'Confe ing a
crime amounts
to cutting your
own throat'
"If you oommit mUl'dtr, carry a
. ro of right next
yo gun, roomen yourcom­
mit the murder, the knife, cut
YOW' ngue out am pe your
mouth !" -
That' bit of advice that
well- peeled judge, who has
heard tOO� 0 aiminal
over 1m 30 years on the beJXh,
asked me k> along to you. The
j\Xlge DId me that Ix: bas seen
many, many, over the ye&S
where tm only real eviderre the
poli� had agaimt defeOOant
his own mnfcssion!
Ifyoummmitacrimeml want
to purge your consdeJn by nul­
� off at tm roouth am confess
to the police, t least keep your
mouth shut long eoough to 1alk to
a lawyer. You alteady kmw from
watching "Dragnet," on lele�ion,
that you have a right to remain
silent, a right to a lawyer, am that
anything you say can aOO will be
used against you in a court of law.
You would be swprised to
kmw how many people "sing like
birds" totbepolice, tell th:mevery­
thing ml then suffer amresia and
fo�t to tell th:ir lawyer about tI¥:
"tiny little" 36-page confession.
(Sadly, there are people who make
am sign contessiors although they
did rot commit the airne.)
Keep your mouth shut, but if
you must talk, lell your lawyer th:
truth. �n you confess to the
police am tbenlie to youra�,
that's like blind-folding him, gag­
ging him, am tying hie; hm1s be­
him his back am then paying him
to go into the courtroom arena to
fight for you.
ff'youdon'tcut yourk>llgUCOOt,
you just may be ming.)DW'toogu«;
to hang youmelf aOO cut your own
throat
�Justice may be
blind,but he
can still smell'
A young man stood before the
court wearing �� dirty,
white gymsboes, Imred-shirtwm
banging out of tm blue cut-()ff
jeans. Hs deodorant soap had
abandoned him and his anti­
perspirant had left him defemele:ss.
Tbe guy sndled like be had ap­
parently ruslr.d straight from the
basketball court to the courtroom,
The defeme attorney had got­
ten the prosecutor to agree to drop
th: charge ofassaultwitha shotgun
and all parties stood before the
judge woo looked sternly over the
bench and admonished him:
"Don't you ever come in bere on
tim kim of charge again! If you do
I'll put you un1er the jail.
Meanwhilt; a bank executive,
wearing a white button-OOwn shirt,
a conservative burgtWly tie, navy
blue pin-stripped suit am highly
polished Black wing-tip. sboes,
stood there with an aura of quiet
. dignity aOO mtened � the jl.Xlge
condnued his to�1aWng on
the yo� man. '''Ibis court won't
. tolerate your running aIOum this
mnununity firing slx>tgulB at our
decent citizens. "
The young man m\'O\.5ly in­
tenupted. "But judge, but judge."
� judge respoOOcd, "don't iner­
rupt�! I am going to dismiss tlx:
charges tim liB, but don't ever
cone before�again! Now, what
is it you want ., say'l" The yotmg
man exdaimed, "I am the ore who
was soot at I am the ore woo is
. disnmsing the charges."
� judge's eyes arx1 IDe had
been mOOitiol¥:d to see th: man in
tbe sneakers and sborts as the
defendant aOO the conservative
bank executive as the victim.
If you have to go k> murt as a
defeOOant, victim orwitress: dress
neataOO dean; checkyourpersonal
hygiere; wssh your face; comb
your hair; brush your teeth, ml by
all nam, usedeOOomnt Remem­
ber, "Justice may be bliOO, but six:
can still srrell!"
LdIitI baiJa (kina. is II ctUrtinti aIIIor-
MY Mfto � raurt«J JU oo/uIm Ix
NNPA I/you NaJtt II � � �
I« GaiMI � 35fD � RDGI(
� 011 .cs229, or CI1Il: 513-151-
5(W
o of sm 11
Southern tate, he cultiv ted cordial
link i th African-Amcric n
constituen , appointing more Bla
to governmental po itions than all
previou Arkan a governor
combined.
Clinton could peak with
compa ion and power in hi
denunciations of racism and
proble 0 10 er-inco
in eneral, d from J
in particular.
w the on for Cinton'
c lcul ted public bre kith
J on over the "Si te SouljAh"
centro y. Clinton also embraced
c nge in wei! re I ws which
ould deny i ymen 0
poor mothe bo had additiooal
children while on welfare.
Throughout the campaign, Clinton
deliberately d tanced himself from
Jac on, even voiding being
photographed ith him.
Clinton', failure to achieve more
than 50 percent of the white vote
will push him even further to the
right as hi dministration begins.
African-American nd other
people of color must immediately
pressure Cinton to respond to their
needs, if racial unrest and the recent
violence of the streets of Lo
Angeles i to be avoided in the
future.
T'sSquare
George
o
urpri ingly tron upport rom
BI ck t the be innin of i
independent candi y. or mon ,
Je e J c on openly flirted ith
Perot, nd hi inbow Co lition
ne rly endorsed him. In June,
nation wvey of African-American
vote from 18 to 34 ye old found
that 21 percent favored Perot.
But a neg tive tion gainst
Perot developed when it learned
that the Texas billionaire oppo ed
ffirmative action. When the
Electronic Data Systems corporation
w der Perot' ownership, the
comp ny bad barely one percent
Black and Latino managers nd
administrator . Perot inflicted
irreparable damage upon himself,
far as African Americans were
concerned, after delivering a
dreadfully paternalistic speech
.. �.
AmeriGat15 are
rncnaopn�
than tna. Ma:Pe it:e
�to'�a
��
&lifej.a5t
Jjm�b. to�n I
by TUn Ja kson
•
{ ,
You
know what
they eay:
'''If .
eomething
worke, don't .
fool wi�h
it I"
•
up, his father was manager of the
Teresa Hotel on 125th Street in
Harlem and he associated with Paul
Robe on, Joe Louis and other
Harlem figures.
Ne,arby was the celebrated
Appolo Tbeatre, where Brown met
big-name entertainers and
well-known persons of both races.
Brown attended exclusive
preparatory schools in New York
City, often being the only Black in his
class. He received the B.S. degree in
Political Science from Middl
College in Venno d the
J.D. in law fro t.Jobn' University
School of in 1970.
s militarily correct for
tiona! upward mobility.
While in Middlebury College, he
joined the ROTC to help ith
expenses. He did military duty
logistics upervisor t a U.S. Army
Base in We t Germany and was
promoted to captaincy. Later, he w
ent to Korea to command a school
that traiDed Korean soldiers to ork
with American troops.
Brown w chief lobbyist for the
Urban League from 1968 to 1979;
'- .
:.
- ..
...
..
@TImJackson
bi
NAAHhhhhh •••
Distributed by Creative License Studio Inc • Chicago
By JAMES E. ALSBROOK
While thousands of Black parents
are worried about keeping,their sons
alive, getting them educated and
helping them succeed, a new Black
role model of epoch-making
dimensions has joined Colin PoweJI
in the tiny preserve of Presidentfil
Timber.
He is Ron Brown, first Black
cbairmanofa major national political
commi ttee, He is a personable,
persuasive, lawyer who "runs. with
the fast crowd" of Washington
insiders, "knows the ropes"
thoroughly and is as mooth and as
polished as a billiard ball.
This talented diplomat i
well-schooled in white upper-cl
manners, values and culture be is
in Harlem ghettoes and the quir of
the Black bourgeoisie.
Ronald Harmon Brown was born
August 1, 1941, in Washington, D.C.
He i the son of two Howard
University graduates.
He married Alma Aningion and
baS a son and dautbter.
WHILE BROWN was growing
favorite" persons.
Atwater ingratiated himself into
membership on the Howard
University Board of Trustees only to
be ousted because of student
indignation following his racist
political benanigans.
Like many "old time" deep
Southern white men, Atwater
seemed to believe Black people were
stupid and obedient Simpletons ..
Without doubt, Brown today is
one of the most highly regarded
politicians in the nation. .
Tough interviewers like Sam
Donaldson obviously respect Brown.
and "treat him with kid gloves."
George Will, the columni t and
ABC commentator who bas belittled
Blacks at various time, tread
carefully when talking with the
quick-witted, knowledgeable lawyer
whQ can be sharp-tongued and will
embarass dversaries when aroused.
Self-respecting Blac will hope
for a continuation of the present
nationally popular television policy
of oftening terectypes nd
pre enting Black a normal,
respectable, intelligent people.
THE SUBTLE and far-reaching
effect� of this improved role
definition undoubtedly will change
the behavior of both race and
improve the interracial climate in
which Blacks live.
If this continues, expect Ron
Brown or Colin Powell to be
nominated by whites at one of the
presidential conventions in j t eight
years, 2,000 AD. .
deputy campaign manager for Sen.
Edward Kennedy's presidential
campaign, 1979 to 1980; general
counsel for the U.S. Senate
Committee on the Judiciary in 1980;
general counsel and staff director for
Senator Edward Kennedy, 1981;
deputy chairman, Democratic
National Committee, 1981 to 1985;
and chairman of the Democratic
National Committee in 1989. He was
nager of Jesse Jackson's
residential campaign in 1988.
HIS ABILITY to mediate and
negotiate among conflicting interests
was largely responsible for hi
election to the Democratic National
Committee chairmanship in'1989
and his SUCICCSI in directing that party
to victory with Bill Clinton in 1992.
His salary has been in six figures
for many years.
Brown i a personally likable'
person.
Lee Atwater, leader in the 1988
Republican campaign and developer
of the Willie Horton scare that
brought George Bu h the 1988
presidency, w one of his "least
A little
subtleness
is better
than a lot
offorce.
. I
