The Navajo and Uranium Radiation

After looking further into the effects of depleted uranium on our troops and the civilians in war torn regions around the world, I decided to look even closer. What’s happening here, when, where and to whom? Well what I found is one part shocking and one part par for the course of U.S. history.

In September 1990, a meeting was held at the Cove Chapter house of the Navajo Indian Nation. This meeting was held because in the 1940’s and 1950’s American Indians from the local community mined uranium ore from the hills around the Cove for the atomic weapons program of the United States of America. Now the area is the location of a cluster of lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses, all related to uranium exposure.

For two days inside the Chapter house, the Navajo’s listened to testimony from former miners and relatives of the miners who had past away. The United States Congress had just passed a law authorizing cash payments to some of the miners or their family members who could prove the miners had received a certain level of exposure to radiation in the mines and who then subsequently developed lung cancer or one of the other horrible respiratory diseases.

The meeting of the Navajo was conducted almost entirely in the Navajo language. Along with the testimony of the surviving members, there were also presentations by the Navajo Nation’s Abandoned Minelands Reclamation Project and also by the tribe’s Office of Navajo Uranium Workers. They were all attempting to deal with the aftermath of uranium mining in the area, including identifying hundreds of mining sites in the area, compiling a registry of all tribal mines and mill workers, assisting with the complicated claims process for compensation, and improving health services for the many sick and injured people.

At first it was a bit of a mystery as to why there was so much lung disease in the community, but by now it is understood that, many miners have died because the uranium ate at their lungs. This is tragic for the Navajo Nation >then, now and in the future. For a more thorough account of the struggle of the Navajos and to obtain some measure of relief from the problems caused by uranium mining check out the book “If You Poison Us: Uranium and Native Americans” by Peter H. Eichstaedt.

Hopefully we can bring attention to this issue both here and abroad. After all, this effects each and every one of us someday, sooner or later.

Ban Depleted Uranium

After Veteran’s Day came and went, I kept reading about the various concerns that our troops face both home and abroad. They struggle with maintaining their health care coverage, getting the psychiatric services that they need due to PTSD, and struggle to find an adequate job in order to support their families in a severely weakened American economy. These are just a few of the major issues that face our troops here.

Do our troops have adequate protection and care while on tour duty? What kinds of chemicals are our troops being exposed to during warfare? Are they safe? This led me to look harder. I started talking to a few Veterans that I know and asked them what they thought and what they were working on. The answer is: Depleted Uranium and the controversy behind it. So, what is depleted uranium, what’s it used for and why should we care?

Well, the United Nations has declared DU an illegal weapon. The European Union has passed a resolution calling for a global moratorium and ban on the production and use of DU munitions. For many years, the U.S. government and our military have suppressed and discredited research and information on DU munitions (just as they did with Agent Orange). DU is currently being manufactured here and elsewhere. It’s being used by our military in Iraq and Afghanistan and presents a national and global public health threat that we need to confront.

Depleted Uranium is a chemically toxic radioactive heavy metal that is 1.7 times the density of lead. It’s the waste remaining after the process of enriching uranium that’s used in nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons. Thousands of tons of the waste is recycled to weapons manufacturers by the U.S. government for use in M-16 shells, and other munitions, and to manufacturers of military tanks and vehicles as armored shields. As effective DU is as a penetrating explosive weapon and shielding device, its effects are much more far-reaching as long-term poisonous residuals in human bodies, soli, water, and air. When a DU round hits a hard target, as much as 70% of the projectile can burn on impact, creating a firestorm of depleted uranium oxides. The residue of this explosion is an extremely fine insoluble uranium dust. The term “depleted” is greatly deceptive. Scientific research has shown DU to have a half-life of billions of years. The dust can be spread by the wind, inhaled and absorbed into the human body and absorbed by plants, animals, and soli. Breathable uranium oxides often result in various cancers and other maladies and in birth defects as they are passed genetically to offspring.

Numerous websites contain definite research and information on DU, including http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/en/index.html.

Information can also be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium.

Recent research on the binding of low level uranium to human DNA which leads to various cancers and the work of Diane Stearns, Northern Arizona University biologist, can be found at http://nacrp.web.arizona.edu/research/.

Also, Veterans for Peace, Inc. are actively involved in circulating petitions and gathering signatures for Congress in order to get a moratorium on DU munitions which would hopefully lead to a ban!

Watch this video on to learn more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWTJ1let0so&feature=related

Prison Slave Labor!

Human rights organizations, political and social ones (including the United Nations), are condemning what they call “a new form of inhumane exploitation in the United States”. For the entrepreneurs who have invested in the prison industry, it has been a gold mine. There is mass labor performed with very little overhead. The corporations that oversee the prison (slave) labor, don't have to worry about strikes or paying unemployment insurance, vacations or comp time. All of their workers are full-time employees, never arrive late and if they don't like the pay of 25 cents an hour and refuse to work, they are locked up in isolation cells.

There are approximately 2 million inmates in state, federal and private prisons throughout the country. According to California Prison Focus, "no other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its own citizens." Statistics show that the United States holds 25% of the world's prison population, but only 5% of the world's people. Ten years ago there were only five private prisons in the country, with a population of 2,000 inmates; now, there are 100, with 62,000 inmates.

What has happened over the last 10 years? Why are there so many prisoners?

The private contracting of prisoners for work creates incentives to jail people. Prisons depend on this income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prison labor, lobby to change laws to reflect longer sentences. The Prison Industrial Complex is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States.

Prison labor has its roots in slavery. And today, a new set of racist laws are seen in the inequality of drug laws and their subsequent convictions. The classic example is the difference between possessing one gram of powder cocaine or one gram of crack cocaine.

Who is investing in the prison industrial complex and prison slave labor?

At least 37 states have legalized the contracting of prison labor by private corporations. The list of companies include: IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Nordstrom's, Revlon, Macy's, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more. Also recently, a (former) Oregon State Representative urged Nike to cut its production in Indonesia and bring it to his state, telling the shoe company that "there won't be any transportation costs; we're offering you competitive prison labor.” This is legalized slavery!

http://www.unicor.gov/about/overview/ ...When the prisoners work, so does the system!

The Prison Industrial Complex.

The United States is the world leader in incarceration of people and the construction of prison compounds. The idea to jumpstart the Prison Industrial Complex was born out the 80’s and continues to boom today, nationally.

Why though has there been and continues to be so much $ dumped into a punitive system rather than a rehabilitative one? Why does America lead the world in people per capita in prisons- beyond Israel, China, France, Japan and India? Are we honestly more morally corrupt as a culture compared to the rest of the world? And why is the state of California leading the nation in prison construction while education spending is at an all time low?

There are lots of reasons why the PIC exists here in the US:

• Money has been and continues to be consistently pulled out of and away from Mental Health services which led to the closing of state mental hospitals. Evidence shows that an enormous number of prisoners suffer from mental illness. This just goes to show that there has been a shift in how we, as a country, deal with mental health issues. Mental Health is clearly seen as a criminal issue rather than a health concern.
• There is a criminalization of a whole host of social problems: mental illness, poverty, low education, unemployment, gender inequality, racial profiling and racism, etc.
• It is a ‘for profit’ capitalist venture. The US is a capitalistic country. The focus is on $, job growth, political gain, etc.
• There were waves of legislation in the 1980’s brought about ‘tougher on crime’ laws for gang behavior, drugs, weapons, etc. Two examples are the Rockefeller Laws and mandatory minimums. These were considered “sentence enhancements”.
• The prison system is a completely punitive system by design. There are little-to-no programs in place that encourage rehabilitation. The goal is not to decrease recidivism rates among offenders but rather, ‘catch and release’. This “catch and release” system may partly explain why California has one of the highest recidivism rates in the country, and has led many people to refer to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as the “Hotel California—you can check out, but you seldom leave.”
• The PIC is considered a waste management system in that it gets rid of our ‘social junk’.

Poverty increases the likelihood of incarceration because money equals opportunity/options referring to the ability to post bail, hire private attorneys, and acquire additional resources if needed. Therefore, Race is a major piece of the puzzle since minority populations are usually less affluent than whites.

There are 170,000 felons behind bars in California and keeping them housed is expensive. Over time, huge amounts of money are being diverted from education and health to fund the broken prison system. Without attention to rehabilitation, people are funneled in and out of human warehouses that can create entire generations of future criminals.

The Overwhelming Existence of Disproportionality

What is it? Disproportionality is the ratio/stat that shows an over or under representation of a particular race or cultural group within a particular system compared to the rest of the general population. In an eye opening training today, we discussed this topic with regards to different programs, such as child protective services, juvenile justice, and the criminal justice system.

Going farther with a glimpse into the Child Welfare system, a higher percentage of African-American children are removed from their homes, a lower percentage are successfully reunited with their families, and a higher percentage age out of foster care without an adoptive family or other permanent placement. Why is this?

Could disproportionality be a symptom of a larger social problem? Could it be that the reason these children are not reunited with their family as often as other children in the foster system is due to their Black parents being over represented in the prison system? In fact, many of these parents lose their children due to unrelated issues than being abusive parents. It is fairly common knowledge pertaining to drug laws and the difference in sentencing with regards to possessing crack cocaine verses powder cocaine. It is also commonly understood which racial group is affiliated with which drug and the difference in sentencing gram per gram. Within the CWS, parents have a limited time to fulfill requirements in getting their children back, usually only have six months for babies and two years for older children. After which time, they lose their parental rights.

Why is there a higher percentage that age out of foster care without an adoptive family or other permanent placement? Stats show that it is harder and takes much longer to place a ‘child of color’ than it does a white child. Similarly but less dispraisingly, it is easier to place a female than a male in child protective custody.

Poverty in and of itself is a major risk factor. According to Scales and Streeter in Rural Social Work: Building and Sustaining Community Assets, “for a majority of Americans the question is not if they will experience poverty, but when.” Census numbers show that there are more Caucasian people in America than African Americans and because of this, there should be more poor white people than there are poor black folks. However, according to Scales and Streeter, “nearly two-thirds of all Americans and more than 90% of African-Americans will experience at least one year of living below the poverty line.” Why is there such a disparity? Could it be the lack of proper education in their neighborhoods, health care availability, employment opportunities, environmental hazards around ghettos, etc?

What can we do about it? First, we can acknowledge its existence and create trainings that inform staff and community members. We can increase staff diversity. We can work more diligently towards connecting children in the system with a permanent placement. Recruit more foster and adoptive families of color while diligently searching for absent or unidentified parents and extended relatives. And of course, work to change state and federal policies surrounding unfair drug laws.

Another point of interest, is the inverse of African American children being over represented within CWS compared to whites while Asian children are largely under represented. Why? Are they being over looked based on good behavior and lack of obvious poverty? And therefore, not coming into the system? Or, culturally are they as parents doing something better more productive than everyone else? These are questions worth asking and answers that are desperately needed for the health and emotional safety of all children!

Never Just One Person, One Step or One Stage

Social work is never, nor could it ever be, done alone. It is a social skill, a social service and a society endeavor. We work to support each other in the field, help one another to brainstorm effective efforts, and implement evidence-based practices that stem from the research of many.

Social workers use a series of steps to help clients resolve their problems. These steps include: collecting information about the client (assessment), making sense out of the information (diagnosis), collaborating with the client to develop a plan to change the problem (the treatment plan), and determining whether the process has been helpful (evaluation).

The type of helping relationship that we develop with our clients is a direct reflection of how the social work process will help the individual or group with which we are working. In my mind, it is imperative that a positive and cooperative relationship is developed between the social worker and their clients. This is done through showing empathy, genuine authenticity, and unconditional positive regard for the client. This is the recipe of a true helping relationship.

In Community Practice: Theories and Skills for Social Workers, they discuss the difference between task and process which are both key to accomplishing the objectives of a group. Task is the subject or content of what is on hand to discuss or address. The process is the dynamics of the group’s interactions and nature of developed relationships. For a group to be successful, both task and process need to be attended to. Both task and process are accomplished through the stages of group development known as: forming, storming, norming, and performing. These stages can be linear but are often cycled back through from one stage to the next as the group carries onward from one meeting to the next. A successful group is one that tends to the agreed upon task while supportive relationships develop along the way.

Community Development, Locally & Internationally.

The profession of Social Work promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people. There are critical issues facing our entire world in both wealthy nations and developing countries. It is with deep hope and prayer that people everywhere, each and every one of us, will soon begin to take matters, even a small step, into their own hands. Each one of us can lend a humanitarian hand to a particular cause that moves us. We as social workers have chosen to dedicate our careers to causes such as: alleviating hunger, providing shelter for the houseless, providing aid to refuges in war torn regions, protecting the environment, advocating for human rights, and implementing conflict resolutions to end violence.

The principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work. People need to be educated about what public, private, governmental and social service resources exist to provide aid and assistance to people in need. Even beyond the awareness of a programs existence is the knowledge of how to navigate the, often complicated, systems already in place. Identifying a community’s resources is the first step to positive change!

In Rural Social Work: Building and Sustaining Community Assets, sustainability was discussed in that there exists an irrefutable connection and dependence between humans and their environment. And, this connection is securely tied to economic and social development. That being said, the environment is taking the brunt of the overwhelming global development and it needs protection. This protection must come from policy change in and between nations as well as the education among all humans in how to access and conserve resources. Environmental protection through sustainability is a global issue that is on the table for discussion at both the G20 summit in Pittsburg, discussing the global economy, and at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhegan in December (http://en.cop15.dk/).

There are endless ways to get involved both locally AND internationally. For ideas in and around Humboldt County visit: http://reachouthumboldt.org/

For ideas to help internationally through volunteer opportunities or employment try:

http://www.idealist.org/ or www.peacecorps.gov. J