Thursday, November 20, 2008

Tulia, Texas

Just when I thought race relations in America were getting better. When I first heard about this film I said to myself "no way." I went into the theatre with an open mind about this film and I could believe what I was seeing. Forty six people wee arrested for drug possession and distribute. Thirty eight I believe were African-American. All of these lives were ruined based on the testimony of one corrupt cop who he himself were was under investigation. When I was watching this film I couldn't help but to think about Jasper,Texas. The same town in which a black man wan chained to the back of a pickup truck and drug for several miles. Although the situations are different, they're related in a sense that the two towns were divided. Whites lived on one side of the town, blacks lives across the tracks. And if any one wanted to score some drugs, the other side of the tracks was where they had to go. And it was that type of prejudice that pretty much caused problems in the black community.
Don't get me wrong, drugs is one of the problems that plagues the black community today; make no mistake. But it rarley results inthe arrest of thirty- eight innocent people. It all began with a corrupt police officer who was paid lots of money to do what I'm gonna call a "roundup of the usual suspects." The film does not go into detail about the actual arrests that were made. All I know was that most of the people who were arrested were black and that not only were they arrested, they were arrested in the middle of the night and they were brought in unkept. No one in that theatre knew the anger that went throught to see that; I was so embarresed for those people. The first thing that went through my mind was why were they doing this.
The documentary revealed the more arrest that the town made, the more grant money they received. And who other than a corrupt cop would be better to put innocent people in prison.
One of the subjects of the film was a young man who was arrested and and tried for cocaine possesion with an atempt to distribute. he was sentenced to 99 years in prison. But with help from the lawyer, he only served six years. While I was watching the film, something kept running through my mind. How can a community so poor be able to afford such a high marklet drug. Cocaine and crack are very expensive and more available in larger cities where the population is higher and and there is more money. I also became very disturbed when I learnde that the more arrests that the countyu makes the more grant money they recieve. This is good, but it also creates a situation where corrution can occur such as what happpend in Tulia.
Whenver there is a stiuation like this, it's good when someone has the courage to come forawrd and right a wrong. a lawyer ( I cannot remeber his name) found the situation very suspicious. During his investigation he learned that the police officer who was working undercover had a warrant out for his arrest. I believe it was for theft or something like that. That police officer was later tried and convictred for perjury. He recieved probation. The people who were convicted recieved a huge settlement from the state of Texas for six million dollars. That really isn't a lot if you consider how much the lawyer ecieved incliuding court cost. Evryone got enoguh to buy a home and a car. They also recieved a pardon from the governer of Texas. I guess it's better than nothing.
When I hear about injustices like this, it no longer surprises me. It's a harsh thing to say but we live in America and we still live with prejudice. Incidents that happen like this such as the Jena 6 incident has been around for years. It also creates a situation where people an also become very wealthy. One thing I'd noticed about the documentary was that no black civil rights leaders got invovled. I wonder what they have to say about this. Well anyway I'm gonna keep on and wait for the next huge racial conflict to emerge.

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