Open Letter to State Attorney Jeff Ashton on the "Crack Hoes" Affair
- Details
- Category: Justice
- Published: Thursday, 29 May 2014 22:17
- Written by Attorney Jerry Girley
by Attorney Jerry Girley
Please let me know what you think about Orlando Area Prosecutor, Ken Lewis, referring to women as, "crack hoes" and encouraging them to get their tubes tied. I wrote his boss, State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton, a letter to let him know what I think about these troubling comments, My letter to Mr. Ashton is listed below.
Dear Mr. Ashton:
I am writing on the behalf of the National Center For Justice and Peace to inform you that we are deeply troubled by the Facebook comments of Prosecutor, Ken Lewis and to respond to his qualified apology. I am also writing as a member of the Central Florida Criminal Bar Association, where I practice criminal and civil rights law.
During his press conference, Mr. Lewis' attempted to minimize his callous and ill-advised comments by stating that he made a bad choice of words. Furthermore, he prefaced his comments at the press conference by saying that he wanted to apologize "if he offended anyone." Let me take this moment to clarify any uncertainty: Mr. Lewis' comments were indeed offensive and I hope your office has given him some guidance as to how referring to women as "Crack Hoes" is completely unacceptable. It is unacceptable for several reasons. First, it evokes invidious racist stereotypes often promoted by ill-meaning individuals when referring to African American females who struggle with a crack addiction.
While he made no explicit reference to Black women, the nature of
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stereotypes renders that unnecessary as he relies on common awareness and usage of that egregious term. Second, his comments are greatly sexist and demeaning to all women, not just Black women. When has it ever been acceptable to refer to a group of women as whores? Third, and perhaps most disconcerting, why did he feel the need to direct these women and other women to pursue the extreme choice of sterilization? This sentiment harkens back to the era of Eugenics, when the State, particularly in the South, subjected Black women and other "undesirables" to sterilization against their wills in hopes of creating the "perfect" race. As a top prosecutor in your office, Ken Lewis is a government official and his comments, though not authorized by your office, carry the weight of the government.
If Mr. Lewis does not understand these things certainly we expect the office of the State Attorney to ensure that he does, but not only him, all of your staff. While I am concerned about Mr. Lewis' comments, my greater concern is that these comments may reflect a culture that exists within your office. Is there a callousness? Or worse a disdain toward the people that are most frequently the victims of crimes: minorities and the poor?
I realize that you are just beginning your administration as the State Attorney, and thus you are not responsible for an atmosphere that may have been created before you became the State Attorney. Nevertheless, you must take steps to ensure that bias, bigotry, sexism and racism does not factor into the prosecutorial decisions of your staff. I strongly urge you to engage the professional services of a credible diversity firm. Such a firm will be able to help Ken Lewis and others on your staff to better understand the power of words to offend and the potential of stereotypical generalizations to infect the mind. Moreover, a diversity firm will be able to conduct a comprehensive assessment of your staff to obtain a pulse regarding the extent, if any that bias, bigotry, sexism and racism affects their actions. I would like to meet with you at your earliest convenience to discuss these concerns.
Respectfully,
Jerry Girley
Attorney at Law