December 13-1i, 1987
Opinion. Cnnuucut arv, Letters. \ il'WS
A tack African. American leadersh·p.
ther political empowerment of
the African American com­
munity.
In this nation, when a people
are singled out for racial and
political intimidation, the result
impedes and strangles
democr cy for all citizens.
Physical threats against the
lives of progressive African
American leaders are an ever­
present reality in the U nited
States. However, this is not the
only kind of attack which they
ris when they speak out on the
issues.
A more veiled but equally in­
sidious attack is the legal harass­
ment of African American'
Ie dership.
This as
re-docu­
mented in a
study earlier
this year, en­
t i t-l e d :
"H rass­
ment of
B I a c k
Elected Of­
ficials: Ten
Yea r s
Later." The
report as
prepared by Dr. Mary R. Sawyer
for Voter Education and
Registr tion Action, Inc.,. a
Washington-based research in­
stitute.
An earlier report by Dr.
Sawyer, conducted 10 years ago,
concluded: "The higher the level
of office or the more outspoken
the official, or the greater the in­
fluence and power - the higher
the incidence of harassment (of
a Black elected official)."
From the evidence presented
in the current study, not much
has changed. The weight of the
evidence leads Dr. Sawyer to
conclude that after much legal
maneuvering by local and
federal prosecutors, usually via
a grand jury investigation, "(�)
indictment typically results to
acquittal, or in a conviction
which is ultimately overturned
on appeal - which then receives
a three inch announcement on
page 17 after the story had been
Benjamin
Chavis
front page, headline news for
months on end."
And this is a major point of
the study. Black elected officials
under attack are no being tried
by a jury of their peers. They are
being tried in the press by
prosecuting attorneys who
selectiv y Ie k information
helpful to the prosecution.
Certainly this has been true
of the witch­
hunt now
being carried
out by U.S.
Attorney Di­
Genova
against
Washington,
D.C. Mayor
Marion
Barry. As
hard as he
has tried -
and he's
tried very
hard - DiGenova can't seem to
substantiate any charges against
ayor Barry.
Thus, he has stooped to
trying Mr.Barry in the press.
And papers like the Washington
Post and the Washington Times
have been only too happy to
oblige.
Some have said, "So, what
They treat white officials the
same way. Just 100 at what hap­
pened to Gary Hart." �ut the
differences are context and
pr�portion.
CIVIL
RIGHTS
JOURNAL_..._ ____
Letter Welcome
Cl I·
your oplnlo ,
d ob rva­
I to:
DID YOU OW ... that the
starting point for making maxi­
mum use of your time is to ask
your elf the following questions
for every activity which occupies
tually nece ary?; 2) If it i
necessary, am I the person who
should be doing it?; and 3) If I
am the person who should be
doing it, how can I do it faster or
I frequently?
Let us remember that the
most recent investigations have
been mounted against vocal
African American politicians by
U.S. Attorneys under the
Reagan Administration.
The Justice Department's
aborted attack against key
African American elected offi­
cials in the Alabama Black Belt
was patently political. These of­
ficials, civil rights leaders all,
had been instrumental in in­
creasing African American
voter registration and participa­
tion to one of the highes levels
in the nation. They had also
been constant critics of the
Reagan Administration.
Charges against the leader­
ship were either dropped or
those charged were eventually
acquitted. But vindication came
only after a long, fmancially­
draining trial, and after the J us­
tice Department had harassed
scores of elderly Black voters.
Another major difference
between the investigations of
African American and white of­
ficials is the disproportionate
number of investigations aimed
at African American elected of­
ficials. There are 490,770 white
elected officials in the U nited
States. Of that number only a
small percentage are being in­
vestigated. In stark contrast,
only 6,400 (or 1.5%) of el�ed
officials are African Amencan.
Yet when William Webster was
FBI Director he admitted that
40% of African American
elected officials were under in-
vest�ation. '
This is not a random occur­
rence. It is a deliberate and sys­
tematic scheme to prevent fur-
Th
Standardized tests determine
how we will be-taught in school,
whether or not we will be ac­
cepted in a college, and what
kind of work we will be per­
mitted to do. They decide
whe r we have what it takes to
work for the CIA or as a golf pro;
as a teacher or as a beautician;
as a Contact Lens Eumjner or
as a Plumbing Engineer.
Why do we give these tests so
much authority? What do e
really know about them? Are
they (A) made under the super­
vision of highly trained profes­
sors at a prestigious university
(B) accurate in distinguishing
bright students from dull stu­
dents (C) equal and fair to both
the rich and poor (D) none of
the above?
David Owens, a Harvard
graduate and Writer for
Harper's magazine, takes the
covers off the testing industry in
the book, None of the Above: Be­
hind the Myth of Scholastic Ap­
titude (Houghton Miftlin 1985).
This book focuses upon the
Educational Testing Service
(ETS) - the company which
publishes the Scholastic Ap­
titude Test (SAT) plus a host of
other tests which are used by in­
stitutions throughout the world.
ETS, according to Owens, is one
of the most powerful corpora­
tions in America.
He raises serious objections
concerning the validitr o.f these
standardized tests, pombng out
that each test has a large number
of questions which could be
ansered in several ways, and that
many of the questions which are
considered right by the ex­
aminers are actually wrong. He
points out that bright, creative
people can make very low scores
on the tests since their minds are
apt to see possibilities which
were not seen by the question­
makers.
The author tells us that the
questions on the tests are no
prepared by people who are
highly trained or who possess
impressive credentials, but that
"virtually all aptitude tests are
written by ordinary company
employees, or even by their
children." He also informs us
that this company does not
Te
Dorothy
Robinson
Reading
Together
tion, located near Princeton,
which started out as a small
company making tests fo� col­
leges and has now grown mto a
billion dollar corporation.
Owens informs us that even
though ETS uses the name �f
Princeton on its letterhead, this
company has no connection
believe in using tandardized
tests to select its own orkers.
In a chap er entitled "Brains,"
Owens describes ho the pr c-
tice of mental measurement
started in America as a means of
keeping immigrants and Blacks
out of the job market, and how
the tests continue to favor the
rich and priviledged classes.
But never mind all that dis­
turbing ne . We can't do any­
thing to change the system, so
just tell us how to beat it. Is it al­
right to guess? Does it help to
get some coaching Owens
answers all these questions with
very careful document tion,
showing how it ma es more
sense to guess than no t� gu�
and what kind of coaching will
ctually raise scores. He also
gives an evalua�ion o� the
various books which claim to
help raise SAT scores.
Owens suggests a number of
changes which would go a long
way toward "d�mys.tifyin� the
test and loosenmg Its gnp on
both the anxieties of test -takers
and the fantasies of ETS vice
presidents." Among ther 15
reforms he advocates are: 1)
make ETS use an honest ad­
dress, 2) make the colleges,
rather than the students, pay for
the test, 3) require ETS to state
exactly how test-takers" fees are
spent, 4) publish the test scores
. of the people who ma. e t�e
test . His last suggestion IS
st ted very simple: "Abolish the
Educational Testing Service."