Obama Pardons Turkeys, but Not People: What Does That Mean?

This week, the president made me laugh. That was saying a lot at the time, given that I was exhausted from traveling across the country for Thanksgiving. The source of my entertainment was the president's annual turkey pardon, in which he pardoned four turkeys, thus saving them from the fate that typically befalls turkeys at this time of the year. Being endangered and running from extinction, I figured that this is one thing that turkeys and black men have in common.

One of the things that got my attention was a very telling statistic about our president. After being in office for 22 months, the president has not granted or denied a single pardon. The only other president in recent history to have granted such a small number of pardons this deep into his presidency was Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.

The Office of the Pardon Attorney receives applications for presidential pardons. On their website, they reported that the president has neither granted nor denied any pardon requests that have been sent to him. Since Obama was elected, there have been 494 requests for pardons. This brings the total number of pending requests up to 1,140. The president formally denied 71 of those requests last month, but the denials have not yet been released onto the website.

"It may be that your advisers have cautioned that extending clemency to humans is politically risky, and discouraged you from acting favorably on any of the hundreds of pending applications that await your consideration," said Pardon Attorney Margaret Colgate Love in an open letter. "But this advice is at best shortsighted."

Love goes on to argue that productive citizens are still hindered from moving on with their lives because of old criminal records and the subsequent disenfranchisement experienced by those who've been convicted of a crime. I would argue that it is especially ironic that our first black president has not used his power to pardon deserving citizens given the devastating impact that the criminal justice system has on the African American community. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there are currently 846,000 black men in prison. This constitutes 40 percent of the prison population. Ironically, we are only 13 percent of the general population, leaving millions of children to be raised without a father. Many of these convictions are connected to draconian laws against drug possession, the three strikes law in California and the well-documented sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine.

Not only should President Obama grant more presidential pardons, the pardon system should be expanded to take into account non-violent citizens who've been convicted under antiquated and counter-productive legislation. To date, quite a few pardons are granted to those with connections and wealth. But perhaps a symptom of real "hope and change" could be the sharing of such privilege with the masses, thus making a presidential statement about the state of our criminal justice system. We must remember that the 13th Amendment, which abolishes slavery, actually states that slavery is not abolished if you've been convicted of a crime. So, the use of cheap prison labor to make products for corporations, with the bulk of this labor being black, tells us quite clearly that our prison system is nothing more than modern day slavery. If Obama truly wants to preside in the memory of his hero, Abraham Lincoln, perhaps he can have the courage to be the first president in history to truly abolish slavery in America.

President Obama is a black man, a liberal and an attorney who has spent a significant amount of time in Chicago. If anyone understands the challenges of black men in prison, it should be him. In light of the fact that the greatest evidence of Americanized apartheid occurs in the prison, educational and economic systems in America, most of us should fully expect President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to directly confront these systems that work to destroy the African American community. The question becomes whether or not Obama's loyalty to the Democratic Party, himself or his bid for re-election supersedes his desire to help other black men like himself. President Obama may only have two more years to be the most powerful man in the world. I truly hope he doesn't allow politics as usual to cause him to miss his opportunity to make black history in ways that are more than symbolic.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.