D
Clar 's unfortunate story
reflects a erious problem
. black Ameri . B ck-
-Black crime.
United St tes
Departm nt dat indi e
igher percentage of -Bla
households than bite
households are victimized by
violent crime.
IN! ,0 in22B ck
ho holds had a member
was r ped, robbed, or vic­
timized in an agrav ted
ult, compared 'th 0 e in 46
white households. Blacb
year ere almost 22 percent
e
o
by n F. C Jr.
ow that the nation of Haiti
ppears to be moving yfrom
neo-colonial and military die­
tatorship, the people of Haiti
for the fir t time in more than
three de des are expericn .
new hope for a better future.
Mr . Ertha Pascal- Trouillot
ha been selected as Haiti's
Provisional President following
the ouster of Lt. Gen Pr per
A vri1, the former military leader
of Haiti.
rs. Pascal- TrouiUot
distinguished career as an elfec­
� I wyer and jurist. She was
the only women on Haiti's
Supreme Court.
P ESIDE T PASCAL·
OUllLOT afflllDCd 1 .
intended to bring true
democracy and freedom for aU
Haitians. She ated, "I have no
other ambition but the singular
ervice of my country. My
government will be wh t you
want it to be, con tantly
anim ted by the breath of your
pirations and your invincib e
hopes." .
The United ation bas
Haiti bein one of the
impoverished tio in
the em bemisphere.
Over the I twenty years,
over one million Haitian
refugees ve Oed Haiti .
political refuge in other na '0
y H itian refugees came to
the United St tes only to be
denied refugee at
Some Hai . ve bee im-
ro SOME 11 Black
ICadcrs - especially 1ibet1
leaders associated with tradi­
tional cMl rights organizations­
-have been reluctamt to speak
out publicly on the crime
prob min geueral and Black-
o crime in particular.
They have been reluctant to
CIUIMC in public airing of -dirty
of fear that such a dis­
ould play into the
. eager to exploit
e
or
CML·
RIGHTS
pr ed in Florida and ew
York called illegal aliens.
Yet, for many ye rs, u.S.
foreign policy or, sup-
ported the Dovalier's
. . ps over Haiti.
P ID NT PASCAL-
OOJU.,OT eep her
promise, thousand of
will probably return
to p rebuild nation
civilian rule. The United
es the peop e ofH 'ti
not ooIy an official poIogy for
years of upporting the cruelty
of military dictatorships, but
also the United States ould
offer economic development
aid to help recon truct the
H .. economy.
In many communiti cr
the United States, Haitian­
AmeriC:ans have made positive
SlgllUbcant contributions to
W 0 THAT
American dministr tio in
W shinglon, D.C., have DO
c to confess or dmit
Ollldo· , particularly in
the •
Many BI cks do ot
strong 1a �orccmcat
a threat to individ
liberties. Rather,
are corrcdlyviqwed as etlae:DIlUU
to preserving the .
sow.security and ely for the
vast majority of black citizens
o are la - bi ding.
Many Blacks are fed up with
libecal· aiminal justice policies
that fawr the aiminal ewer the
victim. This imbalaDcc can be
corrected by scYeral important
eps:
SUPPO T BLAe LA
enforcement executive and
. those bo erve bl ck com­
munities in their efforts to run
ir dep or ageacies
professionally and cff�vcly.
Police departments Id
not become the objects of
demagoguery . by liberal
politicians ho have no interest
in tough or effecti'IC law enfor­
cement.
Controversial local law en­
forcement issues, such as in­
creasing pay for police and
dismantling useles "civilian
review boards" that cause police
regar to nations of the African
diaspora. Yet, it is long overdue
for President Bush to at least ar­
ticulate the same desire he has
_ for democracy in icaragua fo
democracy and freedom from
U.S. manipulation in Haiti.
The Immigration and
Natrualization Service (INS)
also needs to change its dis­
criminatory policies against
Haitians and others seeking
legitimate immigration to the
United States.
We are pleased that now the
leaders of the Haitian military
have pledged their support to
President Pascal- Trouillot.
Maj. GeD. Herard Abraham,
the new chief of Haiti', army,
has placed the army under Mrs.
Pascal- Trouillot's command.
Haiti does not need more guns,
bombs and other U.S. made -
weapons.
Haiti needs food, medicine,
economic development and
most of all a chance to become
self-determined with justice for
all Haitians.
HOPEFULLY, THE
TRAGIC sight of boatlo of
Haitians risking death and im­
prisonment off the shore of
Florida is over. We salute
President Pascal- Trouillot.
May Haiti be the beautiful na­
tion that God h ordained it to
be.
ment take vi
and repeal offeoders of cit­
culation and.�nt them &om
returDiDa to their old eighbor­
hoods aDd cantin· their mes
of crime,
Support the fair and r cial1y
neutral pplication of the de th
penalty. The crucial issue is not
that a higher percentage of
blacks are on death row Ulan
whites.
WHAT OULD B uaac­
ceptable· any iDdicatioD that
those who murder b are
I likely to receive the death
those who murdel' b are
less likely to receive the death
penalty than those who murder
whites.
In addition to supportiDg
toug la enforcement
me ures, conservati 0 ..
dep re t e liberal preoccupa­
tion with the rights of criminak,
need to open an honest and con­
tinuing dialogue with those
blacks who are concerned
bout how crime ravages their
communit es,
On this issue, perhaps more
than any other, they will quickly
find broad common ground.
Note: UuryD. Thompson is
a fonner U.s. attomey from
AtlOlltlL 1'his usay is tuIIIpted
from the Herilfl Foundolion
monograph, -A COIISe1'VGtiH
Ait¥o for BlDcIc American.r.­
The monogrtJph wtU published
as part 0/ think tQllk's BIIIdc
History Month observations.
