AUGUST 16-22,1987 THE MICHIGAN CITIZEN
3
ayor nixes KKK parade reques
EATONVILLE, FI..A
Eatonville, . ch distinguis
itself the oldest Black city
I in the n ti began i centen­
nial celebr . n on August 8.
The official birthday is
August 18 for the city Qf 3,000
residents °ch· 98 percent
Black d has been under
Bl contro since 1887.
Offici 0 the area Ku Klux
Klan requested a permit to
march in an agus 15 parade
"to honor the city of mostly
B cks, " but was promptly
rejected
Eatonville Mayor Abraham
Gordan said, "the KKK will not
and ne r . take part in our
celebration. Tbey want to use
Eatonville to get favorabfe
publicity becaue of their
recent financial and member­
ship problems."
A federal judge recently
awarded an Alabama Black
oman S7 million damages
resulting from a lawsuit she
filed against the Klan for the
lynching of her son. The court
Ii t e ection holds some
The Michigan Chapter of
the A. Philip Randolph In­
stitute (APRI) are hosting
their second Annual United
Michigan APRI Memorial
Dinner on September 18, 1987
at the Radisson Hotel, 111
orth Grand Avenue,
downtown I .ansiQg, Michigan.
Honorees for the evening
include William "Bill" Mar-
shall, Presi dent Emeritus,_
gave her the Klan head­
quarters building as partial
payment on the $7 million.
The suit has left the KKK
bankrupt.
Black mayors from all over
the nation have been invited
to attend the celebration
which will last throughout all
011987.
Eatonville is in the process
of raising S3OO,OOO to build a
town hall.
Eatonville was the
birthplace of ora Hurston,'
author and inspira ion to Put­
lizer prize author, Alice
Walker.
Candida e crltl cizes
control of deba es
YORIC - Blac in-
dependent Pre idential candidate
Dr. Lenora Fulani joined the
League of "'omen Voters in
blasting the announcement that
the 19 general election Presi­
dential debate will be under
the ab lute c ntrol of the
Republican and Dem rati
partie.
The League pon rs f the
debates since 1976 char ed that
Democratic ational hairman
Paul and hi Republican
c unterpart Frank arenk pf
ere only intere ted in con­
trolling th debate for the
benefit of their respective candi­
dates and at the expen f
discussion of substantive politi­
cal issues.
Fulani's respon to the
Democratic/Republican debate
plan was swift. ir and
Farenkopf announced that
though no major third party
candidate is m ing a bid for
the Presidency, the bipartisan
advisory committee ill' under­
take careful study and scrutiny'
to adopt standards should a
viable third' party candidate
enter the race.
Charged Fulani ' ir 's and
Farenkopf's announcement is a
measure of how far the major
parties are illing to go to
suppress the democratic rights
of viable third party candi­
dates to be heard by the
American public." .
"I am concerned that the
criteria - which are being
developed by an explicitly anti­
independent commission - will
rve to exclude rather than
include," she continued.
• There are clear objective cri­
teria that could be employed
G ay cha lenges
imprlso ed c
o
ASH GTO - U.S. Rep.
illiam H. Gray, III D-Pa.
hallenged President Reagan to
end hi silence and put pre-
re n uth frica to free
hundred of young people fr m
its jails.
Testifying before the House
ubcommittee on Africa on
July 29, Gray said:
'hen regime begin to
rre t children detain them,
ne
Michigan State AFlrCIO, Ir­
ving Bluestone, (former VA W
Vice Preesident), Professor,
Wayne State University,
Gloria Cobbin, Tri-County
Legislative Staff, Staff
Representative, AFSCME
Council 25 President, Detroit
Board of Education, Helen
Pratt Mickens, Assistant
Dean, Cooley Law School,
Joel I Ferguson,
physically abuse them - which
has been documented by the
Lawyer' Committee for Human
Rights a well as ur 0 n
State Department - the nited
tates ha fundamental duty
to sp up 1 udly nd learJ
to say where we s nati n
tand.
hy ha this great nati n
been silent ith regard to
the impri nment of nearly
000 hildren in uth fric?
I think all of u kn that if
1 000 children had been Im­
pri ned under the same set of
circumstance under the same
kind of flimsy excu in the
Soviet Union every memb r of
thi b dy - and rightl
would have protested that
action. hen you incarcerate
anyone unjustly, it is a threat
to ju rice throughout our
world."
, e have a responsibility
in thi Congre to spe loud­
ly when an admini ration re-
ch a the numb r tate
that a candidate pp ar n
the ballot in and a andidate
capacity to achieve the fund­
raising thresholds t quality f r
federal matching fund. The
criteria w uld ea ily di tinguish
who is a viable independ nt
candidate.
ee ing the nominati n of
the Blac -led rnulti-ra ial e
Allian e Party Fulani wa
voi ed her determinati n to
appear on the ball t in SO
state and the di tri t of lurn­
bia. As such Fulani h s de­
manded that ir and F aren-
opf bring indepedents int th
deliberations over riteria for
inclusion and the fo nn at of
Presidential debates with an
independent political pre nee.
Added the independent Bla k
candidate, "Thi must be done
in order to guarantee that the
democrati right of the
of registered voters who on­
sider them lves independent,
as well as every ther voter
are upheld."
eaga
dre
main silent hile hildren re
tortured and abu d and in­
ar rated.'
Gray the author
Anti- partheid
urged hi Hou olle gue to
support a re lution intr du ed
by .S. Rep. Cardi Collin
(Dvlll. calling for the imrnedi t
rel of all children detained
under the state of emergen y
regulation in South Africa.
•
surprises
BY HUGH F. SEMPLE
Flint Mayor James A.
Sharp pu together a cam­
paign that pushed him well
ou in front of six other
mayoral aspirants. 98,200
registered voters are in the
city of Flint but only 30,415
went to the polls. Sharp pick-
d up 11,255 votes or 37 per­
cent of the vo es bile att
Collier surprised most politi­
cal ob rvers with an impres­
sive 9,495 votes or 31 percent
of the votes.
Former Flint ayor James
W. Rutherford fell to third
place with only 29 percent of
the total vote or 8,870 votes;
that too was a big surprise to
an ysts who expected the con­
tes to be Sharp and Ruther­
ford affair. Woody Etherly Jr.
fell short of wh t he was ex­
pected to draw with a mere
633 vo es or just 2 percent of
the total vote. Casadonte,
Johnson Jr and Reams shared
a remaining 1 percent of the
to al vote in the primary.
Voting ppeared to have
been oug racial lines with
the majority of the B com-
munity supporting Sharp hile
the white community pli
their votes between ne­
comer and ex-Mayor Ruther­
ford.
Rutherford was expected to
do exceptionally well in the
Black community but his ef­
forts appeared to have fallen
short of convincing them.
Sharp and Collier will now
see favor with the 8,870
voters who wanted to see
Rutherford bac in the top
city job and many political ex­
perts are ying the race will
be a close one based on the
voting in the primary.
andolpb Institute di
