Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The New Slavery In South Georgia

I am a new comer to South Georgia. I am not a newcomer to the South. Here we are in 2012, and I am appalled in what is going on through out South Georgia, and maybe even state wide. I have lived in the Valdosta area, and now live in Cordele. I am seeing needless hundreds of Black men and women forced onto City and County Probation, for very minor, or irrelevant misdemeanor charges. Some charges are just made up by arresting officers, so that a Black person can be charged or arrested. Law enforcement officers can write down anything they choose on a citation, and the person cited has no recourse, or way, to prove that it happened, or did not happen, the way the officer wrote it. Most Blacks, who are accused, are poor, or low income, and can not afford to hire any type of legal counsel.

Before an accused person ever goes to court, their name, address, and law enforcement view of the charges are posted in the local newspaper, for all to see and read. This can affect a persons employment, housing, and legal status. Many times the information is wrong.

A note now about the Probation system in South Georgia. When a person is accused of a crime, and issued a citation, or arrested, If they can not afford to pay the fine, the person is put on Probation by the court. Probation in South Georgia is like this--you must pay a certain amount of money every month to the Probation Department, just for being on Probation. Then you pay another monthly amount to pay off what ever fine the judge gave you. So, in truth, you pay to be ON probation, and also pay off your fine. Many people have to make choices of do they feed their family, or pay their rent, or do they pay exhorbitant probation fees ? I have found, that mostly Black men and women, are put on Probation, with the hope from the County, that they mess up, and can then be jailed. If jailed in Cordele, Crisp County, Georgia, a poor person, mainly Blacks, can sit in jail for several months before ever even going to court. Bail is set at a price the court well knows the person can not afford.

Yes folks, white people DO NOT pay the same fines as Black people pay. Blacks are typically fined several hundred dollars more than Whites for the same offense. Blacks will be more likely to have additional charges added on by law enforcement, or the Prosecutor, than a White person would. This is going on daily in Cordele, and probably throughout South Georgia. I saw a similar type of this going on, when I lived in Valdosta.

When is slavery in Georgia going to end ?? We outlawed sharecropping, so Georgia made chain gangs, and convict leasing. When that became illegal, Georgia started the Probation game. Where is the NAACP ? Where is the Urban League ? Where is the ACLU ? I recently went with a friend to traffic court, the only whites in the room, were the Judge and the Court Reporter. All of the people sitting in the gallery were Black. Does the County really expect us to believe that only Black people get traffic fines ? Or are Blacks the only ones who have to pay large fines ? Why does the State of Georgia think that it is up to poor, penniless Black people, to support the State ? We are no longer on the plantation, but the mentality is still there, and the judges and prosecutors seem to plan to keep it that way.

My biggest question is WHY ?? Why do we as Black folks sit by and let this happen ?? We can march on Washington, but we can't put a bunch of racist crackers out of Georgia ? We should be marching day in and day out in every city and county in Georgia till this practice ends. We think about the terrible murder of Treyvon Martin in Florida. What are we doing to save the lives and futures of young Blacks here in Georgia ? Our people are being lied on, accused, and imprisoned on a daily basis. Yes, some have also been murdered.

I urge all of us, no matter what race, to stand up, start reporting when we are falsely accused, and falsely held against our will. Change will only happen, when WE make it happen. Call your local chapter of the NAACP, and report prosecutors, judges, and law enforcement personnel. Hold these people accountable for the things they say and do.




11 comments:

  1. They don't only do it to blacks but also whites.

    It's probably not your turn yet.

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  2. And yet you haven't heard the Hispanic side of the story !!

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  3. Replies
    1. I am white & total agree crisp county court system is very unfair. But not only against blacks, but against poor. I was given 15 months for my first violation & revocated after my second. I done 10 & 1/2 years for an 8 year sentence. 33 of those months locked up. My last time I was revocated without even having legal representation.
      So, I suggest, before you post this type article, do your research a little more thorough. It's not just blacks, it's the poor!

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    2. Angie, here are two articles about cities that have populations about the same racial demographics as Cordele. in these two articles it was determined by the U.S Department of Justice that both cities were acting with racial bias against blacks, regardless of income. So a poor black man would get even more time than a poor white person. It doesn't matter income level, minorities are still treated worse than whites. So yes, that means even though you were treated poorly, a poor black person would likely be treated even more unfairly. I know that's hard to imagine, but the evidence is there.

      http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/justice-department-racial-discrimination-ferguson-police

      http://news.sky.com/story/1491143/cleveland-police-told-to-tackle-racial-bias

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  4. I will only say I lived in Cordele for about 10 years and my name is Ethel Christopher , My deceased husband was Willie Frank Adams.....you proboly know my story...

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  5. If you live in cordele then you know the population is split up like this.... --------African American 75% Caucasian 22%------- How many white people need to be in a court room for you to be happy? I don't support the wrongful accusal or conviction of any body but look at the facts. The gap is 3 to 1. Also our city is approximately 48% percent poverty. White OR BLACK! Now you want to talk up a fight with cops making up citations????? Come on! With the stuff getting exposed now we would have heard about it before this less than credible article.

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  6. Thank you for writing on this. Cordele is my hometown, and these are problems we need to talk about and address.

    I hope maybe Elias Cervantes (previous commenter) can write a guest post as well.

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  7. This is certainly true in regards to Blacks being cited for traffic fines more than whites. I haven’t had a ticket for 8 years. I was traveling to my god sister’s fitting for her wedding. It was a early Sunday Morning when I got pulled over driving on cruise control for speeding. I was told I was doing 84 in a 70. Make a long story short I went to court in Dooley county and it was only 3 whites maybe 3 Hispanics and literally over 50 blacks. The court room was so full that it was no room to sit. No do you think African Americans are the only one speeding avail not. When I got pulled over a older white guy in a drop top Range Rover was speeding pass me when I was the one pulled over. I had a new tag because I just purchased a new 2018 vehicle. This is so sad because now I have a 20yr old male son and a 19yr old female daughter driving. I was out on probation because they wanted me to pay $1240 for a freaking speeding ticket. This is astronomical!!! This is not slavery but racism still exist. I’m in no way race baiting just speaking facts. I’m deciding to move out of Georgia currently live near Atlanta. There fees for a speeding ticket is crazy. Probation for a speeding fine Florida never did this.

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