Maxine Waters is a forceful and outspoken congresswoman from California known for her passionate commitment to the poor and minority residents of her Los Angeles district. She came to national attention in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Poor sections of the city erupted after four police officers were acquitted of the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King. Waters appeared in numerous news accounts arguing that chronic poverty and discrimination were root causes of the violence. She was assailed by some critics for calling the event an "uprising," and for appearing to sympathize with looters. Waters shrugged off the criticism, saying her life experience gave her a unique understanding of the problems of the disenfranchised.
Maxine Moore was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1938, the fifth of 13 children reared by a single mother, Velma Lee Moore. The family lived in public housing and often relied on welfare to get by. Maxine was a conscientious student and a hard worker. She got her first job at age 13 in a segregated restaurant. As a teenager, she also found work in factories. After graduating from high school, Maxine Moore married Edward Waters. They had two children. The couple moved to Los Angeles in 1961, where Maxine Waters worked at a garment factory and as a telephone operator. Following the 1965 riots in the black neighborhood of Watts, Waters signed on as an assistant teacher in a newly created Head Start program – a federal initiative to help poor children prepare for school by providing nutrition, education, health care and other social services. While working at Head Start, Waters earned a bachelor's degree in sociology at California State University, Los Angeles.
Waters inherited an interest in local politics from her mother, who had worked at the polls and was involved in community organizing. In her job at the Head Start program, Waters began to help organize parents who wanted to get better government services for their children. From there, Waters got involved in local elections and her political career accelerated. In 1976, Waters won election to the California State Assembly. She served there for 14 years, becoming a powerful legislator who challenged the state's male-dominated political hierarchy. Waters championed a change in state law to prohibit police strip searches for nonviolent misdemeanors. She pushed for the divestment of state pension funds from apartheid South Africa, and sponsored the nation's first law requiring employers to give workers notice before closing a plant.
Waters was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990. According to Ebony magazine, she arrived in Washington with a "national reputation for being ferociously outspoken on issues close to her heart."1 Waters has advocated for job training programs for unemployed youth, business expansion in struggling city neighborhoods, health care for African Americans stricken by HIV/AIDS, debt relief for Africa and pro-democracy programs for Haiti. She has been active in national Democratic politics, supporting the presidential campaigns of Jesse Jackson and Bill Clinton, and chairing the Congressional Black Caucus in 1997-98. When she encounters obstacles that can't be overcome by gentle persuasion, she turns up the volume. "I think she sees injustice and gets outraged," said Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California. "She puts that outrage into action."2
When the 1992 Los Angeles riots broke out, The New York Times reported that Waters was "all over the airwaves, acting as a voice of the disenfranchised." When Waters was criticized for seeming to justify the rioting and looting, she shot back that she had condemned the violence in "101 different ways." She added, "What I didn't do is use the airwaves to call people hoodlums and thugs for burning down their own communities. It only makes them madder when you call them hoodlums and thugs, as [President George W. Bush] did." In the wake of the riots, Waters learned that the president had invited congressional leaders to the White House to talk about what to do next. But he hadn't invited her. Waters showed up at the White House and elbowed her way into the meeting. "I don't intend to be excluded or dismissed," she said.3
In the summer of 2003, Waters gave this speech at a national African American youth leadership conference in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the Tavis Smiley Foundation. She talks about a trial in Los Angeles that had ended the previous week in a hung jury and a mistrial. The case involved a black teenager who alleged that a white police officer had used excessive force in arresting him in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood. The arrest was captured on videotape, and showed the handcuffed teenager being slammed onto a car and beaten in the face. Inglewood is a predominantly low-income, minority neighborhood just east of Los Angeles International Airport. It is part of Waters's congressional district.
In the speech, Waters also makes reference to the USA Patriot Act, legislation Congress passed in the weeks following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The act granted federal agencies sweeping new powers, at home and abroad, to gather intelligence and evidence in terrorism investigations. Although the Patriot Act was approved by wide margins in Congress, it has been assailed by civil liberties advocates as a violation of basic American rights and freedoms. Waters voted against the measure.
In speaking to a group of young African Americans, Congresswoman Waters was addressing a constituency she cared deeply about. From her days as a Head Start teacher, through the decades she has spent in state and national government, Waters has been an ardent champion of inner-city children. She has directed federal dollars and corporate support to programs that help young people break free from poverty. Waters told a reporter, "When you come from the kind of background that I've come from, you just have to fight to make things better."4
Listen to the speech
[applause] Thank you. Good morning. [audience: "Good morning"] Sorry I did not hear you. Good morning! [audience: "Good morning!"] How are you doing this morning? [audience: "Good."] Having a good time in Washington D.C.? [audience: "Yes."] We're so delighted that you're here.
This is unusual; this is an extraordinary opportunity for you to meet with other young people from all around the country to get some of your ideas out on the table, to basically get in touch with yourself, and really understand – perhaps for the first time – how important you really are, how much you have to offer. But let me just stop for a moment, and say to Tavis Smiley, "thank you." Thank you, Tavis, for having the leadership, the wisdom, to recognize that we have a lot to offer by way of support to young people who have already demonstrated in so many ways, that they are leaders. Young people, with a little bit more support, can help realize their dream and add to that which needs to be done in this country to provide leadership. So let's all say, "Thank you Tavis Smiley." [audience: "Thank you Tavis Smiley."] I'd also like to thank the conference co-chairs: Jonathan Kwoles and Alicia Wyman for their leadership serving as conference co-chairs. That's a lot of responsibility. They first must have demonstrated that they have leadership, and they're willing to work with other young people. Give them a big round of applause – your conference co-chairs. [applause]
When I drove up this morning, one of the persons that I saw on campus getting ready to join with the young people as you were making that big picture over on the steps of the church, was a friend of mine named Harold Patrick. Now I don't know if you know Mr. Harold Patrick: he's an entrepreneur, he's here with his son, he's a leader in the business community. He's had businesses in Los Angeles and now in Memphis, Tenn., but what I like about him is, not only is he a strong parent, who gives great support to his children, he supports everybody else's children. He gives of his time and his money, he's one of the sponsors he's always in the place that he needs to be to show his support for young people and organizing others. His name is Harold Patrick, say "Thank you, Mr. Harold Patrick." [audience: "Thank you Mr. Harold Patrick."] And all of our other sponsors. [audience: "And all of our other sponsors."] It is important to thank the folks who are willing to put their money on the line, and to place themselves squarely in front of you in offering this kind of support.
What are we talking about in this conference? What are we talking about here today? When we talk about "Know Your Rights." These are big subjects; there are a lot of things to talk about. You will find as you go through this conference, your thoughts will become clearer. You'll find that there are a lot more things that you would like to say and you would like to share. And it's important that we get together, so that all of this can beg[in] to bubble up in you, and you have an opportunity to just keep soaring to new heights.
In Los Angeles, recently, there was a trial. This was a trial about police officers in the city of Inglewood. Many of you saw on television a young man being picked up, looked almost like a rag doll, and his head was slammed against a police car. His name was Donovan Jackson. And he'd been stopped by Inglewood police. Something had taken place in a service station with his father. And this incident was videotaped by a man named Mitchell Crooks. And they had an opportunity to use the information from the videotape to bring these police before the bar of justice, and have a trial to determine, whether or not, they had violated this young man's rights, whether or not he had, in fact, been abused by the police.
The trial took place I think about a week ago and it was a split decision, 7-5. And, so people were saying, "How could that happen? It was so obvious what happened to Donovan Jackson." Well, if you followed the case, you know that they bring in the expert witnesses, they analyze the tape, they make the arguments, they have a jury, and the jury decides whether or not the police officers were guilty of having violated their oath of office and abused this young man in a way that was unacceptable. Some people say, "Well, how could they not have seen what happened on that videotape?" The arguments are made and the jury decides.
Who makes up this jury? A lot of people were very, very concerned because there was only one black person on the jury. The city of Inglewood is majority minority, and majority African-American. How could this have happened? How could you get a jury with only one black, in a case where the defendants are African-American, in a city where it is majority minority and mostly black? How could this happen?
Well, most people don't know enough about the criminal justice system, and how juries are picked, to be able to understand that. First of all, you have to realize that they can pick people within a 20-miles radius of the courthouse that decided this case, and that courthouse serves not only Inglewood, but many of the cities around Inglewood in this 20-mile radius. So that, many of these citizens are predominantly white, they are beach cities, and they, too, are asked to serve as jurors on this panel. Why did so many of them get picked to serve? First of all, what's the first qualification you must have to serve on the jury? I can't hear you. [unintelligible audience response] Sorry, I didn't hear you. You should be, you must be a registered voter. Is that right? [audience: "Yes."] Why are we begging folks in the year 2003 to get registered to vote? Now, we hear a lot of rhetoric about the fact, "Oh yes, our forefathers, our ancestors, died for the right to vote." We hear it over and over again. But we also learn that when young people turn 18 years old they don't register to vote. Some of them say, "I don't want to be bothered with politics. That doesn't have anything to do with me. I don't believe in any of those political parties. I just haven't had time. I've got to go to school. I've got to work." But the fact of the matter is in this society if you don't vote, you don't count.
If you don't vote, you don't count in many, many different ways. The first thing is, you're not going to be selected to serve on anybody's jury; and so, when the cases come up about young Donovan Jackson, or anybody else where you think there could be a miscarriage of justice, when you're outraged, when you see that kind of abuse, if you're simply talking about it – not willing to register to vote – not willing to be a part of the efforts to get other people to register to vote, then you may as well shut up, because you don't count.
So, when we say, "Young people, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18-years old, you should be raring…'I can't wait until I get to be 18 so that I can register to vote, because when I register to vote, not only am I going to be willing to serve on a jury panel, I am going to be willing to exercise this right in certain ways that will help to elect people to office who will represent me, who will represent my community.' " And so, on this panel, not only are we picking from a 20-miles radius of people who are registered to vote, they receive a questionnaire. And I asked the district attorney, "Why were so many blacks maybe excluded from the jury?" He said, "Well, I want you to know, Miss Waters, the way that they filled out the questionnaire, they were not able to answer the questions in a way that showed that they could be objective, that they could be fair, that they could sit on this panel, listen to all of the information and make a good decision."
What's that all about? Ladies and gentlemen, it's simply about education. It's simply about being able to read, to understand, to reason, to answer a question and to fill out forms. The day is over when folks can say, "Well, I'm smart. I don't need to be educated, I don't need to go to college, I don't need to get a master's, I don't need to get a Ph.D." The world operates for and about educated people.
Folks who don't get educated – who cannot reason, who cannot think, who cannot fill out forms – are out of it. You cannot negotiate your environment. And the smarter you are the better it is. Not everyone is a 3-plus, a 4-plus. We understand that. But, if you cannot fill out the forms that are required today, in every aspect of our life, you going to get left behind. How many folks have sat down and filled out a package just for the Pell Grant? Know what the Pell Grant is? Student aid. How do you get some money to help supplement the money that your parents may have? How do you fill out the forms for a Stafford loan? The packets are like this [she demonstrates by holding hands far apart]. How many folks have asked their parents, what did they have to fill out in order to buy a house? The packet is like this [she demonstrates by holding hands far apart].
Whether it's a Section 8 program, student loans, purchase of a house – in this society you've got to be prepared to not only read the forms, [but to] understand the forms, answer the forms intelligently, and not be dismissed because you could not do that. Well, I believe that we can teach people the importance of being able to do all of these things. But this district attorney told me that many of the African-Americans who were required to fill out the form – to see if they could be fair and impartial – simply filled them out in ways that said that they could not be. That's because they didn't understand some of the questions on the form. We've got to get beyond this.
Now, I see a lot of young people who really can fill out a lot of forms, who should be able to, who are in school everyday. They don't like to take the time, they don't like to have to focus, but if I ask them every song that Ludacris has made or 50 Cent, they can tell ya'. If I ask them everything that's been produced by P. Diddy, they can tell you. The difference between wanting to know, wanting to be involved, understanding the power of education and being involved and not really caring is monumental. And that's what makes the difference in whether or not we are successful in our lives and in our communities.
You're here this morning and you are going to talk about rights and responsibilities. You're going to talk about police profiling. Everybody gets upset about that, but what are your rights? How many people now, at your age, have studied the Constitution of the United States? Raise your hands. [Hands go up in the audience] That document is something, not only should you know and study, but it should be the reference for your life, for the rest of your life. In that document there are guarantees in this society, in a democracy, that you must know and understand, and be willing to stand up for, and willing to fight for, to ensure that we have justice and equality in our society. This is not simply an exercise in school that you have to go through with. It's not simply an exercise about the three branches of government. You have the Bill of Rights there. You have the first ten amendments to the Constitution, that talks about freedom of speech, freedom to organize, freedom to assembly, freedom to be free of search and seizure. These things are extremely important and they're always relevant.
Today, in the Congress of the United States, we are fighting hard about this Patriot Act. The Patriot Act came about as a result of terrorism. After the attacks of 9/11 on the Twin Towers in New York and on the Pentagon here in Washington, and that plane that went down in the fields of Pennsylvania, there's been this great war on terrorism led by the president of the United States. And, of course, we were all horrified by these attacks. We were not only horrified, we were traumatized. Never we did think, in this great country, we would have anyone who would plot and plan in ways that would create the kind of death and destruction that was created that day.
Having said that, and we all understand that, then we have to talk about "how do we deal with terrorism? How do we deal with these threats?" [The] president of the United States and some others are saying, "We [have] got to be tough. We [have] got to be strong. We've got to let the world know that we will not tolerate these kinds of attacks." And they came up with laws. Out of the laws, you see such things as the Patriot Act. In the Patriot Act they tread on the rights and freedoms and the liberties of every American citizen. And, some folks just walk around everyday, not knowing, not thinking, just thinking, "Oh, they've got to go fight terrorism."
Are you willing to give up civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism? Are you willing to give up some of the gains that your ancestors have died for? Are you willing to give up some of the changes that were made in the Constitution to cover all of the people of this nation in this fight on terrorism? I don't know what your answer is, but you should not be willing to do that. In this Patriot Act, where they expand the ability to place people under surveillance, where they expand the ability to do wiretapping, where they expand the ability to invade your privacy. How many people know that if you check out books at the library that you could be targeted? And that the books that you read could, somehow, trigger the FBI and the Justice Department to start to investigate you, because you're reading books that they think are the kind of books that may lead you to commit an act, or join a group, or to do something that wouldn't be in the best interests of this country? How many people knew or know that you could be targeted for checking out a book in a library?
How many people know that your email could be under surveillance? How many people understand that the Patriot Act that I'm referring to was organized, legislated and signed off on in the name of fighting terrorism, but it goes very, very close to crossing that line. In some instances it does cross the line, and, I maintain, that it is in conflict with the United States Constitution, and if you know that, how many of you people are willing to fight to change the Patriot Act? [applause]
I would like to thank you all for being here. Some of these sessions are going to be a little long. Not all of them will be entertaining. Not all of them will be as interesting. But this opportunity, that you're being afforded, is a once in a lifetime opportunity. They didn't have this when I was a young person coming along, wondering about how the world really worked, wondering about who made the decisions, and how can I get to make some of those decisions? There were no leadership conferences; there were no Tavis Smileys, per se. At different times, in the history of this country, we've had leadership exercised in different ways. But to organize young people and bring them from all over this nation to talk about these issues – extremely important.
And you don't get to come here and go home and do nothing. Somebody has said that you've got some leadership qualities. Who, in this conference, is going to be the next president of United States? [applause] All right! Who, in this conference, is going to be the next United States senator from their state? [applause] Who, in this conference, is going to serve in the House of Representatives? [applause] Who, in this conference, is going to do what Tavis Smiley is doing, and be on the cutting edge of the issues in journalism and leadership? [applause] Who, in this conference, will be willing to take on the issues at the university that you will attend? Who will be able to be the next Cornel West? Who will be willing to take what you are learning here, take the precious talent that you have, and do something that will further the aims and goals of our people, and help us to achieve justice and equality in this country? Who is willing to do that? Who is willing to put themselves on the line? [applause]
Thank you ladies and gentlemen. I came here this morning because I believe in you. I came here this morning because, I do believe, that you're special, that you're smart, that you're intelligent, and that you understand what your responsibilities are. I really believe that. And no matter how difficult it gets in the Congress of the United States, no matter what battle we are fighting, whether it is trying to get peacekeepers into Liberia, whether it is dealing with the Patriot Act, whether it's trying to stop the consolidation in the media industry, whether it's preserving the civil rights laws and the Voting Rights Act that our ancestors fought for. Sometimes those fights are very difficult. And, sometimes, you go to bed rather disheartened that you were not able to win a battle that day. But after a good night's sleep, and an opportunity to interact the way that I am doing here with you today, I am optimistic about our future.
I'm very optimistic about your future. I do expect you to do better than the last generation. I want you to be the leaders that I know that you can be. I want you to have all of these positions of leadership. I want you to have a good quality of life. I want you to earn good money, have a great career. I want you to live well. I want your children's children to live well. Some people say, "Well can we have all of that?" Ladies and gentlemen, we can have all of that. We deserve that, and you must have it. [applause]
