The Occupy Philly People of Color Anti-Curfew Subcommittee opposes the upcoming Philadelphia curfew law for a variety of reasons, including:
1. We believe that the city has failed to provide safe and healthy structures for youth to learn, play, and thrive – coupled with a poverty rate over 25% in philly, and the highest incarceration rate in the country (which means lots of kids’ parents are locked up – it’s normal that youth are frustrated and creating channels to express their discontent). It’s not the youth’s fault – it’s the city’s fault, and our nation’s fault.
2. We understand that the curfew creates a law in which a parent or child can be imprisoned for 3 months because a teenager might have stayed out too late. We do not believe that incarceration helps children or parents, but rather interferes with their education, family structure, employment, and life opportunities. We do not see imprisonment as a justifiable penalty for staying out too late.
3. We believe that the law is intentionally deceptive – statistics show that, nationally, violence by juveniles has plummeted to a record low. Research studies have shown that there is no evidence that curfews prevent crime and victimization. This is an awful policy that does nothing to solve the problem and causes of youth violence, and will not make communities safer other than the rich/middle class White Communities.
4. We believe that the youth curfew is racist and classist – it’s only implemented and enforced among poor communities of color. Like Stop and Frisk, we believe it will only lead to the detainment and incarceration of poor kids of color and their parents. We have already noted examples in which kids with jobs have been illegally fined and detained for breaking curfew, with little to no opportunity for recourse.
5. We believe that the youth of Philly are the future of Philly. They are the 99%. And they are 100% of the future. They deserve to participate responsibly with others to create democratic change. The curfew limits this possibility.
6. We denounce the state budget, which as slashed funding for education in PA by over $600 million. That money is being used to build 3 new giant prisons in PA. Instead of punishing poor youth of color who have had every obstacle set before them, and instead of funneling them into prisons at alarming rates, the city and federal government should take the money being spent on prisons and spend it on education, healthcare, and services for youth
7. As Occupiers, we believe that the Occupation movement is about the way that both local and national politics exploit the 99% (often in different ways). Racism has always been used to divide the working class in America. We need to challenge racist laws in order build unity among the 99% who are struggling to wake up from an economic nightmare – disproportionately people of color who have been economically disenfranchised since slavery and it’s continued legacy today – in order to create fundamental change and economic justice.
8. We believe that this law poses a threat to undocumented immigrants and adults of color who are escorting minors in the city — by detaining children, this puts adults in direct conflict with police officers. Also, minors can only legally be accompanied by parents/guardians after curfew is over.
9) We believe that all Philadelphian citizens should be able to move freely throughout the city – in limiting the movement of youth, we are also restricting them to the poor and less safe areas of the city. We vehemently oppose this backdoor approach to enforcing a widespread segregation and caging of Philadelphia’s youth, and believe it echo the Black codes and slave codes of America’s history.
10) We believe that the $500 fines and 3 month prison terms for violating curfew levied disproportionately on poor people of color also contribute to the rise of “debtors’ prisons” and drive up the rising costs of incarceration.
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Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 