Mayor Sheila Dixon: GUILTY!
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After six days of deliberation, the jury in the corruption case against Mayor Sheila Dixon (Baltimore, MD) came to a decision today. They found Mayor Dixon guilty on one out of five counts against her. She was found guilty of taking gift cards intended to be given to “the city’s poor.” This according to the Baltimore Sun:
The jury convicted Dixon of embezzlement for violating her fiduciary duties to the city and citizens of Baltimore by using about $530 in Target and Best Buy gift cards purchased in December 2005 by developer Patrick Turner. The developer testified the cards were intended for “the children of Baltimore.” Dixon was City Council president at the time.
Clarification is yet to arrive pertaining to if she will have to serve some jail time (a scenario that has been deemed unlikely) or if she’ll have to relinquish office as Mayor of Baltimore. I’m sure more details will be provided in the coming days on that.
I’ve personally not written much about this trial because of my disdain for the circus that was born around it and my genuine sadness about Ms. Dixon’s misfortune. I’ve been a staunch political opponent of Mayor Dixon for some years now. I’ve called her out about her involvement in gentrification initiatives in Baltimore, her support of slots in the city, and her lackluster support of Baltimore City Public Schools. I’ve also decried her relentless allegiance to the Martin O’Malley political machine.
However, despite my political opposition, I have no personal qualms with her. We’ve never met so I couldn’t have a sincere personal beef with her. I’m sorrowful for her and her family today. Some might say I need to be more sorrowful for the residents of the city who have had to endure political corruption for decades and that might be true. But watching Ms. Dixon at the post-trial press conference today really tugged at a different place in me. She was noticeably dejected and trying her best to put on a strong face. It was hard to watch.
Given the history of the “injustice system” toward the African in America community – detailed in books like On The Courthouse Lawn by Sherrilyn Ifill – I must confess that it’s hard for me to watch the courts convict a person of color in the name of “justice.” Especially, when many believe that she’s done no more than (and probably much less) than Governor Martin O’Malley – her longtime political ally.
The legacy of the Courts injustice toward those who have been kissed by the sun is so voluminous, that it’s hard to give its decisions much moral weight.
That’s why Black Christians testify in church about Jesus being a “lawyer in the courtroom.” It’s because the courtroom has been a place where Black folks have been humiliated, persecuted, sold, and lynched. To get out of the courtroom unscathed had to be an act of Jesus himself. Only divine intervention could liberate Black folks from the grip of the White Power Structure’s version of justice.
Watching Ms. Dixon at the post-trial press conference made me say to myself, “There goes another one who got caught up in that snare.” I’m not standing for her innocence nor am I suggesting that she’s a paragon of virtue. I’m simply making observation and maybe even trying to articulate the angst in the soul’s of some of Baltimore’s Black folk who’ve been watching this situation unfold.
As I said on my facebook page last week, if Ms. Dixon retains her mayoral position, then for sure I’ll be there to challenge her on those policies that I feel run contrary to our community’s development, but today I’m praying for her and her family.
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Another unfortunate day in Baltimore politics. I can't help but look at the social implications of this case. As a Black person in the US with an unjust "justice" system that is certainly classist and most definitely racist at the article has stated I thought to myself there goes another one. Here we have a woman and black person who is charged for something so petty I had to laugh when I heard about. GIFT CARDS ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I mean this is a modern day lynching over gift cards. After watching this trial unfold, I feel like I've been watching To Kill A Mockingbird SMH.
My mom taught at Bowie High School for 37 years–which meant, among other things, that she was a teacher there during the OJ Simpson trials. She recalls an eye-opening conversation she had the day after the verdict came back in that case, with an African American colleague. While my mom expressed her surprise/anger that Simpson had gotten "off the hook," her colleague had a very different response–a feeling of relief/satisfaction that finally a person of color could get off the hook of the white man's court.
It was, like I said, an eye-opening experience for my mom, and for me as she related the story to me–a real lesson about how much our privilege/experience of race in this country affects our understanding of basic concepts such as justice and law. It's not that my mom's colleague thought OJ was innocent, so much as she saw the trial as just another circus with an accused, violently stereotyped black man at the enter. I remember a similar conversation I had with some guys in the gym when Ray Lewis was arrested for his alleged role in a shooting at a club. "See, now they're starting in on him," one of the guys said. "Soon they're going to be talking about his background, where he comes from…they're going to pick that guy apart." The connotation, again: here's another black guy who's gotten caught up in this violent system, and now the white media gets to have its circus.
Just a few stories your post reminded me of….thanks for sharing.
I don't like to see any black woman who had given so much to Baltimore get raked over the coals for( in the grand scheme of things) basically stealing a chicken box!!! Not millions in contracts but less than 2,000 dollars in gift cards. 50 plus million mishandled in Baltimore schools and nothing is done, but this lady has to wear the Scarlet Letter for stealing a chicken box. Only in Baltimore. And I say that the chickens are coming home to roost. Gone are the days where Parren Mitchell and other pioneers carried themselves with class and dignity and sacrifice against all odds to represent the best in us. Shelia Dixon, Larry Young and others have forgotten that they had to work harder, be better, and stay cleaner than others in this long journey. The current(and probable former) Mayor in my eyes cast her lot with the worst possible thing that has ever happened to black Baltimore(O'Malley) and for that, this is Divine justice. And where is her former caretaker now??? Her conviction was a sad image but what was even sadder is who she chose to align herself with. God is just. You can never say that God is unjust.
Um, most of the jury was black and considering she was only found guilty of one of the five charges against her, I would consider her darn lucky. My opinion is she was guilty of much more so she got off pretty good. Why is it when a black person is found guilty of wrong doing, somehow someone always finds a way to point it back to the whites as being the persecutors. Enough already. I believe in fair and honest justice for all and I couldn't give a crap what color you are. If you do the crime you should do the time. No one is above the law.
I feel a level of empathy for Mayor Dixon. She has a college aged daughter and teen son that I am sure are devastated by this verdict. I have had the opportunity to work with several of the departments in Mayor Dixon's administration and overall I thought she was doing a good job as Mayor. Her administration was not only very talented, but responsive as well. With that said, I think Mayor Dixon's "thorn in the flesh" boiled down to ethical behavior. Mayor Dixon's history as a politician has revealed a history of poor ethical decisions. From her time as City Council President with the UTech contract for her sister to the State job that she held despite the fact that she was strongly encouraged to resign by the State ethics panel because of conflicts of interest to her campaign manager receiving a lucrative no bid IT contract with city government. You throw in the relationship with Ronald Lipscomb and her failure to properly disclose the fur coat and trips to Chicago and Boston and it all falls into place – this is a person that makes BAD ethical decisions. My momma used to say to me that when you make your bed hard, you have to lie in it. Now, unfortunately, Mayor Dixon has to lie in a hard bed.
Its not a mater of race. Look how Clarence Thomas was treated for a "hair". Whether it's Ted Kennedy in a negligent homocide, Bill Clinton's nationally embarrassing indescretions, Mayor Marion Barry's drug deal, Sen. Byrd being a high official in the KKK (the list goes on) the story is the same. It's OK if you are a liberal politician. Do what you want. IMHO she acted in a digusting manner. I don't care if it was only 50 cents! Her sense of entitilement is what is wrong with so many politicians.