddy with delight at the prospect of facing these certified lunatics in November, sure in their conviction that the voting public will see the light of wisdom and common sense and reject this slate of mouth-breathers.
I’m not so sure. In a time when intellectualism is unfashionable, people react most favorably to the outrageously stupid. Wily politicians, in their natural gravitation toward the lowest common denominator, will gladly champion this previously ignored constituency of inbred knuckle-draggers to catapult themselves to high office.
In short, I think the same yahoos who have turned the Republican party on its elephant ear this year are capable of some success in November, if for no other reason than their uncanny ability to tap into the psyche of what they themselves cynically refer to as ‘low information voters’.
Switching gears to a more positive note, I couldn’t complete this column without a word about President Obama’s trip to Philly this week, to give the national back-to-school pep talk at Masterman, which was simulcast to schools across the country.
There had been some backtalk leading up to the event about the choice of schools, since Masterman is filled with the best and the brightest, and whose parents, teachers, and support staff are engaged and focused. The argument is that perhaps the president’s message of ‘work hard, stay in school, and stay out of trouble’ would have been better served at a school with students who face trouble and temptation every day.
Being an elite magnet school, Masterman doesn’t take students who are struggling academically, and doesn’t take students with histories of classroom disruption or criminal activity. Few in Obama’s audience there will drop out of school, and are far more likely to end up at Penn State than the state pen.
While understanding – and not completely disagreeing with - the argument, I believe that the School District, city officials and the White House sincerely wanted to put our best foot forward. By highlighting Masterman, they hoped to set the bar high, and send the message that student academic achievement equals success in life.
It also equals success for the rest of us. These kids will soon be of voting age, and the future of our city, our state, and our nation rests on their ability to think critically and cast their ballots wisely.
We’ve seen what happens when we have a country full of ‘low information voters’.
The crazier-than-ever Teabaggers are gaining a national foothold, and seem determined to throw grenades at everyone in office, especially Republicans. A few miles down I-95, good ol’ Mike Castle, a fixture in Delaware politics since the Civil War, was unceremoniously booted from public life Tuesday night by losing the GOP primary race for U.S. Senate to a previously unknown woman named Christine O’Donnell, whose only actual occupation anyone can find seems to be as official spokesperson for the lunatic fringe.
O’Donnell’s platform goes far beyond the standard right-wing harangue about abstinence. No sir, that’s not nearly conservative enough. Her principal advocacy is an all-out effort to stem the widespread epidemic of people engaging in – how to put this delicately - let’s just call it self-love, shall we? It’s a form of lust, says O’Donnell, and all who engage in the act are doomed to Perdition. She’s been spreading the word, and even founded an organization dedicated to ending the practice once and for all.
Uh-huh. Good luck with that one. (Just so you know, I typed the m-word into my online Thesaurus and got “No Results Found”. Clearly no one at Merriam-Webster went to my junior high school.)
Despite endorsements from local and national GOP leaders, Castle, the former state legislator, congressman and governor, was ousted - not so much by Christine “Hands Free” O’Donnell, who is obviously nuts - but by a Republican electorate increasingly willing to endorse frothing-at-the-mouth Tea Party maniacs over their own tried and true party politicians.
It’s happening in Nevada, Kentucky, and even New York, where Teabagger Carl Paladino put a whipping on perennial GOP favorite Rick Lazio Tuesday for the party’s gubernatorial nomination. Paladino, you’ll recall, is the candidate who advocates transforming New York’s unused prison space into dormitories for welfare recipients, where they could take lessons in ‘personal hygiene’. In his spare time he also enjoys sending racist and obscene e-mail blasts depicting President Barack Obama and wife Michelle in the most foully offensive ways possible.
Most Democrats – grasping desperately to maintain their tenuous control of the House and Senate - are giddy with delight at the prospect of facing these certified lunatics in November, sure in their conviction that the voting public will see the light of wisdom and common sense and reject this slate of mouth-breathers.
I’m not so sure. In a time when intellectualism is unfashionable, people react most favorably to the outrageously stupid. Wily politicians, in their natural gravitation toward the lowest common denominator, will gladly champion this previously ignored constituency of inbred knuckle-draggers to catapult themselves to high office.
In short, I think the same yahoos who have turned the Republican party on its elephant ear this year are capable of some success in November, if for no other reason than their uncanny ability to tap into the psyche of what they themselves cynically refer to as ‘low information voters’.
Switching gears to a more positive note, I couldn’t complete this column without a word about President Obama’s trip to Philly this week, to give the national back-to-school pep talk at Masterman, which was simulcast to schools across the country.
There had been some backtalk leading up to the event about the choice of schools, since Masterman is filled with the best and the brightest, and whose parents, teachers, and support staff are engaged and focused. The argument is that perhaps the president’s message of ‘work hard, stay in school, and stay out of trouble’ would have been better served at a school with students who face trouble and temptation every day.
Being an elite magnet school, Masterman doesn’t take students who are struggling academically, and doesn’t take students with histories of classroom disruption or criminal activity. Few in Obama’s audience there will drop out of school, and are far more likely to end up at Penn State than the state pen.
While understanding – and not completely disagreeing with - the argument, I believe that the School District, city officials and the White House sincerely wanted to put our best foot forward. By highlighting Masterman, they hoped to set the bar high, and send the message that student academic achievement equals success in life.
It also equals success for the rest of us. These kids will soon be of voting age, and the future of our city, our state, and our nation rests on their ability to think critically and cast their ballots wisely.
We’ve seen what happens when we have a country full of ‘low information voters’.
Friday, September 10, 2010
A Bet That’s A Sure Loser
You have to wonder about these folks who leave the kids in the car while they go gambling. I think if there’s ever a solid definition of what “hooked” looks like, they fit the description.
When you’re on your hands and knees searching for crumbs of crack cocaine in the dirty carpet, you can be pretty sure you’re a drug addict. If you find yourself hiding Moon Pies and devouring them in the bathroom, you’ve probably got an eating problem. If you’re snockered at the next parent – teacher conference, you could well be an alcoholic.
And if you have to leave the children in the car while you go into the casino and spend their cereal money, you my friend, have the fever – and you’ve got it bad.
Over the summer, seven parents and caregivers have been caught gambling at Parx casino in Bensalem while their charges sweltered in hot cars outside. Amid the uproar, last week Pennsylvania state lawmakers announced plans for a bill that would make it a felony to leave children younger than 13 unattended in a vehicle.
It’s a nationwide dilemma, although state gaming boards and individual casinos are reluctant to keep statistics on the actual numbers. I’m betting their thinking is if they don’t acknowledge the problem, they won’t be charged with fixing it.
It’s a definite syndrome, though, and as the psychobabblers like to say, a cry for help.
Think about it. Who but the seriously addicted or the hopelessly stupid would leave their kids in the car in a casino parking lot?
With all the publicity surrounding the issue, you have to know that everyone walking through the lot will report your license plate to authorities the instant they walk in the door. There are security cameras, roving foot patrols, and of course your fellow gamblers, who will drop a dime on you faster than they’ll drop it in a slot machine. You could leave your kids in the parking lot at Pathmark or Rite Aid for hours without raising an eyebrow, but at casinos, they’re looking for you within minutes.
You leave children unattended in casino parking lots not at your own risk - but with the sure and certain knowledge that you’ll be caught, you’ll be prosecuted, and that slack-jawed expression on your face will be plastered all over the news.
So you have to believe the people who do it anyway are either overtaken by gambling fever, or just plain dumb-as-a-box-of-hammers.
There are some private companies who believe they have the solution. As the number of casinos expands across America, so have onsite child-care centers. One company, Kids Quest Centers, has locations in 20 casinos nationwide, and provides computer games, basketball courts, children's cafes, movies and cribs for infants as young as 6 weeks old. The flashing lights of video games and carnival atmosphere are intended to fascinate and excite youngsters while their parents are distracted by the flashing lights of the casino floor just a few feet away. Proponents say the child care centers attract high-rolling parents, and more importantly, increase casino profits.
This solution though, is fraught with hidden difficulties. Since the casino day care centers close at 2 AM, what happens when a parent doesn’t show up until 5:30? What happens when an obviously inebriated parent insists on driving their child home? What happens when casino officials have to call child services on a parent?
Lawsuits happen, that’s what. Big, fat lawsuits.
Casinos do not want the responsibility, or the liability, that comes with taking care of their patrons’ children. It’s a legal minefield, and one they’d rather avoid. They’d much rather you just walk in, empty your pockets, and leave quietly.
But I can’t really blame them for that. If you wanted to go out, say, for dinner and a movie, you’d hire a babysitter for the evening. If a babysitter wasn’t available, you’d put off the night out until you could get one. You wouldn’t expect the restaurant or the multiplex to have child care facilities, and you certainly wouldn’t just leave the kids in the parking lot.
My guess is that in the near future, some forward thinking entrepreneur will come up with a way to profit from this mess while keeping the casinos safe from legal responsibility. Until then, we’ll keep hearing the sad stories, and seeing the faces of guilty parents on the nightly news.
Maybe we should just put slot machines in jails and prisons. That way, we can save on costly prosecutions and cut out the middleman.
When you’re on your hands and knees searching for crumbs of crack cocaine in the dirty carpet, you can be pretty sure you’re a drug addict. If you find yourself hiding Moon Pies and devouring them in the bathroom, you’ve probably got an eating problem. If you’re snockered at the next parent – teacher conference, you could well be an alcoholic.
And if you have to leave the children in the car while you go into the casino and spend their cereal money, you my friend, have the fever – and you’ve got it bad.
Over the summer, seven parents and caregivers have been caught gambling at Parx casino in Bensalem while their charges sweltered in hot cars outside. Amid the uproar, last week Pennsylvania state lawmakers announced plans for a bill that would make it a felony to leave children younger than 13 unattended in a vehicle.
It’s a nationwide dilemma, although state gaming boards and individual casinos are reluctant to keep statistics on the actual numbers. I’m betting their thinking is if they don’t acknowledge the problem, they won’t be charged with fixing it.
It’s a definite syndrome, though, and as the psychobabblers like to say, a cry for help.
Think about it. Who but the seriously addicted or the hopelessly stupid would leave their kids in the car in a casino parking lot?
With all the publicity surrounding the issue, you have to know that everyone walking through the lot will report your license plate to authorities the instant they walk in the door. There are security cameras, roving foot patrols, and of course your fellow gamblers, who will drop a dime on you faster than they’ll drop it in a slot machine. You could leave your kids in the parking lot at Pathmark or Rite Aid for hours without raising an eyebrow, but at casinos, they’re looking for you within minutes.
You leave children unattended in casino parking lots not at your own risk - but with the sure and certain knowledge that you’ll be caught, you’ll be prosecuted, and that slack-jawed expression on your face will be plastered all over the news.
So you have to believe the people who do it anyway are either overtaken by gambling fever, or just plain dumb-as-a-box-of-hammers.
There are some private companies who believe they have the solution. As the number of casinos expands across America, so have onsite child-care centers. One company, Kids Quest Centers, has locations in 20 casinos nationwide, and provides computer games, basketball courts, children's cafes, movies and cribs for infants as young as 6 weeks old. The flashing lights of video games and carnival atmosphere are intended to fascinate and excite youngsters while their parents are distracted by the flashing lights of the casino floor just a few feet away. Proponents say the child care centers attract high-rolling parents, and more importantly, increase casino profits.
This solution though, is fraught with hidden difficulties. Since the casino day care centers close at 2 AM, what happens when a parent doesn’t show up until 5:30? What happens when an obviously inebriated parent insists on driving their child home? What happens when casino officials have to call child services on a parent?
Lawsuits happen, that’s what. Big, fat lawsuits.
Casinos do not want the responsibility, or the liability, that comes with taking care of their patrons’ children. It’s a legal minefield, and one they’d rather avoid. They’d much rather you just walk in, empty your pockets, and leave quietly.
But I can’t really blame them for that. If you wanted to go out, say, for dinner and a movie, you’d hire a babysitter for the evening. If a babysitter wasn’t available, you’d put off the night out until you could get one. You wouldn’t expect the restaurant or the multiplex to have child care facilities, and you certainly wouldn’t just leave the kids in the parking lot.
My guess is that in the near future, some forward thinking entrepreneur will come up with a way to profit from this mess while keeping the casinos safe from legal responsibility. Until then, we’ll keep hearing the sad stories, and seeing the faces of guilty parents on the nightly news.
Maybe we should just put slot machines in jails and prisons. That way, we can save on costly prosecutions and cut out the middleman.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Prisoners 4, Public 0
As I believe I have mentioned before, part of the satisfaction of being a cynic is how often you turn out to be right.
Which is why we cynics are not surprised at the fact that the greediest, most corrupt, small-minded petty dullards in our society have managed to gain control of our vital systems. Angry, yes. But surprised? No.
An update to a recent column should serve as an example. A few months ago I used this space to bring you the tale of The Great Escape of Taaqi "Fame" Brown.
Brown didn’t tunnel out of Delaware County’s George W. Hill Correctional Facility in June, and he didn’t saw through the bars and lower himself from a rope made of dental floss. They just handed him his walking papers, opened his cell door, and sent him on his way.
A private company, Community Education Centers Inc. (CEC) of West Caldwell, N.J., has operated the prison since January 2009. The facility houses about 1,600 inmates, mostly from Delaware County and Philadelphia.
Delaware County’s District Attorney, the Prison Superintendent and the County Council were all appropriately horrified, and while chalking up the one-time mistake to “clerical error” and promising swift policy changes, they praised CEC’s overall track record.
Except that CEC’s track record, before and since, is awful, and what has happened since Brown’s walk away hasn’t helped. By the way, I only categorize Brown’s incident as ‘escape’ because that’s exactly what authorities charged him with when he turned himself in a day later.
That’s right - they let him go, and then tacked a felony escape on to his rap sheet when he returned voluntarily. No charges, however, for the CEC employees who allowed it to happen.
If you thought public embarrassment would have been enough to force CEC to swift action, and force the county authorities to more stringent monitoring, you’ve got another think coming.
Since then, Ateia Polk of North Philadelphia, and David Jeffrey Wilson of Chester, were both freed due to paperwork errors, according to the Delaware County District Attorney's Office. Authorities finally figured it out when the prisoners weren’t transported from the facility to court for scheduled hearings. By then, of course, Polk and Wilson were long gone.
A month before Brown’s walkout, prisoner Kelly DeLuca was told to pack up her personal items, and be ready to be discharged in time to catch the SEPTA bus to Chester in 90 minutes. Despite telling the guard that she had nine days left on her 18-day probation violation, DeLuca was given two tokens and shown the gate.
Now, all this should inspire outrage and consternation among the citizenry, and it has, especially in Delaware County. The County Council has again promised changes in the way prison releases would be handled, and conducted hasty meetings with CEC officials, the Prison Superintendent and County Court judges.
From now on, a sergeant and lieutenant at the prison will oversee the release process, and guards will be required to consult an internal tracking system at the county's Office of Judicial Support for release data and another tracking system run by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
Oh, and in addition to the current "code-red" telephone calls notifying nearby neighbors of an escape, there will now be a "code-yellow" notification call when an inmate is mistakenly released. Now they can sleep much better at night.
Still, no rebuke and no punishment for CEC, who collects millions in state dollars (and similar millions from other states from coast to coast) to keep our criminals warehoused.
CEC’s corner-cutting measures have been questioned for years, but because the $200 million company, which provides thousands of jobs nationwide, actually manages to save states’ money by operating prisons on the cheap, state legislators and prison boards tend to overlook the occasional gaffe – like poorly trained guards and support personnel letting criminals walk free.
The not-so-subtle message on the power of the bottom line is delivered by John J. Clancy, Chairman and CEO of CEC, on the company’s website.
“Government agencies can contract with us for an amount far less than is typically spent on facilities that provide fewer services,” Clancy crows. “Additionally, the government does not have to raise capital to build more jail space. Our special focus on treating the causes of criminal behavior works to drastically reduce government cost.”
As long as money trumps the public welfare, companies like CEC will thrive, nearby communities will remain on ‘code yellow’ alert, and we cynics will remain the undisputed champions of the “I told you so.”
Which is why we cynics are not surprised at the fact that the greediest, most corrupt, small-minded petty dullards in our society have managed to gain control of our vital systems. Angry, yes. But surprised? No.
An update to a recent column should serve as an example. A few months ago I used this space to bring you the tale of The Great Escape of Taaqi "Fame" Brown.
Brown didn’t tunnel out of Delaware County’s George W. Hill Correctional Facility in June, and he didn’t saw through the bars and lower himself from a rope made of dental floss. They just handed him his walking papers, opened his cell door, and sent him on his way.
A private company, Community Education Centers Inc. (CEC) of West Caldwell, N.J., has operated the prison since January 2009. The facility houses about 1,600 inmates, mostly from Delaware County and Philadelphia.
Delaware County’s District Attorney, the Prison Superintendent and the County Council were all appropriately horrified, and while chalking up the one-time mistake to “clerical error” and promising swift policy changes, they praised CEC’s overall track record.
Except that CEC’s track record, before and since, is awful, and what has happened since Brown’s walk away hasn’t helped. By the way, I only categorize Brown’s incident as ‘escape’ because that’s exactly what authorities charged him with when he turned himself in a day later.
That’s right - they let him go, and then tacked a felony escape on to his rap sheet when he returned voluntarily. No charges, however, for the CEC employees who allowed it to happen.
If you thought public embarrassment would have been enough to force CEC to swift action, and force the county authorities to more stringent monitoring, you’ve got another think coming.
Since then, Ateia Polk of North Philadelphia, and David Jeffrey Wilson of Chester, were both freed due to paperwork errors, according to the Delaware County District Attorney's Office. Authorities finally figured it out when the prisoners weren’t transported from the facility to court for scheduled hearings. By then, of course, Polk and Wilson were long gone.
A month before Brown’s walkout, prisoner Kelly DeLuca was told to pack up her personal items, and be ready to be discharged in time to catch the SEPTA bus to Chester in 90 minutes. Despite telling the guard that she had nine days left on her 18-day probation violation, DeLuca was given two tokens and shown the gate.
Now, all this should inspire outrage and consternation among the citizenry, and it has, especially in Delaware County. The County Council has again promised changes in the way prison releases would be handled, and conducted hasty meetings with CEC officials, the Prison Superintendent and County Court judges.
From now on, a sergeant and lieutenant at the prison will oversee the release process, and guards will be required to consult an internal tracking system at the county's Office of Judicial Support for release data and another tracking system run by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
Oh, and in addition to the current "code-red" telephone calls notifying nearby neighbors of an escape, there will now be a "code-yellow" notification call when an inmate is mistakenly released. Now they can sleep much better at night.
Still, no rebuke and no punishment for CEC, who collects millions in state dollars (and similar millions from other states from coast to coast) to keep our criminals warehoused.
CEC’s corner-cutting measures have been questioned for years, but because the $200 million company, which provides thousands of jobs nationwide, actually manages to save states’ money by operating prisons on the cheap, state legislators and prison boards tend to overlook the occasional gaffe – like poorly trained guards and support personnel letting criminals walk free.
The not-so-subtle message on the power of the bottom line is delivered by John J. Clancy, Chairman and CEO of CEC, on the company’s website.
“Government agencies can contract with us for an amount far less than is typically spent on facilities that provide fewer services,” Clancy crows. “Additionally, the government does not have to raise capital to build more jail space. Our special focus on treating the causes of criminal behavior works to drastically reduce government cost.”
As long as money trumps the public welfare, companies like CEC will thrive, nearby communities will remain on ‘code yellow’ alert, and we cynics will remain the undisputed champions of the “I told you so.”
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