Is Racism’s Ugly Grip Really Slipping?

In light of a recent occurrence in America’s Finest City, every San Diegan should see an incredible movie titled “Sugar Cane Alley.”

The story unfolds in Martinique, a West Indian island of predominantly French-speaking black people. The sugar cane field workers portrayed in the film toil, for very little pay, from when they “can see” (sunup) to when they “can’t see” (sundown) for the greater portion of their lives.

The powerful drama points out that even in dire conditions, there is always an individual or two who finds a way out of racism’s powerful grip. Jose, a young boy, is the hero in “Sugar Cane Alley” who wins out in the end.

But, of course, for every Jose, there are scores of others who don’t go on to greater things.

The images in “Sugar Cane Alley” are etched in my mind and soul indelibly.

One scene featuring one of the people who didn’t live happily ever after, another boy about Jose’s age, stands out in my memory more than all the others.

In this scene, the boy is leashed to two horses and marched to jail so that his people can not only view him, but also see, hear and feel the awesome power that those in authority hold over them.

As the boy is dragged and jerked along a muddy “Sugar Cane Alley” trail, the villagers sing: “Justice--don’t even mention it.”

Such a phrase reveals precisely the degree of sadness and depression that colored the lives of not only Martinique’s blacks in the 1930s--the period covered in “Sugar Cane Alley”--but also the lives of most blacks in the New World.

The trials and tribulations of those struggling black people, however, could be dismissed as the way it was back then.

But what about today? Let’s move through time from the ‘30s in Martinique to the late ‘80s in America.

The setting this time is Mountain View Park, a recreational park in Southeast San Diego--an area of predominantly English-speaking black people.

Nearby residents who are lucky enough to have a job toil for very little pay--in every kind of work imaginable--for the greater portion of their lives.

And, like Jose did in Martinique, there are black San Diegans who have managed to escape the strong grip of ghetto life, who have managed to pursue their hopes and dreams.

An athlete like Marcus Allen is one example. A judge like Napoleon Jones, an educator like Bertha Pendleton, a performer like Margaret Avery and dentists like the Crawford brothers are others.

But, of course, as in “Sugar Cane Alley,” for every one of these role models there are multitudes of others who find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place, with no air.

And out of this pool there’s always somebody to be singled out as an example of just how elusive justice can be for ebony-tinted Americans.

Enter Billie Joe Hicks on Nov. 4, 1986. On that day, Billie Joe walked his dog in Mountain View Park without a leash. His dog chased children from a nearby elementary school. A little girl was bitten.

Now, walking a dog that isn’t restrained--especially one that is a threat to innocent bystanders--is against the law. So, Hicks had some explaining to do. During his explanation, he gave the police officers a false name. As a result, he was arrested, tied to a horse and forced to walk that way for about four blocks.

No one would excuse a man for letting his dog bite a child. And law and order cannot be maintained properly if a man lies about who he is, putting yet another obstacle in the way of a Police Department that is already overextended trying to corral the authentic bad guys among us.

But, in a civilized world--in a just world--such a person would not be tied to a horse and paraded along city streets in front of neighbors and friends and schoolchildren.

My goodness, did Martin and Malcolm die in vain? I find it absolutely horrifying and discouraging that my people--near the end of the 20th Century--are still held in such low esteem that anyone would even think of tying us to horses, as though we, like dogs, are governed by leash laws.

How much longer must we wait--and while we’re waiting, how many more unacceptable lame excuses like “We were just following the procedures manual” must we suffer through? How many other incidents and how many more puny promises like “a police review is under way” must we swallow before our Police Department is overhauled? And how many more mayors and council members and supervisors and city attorneys must we allow to be silent about such “human issues” before we, as a city, wake up and demand that all ethnic groups in our city be treated with respect?

The blacks in “Sugar Cane Alley” in the ‘30s might have seen justice as something that didn’t bear mentioning--but blacks in San Diego in the last years of the ‘80s, sing: “Justice--we’ll mention it and mention it and mention it until justice is, indeed, ours.”