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| | Issue #20.47 :: 11/21/2007 - 11/27/2007 | Progressive Network Holds Annual Summit
Group Criticizes New Law They Say Smacks of Racial Profiling
| BY BELTON WHITE
| S.C. Rep. Joe Neal spoke at the South Carolina Progressive Network’s annual fall summit in Columbia on Nov. 17 about problems facing rural parts of the state. Also in his remarks, Neal criticized a relatively new law that he says facilitates racial profiling.
“Cops can now give tickets and not report race,” said Neal, D-Richland. “This legislation is designed to allow racial profiling.”
The Progressive Network held its meeting at the Big Apple in the Vista to discuss issues concerning its members. The network was created in 1995 and has built a membership of 53 grassroots organizations and 300 individuals.
“Justice and equality in this country are tied to things like wealth, color and sexual orientation,” network director Brett Bursey said. “We think, if there is such a thing as equality, it only comes in one size and it fits everyone.”
The summit addressed issues like universal health care, workers’ rights and curtailing the amount of money spent in political campaigns.
A straw poll was conducted to indicate which presidential candidate network members favor. U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D- Ohio, was the first choice followed by former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.
Sergio Delgado, a mediator with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, gave a presentation on different American generations: traditionalists, baby boomers, generation Xers and millennials. The lecture discussed how events in the country’s history affected each group.
Neal spoke during the lunch hour, focusing on problems facing people living in South Carolina’s Pee Dee region.
“Fifty percent of students in South Carolina public schools are not graduating high school,” Neal said. “They can’t go into the military, they can’t get a job, and they are likely to be thrown in jail.” He also said schools in areas like Rock Hill are spending $14,000 per student per year whereas schools in the Pee Dee region are spending $3,500 per student.
Neal also spoke about a steep rate of HIV/AIDS in South Carolina as well as many of the state’s black men lacking employment and access to health care.
Another problem the network is trying to deal with is a lack of voter turnout in South Carolina.
“Neither party pays attention to the majority of South Carolinians who are not voting,” Bursey said. “We are focusing on the missing voters.”
Bursey said people are not voting because candidates are not representing issues relevant to their lives. He added that the network hopes to start a civic engagement program in Fairfield County, which is in the Pee Dee, to encourage more people to vote. | |
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