Essay 766

Legal briefs and other dirty laundry in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Rosa Parks’ relatives and the folks she appointed to handle her affairs appear to be headed to court over the validity of the civil rights icon’s will. Wonder if they’ll take a bus to the courthouse.

• The Los Angeles Times reported that the LAPD is having trouble recruiting Black cops. “I used to want to be a police officer, but now I’m just afraid of them,” said one citizen whose brother was killed by sheriff’s deputies. A 2004 survey showed only about 39 percent of Blacks had positive feelings about the LAPD, and nearly 65 percent said they would not want their children to join the force. Wonder what the LAPD could do to beat those figures.

• Officials in Tennessee are seeking to oust a small-town mayor who allegedly used racial slurs and targeted Hispanic drivers for tickets. One incident happened when the mayor swore in a new cop on Martin Luther King Day and allegedly said, “Happy James Earl Ray Day.” The mayor also ordered cops to ticket Hispanics for traffic violations because they’re “mostly illegal anyway.” “I’ve done nothing wrong,” insisted the mayor in a recent interview. “They better be able to prove every word in that [17-page complaint filed by citizens].” The mayor then probably tried to pass a measure officially recognizing James Earl Ray Day.