| Show ipmir The Salt Lake Tribune Tuesday January 24 1989 A13 The Public Forum Tribune Readers’ Opinions Helmet? Sometimes "And to compete with cars from Japan look what we did to the engine labeled everything in English and Japanese!” Is It Whites Against Blacks in Miami Or Simply Police Versus Criminals? By Jim Trotter r Newspapers MIAMI — It should probably be pointed out that Clement Anthony “Bigger” Lloyd was not leaving Sunday school when he piled his pal Allen Blanchard on the back of his g Ninja motorcycle one of those bikes with fat tires and sped north on Third Avenue Northwest on Monday night For one thing almost no one in South Florida liked the way Bigger drove Bigger so named for his size had had his license suspended six times in the last 15 months There was also a problem four years ago when police caught him walking through the airport in Fort Lauderdale with two suitcases filled with 90 pounds of marijuana A case against him last year in Knight-Ridde- low-slun- 1 225-poun- d which police found drugs and $10000 in his rental car was And if Bigger 23 was roaring up Third Avenue much faster than the law allowed flipping the bird to a pursuing police officer well that was Bigger “He was jokey and loose” a cousin said But even if you add up all the things Bigger did wrong — and that’s apparently quite a list — it still doesn’t account for what happened the evening of Jan 16 A Miami cop named William Lozano who was working a separate incident with his partner stepped into the street as the motorcycle sped toward his position dropped into a combat stance and fired a 9 mm slug right through Bigger Lloyd’s head Blanchard died the next day from injuries suffered in the ensuing crash Outrage in the city’s black communities resulted in two successive nights of rioting As darkness fell Wednesday there was an uneasy quiet on the streets The Miami City Council had met in in emergency session to discuss a blue ribbon investigative panel There was no talk of the city trying to save face for the Super Bowl America may have come to Miami to party but the host city had shot itself in the gut There are plenty of theories about what has happened and what should be done next but there is a consensus of opinion that frustration and dropped rage lay like gunpowder in the black community When William Lozano stepped out into the street to stop Bigger Lloyd’s last ride the gunpowder was ignited The investigations may reveal otherwise but it looks a lot like a guy was shot to death for speeding “There’s a history of police officers white police officers who are mainly Latin killing black men and ” Billy Harde-mogetting off said angrily outside City Hall as he passed out a flier containing the pictures of 10 black men he said had been killed by police “Police are shooting us black men like we are black birds” scot-free- n Jim Trotter is a columnist for the San Jose (Calif) Mercury News Included on the flier were photographs of Arthur McDuffie a black insurance salesman who was beaten to death by officers in 1980 and Johnson Jr shot to death in an Overtown video arcade in 1982 The officers were acquitted in both cases e riots were associated with both events “I’m not saying this as a joke” Hardemon said “We need someone like the United Nations down here to protect our basic human rights” Arthur Teele a black attorney and businessman who ran for mayor a year and a half ago said underlying reasons for the rioting are the “deep anger anxiety and fear in the black community — it is a fear of being crowded out of being displaced “Wave after wave of immigrants have come to Miami And each time the black community has been displaced They lost all their jobs on Miami Beach to Cubans Then they were displaced by the Haitians Then by those on the Mariel boats Now we have the Nicaraguans I think there is a direct correlation between the waves of immigrants these shootings and the riots “There is a hopelessness and a fear that turns into anger with these killings The killings are a very important part of the equation” Teele said “That is the flashpoint” Ne-ve- ll Full-scal- That frustration was voiced by Vanessa Haynes 34 an Liberty City teacher: "Look at the Cubans They were turned around economically before they got off the boat And the Nicaraguans come and they don’t have housing or food or clothing or jobs Seventy-tw- o hours later they’re being offered all that stuff “I’m hungry I need a job No one has fed or clothed me” Dr Preston Marshall a Dade County public school administrator felt frustration of a different sort He was chairman of Martin Luther King Jr Day festivities Monday and his centerpiece was a parade through Liberty City one of the black communities "That was the first time that we had gotten the community back together” he said “We had the Hispanics the Anglos the Indians out in Liberty City It was successful and then this occurred “The mayor and the City Council are calling for a blue ribbon commis- sion to investigate I am not impressed” On the streets of Overtown the black ghetto where the shooting of Lloyd occurred Miami police officer Timothy Young a black eight-yea- r veteran of the force had still anoth“Most of those er perspective people who are rioting well you hang with crud you’ll Le crud “I don’t feel at all that it's white against blacks It's police against Quite contrary to John Taylor’s cartoon ( Tribune Jan 16) regarding whether or not motorcyclists who choose not to wear helmets have “anything to protect" we have our right to free choice to protect It's the same choice each individual makes regarding any other safety precaution we take Do we tell the fisherman to wear a life preserver? Do we tell the skier to wear a helmet or how about the rodeo participant who rides bulls’ Are these two sports any less dangerous to the individual who participates? A 1988 Colorado hospital survey showed more intensive care patients were seriously injured from skiing and rodeo accidents than were injured in motorcycle accidents Are helmets really the answer or would it be more appropriate to spend our time and money in the field of safety education I have 22 years of motorcycle riding experience with no accidents At times I have chosen to wear a helmet and other times I have chosen not to That is my choice When will society stop allowing the unqualified such as Mr Taylor the right to decide for the rest of us what we should wear for our own personal protection? Whatever happened to freedom of choice and what an ironically appropriate day to print his cartoon the day our country has set aside to celebrate "human rights" LOWELL FINNEY Ogden Proud 'Former’ On a visit to Salt Lake City I read of Sen Orrin Hatch’s objection to comments by Brent Ward about granting a reduction of sentence to Carvel Shaffer I am incredulous that a senator of the United States could be so disdainful of the concept of “equal justice" and indeed disdainful of the law itself His comments if taken at face value prove Sen Hatch believes in a double standard one for “very good church-going- ” criminals and one for other criminals In view of the Republican Party's disdain for prison furloughs and early release for criminals one would expect that upholders of the law such as Sen Hatch would be outraged at the early release of Mr Shaffer One would believe it except that as has been demonstrated many times in the past there is a different criminals standard for white-colla- r (maybe for white criminals too) especially those who are wealthy and Sen Hatch should be ashamed of his insensitivity and disdain for equal justice and the upholding of a sentence on a duly convicted criminal who damaged hundreds of lives His attitude is one reason why I am very proud that I am a former Utahn AL JENSEN Fremont Calif d Forum Rules Public Forum letters must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writer’s full name signature and address Names must be printed on political letters but may be withheld for good reason on others Writers are limited to one letter every 10 days Preference will be given to short typewritten (double spaced) letters permitting use of the writer’s true name All letters are subject to condensation Mail to the Public Forum The Salt Lake Tribune PO Box 867 Salt Lake City Utah 84110 Nothing to Fear The residents of Hooper are obviously good people I’m glad they are concerned about their area I merely wish to assure them that they have nothing to fear from the Buddhist monks who will soon be their neighbors live by a Buddhists world-wid- e very strict ethical and moral code As a Buddhist myself I know that living in Utah can sometimes be difficult: we are often called Buddhas (we aren’t yet but we aspire to be someday) Some people think we worship Buddha but we do not worship anything in that sense — we strive for enlightenment and truth Sometimes people rub the tummies of Buddha statues for good luck This can be very embarrassing to a Buddhist who sees this Bud- dhists often celebrate Christmas with their friends because we re- spect the quality of Christ’s teachings — such as humility and altruism We are very quiet about our religion because we’re taught not to convert people but we warmly welcome new members Peace and harmony are what we strive for in our jobs as well as in our private lives I believe the people of Hooper will find their neighbors will be wonderful assets to their community RANDY LIVINGSTON Not Surprised News accounts of racial rioting in Miami bring to the forefront that problems still exist with reference to equality in this country What were the ’60s for? Those of us who lived hoped and believed that the efforts of that time would reject future incidents such as this must have been living in a dream world That dream was the same one Martin Luther King Jr aspired to that all peoples of this world would live in peace and equality together In retrospect it should not surprise us that the rioting has begun again The Reagan administration has done nothing to encourage that civil rights laws be upheld and in fact has promoted the downplay of civil rights legislation This attitude has not gone unnoticed by the young people of today Groups such as Aryan Nations and the “skinheads” are gathering more audience daily More and more racial incidents are occurring on college and university campuses It is our duty to encourage civil rights not only through a celebration of Dr King’s birthday but through teaching black history in our schools There is good opportunity for us now to educate our young people in the ideals of civil rights and equality BONNIE MOON WILLIAMS Farmington Xcw Year's Resolution Special 20 Off! Arthur Murray's trained dance teachers make it easy to leam to dance Come on and get together with new friends It's easy the Arthur Murray Way Phone now and start having fun today Phone Now 20 off new enrollments now! lOAM'IOEM Sut Noon loft Mun-Fr- i 20 off or ask about our Introductory Special PM criminals” Only But when I asked Young specifically about Lozano’s shooting of Lloyd he said 1 don’t know what he was thinking about” While some public officials worried what the rioting would do to the city’s image what impact it would have on the Super Bowl you didn’t hear that in the black community Out along 20th Street Northwest y in the midst of the ramshackle $30°° two-stor- apartment buildings the streets strewn with broken glass and the burned-ou- t buildings the attitude was that the timing for the trouble was just about right In the light of all this publicity they reasoned the city might finally address painful problems long-standin- g 'Burning’ Film Replays South of ’60s Chicago Tribune Service It embarrasses me to admit this but I think the movie “Mississippi Burning” is a terrific movie The reason I’m embarrassed is g that many pundits say it’s a terrible film So do most activists They don’t like it because it doesn’t present the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth And they’re right it doesn’t In case you haven’t been following this controversy the movie is loosely based on the murder of three young workers in Mississippi in ings beatings and murders deep-thinkin- civil-righ- 1 civil-righ- ts ts 1964 The young men — two white one black — were murdered by Klans-mewho didn’t think they should be encouraging Mississippi blacks to register to vote That part of the movie the murders is reasonably accurate So is the portrayal of the killers and their sympathizers as a bunch of ignorant sadistic racist terrors ists And so are the the beatings and other ’dolent acts that were an almost daily event in the South during those times So what’s the gripe? Basically it’s because the movie’s heroes are two dedicated FBI agents who eventually solve the crime using a combination of “Dirty Harry” muscle and “The Sting” trickery The critics say the movie is dishonest even immoral because everybody knows that J Edgar Hoover the head of the FBI was a racist hims self and loathed the movement And they say it’s wrong to make heroes out of fictional FBI agents There are other complaints But they boil down to the fact that the movie is not a factual documentary Instead it is an action thriller that exploits a genuine tragedy and monumental period in American history n d church-bombing- - 1 I 1 a 1 i 5 civil-right- f I can’t argue No the movie isn’t a documentary Yes it weaves fiction with fact And J Edgar was a louse But so what? I still think it’s a fine movie and here are my reasons Most important it shows the South as it was in 1964 And for those who weren’t around 25 years ago or were too young or distracted to notice the movie can be educational Such things can and did happen in a supGodg posedly civilized fearing society The movie’s violence terror bigotry and ignorance are realistic The beady-eyeboobs had seized control of a big part of this country They were America’s version of the beer-hal- l thugs who followed Hitler in Germany Decent Southerners and there were many feared speaking out Those who did could be clobbered and many were As Nick Von Hoffman wrote in “Mississippi Notebook” there was a special molecule in the air: fear Everyone watched and everyone was watched The movie brings this out It might not be factual but it’s realistic How do I know? I was in the South drive during the great voting-right- s Not in Mississippi but in Alabama And the same breed of clods were workers there killing civil-rightoo Actually I had spent about nine months in Mississippi in the 1950s So nothing that happened in 1964 surprised me I would have been amazed if there hadn’t been bomb d ts What puzzles me most about the complainers is their demand that a movie be an accurate recitation of the facts and only the facts If they want facts here's one It is a fact that making movies is a business And documentaries are not good business But if they insist on facts only on the screen they should get together with some investors come up with about $20 million make such a documentary and put it in the theaters Then they should get their lawyers and file for bankruptcy when the movie bombs at the box office You don’t go in a movie theater expecting to see and hear facts The best you can hope for is a sense of reality And that’s what “Mississippi Burning” provided So for those who are going to see the movie no that’s not how the murders were solved But give the FBI some credit Or the Justice Department or President Lyndon Johnson Despite J Edgar Hoover’s reluctance the FBI did crack the case It did so by offering a $30000 reward for information which an informer provided Less dramatic but the result was the same Actually it's a bit ironic that so s activists are panmany ning the movie for bending facts As ! recall Jesse Jackson didn’t mind mixing fiction with reality when he showed up on TV in that shirt the day after Dr Martin Luther King Jr vas murdered So it didn't happen exactly as Jesse described it He wasn’t the last person to talk to Dr King Dr King didn't anoint him But what the heck it could have happened that way And if there’s ever a movie about Jesse I’m sure it civil-right- blood-staine- d will A A |
