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By J ph P rkins
Reprinted from The Wall Street
Journal, Oct. 16, 1984 issue
ASHI GTO - "Th re is
n anti-BI ck mood and an
economic probl m that mu t
ddre. E en if Reagan gets
kicked out, what you hav in
this country . a whole new
mind-set. The que ion' for us
ho ill best cushion
Blac 1" So said Parren Mit­
c ll, a sixth-term BI ck con­
gre man, at last month's
.legislative conference- of the
Congr ional Blac Caucus. As
one might expect at such a de­
cidedly liberal gathering, the
brickbat Rep. J Mitchell and
other orted Black leaders
hurled at the' pre ident, and at
conservativ in general, were
'well received by the 15,000
conferees.
After the breast-beating
about the plight of Black Ameri­
cans, the caucus conferee pro­
ceeded to- make merry, like any
other group of conventioneers,
at a host of frivolous activities,
among them· a $200-a-plate
black-tie dinner, a concert cost­
ing $75 a ticket and a fashion
silo at $40 a head. All told,
the Black Caucu netted more
than $1 million during the four­
d yaffair.
Yet, even in the face of this
unabashed display of prosperity,
the message resounded from the
podium; Black are much worse
off no than they were four
year go. Blac leader have
found that such assertions play
ell to liberal audiences, and
they have been quite effective
in getting political mileage out
of them.
And, indeed, they can pro­
duce studie to pport their
contention - such as the
one rele d two ks ago by
the Center on Budget and
Policy Prioritie, which sug-
ted the the policies pursued
by the Reagan administration
"actually make Blac Americans
or off economically and
divide them further from white
America. '
But Black leaders may be
coming to the end of -the road
here socioeconomic . ues are
concerned, because their gloomy
rhetoric about the state of
Blac in America ju does
not jibe with what Blacks
themselve think.
bout month ago, the
Joint Center for Policy Stud­
ie , ashington-based outfit
that wrights Black i sues, re­
leased a survey - conducted
on it behalf by the G llup
organization - showing that
54% of Blacks feel they are
doing well as or better than
they them elve were doing four
years ago. The survey also
found that 6 % of Blacks think
that the ituation of Black
American in general . the
same or better than it was five
years ago.
Black leaders react in trad­
itionally knee-jerk liberal fash­
ion to issue aero the board,
even though, in general, Black
Americans are decidedly con-
rvative on a number of issues.
es
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I
teni
s 0
ac
e
government action, and require
for their succe ful re elution
ctions hich can only be
undertaken by the Black com­
munity itself."
Black leaders, particularly
Blac Caucus members, spent
much of the past 12 months
assailing everything and every­
body conservative. That energy
was so needle ly sq uandered
when I the leaders could have
been, working to produce a
truly progressive agenda that
would have attracted bipartisan
support and ultimately bene­
fit d their con tituency. They
The Black Caucus for example,
advocates a "right" to .abortion,
for ed busing and bans on
organized school prayer f whereas
62% of Blac oPPO abortion
ational Opinion Research Cen­
ter, 1984), 52% opposed busing
(Associated Pre 1983) and
71% upport school prayer
(Gallup, 1984).
Black leaders explain away
the incongruity of their public
po tures and the feelings of
their constituencies by saying
that their constituent - How­
ever earnest and well inten­
tioned - are often unable to
appreciate the complexities of
certain issues. An aide to a
Black Caucus member cites a
recent c . During House de­
liberation over legislation to
effectively overturn the Supreme
Court' Crove City ruling, she
fielded much correspondence
urging her boss to vote against
the legislation. The letter
writers evidently felt that the
primary beneficiaries of the
legislation would not be Blacks,
but groups that have para­
sitically latched onto the civil­
rights movemen t - such as
gays. The congre man poon-
poohed that notion and sup-
ported the legislation anyway.
And he instructed the aide to
draft a letter explaining to his
constituents how unenlightened
they were, that he was voting
for it for their sake.
Such condescending thinking,
which is pervasive not only
among Black Caucu members
but among the Black leader­
ship in general; pointedly calls
attention to the hism be­
tween Black leaders and their
followers. For Black leaders have
demonstrated not only a pro­
pensity to ignore the fellings
of their constituency on numer­
ous issues, but a predilection
to promote liberal - of ten­
time r dical - policies for
the "sake" of Black Americans
in general, and particularly the
Black poor.
"The question should be
raised . .. to how the Black
poor are to be benefited by the
policy actions extracted from
the system in their name,"
wrote Glenn C. Loury, a Har­
vard University public-policy
professor, in an article published
thi past summer in the U.S. Editor:
Civil Rights Commission' quar- Being a citizen of Benton
terly journal, ew Perspectives. Harbor, and also a white female,
"The evidence of which I am I felt very strongly when I read
aware suggests that, for many the "Co pi ng/I nti midati on "
of the most hotly contested article by Dr. Charles W. Faulk-
public policies advocated by ner.
Black spokesmen, not much . First, I can certainly say I
benefit 'trickles down' to the relate to the first paragraph in
Black poor. the story - I attended high
Mr. Loury further contended school at Mt. Carmel High
that most of the problems that School on the South Side of
confront undercl Blacks - the Chicago, and this "intimidation"
group Black leaders yelp loud- door swings both ways. For
est for - "will not go away one, being white in a predomi-
with . . . the election of a nately Black school system,
liberal Democrat to the presi- the problems of being accepted,
dency, or with the doubling in whether in cia or in extra-
size of the Congressional Black curricular groups was unheard
Caucus." Rather, he argued, of. Try as one may, it just
"It is now beyond dispute that wasn't in the cards to 'be one
many of the problems of con- of the student body. "
temporary (Black) life lie be- In relation to the second
yond the reach of effective subject covered by Dr. Faulk-
NOVEMBER 7 - 13. 1984 THE CITIZE
PAGE FIVE
might have promoted, among
other initiatives: tuition tax
credits, s that poorer Blacks
could shop around for the best
chools for ther kids, like the
privileged Black leader do; en­
terprise zones, which would
encourage busine development
and job creation in the inner
cities; deregulation of small
busine , to open up currently
restricted markets to Blacks and
others; a ub-minimum wage,
which �ould encourage em­
ployers to hire unskilled Blac
teen-agers; stronger measures to
help alleviate the acute crim
Amerca
problem in the inner citie .
One day, in the not -too­
distant future perhaps, Blac
will realize that their curr t
leaders have led them do n a
de dend street. They m y
tart to look or a group of
fresh thinker who appreciate
the importance of having Black
march in step with the re of
Am rica. Then, and only then,
will the probl m the current
Black le dership rails gainst
o frequently be constructively
addre d.
Reader shares article
Editor,
I often read The Citizen to
give me a second picture of the
community and enjoy purchas­
ing it from some of the young
entrepreneur you field.
Your articles have improved
a great deal since you started
employing staff writers but one
still finds mispellings as "fowl"
for "foul" in Diana Kyles
page one article on 1 0 October.
In regard to your article on
page four, The Black Dilemma,
you may wish to consider a
counter outlook, Are Black
Leaders Listening to America",
for which a copy is attached
from the Wall St. Journal
16 October. -The Journal might
be happy to give penni ion for
you to reprint this, and I lso
enclosed their address. If you
need help in this regard pie
let me know.
Very truly your
Howard J. Schmitt
251 Cherokee Tr 1
Benton Harbor
Go+ Four Mor"
90.
Reader respondsto Coping article
,
ner, please understand the men­
tality of your average doorman I
bouncer. This person is usually
a big, beefy type who doesn't
have to use his brains, just his
brawn, in his line of work.
It is also this kind of person who
would cau e problem for
minority patrons, or anyone
who he just doesn't like the
looks of. This mentality, thank
the Lord, does not apply to the
thinking class. Unfortunately,
I cannot" apologize for the other
who have no excuse but their
own ignorance.
As far as the Reagan Ad­
mini tration and their attitude
towards minorities, the elderly,
the poor, women, and anyone
who has less that a $70,000
per year income, Dr. Faulkner
has hit that nail right on the
head. If Reagan i allowed
another four years in office,
we can kiss humanity goodby�.
If a war doe 't kill us all,
neglect from our own govern­
ment will.
The attitude Dr. Faulkner
conveys I one of great anger,
one that tells what he ha
been through in his own life.
May this burden of anger and
hate be lifted from Dr. Faulk­
ner and others who feel he
does - it is damaging to ones
self to u his obviously creati ,
intelligent energy in uch a nega­
tive fashion. But if his article
can help one per on try to
overcome such treatment, or
even better, try to understand
it d do what one can th
more power to him.
Sincerely,
Kathleen arch
Benton Harbor � I