By Mansour Taleb-Ahmed
WASHINGTON, DC — The DC NAACP is demanding justice for bomb threats targeting HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and other DC public schools.
The NAACP argues those attacks against the Black community are not new, noting “the idea of bombing Black institutions is not new, citing the Tulsa race massacre of 1921 that resulted in 300 dead and 800 injured and more than 10,000 homeless.”
The NAACP also noted the 16th Street Baptist Church incident that killed four Black girls back in 1963, adding, “There is indeed a long history of racially motivated bombing of Black institutions in order to terrorize the Black community.”
The NAACP also stressed that these threats have one goal: to “destabilize Black culture, empowerment, and education through those hatred movements.”
NAACP demands justice to be served by holding the offenders “accountable, arresting, prosecuting, and convicting their illegal act of violence against Howard University, multiple other HBCUs, and several District of Columbia Public Schools, including Dunbar, Roosevelt, and others.”
The NAACP suggested the criminal justice system was unfair when it comes to African American right to justice, arguing the U.S. seems to have a “(…) double standard in criminal justice when racial profiling and mandatory minimums target Black and Brown children, while young, white terrorists are granted grace and immunity to make mistakes, perform community service and possibly reform.”
The NAACP criticized the criminal justice system by making a connection with the terrorist attack on January 6 on the U.S. Capitol and the Black Lives Matter protests there, noting, “Unequal and selective criminal justice enforcement is evident by our government’s failure to deploy adequate troops to the January 6 riot led by white extremists, while aggressive violent tactics were deployed against peaceful Black protestors responding to the murder of George Floyd.”
The civil rights organization advocates for the simple rule of law to be followed and asks that the “[w]hite youth or young adults that issued these bomb threats should be held accountable, charged, prosecuted and convicted under the appropriate courts applicable to their age.”
In addition, the organization strongly argues that public safety should not be a privilege but a right, stating, “Black lives have a right to public safety and it requires full accountability and prosecution and conviction of anyone that issues racially motivated bomb threats and other acts of violence.”
The NAACP insists upon “Black children’s right to quality education, ensuring every child has an opportunity to reach their full potential. Historically, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and public-school funding have been under attack.”
The organization also took time to praise the work done by the renowned HBCU Howard, noting “Howard University is a historic institution, founded in 1867 as a center of higher learning for formerly enslaved people.
“Today,” the NAACP said, “Howard University students continue a long legacy of fighting for racial justice and equality. We encourage and petition for increased support of your local HBCU and DCPS by making donations and advocating for increased resources. Our commitment is to educate and restore communities while pursuing full justice and accountability.”
Akosua Ali, president of NAACP DC Branch, stated, “Black institutions are the foundation and source of empowering the Black community. These spaces are intended to provide a safe, secure, sacred environment for enrichment and development. HBCUs and public school systems are already underfunded and vulnerable to inadequate resources.”
He then added, “Threats against any Black life, especially our students, demand swift justice. We cannot allow the double standard enforcement of policing to target Black children, while white terrorists go unprosecuted and unpunished.”
Demands, not news.
Have we established yet if the tech-savaay youths (also not mentioned in previous Vanguard piece) suspected were guilty, and what their motivations were?