"WEED AND SEED" IS NOT WELFARE REFORM; IT IS POLICE STATE REFORM
Minority (racial and ethnic) neighborhoods in the central cities of America's cities suffer not only from the neglect of the federal government that has been a central feature of the urban policy of the Reagan and Bush Administrations, not only from the indifference of the larger society within which these neighborhoods exist, and not only from racism that doom most the residents of these neighborhoods to lives of perpetual poverty these neighborhoods also suffer from an internal rot that has been abetted by the metropolitan police forces that "serve" these neighborhoods, and that is now beginning to be abetted by the federal government through the "Weed and Seed" Program.
Central city neighborhoods composed primarily of residents of racial and ethnic minorities experience long term high unemployment, low wages for those residents lucky enough to have jobs, extreme difficulties in obtaining financing for either home ownership or business start ups, and levels of municipal services that would not be tolerated in more affluent neighborhoods. Almost all meaningful assistance to such neighborhoods from the federal government dried up under the Reagan and Bush Administrations. Only law enforcement programs received strong support from the Reagan and Bush Administrations in the context of federal assistance for central city ghettos.
Law enforcement is a recognized need the America's central city ghettos. This need is recognized by other than the Reagan and Bush Administrations and municipal police departments. The need for effective law enforcement in central city racial and
ethnic minority neighborhoods is recognized first and foremost by the great majority of the residents of these neighborhoods.
Law breaking is common in America's ethnic and racial minority neighborhoods. Much of this law breaking activity is associated with drug dealing and drug use....