e
- The num-
of Blac elected officials
ro by 6.2% nationwide I t
ye r, reports the Joint Center
for Political Studies, which h
conducted 'an annual censu of
Blac official ince J 970. Be­
tween January 1984 and Jan­
uary 1985, the total number
increa d from 5,700 to 6056.
Las ye r's increase as 1.7%.
The outh ain w the
largest gain, 85% of the increa
in the region with 53 p rcent
of the country' BI ck popu­
lation and 63 percent of all
Black elected officials.
Alabam had a net gain of
61; South Carolin , 47; Geor­
gi, 39; and Louisiana, '57.
Loui iana, here 27 percent of
the voting-age population i
Blac , remains the state with
the largest number of Black
el cted officials - 475 -
lowed by issi ippi, with a 31
percent BI ck oting-age popula­
tion and 444 Blac official.
The incre ere spre d
ero all levels of office ex-
cept federal, where Katie Hall's
(0- ) defeat in the ay 1984
primary reduced the number of
Blac members of Congres to
20.
The number of Black mayors
incre d by 31, to 286 -
CLOSED
Citizen 0
do
27, 198�
Day.
VOL. VII
ae
LANSING - Three st te
legislators will try for th 0
third tim this dec de to force
ichigan to devert 2 billion in
pension fund invested in corn­
panie doing busine in South
Africa. The bill i to prote t
South Africa's policy of apar ..
theid r r cia! separ tion. '
. At a y 20 press con-
ference, Rep. Virgil Smith (0-
Detroit) noted, ''We would
rather have Michigan go on
record not participating in
the partheid system and not
upporting th t sy tern. '
Other co-sponsors of th bill
are Reps. Perry Bullard (D­
Ann Arbor) and elson S un­
der (D-Detroit).
/SOUTH LEADS THE WAY
the large t Incre e of any year
since the center began counting.
Black elected officials remain
disproportionately concentrated
in municipal offices - mostly
city councils; orne 48 percent
of Blac officials are municipal
officials, while only 27 percent
of all elected officials fall in
that category.
Some significant firsts in
1984:
- ew York State gained its
first Black mayor: Ron ld ·A.
Blackwood, in Mount Vernon.
-Penn ylvania got it first
Bl ck woman state nator:
Ro nne Jones, from Philadel­
phia. Yvonne Miller of orfolk,
Virginia, i the first BI ck
woman since Reconstruction to
win election to the st te House
of Delegate. Oregon got its first
Black woman in the st te legisla­
ture: M rgaret Carter, from
Portland.
-AI bam elected its first
Black woman judge, 10 Celeste
P ttway.
Despite the firsts and the
6.2 percent overall increase,
however, Black elected official
continue to be concentrated in
Black majority districts and
o generally depend on the Black
electorate for victory.
The number of Bl ck woman
o in office continues to grow at
I f er rate than the numb r of
Bl ck men. In January 1985,
there were 1,358 Black women
in office, increase of 99,
or 8 percent, 0 er the previous
year - compared to a 5.7
percent increase for Black male
officeholders. Bl ck women
now make up 22.4 percent of
all Blacks in elective office.
C 0
B.H. THAN S PALS
MUSKEGO HO OR STUDE
-TURN TO PAGE 4
The call for di estiture of
state employe pension funds -
which face an uphill battle in
the Legisl ture - would affect
nearly a quarter of th state's
$10 billion in retirement mon­
ies for uch workers as public
school employe, tate em­
ployes, police officers and
judges, aid Robert Bowman
state treasurer.
The bill would phase in
divestiture over five years.
Rick Cole, Gov. Blanch rd's
pre s secretary, said it as' a
little premature" to di u the
newest divestitute attempt, al­
though Blanchard 1a year said
- he doubted the wisdom of
divestitur .
Wayne County Executive Wil­
liam Lucas, a potential GOP
gubernatori candidate in 1986,
said' he would oppose any di­
ve iture plans.
Speaking at pre con-
ference in Lansing, Lucas - d
the tate would "lose much of
the influence it c n have" by
withdrawing tho investments.
State employe pension funds
are invested in such companies
as General otors Corp., Ford
otors 'Co., Dow Chemical Co. _
and Kellogg Co., all of which
do busine in South Africa.
According to Bullard five
states, 20 citie and many uni­
versitie - including ichigan
State University - h ve dive ted
1 3 billion in cornpani with
South Africa holdings.
He said keeping investm nts
in firms operating in South
Africa could jeopardize the p n­
sion funds' value.
, ith over $2 billion at
ris in South Africa, and the
anger that' pent up there at
the United State' support of the
hite minority government we
can only imagine what the 10
in value to the state employe
pension fund will be if e do
not divest no ," Bullard id.