Black congressional Democrats say President George W. Bush has seriously undermined his national anti-gang initiative by eliminating nearly $1 billion in social programs designed to offer young adults -- and black boys in particular -- an alternative to hanging out in the streets.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus maintain that Bush, in his 2006 budget, cut a number of successful after-school programs and grants that were preventing young adults from joining gangs and participating in self-destructive behavior.
For the past few months, Bush has touted a high-profile, $150-million anti-gang initiative which he announced in February to address a myriad of challenges facing the nation’s disadvantaged youth, many of whom are black.
Bush has tasked First Lady Laura Bush to oversee the effort, which begins in the fall with a major White House conference. The session will bring together parents, research experts, foundations, faith-based and volunteer organizations and educators to discuss new ideas that can be implemented in neighborhoods across the country, according to the White House.
But Rep. Mel Watt, (D-NC) chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, told BlackAmericaWeb.com there are plenty of worthy grants and programs “on the books already" that can immediately benefit black youth.
“We don’t need another public relations tool to talk about the problem,” Watt said in an interview last week. “We all know what the problem is; we don’t need to study it to death. All they want to do is talk. Bush needs to fund the programs that already exist.”
Black Democrats said Bush cut several significant social programs, including:
- The Byrne Grants, which are intended to help state and local law enforcement control violent and drug-related crime.
- The Community Oriented Policing programs, which provide temporary grants to local police departments to hire additional officers.
- The Juvenile Accountability Block Grants intended to help states and localities improve their juvenile justice systems.
- Other programs designed to reintegrate youthful offenders.
“Every one of these important programs has been zeroed out of the federal budget to the tune of almost 1 billion dollars,” Rep. Diane Watson, (D-CA) said in a national radio address two months ago.
“In my mind, President Bush is practicing fuzzy logic,” she said. “How are we to meaningfully address the growing threat of youth and gang violence when the President's budget eviscerates most of the government's gang prevention programs?”
Watson said that in Los Angeles County, the use of semi-automatic handguns in gang-related killings has quadrupled, and a National League of Cities' survey concludes that 72% of school violence is attributed to gang activity.
Tara Wall, a spokeswomen for the Republican National Committee, told BlackAmericaWeb.com Monday that Democrats constantly distort Bush’s efforts.
"It's unfortunate that Congressional Democrats continue to misrepresent and obstruct the President's goals to improve the lives of all Americans, including African-Americans,” Wall said. “President Bush has committed to the goal of building a more compassionate America through our nation's long tradition of helping families, individuals and communities most in need.”
Wall said Bush’s 2006 budget includes $3.2 billion (a $380 million increase) to expand AIDS relief, including programs to address AIDS and African-American women; $4 billion (an 8.5 percent increase) for federal housing and social programs for the homeless; $75 million for the Prisoner Re-entry program (for job training, transitional housing and mentoring), and $50 million for his newly announced initiative to help at-risk youth avoid gang involvement, promising $150 million over three years.
“The President's budget is a fiscally responsible one that eliminates redundant or duplicative programs while increasing funding to address those in need,” Wall said. “Democrats need to quit their partisan obstructist tactics and work to pass the funding for our communities in need."
The Department of Justice estimates that about 750,000 individuals are now members of gangs -- one-third of whom are under the age of 18. While gang membership among girls is becoming much more common, the overwhelming majority of gang members are male, representing more than 90% of the gang population in large cities.
Ron Scott, a spokesman for the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, told BlackAmericaWeb.com Monday that young black men need more programs that offer educational and economic alternatives to drugs and gangs.
“There is a lack of economic and educational opportunities to motivate young people to move in a positive direction,” said Scott, who also hosts a Detroit public affairs television program entitled “For My People.”
Scott, a community activist who co-founded the Detroit branch of the Black Panther Party, said he works with young black men in Detroit everyday, from public schools to the city’s jails.
He helps provide a range of services for black youth, including counseling, food programs, intervention and legal assistance. Scott also serves as mediator between the police and the black community.
Sixty Detroit residents have been killed by police since 1994, according to Scott.
Scott said he believes that many young blacks would choose a job over a life of trouble with the law if they were offered viable alternatives. And he questions whether Bush has the capacity to understand the needs of young blacks.
“Bush is woefully inadequate,” Scott said. “I see a lack of humanity in his approach.”
Bush's anti-gang conference, entitled “Helping America’s Youth,” will convene this fall at the White House with Laura Bush serving as its chair. Several people privately have also questioned whether the First Lady has the background and understanding to address complex urban problems. The conference, however, was welcomed by many black ministers who say gang violence is a major concern for black communities across the country.
According to the White House, statistics show:
- Boys often begin to fall behind girls in elementary school, which leads to higher dropout rates and juvenile delinquency, and they often show signs of behavioral problems early in life.
- Youth who fall behind in reading have a greater chance of dropping out of high school altogether.
- Each year, there are approximately 15 million new STD cases in the U.S., and about one-quarter of these are teenagers.
- Half of all new HIV infections affect those 24 and younger, and almost 900,000 women under the age of 19 become pregnant every year.
- Boys are at greater risk than girls for developing learning disabilities, illiteracy, dropping out of school, substance-abuse problems, violence, juvenile arrest, and early death caused by violent behavior. As boys grow older, studies how, destructive behavior such as alcohol and drug abuse, become more prevalent, and gang involvement increases.
“Everyone wants to see gang violence ended, but we need to see opportunities offered,” Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP’s Washington, D.C. bureau, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
“The president eliminated programs that would have prevented young people from getting into gangs in the first place," he said. "There’s a serious contradiction here.”
Shelton also questioned the anti-gang initiative’s leadership.
“I was surprised to learn the president assigned his wife to help address the issue of gangs,” Shelton said. “I understand Laura Bush is an excellent school teacher, and that’s good. But I’m not sure how she’s equipped to deal with this issue.”
