e
�
During the 1988 presidential
campaign J eeL. Jackson
char cterized Reaganomics as
"reverse Robinhood, robbing
the poor to gi e to the rich",
There is ample evidence that
the ence of Reaganomics
was prosperity for some and
'misery for the masses.
Budget allocations for social
service programs serving
minorities, the poor and the dis­
advantaged were cut to the
bone while the defense estab­
lishment received multi-billion
dollar increases.
Under Reagan aid to educa­
tion was slashed by 20% across
the board, and despite a grow­
ing crisis of homelessness in
America allocations forlow in­
come housing for African­
American communities was cut
by an estimated TI%.
appropriated abused and
misused by Reagan's rich and
influential Republican buddies.
. While exhorting the poor to
wOJ'k hard and make do with
what they have, a den of in­
fluential thieves were pimping
off the poor by using the
Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) as
their I ucrative little play
ground.
While an adoring public was
mismerized by Reagan's
academy ward winning perfor­
mance of the century, his ad­
ministration reeked with the
stench of influence peddling
and corruption. The stars and
stripes, patroitism, motherhood
and apple pie for the masses,
and allegiance to personal en­
richment for Reagan's pals.
God knows how many of these
rich hyprocrites had their hands
in the BUD coo ie jar.
Some individuals reaped
hundreds of thousands, even
millions of dollars at the public
trough. Fortunately the pigs got
sloppy, and the rip-off was un­
covered. Though the enormity
of the scandal is still coming into
full view, in excess of 8 billion
dollars of public m6ncy may
have been stolen; dollars which
should have been destined to
provide desperately needed as-
istancc Cor tbe growing number
' ... Black:
faces in old
places (or new
ones for that
matter) will not
necessarily
promote and
protect the
int sts of
Africa
America
o question Reagan,
Rea anism, and Reaganomics
was clearly and unapologetical­
, ly for the rich and the famous.
But even more damaging,
particularly in terms of housing
wa the manner in vhich the in­
dequate pool of funds that was
A IT 1'WEY 8AJIHE TO OEMANO
O£MO'� 'N �£'Q cpu�.rfQ."(?
/�
-0
of impoverished victims of
Reaganomics.
According to a recent article
in Newsweek (Sn/89) the num­
ber of low income households
who receive no housing assis­
tance increased by $1.4 million
households. from 1979 to 1987.
Aid to low income housing was -
sharply reduced from $34.2 bil­
lion to $14.9 billion, and the
federal government is not even
meeting half of the demand for
low income housing. Long wait­
ing lists of anywhere from 3- 7
Se 3 - 9, 1989 ICHIGAN CITIZEN
candal
Black face, "Secretary' Samuel
Pierce, otherwide kno n as
Jt "Silent Sam". It is interesting to
note that this is tHe arne
Samuel Pierce that t e F.B.I.
targeted in the 60's to r lplace
Martin Luther King as our new
leader.
He was perceived as th� right
type of "Negro" to provide
"responsible" direction for
African-Americans.
FRlCAN-AMERlc;ANS
MUST ALWAYS PICK THEIR
OWN LEADERS! And we must
Unless African-Americans are
ro ted in a different kind of value
system and are committed to a
different set of ideal ,then our
Black faces.will be rig.ht there
with hlte faces-robbing the
poor to give to the rich with no
pangs of conscience. '
OPINION
erse Robtnhood:'
e multi-billion dollar H.U.D.
years are not Uncommon.
Recently in Youngstown, Ohio
a near riot erupted when
thousands of people showed up
to apply for a modest number of
low income housing units.
While America's p or suffered,
rich thieves thrived off of public
welfare. IL was reverse Robin-
- hood.
From the African-American
perspective there are many les-
1) sons to be learned from this
scandal. One major lesson i
that Black faces in old places
(or new ones for that matter)
will not necessarily promote
and protect the interests of
African-Americans, minorities"
and poor people. HUD was
presided over by a man with a
.
:�:,: �:�: � :�: �: �: � �: �: �:�: �: �: �::: �: �: �: �: �: �: �: �.:�: �:�: �: �:�: �: �: �: �:�: �:�: � :�: �: �: �:} :,�:}:,
select leaders ba ed on their
values, principle , and commit­
ment to the African-American
agenda, human rights, and
human liberation, not ju t skin
color. Obviously the F.B.I. knew
hat it was doing when they
• selected amuel Pierce to be of
service to America. They new
he would be the " po k Who
Sat by the Door". . ,
Finally it all come own to
values, principles, phi osophy,
and, ideology if you will.
African-Americans must
remain at the cutting edg of the
movement for social justice,
and social transformation in
America.
For beyond the blatant ex­
ce es of Reaganism and Reag­
nomics there- is a b sic
"American value system" that
produces the Reagans of the
world. A value system tha
places priority and a premium
on materialism, profit, proper­
ty, individualism and fosters
greed .
Unless African-Americans
are rooted in a different kind of
value system and are committed
to a different et of ideals then
our Blac faces will be right
. there with white faces-robbing
the poor to give to the rich with
no pangs of conscienc . If 're
not 'conscious and careful we
too can get caught up in the
reverse Robinhood syndrome.
, 'I
l
I
, Ron Daniels served as the
Director of the National Rain­
bow Coalition and as the Deputy
Campaign Manager for the
Reverend Je se Jackson's
Pre idential Campaign '88. He
has serv d as President of the
National Black Assembly and as
,Chairperson of the National
Black Independent Political
Party. Curr ntly, he serves as
President of the Institute for
Community Organization and
Development in Youngstown,
Ohio. He may be contacted at
(216) 746-5747.
LET U5 �OT O\'JlDE O\)R�L'JE.S
,I •
\�O CASTE� •. BUT LET UCS
�LU WORK\oGETt\E.R
ro�:.-rnE CqMMO� 600D. II