By Colin A Moore
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Sept. 23, 2011: As the Yankee philosopher, Yogi Berra, once said, “It’s like déjà vu, all over again.”
The main theme usually coming out of the carnival weekend is the conversation about “Bacchanal Pon De Parkway.” This year, however, the main headline coming from the tabloid media is the headline “Gunfire Pon De Parkway.”
This headline has been created and disseminated by the tabloid media, both during and after, the Labor Day weekend. The chief protagonists in this journalistic drama have been the Daily News and the New York Post who have been shouting frantically about “violence in the black community.”
As usual, they have used these sensational headlines as a weapon of mass destruction” (WMD) to attack and degrade two venerable and respected institutions in the Caribbean-American community- The Labor Day Carnival, and its sponsor, The West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA).
It is like “deja vu all over again.” I have vivid memories of how the tabloid media launched a vicious attack against young black kids in Harlem, some 21 years ago, accusing them of having raped the central park jogger.
The tabloid media used the same strategy, highlighting the same theme of “violence in the black community” to link these innocent young people to a particularly vicious crime in central park. There were the same sensational headlines about black youths “wilding in the park,” the same subliminal nexus between the issue of black violence in the ghetto and the state of mind of innocent young men in Central Park.
These young men were wrongfully convicted of crimes of violence because of prejudicial pretrial publicity by the tabloid media in New York City. It took 21 years before the New York State Supreme Court finally exonerated them of the crime. I would not like to see the same fate befall the Labor Day Carnival and WIADCA. I would not like to see their reputation or the reputation of the parade demolished by the tabloid media. I would not like to have to wait 21 years before their reputation could be fully rehabilitated, or the parade returned to Eastern Parkway.
On Tuesday morning after the Labor Day Weekend, the tabloid media came out with its melodramatic and inflammatory headlines- “Two cops shot in weekend violence.” “Gun violence mars Labor Day Parade,” “West Indian Day Parade Marred by Violence.” “Mayhem! 47 shot in holiday weekend of violence.” “The Number of shot people had risen to 43, after violence started at the annual West Indian Parade in Brooklyn.” “2 cops among 67 shot in weekend violence; teen and 56 year old bystander killed.” “The latest shooting left police officer wounded and a civilian dead just a few blocks off the route where revelers had earlier filled the streets in colorful costumes.”
It is clear that the tabloid media was not only commenting on the state of violence in the black community citywide, but they were also seeking to establish a causal nexus between black violence citywide and the Labor Day parade. This nexus is not only false and prejudicial. It is an accusation that is not supported by impartial and objective evidence.
Firstly, there were between 48-52 incidents of violence citywide, during the Labor Day Weekend. These incidence of violence did not all occur in central Brooklyn. They occurred in the South Bronx, Upper Manhattan, South Jamaica and South East Queens. By lumping them all together, the media created the false impression that all of these acts of violence occurred on Eastern Parkway along the parade route.
Secondly, there was one fatal shooting that occurred in central Brooklyn. This was the shooting of 56-year-old of Denise Gay. This shooting did not occur on the parade route on Eastern Parkway. It took place on Park Place, some five blocks away from Eastern Parkway.
Thirdly, it occurred at 9 p.m. on Monday night, some three hours after the parade had concluded, when most of the revelers and police officers had already left the scene.
Fourthly, the shooter, Leroy Webster, was a career criminal, who had absolutely no connection to the West Indian Labor Day parade. He was not a masquerader, he was not a reveler, he was not even a spectator. His only connection to the parade is the fact that he lived in an apartment building, some five block away from the parade. The shooting involved a domestic dispute between Mr. Webster and another gentleman, Mr. Eusi Johnson. Ms Denise Gay was an innocent bystander who was shot as she sat on her stoop with her daughter.
It is clear that the secret agenda of the tabloid media in New York City is to shut down the Labor Day parade and eliminate it as a significant cultural event in Brooklyn. A journalist from the Huffington Post, a white “expert on the black community,” stated inaccurately that “gun violence shocked the festivities to a stop in spots.” This journalist made the comment that “after the bloodshed, some in New York City questioned whether the West Indian Day parade should continue.”
The Daily News published an interview in which Barbara Gay, the sister of the decedent Denise Gay, allegedly called on Mayor Bloomberg to “put the kibosh” on the West Indian America Carnival Day parade. She claimed that, “The parade is out of control.”
“It is too many people, and too many guns. The Mayor should have shut the parade down. My sister might still be alive,” she said.
The proposition that the parade, by attracting thousands of people to low income neighborhoods, created a climate of violence, it an argument that is often touted by the journalists in the tabloid media. However, it is a proposition that is not supported by the empirical data. Sociological research conducted in carnival cities such as New Orleans, Port of Spain and Rio de Janeiro, conclusively established that carnival events led to a reduction, not to an increase in crimes of violence in low-income neighborhoods, during the carnival weekend.
This is because the carnival events create a climate of euphoria, revelry and jubilation that reduces feelings of anger and hostility among individuals in the community. It also creates an emotional outlet for young people by allowing them to participate in carnival activities such as J’ouvert, Dimanche Gras, steel band panorama and Mardi Gras. In fact, carnival related activities have provided many talented young people with lucrative contracts in the performing arts, as calypsonians, soca artistes reggae singers, steel band players and masquerade designers.
This is not to detract from the fact that violent crime is a serious problem in the black community. However, there is no evidence to suggest that carnival parade or carnival related activities contribute to a climate of violence. Crimes of violence are caused by a series of socio-economic factors that have nothing to do with carnival, such as inferior educational facilities, inadequately trained teachers, dilapidated schools, overcrowded class rooms, a high dropout rate in high schools, a high youth unemployment rate, a high incarceration rate, an absence of rehabilitation programs, easy access to drugs and guns and discriminatory law enforcement procedures.
It can be argued that WIADCA should become more involved in community empowerment programs in the black community. Nevertheless, it is patently absurd to accuse the carnival of contributing to a climate of violence in the community.
The attempt to link the parade to violence is ironic, in light of the fact that the parade organizers have made strenuous attempts to establish the parade as one of the most orderly, disciplined and violence-free parades in New York City. WIADCA has established a close relationship with the mayor, the police commissioner, the borough commanders, and the precinct captains, to ensure a massive police presence on Eastern Parkway on Labor Day.
Thousands of police officers could be seen with their police barricades, multiple check points and frozen zones. Since Labor Day 2000, the parade organizers have implemented a strict ban on the sale of liquor on the parkway. All alcoholic beverages are banned including rum, wine and beer. So strictly has the alcohol ban been implemented, that it has discouraged thousand of revelers from coming to the parkway on Labor Day. So massive has the police presence been that many lovers of carnival have complained about the intrusive police presence on the Parkway.
There is clearly a double standard in the media reaction to the incidents of violence during the Labor Day parade. When there are incidents of violence during the Columbus Day Parade and St Patrick Day Parade, there are no sensational calls by the media to shut down these parades. These acts of violence are usually portrayed by the media as the isolated actions of a few intoxicated individuals. However, when these acts occur at the West Indian Day Parade, the entire organization is blamed, and there are frantic appeals to the mayor to shut down the parade. If we were to be consistent and to demand that every parade be shut down because of the isolated acts of a few dysfunctional people, then there will be no parades in New York City.
There will be no Columbus Day Parade, no St. Patrick’s Day Parade, no Puerto Rican Day Parade, and no Dominican Day Parade. Let us be consistent and apply the same standard to every parade. Let us either shut down all parades or else place the blame where it should be rightfully placed — on the dysfunctional individuals who continue to commit anti-social acts or on the City, State and Federal authorities who continue to turn a blind eye to the underlying socio-economic conditions that have fostered criminal behavior in the black community.
Ironically enough, the only act of violence that occurred along the parade route was not perpetrated by the gunmen from the hood, but by respected members of the NYPD. The incident occurred outside the Brooklyn Museum, when the Hon, Jumaane Williams, a City Council representative, was accosted by police officers, thrown to the ground, and taken away in handcuffs in a police vehicle. There are several troubling aspects to the Jumaane Williams case. Firstly, is the issue of racial profiling. Jumaane Williams is an imposing hulk of black manhood. He stands approximately 6 foot 2 inches, weighs approximately 200 pounds, wears earrings and Rastafarian styled dreadlocks. He conforms to the stereotype of a Nyabinghi warrior. This is a threatening profile to many police officers. Even the presentation of his City Council credential did little to mitigate the fear engendered by this threatening stereotype. Many people in the museum were wondering, if the police can show such public disrespect to a black elected official, how would they respond in private confrontation with a powerless black youth, who has no City Hall credentials to present?
Furthermore, the police officers deployed at the Brooklyn Museum on Labor Day are veteran officers who have a long history of association with West Indian organizations. They are also individuals who have graduated from sensitivity training courses at their precincts. If these veteran police officers could act in such an unprofessional manner in public, what can we expect from rookie police officers, who have just graduated from the Police Academy, who come from all-white communities in Sullivan and Ulster County, and can claim no history of relationship with minority institutions?
EDITOR’S NOTE: Colin A. Moore is Sr. Editor of Caribbean American Weekly and can be reached at [email protected].
