How Jena echoes here
By Devona Walker
Staff Writer
On Thursday, hundreds wore black to the state Capitol's south plaza to protest the treatment of six black youths about 550 miles away in Jena, La. But the message at the demonstration hit much closer to home.
"This stuff still happens. I know it happens right here in Oklahoma City,” said Hiawatha Bouldin, 52. "This is not a black problem. This is not a white problem. This is an American problem.”
For Bouldin and many others, the demonstration was a call to action to address the inequities in the criminal justice system.
Meanwhile about 20 blocks from the Capitol, a hundred or so black law enforcement and correctional officers from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana held an annual convention in conference rooms of the Holiday Inn. They, too, wore black, protesting treatment of the Jena Six.
"This is a mirror of things that are going on all across the U.S. It just so happens that Jena, La., is where the attention fell,” said Joyce Jackson, an Oklahoma correctional officer and spokeswoman for the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice. "This should have been a suspension or an expulsion from school and what did it turn into? Attempted murder.”
Many blacks seek careers in criminal justice to address inequities in the system, Jackson said.
"But often times we, as minorities, are thrown in the same pot. We are perceived as being part of the system, and part of the problem,” Jackson said. "But our point is that we are part of the solution.”
‘Justice for all'
District Attorney David Prater ran on the platform of "justice for all” and bringing a sense of fair play to the judicial system. Since taking office, he has upped participation in drug and mental health court, as well as other diversion programs.
He also made a striking number of personnel changes.
"There really is a philosophy of prosecution. I think you need to make sure that everyone in the office has that philosophy, that is, to not use this office as a means to harm people,” Prater said. "This is not an office that feels itself to be a good old boys' club. We represent the community as a whole, and we will respect the community as a whole.”