Showtime at the Apollo: Death Penalty Protest Hits Gore and Bradley Debate in Harlem
by Hank Williams

“I don’t disagree with anything that Senator Bradley just said. But let me sharpen it a little bit for my part…”  --Al Gore during the Apollo Theater Debate with Bill Bradley

On February 20, while there was still a question as to who the Democratic Party Presidential candidate would be, Al Gore and Bill Bradley attended a raucous debate in New York at the Apollo Theater. Gore’s quote sums up the mood of the event, where the candidates spent more time splitting hairs over minor differences on issues than putting forth concrete proposals or innovative solutions.

The proceeding had more of the feeling of a dog-and-pony show than of a serious debate of the issues facing the nation as a whole and the African-American community in particular (much less Latinos who now constitute a large part of Harlem). Just like at the usual Wednesday night Apollo shows, part of the entertainment was provided by the audience—both inside and outside the theater. While Bradley dropped out of the campaign weeks ago, Gore’s answers are still relevant.

The Protest

The candidates were greeted by a group of over 100 people protesting against the death penalty and pointing out that Bradley and Gore both support capital punishment (see “The Democrats and the Death Penalty” and “Legal Lynching”).

Lee Weingraf of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty said, “We came out here to tell Gore and Bradley that we’re here to end the racist death penalty and I think we got the message across.”

Ariealla Ghanooni told The Messenger, “What we’re doing here is to say, look, they’re here debating race relations and urban issues and one of the most racist aspects of our society is the death penalty. Why not take a stand for justice, take a stand against racism?”

Also at the rally was former Black Panther Lawrence Hayes, who, like Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, was released from prison after a long sentence for a murder he didn’t commit. Hayes is sure that a moratorium on the death penalty followed by a proper investigation would “clearly show that the criminal justice system is racist. It is too racist to allow for the death penalty to be instituted in America.”

Hayes added: “we must face the fact that police officers are human and human beings make mistakes, but they are people who make mistakes with guns and the authority of the state and we must end that now.”

Crime

Gore pledged to “continue reducing the crime rate,” and stated that “community policing is a good strategy,” while calling the Diallo and Louima cases “heartbreaking.”

However when Time Magazine’s Karen Tumulty cornered Gore on the issue of the bloated inmate population (two-thirds of whom are Black or Latino) at a time of low crime rates, thanks to the Clinton Administration’s tougher crime laws, Gore admitted that “the long-term answer is much more prevention.”

Race Relations

At times, Gore seemed simply to be confused or possibly caught up in his own obfuscation, interrupting his answer to a question regarding race relations to “acknowledge the presence [in the audience] of Martin Luther King III.” Gore followed this by observing that it was “the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X,” thus proving that he can read an encyclopedia.

Gore and Bradley both proposed national laws prohibiting racial profiling, though neither offered any concrete plan as to how it could be implemented or how effective it might be. Murder and sodomy are illegal already: that didn’t stop Diallo’s murder or Abner Louima’s brutalization.

Employment Opportunity and the Economy

Gore seemed to want to have it both ways on this issue. He noted that the wealth of the average African-American or Latino family is less than one-tenth that of the average white family, while boasting that “We have created in the last seven years, 20 million new jobs in America and the lowest African-American unemployment rate and poverty rate in history.”

Gore’s answer went unchallenged, so there was no explanation of the inherent contradictions: is the system working or not? If the unemployment and poverty rate is the lowest in history, why is there such a great disparity in wealth?
The question of financial reparations for slavery was also raised—not surprising considering the recent agreement to pay (paltry) cash settlements to Holocaust survivors.

Gore does not support reparations, calling instead for “massive investments in education and economic empowerment,” adding that “acknowledging the contributions of African-Americans to this country’s history” was equally important.

Acknowledgement is fine but it doesn’t pay the rent. The average person may not care whether Philip Morris acknowledges that their wealth was earned largely off the backs of exploited labor, but they are looking for real solutions to their problems, and none were offered. Gore supports the continuation of affirmative action.

Education

Gore opposes the use of vouchers (which Mayor Giuliani and likely Republican Presidential candidate George W. Bush support) to allow public school children to offset the cost of attending a private school. He pointed out that vouchers further weaken already cash starved public schools by draining funds from them. Another question is how much help vouchers really are for students in need. A voucher for $3,200 per year would only provide a CUNY student with about 15% the cost of Columbia or NYU.

Gore advocated “giving families help in paying college tuition,” but offered few details. Of course, New York City had a solution, which was free tuition in CUNY up until 1975. Gore did call for preschool for all children and new school construction: necessary initiatives, but a far cry from making a commitment to free, quality, universal education.

Health Care

The candidates’ health care plans suffered from similar problems. They became bogged down with the issue of care for AIDS patients: Gore advocates care under the Federal Medicaid system.

Left out, however, were concrete proposals to provide health care to everyone. No plan was offered to cover the estimated 20% of Americans with no insurance. While 20% is a generally accepted figure, the real total is likely much higher, as the homeless and poor are generally excluded from such estimates, and vastly undercounted anyway.

Part of the problem may be that politicians aren’t getting the message. Gore stated that “People on the street know very well that the presidency is a day by day fight for real people who face real problems.”

They may not. Clinton/Gore swept into the White House by winning a little more than 1/3 of the approximately 1/3 of the eligible voters who bothered to vote.

That’s the point. Until politicians start paying attention to the voice of the people there will still be disillusionment with the electoral process. Gore still doesn’t seem to understand that, but the entire Apollo audience and the protesters outside did.