City Hall Monitor: lurking with intent to govern

While I certainly won't make public comment about discussions that have taken place between Cam Gordon, Robin Garwood and myself; Robin, for whatever reason, chose to do the opposite. I could share with you many times that my colleagues started out supporting one position and then, after gathering more information and constituent points of view, and thinking the issues through more thoroughly, ended up supporting the opposing view, during the decision-making process. Since when do we not get to change our minds in public life? Has George W. Bush had that big of an effect on the electorate? Is stone faced determination and the ability to remain resolute, despite information to the contrary, a greater virtue than making a decision after muscular and thorough reexamination and interrogation of the original question? That is an egregious product of the Bush legacy that I hope does not endure. There are many laws on our books that are meted out in a disparate manner. Lurking is one of them but there are many many more. In most of these cases, including lurking, the law isn't so much the problem as the enforcement of that law. African-Americans are the recipients of disparate treament throughout our entire criminal justice system. Supposedly the supporters of repealing this law are doing it to help people who look like me (Black folks). While I think that they may be well intentioned, they are misguided. The time to help Black folks is when we appoint our police chiefs and when and how we hire and fire our police officers. I am Black and have been, for the last 45 years. We had the opportunity to do this when we appointed Tim Dolan as Chief. I stood alone in my oppositional vote to Dolan, even though many people who now support repealing the lurking law had the same information that I did. If CM Gordon is opposed to lurking primarily because he can't trust how the police will carry out the enforcement of it , where was his office when he voted to support Tim Dolan as Police Chief? Why wasn't the Chief thoroughly vetted on this subject at the time? The Chief is the one person who can help to change the culture in the Police Dept. The other person is arguably the Mayor. We can't go around cherry picking laws because of the way that they are sometimes unjustly enforced. That is merely a band-aid. We have to attack the problem at its roots. We must go after it systemically. That requires a lot of courage, politically and psychologically. I certainly welcome anyone who would like to join me on THAT quest. At a time when Blacks are the victims of violent crime, more often than any other community, I think that perhaps Black policy makers should at least be listened to. That's why we're at the table in the first place. Some White progressives are not used to Blacks being at the table and they are more used to telling us what is best for us; while at the same time not realizing that there is a diversity of opinion in the progressive world and even in the Black community. To not give credence to Black political thought on an issue that so directly affects the African-American community smacks of the worst paternalism and arrogance that created a schism between White liberals and Blacks in the 60's and 70's. No one owns a patent on progressivism or liberalism. And certainly in regards to what laws affect who in racial terms, White progressives should probably be doing a lot more listening and a lot less telling.