The quiet death of the 5th amendment; are people of color listening?

Guest Columnist

The quiet death of the 5th amendment; are people of color listening?

Bukola Ekundayo for RaceWire:

On July 17, 2007 the Bush Administration announced the introduction of a tool to help fight the war on terror. Property can now be seized from those who “threaten stabilization efforts in Iraq”. It’s official. The Fifth Amendment protecting Americans from being deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, has fallen.

At a time when public opinion for this war is at an all time low this administration is still seeking ways and means to erode our civil rights in a desperate attempt to support a failed war.

What is more startling is that this administration already has the tools to freeze banks accounts of companies or groups that support terrorist activities. However, Tuesday’s executive order gives the
President more leeway. Those who “threaten stabilization efforts in Iraq” could have their property seized without a single court proceeding.

The most troubling aspect of this development is the potential scope of those who “threaten”. Could anti-Iraq war protesters in the U.S. find themselves homeless?

Or could Hillary Clinton find her campaign finances frozen next week? Yesterday, the Pentagon released a statement arguing that she is boosting enemy propaganda by asking how the U.S. plans to eventually withdraw from Iraq.

Further, should I worry about having a roof over my head once this blog post is published? Or will an uproar I’m afraid isn’t happening among people of color, keep this news and our 5th amendment rights out of the loop of our racial justice fights?

Bukola Ekundayo studied political science and foreign policy at Northwestern University where she graduated in 2005. A Marketing and IT Project Manager, Ekundayo is also a consummate pop culture analyst.

Posted at 12:32 PM, Jul 20, 2007 in News | Permalink | View Comments

Comments

Thanks for writing about this! I have linked this article to my blog (kameelahwrites.blogspot.com). I checked the Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq from the White House and realized how cleverly ambiguous it is, and there is a lot of power to be gained from this ambiguity since such a broad stroke can be used to identify those who are "undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people." I think you ask an excellent question: Does this mean that I could be undermining efforts simply by posting this blog? I have no idea, and I guess that is the plan: for us to be so unclear that we simply steer away from anything and everything that criticizes the situation in Iraq.

I'll check out your blog. Thanks! Yes, the ambiguity of the measure is boggling but I'm sure they'll claim listing specifics is also a threat to our security. We don't want to go tipping of our "enemy"