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Tuesday, February 28, 2006
End Racial Profiling :: Justice For Dr. Antwi Akom
Justice For Dr. Antwi Akom And An End To Racial Profiling
On the evening of October 25, 2005, Dr. Antwi Akom--an African-American man, tenure-track professor at San Francisco State University, winner of numerous teaching awards and fellowships, and a tireless advocate for social justice--became a victim of racial profiling.
After returning to campus at 10 p.m. to retrieve some books for a lecture, he was harassed as he exited his office by San Francisco State police and their hired security guards, handcuffed, put in the back of a police car, taken into custody, and forced to spend the night in jail.
All this happened despite the fact that Dr. Akom told police that he was a faculty member.
He was never asked by police to show his faculty identification card, even though it was in his pocket the entire time.
Yet instead of admitting wrong, SF State Police have pressed the case, and added a number of false, trumped-up charges.
The complete details of Dr. Akom's case are here.
Dr. Akom's case has become a national reminder that racial profiling is still a horrifying practice all too many Americans face. As recently as the 2000 elections, racial profiling was a central issue in national discourse, when both presidental candidates vowed to make ending profiling a key part of their domestic campaign. But since 9/11, American leaders and institutions have moved back to an acceptance of racial profiling.
The assault on Dr. Akom's rights raises issues of campus safety: How can San Francisco State’s students, a majority of whom are people of color, feel safe if one of their professors is arrested and jailed for attempting to prepare for a lecture?
It raises issues of recruitment and retention of people of color: Dr. Akom was arrested two steps in front of his office door. How can San Francisco State University hope to successfully recruit, hire, and retain faculty of color – a stated goal of the administration – if this is how they can expect to be treated?
It raises issues of racial profiling: What does it mean for a black man with an armful of books to be deemed ‘suspicious and unusual’ in the first college of ethnic studies in America?
In fact, Dr. Akom himself has been trying to draw attention to the problem of racial profiling on the SF State campus for some time.
In November 2004, Dr. Akom filed a complaint after he was confronted in his own office by a campus police officer who demanded to see his identification. Are many white faculty members who work late in their offices at colleges or universities across the country asked to show their ID?
To send a fax to San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris urging her to drop the charges against Dr. Akom, click here.
To sign a petition to San Francisco State University President Robert Corrigan and the California State University Board of Trustees, click here.
To purchase a T-shirt to support the fight to gain justice for Dr. Antwi Akom and an end to racial profiling, click here.
posted by Zentronix @ 4:12 AM
 
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7 Comments:
hey jeff,
i was wonderin when you were gonna get this case up here, haha. but yeah, def a shocking case especially, like you said, at americas first college of ethnic studies... what troubles me though, is how many people i find unaware of this case, even in my circle of friends who try and stay hip to current events on both a local and global scale, they'd be like...dr who? what's his story? i'm like...dang...something's seriously not right. city of san francisco and a story like this doesn't even reach as many people as it probably should...
damn, and i still gotta get one of those shirts...
well...say hi to the fam for me.
peace yo,
jeremy
And in San Francisco as well.
Malcolm said something like "What do they call a Phd....A nigger"....Still sounds about right...
This is why when cats say I focus to much on race- I can't hear them...Botom line is that he is lucky enough to be in a position to fight back and have good friends like you...
Because as Slick Rick would say "Thsi typ'ah S!@# it happens every daaaay."
Peace,
Adisa
Jeff,
thanks for this update. Has NPR picked up on this at all?
MAN
It's pretty shocking to hear about this incident happening at my alma mater, considering its "If I could teach the world to sing" multiculturalism.
I can tell you that there has been an underbelly on campus for decades and I believe that the professor was not hassled out of racial profiling as much as punishment for speaking out against the practice.
I am never surprised by how people judge, fear, assume by this primitive notion of profiling. It is terrible and a mark of shame on the human race. I wish my surprise could go the way of the dodo bird.
The only people that will ever know the truth are the officers present and Dr. Akom. But we all know what really happened! It is virtually impossible that the assault charge could have any truth to it. He is a black man and a phd. The logical conclusion, therefore, is that the officers are lying. We know this because...wait a minute..how do we know this? Oh don't bother me with details...I want to do my chant. End racial profiling!!
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