The Press-Dispatch

July 8, 2020

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B-4 Wednesday, July 8, 2020 The Press-Dispatch OPINION Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Mondays. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Race for the Cure By Star Parker Lucid Moments By Bart Stinson Democratic politicking kills police reform On Sunday April 17, 1960 Dr. Martin Luther King was on NBC's "Meet The Press." Ned Brooks, the host, began the program by telling the viewing audience that, "the pro- gram was going to focus upon the new strategy to end racial segrega- tion that has been spreading through the South. It takes the form of sit-in demonstrations by Negro students against segregation in public eat- ing-places." At the end of the program Dr. King was asked: "How many white people are members of your church in At- lanta? " "I don't have any white members," King replied. "Well sir, you said integration is the law of the land, and it's morally right, whereas segregation is moral- ly wrong, and the president should do something about it..." "King replied: I think it is one of the tragedies of our nation, one of the shameful trag- edies, that eleven o'clock on Sunday morning is one of the most segregat- ed hours, if not the most segregated hours, in Christian America..." "But this is some- thing that the Church will have to do itself. I don't think church integra- tion will come through legal process- es. I might say that my church is not a segregating church. It's segregat- ed but not segregating. It would wel- come white members." God has called the church to lead; to be the force of change for good in the world. Yet, what has changed in the last 60 years? I think it would be a fair statement to say race rela- tions in America are at an all- time low. The history of the Church in America standing against slavery, segregation, and racism has been somewhat mixed. This is not a Black ver- sus White issue. It is a church issue. The church has a calling to wrestle with the issues of urbanization and shifting morality, and extend grace along with guidance, which should point to Christ! I have concluded that the reason the church hasn't stepped up is due With all the hot rhetoric about race and police, we would hope that we would be having a sober, seri- ous national discussion on the is- sue that would shine light, under- standing and answers. But, unfortunately, light and un- derstanding are not what drives Democrats. And thanks to Democrats, we won't see any federal legislation this year dealing with policing. The Democratic-controlled House passed a bill — the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act — that has no prayer of passing in the Re- publican-controlled Senate. The Republican bill sponsored by South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott — the Justice Act — was killed by Senate Democrats. Sens. Corey Booker and Kamala Harris write disingenuously in Roll- ing Stone magazine that the bill was "voted down." This is false. The bill was never heard or debated. It was not "voted down" but procedurally blocked by Democrats so it never saw the light of day. There was enough common ground between the Republican and Democratic efforts to allow for debate and amendments that could have led to legislation being sent to the president. But politics is more important to Democrats than solving prob- lems, and in this topsy-turvy elec- tion year, they did not want any Re- publican to get credit for weighing in on policing, certainly not a Black Republican like Tim Scott. It gets worse. Booker and Harris write that their bill will "begin to address and root out deadly systematic bias — and, yes, racism — in policing." Is there "deadly systematic bias" resulting, in their words, in "the killing of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement ... again, and again, and again"? Harvard economist Roland G. Fryer Jr., who happens to be A fri- can American, has studied the is- sue. He summarized his work and conclusions recently in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. "We didn't find racial differenc- es in officer-involved shootings," writes Fryer. "No matter how we analyzed the data," he continues, "we found no racial differences in shootings over- all, in any city in particular, or in any subset of the data." He sums up saying: "When a shooting might be justified by de- partment standards, are police more likely actually to shoot if the civilian is black? ... The answer ap- pears to be no." What about nonlethal force? Here Fryer does find racial disparities. According to his work, "blacks were still significantly more likely to en- dure police force." Fryer cites other academic stud- ies that draw the same conclusions. If there is anything systemic go- ing on, it is Democrats systemically misrepresenting the nature of our problem regarding race and police behavior. Not only do Democrats misrep- resent the problem; they misrepre- sent the solution. Booker, Harris and other Demo- cratic leaders have criticized Sen. Scott's bill for not going far enough. They pretend to go beyond the "middle ground" to aggressively make "real change," while, in actu- ality, they expand federal controls that could actually hamper effective policing. At the same time, they ig- nore where a major part of the prob- lem lies. That is in local governments' ne- gotiations with police unions. According to the Wall Street Jour- nal, "Some 40 states require or per- mit collective bargaining for police." They cite a Duke Law Journal study that concluded, "lack of corrective action in cases of systemic officer misconduct is, in part, a consequence of public-employee labor law." "Derek Chauvin, the officer charged with killing George Floyd, had at least 17 misconduct com- plaints against him in 18 years," the Journal writes. The officer who stood by and watched had Minority View By Walter E. Williams Points to Ponder By Rev. Ford Bond From the Editor By Andy Heuring Charter schools and their enemies Receiving grace Demand council give time for residents to consider and respond on solar farm Dr. Thomas Sowell has been both a friend and a colleague of mine for over a half-century. On June 30, he will have completed his 90th year of life, and I want to highlight some important features of that life. Sow- ell was born in Gastonia, North Car- olina, in 1930. As part of the great black migration northward during the 1930s and '40s, he and his fami- ly moved to Harlem, New York. Sow- ell attended the prestigious Stuyve- sant High School but dropped out. In 1951, he was drafted into the mil- itary and assigned to the U.S. Ma- rine Corps where he became a pho- tographer. Photography remains his hobby today. A fter his military tour of duty, Sowell took night classes at How- ard University where he was en- couraged to apply to Harvard Uni- versity. He earned a bachelor's de- gree in economics and graduat- ed magna cum laude in 1958. The next year, he earned a master's de- gree from Columbia University. Ten years later, Sowell earned a Ph.D. in economics, from the prestigious eco- nomics department at the Universi- ty of Chicago. As Sowell explains in his autobiography, "A Personal Odys- sey," for most of his time in college, he considered him- self a Marxist. A f- ter studying the ef- fects of a variety of government regu- lations such as the minimum wage law, Sowell conclud- ed that free markets are the best al- ternative, particularly for disadvan- taged people. Sowell taught economics at sever- al universities including Howard Uni- versity, Rutgers, Cornell, Brandeis University, Amherst College and UC- L A. Since 1980, he has been a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he holds the Rose and Milton Friedman fel- lowship. By the way, Nobel laureates Milton Friedman and George Stigler were two of Sowell's tenacious men- tors as a student at the University of Chicago. Most of those familiar with Sow- ell's writings do not have any idea about his early research interests in the history of eco- nomic thought. His disserta- tion, titled "Say's Law and the General Glut Controversy," analyzed the work of French economist Jean-Baptiste Say. His early research in the his- tory of economic thought that appeared in refereed academ- ic journals included writings on Sir Thomas Malthus, Thorstein Veblen, Karl Marx, Samuel Bailey and Jean Charles Leonard de Sismon- di. These and later writings make up his 19 scholarly publications. Most academics do not publish that many scholarly articles in a lifetime. And, in addition, Sowell has written 56 books, among them "Say's Law: An Historical Analysis," "Knowledge and Decisions," "A Con- flict of Visions," "Late-Talking Chil- dren," "Basic Economics," "Discrim- ination and Disparities" and most re- Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Tax abatement for a 1,200 acre pro- posed solar farm is one item on the agenda for the County Council's 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 14 meeting. The council has met twice in executive session with representatives of the firm proposing the solar farm. Three county councilmen and a commissioner met Monday night with invited property owners. All of these meetings have been closed to the general public. Last month, Pike County Economic Development Ex- ecutive Director Ashley Willis and others representing Capital Dynam- ics attended the county council meet- ing and gave a brief summary of the project, while asking them to create at Economic Revitalization Area. The creation of the Economic Revitaliza- tion Area is the first step in the pro- cess of receiving tax abatement. The agenda is set up so the coun- cil can vote next Tuesday morning on abatement without allowing the gen- eral public to see any information about the project except in the public hearing, immediately before the vote. This is just wrong. A project of this magnitude needs to be presented to the public in a time- ly manner. Councilmen are elect- ed to represent the best interests of Pike County residents. How can they do this if they aren't allowed to get feedback from an informed pub- lic? It is obvious Capital Dynamics is fast-tracking this to avoid public com- ment and public resistance. This may be a great project for Pike County. From all appearances this is something Pike County needs. It is a $110 million project that the council was told will "replace one-third of the loss in assessed value from IPL's re- distribution of assessed value." Cap- ital Dynamic's handout states it will create four to seven jobs paying an average of $70,000 a year. It has a lifespan of 35 years. A lot of numbers are being thrown around, but one that is being repeat- ed is they want 90 percent abatement for the first 10 years. There is spec- ulation they will pay a large sum in lieu of that to Pike County's Econom- ic Development. But since it has been done behind closed doors, that is just talk. Pike County residents need to be informed about the project, then be given time to investigate and formu- late possible problems and benefits of the project and weigh those out. They need to have time to form opin- ions and talk to their elected repre- sentatives (county councilmen). Councilmen deserve time to make an informed opinion, not just be told all the great things this project has to offer, then be forced to vote on it immediately after the presentation. High pressure sales jobs want you to act before you have time to thoughtfully consider the purchase. The residents/taxpayers of Pike County deserve time to carefully consider this matter. It is a 35 -year commitment that will amount to mil- lions of dollars. Councilmen have probably already been informed of everything Capi- tal Dynamics wants them to know about the project. They have met twice in executive session including one multi-hour meeting. Councilmen should demand they have time to learn what residents of Pike County want them to know about the project. Proverbs 15:22 NK JAV states, "Without counsel, plans go awry, But in the multitude of counselors they are established." This proverb, writ- ten by King Solomon, widely consid- ered the wisest person ever, is an ex- ample of why he carries that title. It is the predecessor of representative government. Demand your elected county coun- cil hold off voting until they have time to talk with residents to get not only their opinion, but knowledge about possible pratfalls with the proj- ect. There are lots of questions unan- swered, and more questions not yet conceived. Because only a handful of people know any of the details. Again, it may be a great project for Pike County. But there should not be a vote on this matter until the people who will have to live with it for the next 35 years have a chance to learn what they are going to be living with. Make America free again I broke out my favorite patriotic tee shirt for the Fourth of July again this year. There's a flag. There are silhou- ettes of geared-up soldiers, and the text in block letters: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave." The military reference is intention- al, but to be free requires bravery of us civilians, too. As part of the Decla- ration of Independence, after all, the Founding Fathers agreed to "mutu- ally pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." That's brave. Not every Patriot family came out of the Revolutionary War smelling like a rose. We rightly honor those who lost their lives in the epic mili- tary showdown, but there were also a great many civilians who lost their fortunes, whose homes and farms were ruined or who loaned mon- ey to the Revolutionary forces that the financially strapped Continental Congress and state legislatures nev- er repaid. Those heirs never recovered their family fortunes. There were costs, enormous costs. But their sacred honor remained intact. That, too, was enormous. How is freedom doing in 2020? We're not in a shooting war with a colonial overlord, but the fundamen- tal calculation hasn't changed. Free citizens in a republic, fully as sover- eign as a European monarch, assume certain risks and accept adult respon- sibilities that a mere supplicant will renounce and surrender to govern- ing authorities. Despite all the flowery prose de- voted to theoretical freedom, many among us consider practical free- dom overrated. Its responsibilities are most unwelcome. But founding father Samuel Ad- ams observed that we're all free whether we like it or not. "The right to freedom being the gift of God," Ad- ams wrote, "it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and volun- tarily become a slave." French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre lamented that even involun- tary freedom carries accountabili- ty. "Man is condemned to be free," he wrote, "because once thrown in- to the world, he is responsible for ev- erything he does." And yet despite God-ordained freedom, men are perfectly capa- ble of taking on servile character and dragging their free neighbors down with them. The corollary to my tee shirt's slogan, in a post-free- dom America, doesn't exactly roll off the tongue: "Home of the Conquered, Because of the Cowardly." Free men and women tend to lose patience with compliant American neighbors who cheerfully accom- modate their own communal subju- gation. "If ye love wealth better than liber- ty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom," Adams told his neighbors, "go from us in peace. We ask not your coun- sels nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains rest lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." But can we afford to write off our neighbors like Adams did? I don't think we have that luxury. We can't just forfeit public opinion to our ad- versaries. We've got some persuad- ing to do. Whoever values freedom had better say so now. I am well beyond middle age and have entered the land of liver spots, tufted ears and mortality. I don't kid myself that I'm bulletproof anymore. I'm a lot closer to the end than to the middle. We Baby Boomers have had it pretty good. The Greatest Genera- tion coddled us, and we treated them with an interesting combination of contempt and awe. I saw a Hard Rock advertisement several years ago to "Rediscover the Music that [P'd] Your Dad Off." It was funny but also cavalier, and dis- turbing that it should resonate so strongly. What kind of people are nostalgic, all warm and fuzzy, about torment- ing good and decent parents? Well, us. Boomers are that kind of people. However, the worst victims of Boomer narcissism are not our el- ders, but young Americans. We have absconded with the Social Security trust fund, left a mountain of IOU paper in place of the cash, and de- manded that Millennials and young- er workers make good on our obli- gations. It reminds me of grifters

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