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Ron Jackson's Perspective
The Sunday Journal -
Think
Kankakee, Illinois
May 29, 2005
The silence of the
Bubba |
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Should you ever find
yourself in a life-threatening situation and in need of emergency
service, just dial 911. Whether it be a medical, fire or security
emergency, usually within a matter of minutes, some professional
will be at your door.
Therefore, right up there with the wheel and the
printing press, the 911 telephone emergency system should be
considered one of the greatest inventions ever.
It appears that because of the recent activity of one
elected city official, the police department of Kankakee finds
itself in need of emergency service. The personal security of
police officers and their families has been breached because
Kankakee 1st Ward Alderman James "Bubba" Cox has taken the officers'
unlisted phone numbers, home addresses, pager numbers and some cell
phone numbers and made them available to the public.
Appearing before the Kankakee City Council meeting, the
Fraternal Order of Police begged the city to stop one of its own
from continuing his personal vendettas against the force. It is sad
that the FOP had to take this action against Alderman James "Bubba"
Cox, especially after their recent legal victory against him.
The leniency of that case, a mere apology and no
personal financial damage to Cox, has permitted him to continue his
antics. Besides the potential damage Bubba Cox has done to the
police and their families, what about the immeasurable cost his
actions continue to inflict upon the race relations of this
community?
Why is there no outcry by the black leadership of the
city? No black clergy, no black civil rights groups, no other black
groups, no black individual of any kind has publicly denounced Bubba
and his actions.
The repeated excuses of, "Well, Bubba is old; Bubba
doesn't always take his medicine; Bubba is just Bubba," don't cut
it. Bubba Cox is an elected official.
He should be held to the same higher standard of
conduct that we expect from teachers, police and other government
officials in leadership capacities.
If the scenario was reversed and Bubba was an old white
man who occasionally missed taking his medication and whose actions
placed a large group of blacks in imminent danger, would there be
silence? No, there would not be.
If Bubba were president of Mexico and mentioned blacks in an
unflattering way, would there be silence? No. There would be
marches, protests and calls for a formal apology, for firings and
diversity training.
A white police officer participated in a Halloween
prank. He received a professional lynching because it offended
three blacks.
Bubba Cox repeatedly offends and endangers the
entire police force and incites and widens the racial divide in this
community, and not one black person is offended.
I believe it was Dr. Martin Luther King who said, “A
time comes when silence is betrayal." It is a blatant betrayal to
see Bubba continue on his destructive path while the black
leadership in this community does nothing.
Because the 911
system was invented, we don't need to have private, personal
information of the police. The Kankakee FOP Lodge #102 has
dialed 911, and they deserve a quick professional response.
If we can't protect our police force and their
families who live in this city when they need us, maybe it's time,
for the benefit of their own safety, that they live outside the
city. Better yet, maybe Bubba Cox should be removed from the
city. Oh, but that would be a violation of his civil rights. |
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