T
A. Goodin
From idtigan OJronicaJ
The finding of the last
comprehensive report on the
.. "St te of Blac Michigan;
1984," compiled by the . chi­
gan Council of Urban League
E ecutive and the Center for
Urban Affain at ichigan I State
Unive ity, re grim.
It tat: "The social and
economic gap between Blac
nd White in ichigan i
id spre d and per istent and,
gi en to v: conservative eli­
m te, i likely to tay that
v: ccording to the report's
uthors.
Patterned fter the
ation Urban League's "St te
of BI c Anleric,' the in-
ugural annual report compare
unemployment and labor force
p rticip tion rate , occupational
tructure, income and poverty,
life expectancy and infant mor­
t Iity, educational aU inment
family com ition, crime and
punishment, political p rticipa­
tion of media tre tment of
81 c s nd hite in ichigan.
'VI determined is
benefitting
iety in
y' id
director of the
5
CTIO
/
ew MSU
Urban Affairs and coordinator
of the report. "All the data
clearly indicate the Black citi­
zens of ichigarr are not well
off relative to their white
counterpart ."
Dr. Karl D. Gregory, pro­
fe r of economic and man­
agement at 0 land University,
said the major conclusi on of
th report " that the gap be­
tween is indeed idening. His
work, "Th Economic Status of
Blacks in ichigan," indicate
that even while the Blac
population is increasing in the
city of Detroit at the rate of
3.1 percent a year, and in
ayne county at the rate of
7.8 percent, unempl yment i
increasing for the total Blac
population even f ter.
Gregory said his ati tics
d analysi show that with a
73 percent rate of unemploy­
ment for Bl ck teen gers, ''there
are people who ill never see a
job."
Otn r finding of the report:
ACE STILL DETE ES
HO AND ItO IS OT E -
PLOYED:
Between 1967 and' 1982,
the un mployment r te for non­
hit in ichigan re ched dou-
b digits e h ear except
AGA
ByTeny �y
USKEGO - Rebuffed th
city, the Southwe em ichigan
Southern Christian Leader hip
Conference (S CLC) filed a suit
October 17, in Federal Di trict
Court to stop the $4.1 million
Urban Development Action
Grant (UDAG) for the pro­
posed Hilton Hotel project.
Alfred illiams, Jr., director
uskegon Chapter CLC, said
that both the City of uskegon
"and HUD are named defen-
dents in the suit.
UDAG's are federal funds
given by HUD to cities to loan
for economic development. The
funds are paid back by deve­
lepers to the city for reuse
in other economic development
project.
In e ence the uit as the
court to stop HUD from giving
it
tudy'
v als
1968 and 1969 :._ two to three
time higher than the rate for
white teen- ger , the report said.
Cootin eel on 12
•
•
Iy
•
co
ro
By D' Ky
BENTO HARBOR - The
City Commi ioners too no
action on the Southwestern
Michigan Christian Leadership
Conference (SMCLC) steering
Committee's report on commun­
ity and recreation needs of
Benton Harbor resident" The
discussion turned into an emot­
ional debate over who i going to .
control the recreation needs.
Rev. Dirk Ficca, p tor of
the Fir t Presbyterian Church
of Benton Harbor and chair­
man of the SMCLC Committee,
told the commission that the
committe's recommendation is
that the present recreation board
be giv n full authority to include
matters of budgeting, personnel,
programming, planning nd
evaluation.
Th Ch rles Gray Recreation
Center pre ntly h a fi
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T
TO PAGE 3
o
the UDAG and the city from
receiving the UDAG (for th
proposed otel project until
there is a written agreement
providing for full, m aningful
minority participation in the
UDAG paybac ," Williams said.
Last month, S CLC wa
denied a similar injunction in
egon Circuit Court when
the J udge ruled the could not
jeopardize the S 1 million in
public funds that have already
been spent on the propo d
Hilton Hotel proj ct.
"The Judge did not deal
u
c
By DianaKyl
BE TO HARBOR - Are
citizen believe a six month
probationary period would be a
bar enough puni hm nt rather
than the proposed ction to
defund Berrien County Action
by the Bureau of Community
Services (BCS). •
Jame orman, director of
BCS told a crowd of about
50 people gathered for a public
he ring at the Benton Harbor
Public library, "Our purpo e
c
•
•
,r
out ftgbtin dirty
down ... "
member Board of Director
which serves only in an dvisory
capacity. Th board is com
posed of Benton H rbor rea
School and community p pie,
a 0 elected offici Is. The cur­
rent board members are: City
Commissioner Juanita E hoi ,
Ch irper n" B b Leuty. Alene
Smith Attorney Stev Small
with our basic is ue - minority
and low-incom community
participation required by
federal law ,u illiam explained.
The Judge did allow S CLC
30 d ys to get together with
the city and work out a plan
for minority involvement,
Williams "d.
"The city h ignored u "
William said. He related that
following the filing of the suit,
th city offered a plan for
minority participation that was
"meaningle ."
Contin
o
9
is not to take aw y rvices."
orman added th t rvice
will continue - but, not neces­
rily with the existing agency.
BeS provides about 70 per­
cent of BCA funds.
orman said the decision to
defund BCA wa ba d on "pro­
blem with the gency' ge eral
man em nt y tern" financi
mi -minagement; I c of effec­
tive rvice d Ii ery: failure to
fulfil its contr ctu 1 obligatio
Co' 0 3
,
,
,
BHHS athleti director
Herb Quade.
ev. Ficca noted the re­
creation st ff found favorabl
five of the " recommendations
in the committee's report.
The one we must deal
with i ecuring an autonomous
b rd to over ee all functions
of per onnel, funding and bud­
geting," Rev. Ficc said.
City an er Elli Mitchell
told the commi sion that "H
" appalled th t the center which
was nothing two year ago, h
come to where it i today,
it is an insult to even h ve
(S CLC) recommendation con­
sidered."
, e are maximizing the cen­
ter with the amount of dollars
we have," itchell added.
Carl Bro n, director of Pub-
lic orks and Recre tion r-
vice said, 'There