Tuesday, November 26, 1996
DISCRIMINATION:
Lack of opportunities keeps inner-city dwellers in povertyBy Keisha Xicotencatl
I am writing in response to J.Jioni Palmer's article that appeared on the Nov. 20, 1996 issue. I am extremely proud that he took the time to write about the ramifications that Propositions 184, 187 and 209 have had or will have on the African-American and Latino/a populations.
The problems in the inner-cities stem from the deprivation of the basic necessities of life. The flooding of crack cocaine into the inner cities via the CIA has destroyed the family lives of many African-American men. Now it is the addicts that do the majority of the time in prison.
Doesn't it seem ironic that those individuals who put crack on the streets are not the same ones serving time for it? In America, if the focus of the war on drugs is supposed to be on those selling drugs, why are the victims, the addicts, actually serving the time in prison?
African-Americans and Latinos are set back due to inadequate education, which leads to a the lack of jobs, which in turn leads to crime. The inner-city environment creates a continuous cycle of deprivation, unemployment and crime. Those African-American men and women who can get out of the never ending cycle and change their lives are lucky, but they are also few and far between. If a person who screwed up during the early part of their life tries to rebuild their life, the stigma of being an ex-convict hangs like a noose over their neck.
Not all men who go to jail for drugs can become a Tim Allen. But then again none of the black males I know are white men who can overcome their incarceration, be accepted back into society and not be viewed as criminals. In the real world, the company which I work for repeatedly ask black males as a matter of "unwritten" policy if they have ever been in jail or are on-probation, when there is any gap of time in their employment history. And if they have been in jail, or are on probation, they are not hired.
With Proposition 209, what most white and ignorant minority supporters do not understand is how many of the African- and Latino-Americans in college are among the first generations to receive a higher education.
My great-grandmother only had a sixth grade education. My grandmother finished high school. My mother completed high school and went to a trade school. Now when I look at my brilliant cousins, who are either ready to finish high school or enter it, I wonder if they will ever be able to attend a university.
While my grades and GPA were very high, my SAT scores were not. However, does that mean that I didn't deserve to go to UCLA? No. There are factors more important than grades, and that is the opportunity to obtain the quality education that my great-grandmother, grandmother and mother never had the opportunity to receive. Only one or two generations have passed since my family migrated here from Alabama in the '50s, and back then their jobs were sharecropping and cotton picking. Is that where we are headed?
Keisha Xicotencatl is a fourth-year history student.