Last week, Maryland Governor Parris Glendening declared a moratorium on executions in his state. Although Gov. Glendening supports the death penalty, he said he’s lost faith in the fairness of Maryland’s judicial system. More blacks are murdered in Maryland than whites, but 12 of the 13 convicts on death row are there for murdering whites, not blacks.
Gov. Glendening halted the executions because it was clear to him that the courts in his state were sending an unmistakable message: white lives have more value than black lives. The Constitution and Pledge of Allegiance promise justice for all, but there are several standards of justice in America. Undereducated, poor blacks in Baltimore are at one end of the spectrum.
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Prescription for Change
Here’s a popular myth from the public interest community, a myth summoned forth by every activist sooner or later: We may have lost this battle, but history will show we were right and people will be sorry they didn’t listen to us when they had the chance. Soothing platitudes like those are the haute cuisine of sour grapes.
Take, for example, all those who worked so hard on health care reform in the early 1990s. The American health care system was broken. Millions had no access to doctors, medicine or insurance. For a while, it seemed we had an opportunity to make meaningful change and bring equality to American health care. Then the reform advocates were steamrolled by the insurance companies and ten years later, the health care system is worse than ever.
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