Clinton's immoral desecration of Oval Office inspired Central Park "Wilding" say black leaders:
Black leaders blame wilding on rap music, Clinton scandal
Monday, June 19, 2000
By RICHARD PYLE
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- As police reported a 17th arrest in last week's Central Park sexual attacks, black spokesmen blamed rap music, President Clinton's personal behavior, and cutbacks in youth programs for helping motivate the wilding.
Lonnie Hopson, 18, was picked up early Sunday after acquaintances identified him based on amateur videotape, said Officer Valerie St. Rose, a police spokeswoman. Charges against the Queens youth were pending.
Hopson was the latest of 17 young men facing possible criminal charges in the June 11 attacks on women by a swirling mob after the Puerto Rican Day parade. More than 50 women have told police they were doused with water, chased, stripped of clothing, or physically assaulted.
One suspect -- Anthony Bryant, 25, of Manhattan -- was released after authorities concluded he had been incorrectly identified as a participant.
More than 75 detectives have been assigned to the case, and police Internal Affairs officers are investigating reports that some officers ignored victims' pleas for help.
At last four women have declared their intention to sue the city on grounds that police failed to come to their aid.
At a Central Park news conference, a group calling itself the New York Leadership Alliance announced a campaign to combat violence against women and "restore a greater sense of pride and respect within the black community."
Radio personality Bob Law said the group wanted to "pool our resources to combat a serious decline in morality and integrity within our community."
"We think the behavior of the police is inexcusable, but the challenge nonetheless remains for responsible black men to step up now and provide a model for what men and fathers should be," said Law, who is black.
"To women around the city, this is our pledge to you -- we will launch this campaign that will eliminate domestic violence, that will restore a sense of respect and integrity to the way women are treated . . . particularly in the African-American community."
Law and Charles Barron, president and CEO of Dynamics of Leadership Inc., said their campaign, named SOS for "Save Our Sons," would include a call for "economic sanctions" against music companies producing rap music that denigrates women.
"It will be necessary for us to challenge in a very significant way, even in terms of economic sanctions, those corporations, those people, those agencies that continue to perpetuate women as sex toys," Law said.
He said these attitudes were "nurtured and perpetuated by a record industry that seems to have no concern for the very spirit of the people they are selling to."
Barron said, however, that "gangsta rap" music is only one area of concern. Another, he said, was Clinton's highly publicized sexual conduct with Monica S. Lewinsky.
"Look at the president; look what he did, and what signal that sends to young men of this nation," Barron said. "Something's wrong with a society where a president can do that and then get a 70 [percent] or 80 percent approval rating in spite of it."
At a news conference on the site of last week's wilding incident, Eric Adams, co-founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement, said the lawbreakers and any police officers who failed to act should be dealt with firmly.
"But nothing happens in a vacuum," Adams said. "We have made draconian cuts in some of the public services that young adults are used to participating in. We've cut summer youth employment; we've closed after-school programs. We don't allow children to go to parks to play basketball."
He blamed a breakdown of a "family values system" and "criminalizing of a large number of young adults who feel they are ostracized and no longer a part of this city."
Adams denied that police had been directed not to strictly enforce public drinking, drug use, and other laws at the Puerto Rican Day parade.
"Nothing is more appalling or insulting than for anyone to believe that," Adams said. "There is a level of keeping your hands off to allow New Yorkers to enjoy the festivities, but that is not a double standard. That is a standard that is shown at all parades."
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