[Marxism] 6-Year-Olds Under Arrest By BOB HERBERT

[Bonnie Weinstein <giobon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Comrades,

This is the most horrible story I have read recently. I have been sobbing
since I read it and I doubt I will ever get the image out of my head. The
decay of capitalism will sink lower than humanity has ever sunk. The battle
ahead of humanity is for life itself for this is surely hell.

I have been reading about the "Indian Wars" that this nation was founded on
and, in particular, about the San Creek Massacre in Colorado on November 29,
1864. When asked if the children should be spared, the commanding U.S.
Officer said, "Nits make lice!" They killed them all.

Why should we expect anything different from a system based upon such a
foundation.

In solidarity for a World Socialist Revolution of the working class.

Bonnie Weinstein

P.S. I highly recommend the following documentary:


Sand Creek Massacre
"THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE" AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY
SHORT FEATURED AT NATIVE AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL:
http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/local/16035305.htm
(scroll down when you get there])
"THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE" AWARD-WINNING
WRITER/FILMMAKER DONALD L. VASICEK REPORT:
http://www.digitalcinemareport.com/sandcreekmassacre.html
"THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE" AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY
SHORT FINALIST IN DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL COMPETITION (VIEW HERE):
http://www.docupyx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=4
1
VIEW "THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE" AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY
SHORT FILM MOVIE OF THE WEEK FOR FREE HERE:
http://twymancreative.com/twymanc.html


6-Year-Olds Under Arrest
By BOB HERBERT
Op-Ed Columnist
Avon Park, Fla.
April 9, 2007
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/opinion/09herbert.html?hp

When 6-year-old Desre¹e Watson threw a tantrum in her
kindergarten class a couple of weeks ago she could not
have known that the full force of the law would be
brought down on her and that she would be carted off
by the police as a felon.

But that¹s what happened in this small, backward city
in central Florida. According to the authorities,
there were no other options.

³The student became violent,² said Frank Mercurio,
the no-nonsense chief of the Avon Park police.
³She was yelling, screaming ? just being
uncontrollable. Defiant.²

³But she was 6,² I said.

The chief¹s reply came faster than a speeding bullet:
³Do you think this is the first 6-year-old we¹ve
arrested?²

The child¹s tantrum occurred on the morning of March 28
at the Avon Elementary School. According to the police
report, ³Watson was upset and crying and wailing and
would not leave the classroom to let them study, causing
a disruption of the normal class activities.²

After a few minutes, Desre¹e was, in fact, taken to
another room. She was ³isolated,² the chief said.
But she would not calm down. She flailed away at the
teachers who tried to control her. She pulled one
woman¹s hair. She was kicking.

I asked the chief if anyone had been hurt. ³Yes,²
he said. At least one woman reported ³some redness.²

After 20 minutes of this ³uncontrollable² behavior,
the police were called in. At the sight of the two
officers, Chief Mercurio said, Desre¹e ³tried to
take flight.²

She went under a table. One of the police officers
went after her. Each time the officer tried to grab
her to drag her out, Desre¹e would pull her legs
away, the chief said.

Ultimately the child was no match for Avon Park¹s
finest. The cops pulled her from under the table
and handcuffed her. The officers were not fooling
around. In the eyes of the cops the 6-year-old was
a criminal, and in Avon Park she would be treated
like any other felon.

There was a problem, though. The handcuffs were
not manufactured with kindergarten kids in mind.
The chief explained: ³You can¹t handcuff them on
their wrists because their wrists are too small,
so you have to handcuff them up by their biceps.²

As I sat listening to Chief Mercurio in a spotless,
air-conditioned conference room at the Avon Park
police headquarters, I had the feeling that I had
somehow stumbled into the middle of a skit on
³Saturday Night Live.² The chief seemed like the
most reasonable of men, but what was coming out
of his mouth was madness.

He handed me a copy of the police report: black
female. Six years old. Thin build. Dark complexion.

Desre¹e was put in the back of a patrol car and
driven to the police station. ³Then,² said Chief
Mercurio, ³she was transported to central booking,
which is the county jail.²

The child was fingerprinted and a mug shot was taken.
³Those are the normal procedures for anyone who
is arrested,² the chief said.

Desre¹e was charged with battery on a school official,
which is a felony, and two misdemeanors: disruption
of a school function and resisting a law enforcement
officer. After a brief stay at the county jail,
she was released to the custody of her mother.

The arrest of this child, who should have been placed
in the care of competent, comforting professionals
rather than being hauled off to jail, is part of
an outlandish trend of criminalizing very young
children that has spread to many school districts
and law enforcement agencies across the country.

A highly disproportionate number of those youngsters,
like Desre¹e, are black. In Baltimore last month,
the police arrested, handcuffed and hauled away
a 7-year-old black boy for allegedly riding a dirt
bike on the sidewalk. The youngster was released
and the mayor, Sheila Dixon, apologized for the
incident, saying the arrest was inappropriate.

Last spring a number of civil rights organizations
collaborated on a study of disciplinary practices
in Florida schools and concluded that many of them,
³like many districts in other states, have turned
away from traditional education-based disciplinary
methods ? such as counseling, after-school detention,
or extra homework assignments ? and are looking
to the legal system to handle even the most minor
transgressions.²

Once you adopt the mindset that ordinary childhood
misbehavior is criminal behavior, it¹s easy to start
seeing young children as somehow monstrous.

³Believe me when I tell you,² said Chief Mercurio,
³a 6-year-old can inflict injury to you just
as much as any other person.² 


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