We are relying on our journalistic foresight that has allowed African-American News&Issues to scoop the mainstream media many times in the past, to be right on target to validate our Black perspective about the August 19, 2002 controversial arrest of 278 people in the parking lot of Kmart’s 8900 Westheimer store. We are predicting, without fear of contradiction, that the HPD officials who orchestrated what amounts to a zero tolerance raid, will have been sternly reprimanded.

We further predict that Chief Clarence C.O. Bradford will have made a written in stone policy change pertaining to mass arrest of kids in upscale, predominately White neighborhoods in the future. Gift of prophecy aside, we don’t need a crystal ball to foresee the future in this case. History predicts what happens when police make the mistake of treating upper middle class White citizens’ kids as if they were poor minorities in the ‘hood. The breaking news story (that very likely will have changed by the time you read this) reported that police swooped down on the parking lot, around 12:30 a.m. and indiscriminately arrested 425 kids.

The round up allegedly included a 10-year-old, who had been momentarily separated from her father. According to further media accounts, many of the kids arrested had nothing to do with rowdies that gather at the Kmart parking lot to raise a little hell and act like bored teenagers that don’t have anything better to do. Unfortunately, complaining business owners gave HPD cause to crash the kids’ party. The TV cameras panned a “No Trespassing” sign, to validate arresting officers charge of criminal trespass, which is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and/or 180 days in jail. Bail can be set as high as $10,000.

We, of course, couldn’t help but ponder whether or not the kids were criminalized like our kids when they are fingerprinted and photographed with numbers under their faces, although they might be totally innocent of any crime? It will be interesting to see how this particular incident plays out. “This isn’t over. Something is going to be done about this,” one outraged parent declared after making bail for her “straight A student” son. Naturally, HPD didn’t respond immediately. “Two captains in charge of the raid, M.A. Aguirre and J.P. Mokwa, were sleeping Sunday after working all night,” reported Houston’s only daily newspaper.

Our Black perspective translates that to say that HPD hadn’t gotten their story together sufficiently to make a statement. Nevertheless, we are predicting no explanation will satisfy parents, who had to bail their children out of jail in time for their first day of school. Surely, it’s difficult to compare the Kmart parking lot arrests, to the zero tolerance raids that are S.O.P. Policing in predominately minority neighborhoods, but we have our fingers crossed that minority parents will, at least, observe how HPD, our Mayor “For all of Houston” and City Councilmembers respond to the angry White parents.

You can be sure they won’t respond to the White parents, the same as they respond to our complaints of police harassment that violates our young people’s 14th amendment constitutional rights every day in the ‘hood. In fact, it would be a good idea to get involved, even if we didn’t see one Black face in the crowd. Fortunately Channel 26’s infamous “City Under Siege” isn’t still around to put the arrests on TV. Then again, we seldom saw White kids when the cameras accompanied our marauding law enforcers. Certainly you remember “The War on Drugs,” that was captured live and in living color in our communities by City Under Siege?

We shall never forget. Especially that segment when a 15-year-old girl, walking from the store with a bag of groceries was put on the ground with the suspected drug dealers. You’ll get no argument from us that some of our kids should be arrested, but the innocent should never suffer with the bad. One police officer, speaking anonymously admitted, “Things got out of control.” On the other hand, that’s exactly why HPD should’ve handled the mass arrest differently. We Must Understand, when a large group of police clashes with a large group of citizens things always gets out of control.

There has to be a better way to police our kids and we’re predicting that when the angry parents get through filing lawsuits and giving city officials hell, there definitely will be some changes made. If our prediction is correct, we urge African-Americans to make sure we demand that the changes also apply to our underserved and over policed neighborhoods too. Being jailed is a horrific experience for a young person who has never been in trouble before. You can be sure that if being rendered powerless to even explain your innocence before being jailed has a lasting and very negative impact on adults… it devastates innocent kids.

Not only will the arrest traumatize them, but it could also cause future problems (when filling out applications for employment), because a standard question is: “Have you ever been arrested for anything?” In other words, our children can easily be criminalized, although they have done absolutely nothing wrong. You can’t imagine how terrible our jails are. If you spent a couple of hours in those jails, you would no longer have a problem understanding why so many Black kids have become bitter and even hostile when their parents buy into racist media hype that prevents them from giving their children the benefit of doubt.

Why should kids, growing up in public housing, or impoverished neighborhoods through no fault of their own, respect us when we fail to support them or demand that they be treated the same as the richest kids in town? It’s bad enough when sorry parents allow their kids to grow up poor, but it’s downright untenable when we fail to demand equal treatment under the law for them. The Kmart incident presents an excellent opportunity for African-Americans to demand better (equal) policing in our community and we should take full advantage of it.

African–Americans are appalled at how the upper White middle class is acting and we want to know where was the concern when our Black children were being falsely arrest by Captain Mark Aguirre and we complained? Aguirre has been badgering and falsely arresting Black children in the Third Ward area, especially at the Montgomery Park since he’s been assigned to the area. Incidentally, this is the same Aguirre who made a perjury complaint against Bradford. I guess this is another Houston double standard and there is still no justice for Blacks.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION must be taken by African-Americans to seek retribution against public officials who oppose reparations.