Biting the Bullet and Coming Back to the Table in Ceres

On March 5th 2005, a second meeting was held in Ceres, CA as a follow-up to the previous meeting, held March 2nd 2005, in which myself and several other people (mostly other freedom fighters and concerned parents) walked out on after well over an hour of listening to Chief Art DeWerk deny and side-step issues of profiling. Our primary complaint was that we would not be able to speak and that several people were, selectively choosing the index cards that we had written our questions and/or comments on, before they reached the Department of Justice mediator for reading.

Though the Central California media just outside the building interviewed us as we were leaving, Blair Craddock down played the walkout/protest in the media, in particular, in the Modesto Bee. The local Ceres Newspaper is only published on Wednesdays, and as of this writing, the next issue of the paper has not come out yet, even still.

Of the people that I was with that evening (a group of kids that, for years now, have fed and assisted homeless in our local community and have enacted many grassroots programs to protect the liberties of our people as well as a couple of members of the ACLU) we all had seemingly come to a consensus that this meeting was intended to seduce the general public to accept the siege the people of color of our community were being subjected to by local law enforcement, and further that our statements would be stifled and that we were never going to be allowed to have our views presented in this forum. A forum controlled by the Department of Justice and it’s support of the Ceres Police Department to convince the general public to submit to their totalitarian rules.

Also present for most of the time at our table, was one of the Modesto Bee's more responsible and truthful reporters Julissa McKinnon. I felt that her article was far more accurate than one by Blair Craddock, a person I believe to constantly prostitute her journalistic talents in a tabloid like manner.

Those of us that had walked out in protest, did so not so much because we did not agree with the format as the press would have you believe, but more so because we did not agree with the selectiveness of the format. The Chief of Police, Art DeWerk’s position on profiling was that not only did it not exist in any shape or form, but that for the protection of everyone, there would be no way to escape the “fact” that gangs are primarily made up of people of color (Latino), and therefore probable cause on the basis of race was justifiable, and in this instance not considered profiling, as ambiguous as this position might be.

There seemed to be a consensus among us that participation in this forum was useless. And further, some of us, including myself, were afraid that our participation in this forum would give the public (through the use of the media) the impression that we supported our perceived purpose of the format and the purpose of the meeting. A purpose that we felt was a propaganda scheme designed to perpetuate an agenda of racial hatred by the Ceres Police Department.

After giving much thought to the meeting and the events that had transpired as well as many of the things that were said, I decided that it would be necessary, to try again and push the ideals of freedom for people of color through the obscurity of the Ceres Police Department’s propaganda forum. I decided that it would be in the best interests of my community and my people of color that I attend the second meeting and do whatever I could to make myself heard and advocate on behalf of those oppressed by local law enforcement.

Though I put out the call, when I arrived at the meeting, I was the only one (that I could determine) from the group, which had walked out that was back to give it another try. (The kids from DAAA said they were cooking for the homeless and would not be able to make it).

Walking into the building, I did not know if I would even be allowed to enter, since several of the Ceres Police Department gave some strong body language at the last meeting that they did not approve of our views and positions. Further, I did not know what the events would bring, or what would be necessary for me to make myself heard and if this may result in my eventual arrest.

The meeting was held at the Ceres High School Cafeteria and was sparsely populated with people. I was immediately greeted at the door and it was insisted that I put down my name, numbers, and email on a form for signing in. While I did this, I asked if today I would be able to speak. Just like before, I was told that I would.

I was told to sit with any group that I wanted and chose to sit at the closest point at a long table, typical of what one would find in a school cafeteria. The people were white and the conversation at the table seemed to have no bearing on what the events were going to be of that day, nor interest. Looking at the next table, I saw a group that were all Latino, and decided that it would be better for my purposes of appearing there that day, if I try to align myself with this group and sit with them. Therefore, I stood up without word and went over to the other group.

Within moments, we were told by Carol Russo, a conciliation specialist from the Department of Justice that we were about to begin and she asked our group who our “facilitator” was. One of the people of our group told her who this was and said that he had left, but that we were expecting him to return shortly. Within a few more moments, Ms. Russo made the determination that since our facilitator worked two jobs, that he may very well not be returning and announced to us, that she would be our facilitator. I felt at this point that things were on an upward spiral. I was in a group of all Latinos (except for myself of course) and our facilitator was the mediator from the Department of Justice. We were all sitting together in close proximity, and I felt at this point, that there was a good chance of getting something accomplished.

The session of this workshop was divided into two parts. The first was one in which we consensually determined what we felt the top three problems of the community was and then present these to the rest of the groups as they presented theirs to us in the order in which our groups were numbered.

Writing down several problems on large pieces of paper, the very first one that we started with was the community’s fear of police. We then went on to site that Police Profiling was a problem in our community coupled with the media being used a tool by law enforcement and local government to breed fear amongst the community that Latino’s were inclined to be criminal in nature and therefore feared by their white neighbors and other whites in the community.

We determined that another huge problem that there was no consistent role models in our community for our children to look up to and admire. In addition to this we spoke briefly of the misperception by the oppressive white culture of our area that Latino families are primarily negligent in providing role models at home, and that rather, for the most part, Latino families are strong and pose strong role models within the family.

Also mentioned was the way in which US Marine Andres Raya had been painted to the greater white community as a monster, not deserving of any understanding nor even a complete recognition of who he was as a person. As it turned out, our group was primarily made up of family and childhood friends of US Marine Raya and it was at the point of tears that our facilitator requested Julissa McKinnon to leave the group for a “private moment”.

We went on to site problems in the community that the local law enforcement needed to have a more prevalent presence in the community on a much more personable level. I said that every time I see a cop leaving bruises on a teenagers arm during a profiling incident, I can’t help but think how much more effective it would be for the life of the kid (and possibly the white cop as well), if the cop would take him to a ball game, or take him fishing.

Another issue was the use of large and intimidating automatic weapons by the Ceres Police Department in virtually all stops that they make on people of color in our community. We felt that this was a mistake on their part and a severe divisive action, particularly when these weapons are brandished against kids as young as 9 or 10 years old, in the wrong place at the wrong time and only armed with a BB gun.

Soon it was time to present to the rest of the groups that were present, the three problems that we identified as the priorities and why we felt that these were the primary problems. Which all of the groups did in turn.

This was the point that I felt that for the forum in which we were involved, we were able to say what we felt the problems were. But to whom? And with what power behind these words? This was not a stage for the Cowboy of Civil Rights; rather this was a workshop for a group of people to tell other groups of people what our perceived problems were.

The others presented their ideas on what they thought their top three problems were. Ingeniously, most of them were able to include many problems under the banner of each three, therefore able to express everything that they wanted.

Most of these were along the same lines, in that we needed more involvement from the community leaders and that it would be good for the community to try and cross-racial and cultural lines, learning about each other. Education was paramount as well as communication between the community and the local government.

We then went back to work on solutions that we felt would assist in the resolution of the problems that we had previously cited.

Our group made the determination that among other things, it would be best if the Ceres Police Department made an effort to continually learn Spanish, since the majority of Ceres population is now Latino. Further, we felt that sensitivity during stops to possible perceptions of profiling, not so much for the person being stopped but by the surrounding community that witnesses these stops would be best facilitated by the Police having a more physical presence in the community that was neutral in nature.

We determined that more social programs were needed and that rather than the current witch hunt status of affairs currently put in place by local law enforcement and the media that Mexican culture is a pre-curser to criminality, that we hold festivities and events as well as other programs to educate the white oppressive culture so that assumptions are not made so quickly regarding Latino culture being misunderstood and reclassified as dangerous to public safety without any understanding previously of the meanings of cultural representation – a representation that is after all suppose to be protected by the United States Constitution.

The other groups came up with similar solutions, such as an emphasis on education, communication, gang identification and gang suppression.

The group that I had left in favor of an all Latino group at the beginning of my arrival was the most abrasive in my opinion, slamming our group’s claims of Racial Profiling as a problem in our community. The original spokesperson for this group was a young, white female that was an “Explorer” with the Ceres Police Department. She said that she saw everyday that there was definitely a class of people in the community that were “Low Level Mexicans”. When our group called on her to further elaborate, the mediator from the Department of Justice did not allow us to receive a response from the person. Upon their presentation of solutions, they also strongly stated that English should be a Unifying language” in the facilitation of communication. At this point, all I had to do was look over to one of the members of my group to know that we were still on the same page.

So what am I left with here? I asked the mediator from the Department of Justice what the next step would be, and she said that our problems and solutions would be compiled and presented to groups out in the community. I do not know what this means.

I bit the bullet and came back to the table. I feel that I was heard, but only by a select group of people. When are we going to witness the changes in our community? Will there be any changes in the community? Am I now in more danger when patrolling and witnessing acts of profiling of being attacked by the local law enforcement? Does the local law enforcement feel that they have gotten the media to sugar coat the situation enough at this point that they are, at least for the time being, invincible to Civil Rights groups and activists/advocates such as myself?

All in all, I am glad that I forced myself to go back to the table and attend the second meeting. Though I was not able to speak freely and threaten the Police Department(s) with retaliation if they did not cease their practice of racial profiling, I believe that I participated in an action in which, though I fear is an insufficient and small step toward the release of oppression of my people of color, I believe it was a step nonetheless and I will take whatever I can get to that end.

Robert W. Stanford President
http://www.LocalBlack.Com
"A Civil Rights Organization"
PO Box 576684
Modesto, CA 95357
(209) 496-0402