To be black or brown in California

["Seth Sandronsky" <ssandron@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

	On April 13, I went to one of a series of town hall meetings on racial
profiling being held throughout California, sponsored by the Racial Justice
Coalition, and held in a church located in a Sacramento community of color.
The audience of 200 was racially diverse.
	Dozens of black and brown men and women testified clearly and forcefully
how their skin color has spurred harmful stops and arrests of them, family
and friends by law-enforcement officers.  Consider the tale told by a young
woman of color who attends CSU, Sacramento.  She reported how a police
officer in an unmarked car followed her for miles at night, and then finally
showed identification after stopping and requesting her driver's license.
He then excused his actions by saying the police were attempting to ?clear
some garbage from the streets.?
	?I may have been many things in my life,? she said in conclusion, ?but
being a piece of garbage isn?t one of them.?
	Subsequent town hall meetings on racial profiling are scheduled in Salinas
(April 18) and Fresno (April 20).  For more information, contact Olivia
Araiza 415-621-2493 ext. 380 or oaraiza@xxxxxxxxxxx
	On April 27, a protest is planned on the steps of the state Capitol to
pressure Governor Gray Davis to sign SB 1389.  It would require all of the
state?s law-enforcement agencies to collect data on the racial profiles of
people stopped and arrested.  So far, Davis has refused to sign the bill.
In this respect, he is following in the race exploitation footsteps of his
predecessor, Governor Pete Wilson of anti-affirmative action fame.


Seth Sandronsky
Sacramento
ssandron@xxxxxxxxxxx


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