. JULY 7·12, 1990 MICHIGAN CITIZEN PAGE ELEVEN
_..,ack Pres seeks access to
andela on U.S� tour
ByLanyS
WASHI oro. D.C.
"Continue (to do) wbat you
already have been doing. It is
the ma es of people and the
progres ive I pre that is
compelling the government
and the legislature to a�t on tbe
que 'uen of
sanction ... Continue to put
pressure on them (beca e) the
purpo e of anctions is ... the
dismantling of apartheid"
South African le der Nelson
M ndela told a delegation of
Black-owned newspaper and
media representatives
immediately after arriving in
the Capital, for meetings with
Pre ident George Bush, the
Congression I Black Caucu
and a joint es ion of the U.S.
Congres and Senate.
As Deputy National
President of the Africa
ational Congress party,
which bad been banned before
he went to pri on 27 years ago,
Mandela asked the Black
Media to focu on the issues
"to help mobilize the people in
South African for Peace .. .in
the urban area and the
country ide ... We h ve a
number of problem . Twenty
thou and A C memb r have
been xiled and must return to
the country. Thi require
enormou re ource ."
I n reference to the reported
rivalrie bet' een various
Black e ihmc groups in the
country, the A C executive
aid letter had been ent to
very organization in the
nation, incl uding leader of
other political group, inviting
them to meeting to discu s
their concern. 0 they may
share in developing proposal
for chang. "So don't be
mi led by what appears in the
Press. You may have to delve
a Ii ttle more into hat the
national media reports,"
Mandela declared.
The Washington meeting
was beld after several attempts
to have National Tour Director
Roger Wilkins' taff arrange
for Mandela to speak directly
to African-American
communities throughout the
n tion via tbe media
organizations whicb have been
. supporting and reporting the
truggle again t apartheid
everslnce it began over 30
years ago.
ZWELAKHE SISULU,
editor of the Black-owned
New Nation newspaper in
Johanne burg and Mandela
pre represe nta rive,
apologized for the
cancellation of an earlier
meeting scheduled with
African American media upon
Mandela's arrival in Ne
York City. "It as caused by
circumstances beyond our
control," he said. A Mandela
meeting with the WaShington
Po t taff wa later c ncelled
here. also.
Fi lly, aft r Stev Davis,
executive director of the
ation I ew paper
As ociation A ociation of
over 200 "Black-owned
ew paper and media
organization in isted that
mo t predominantly Black
communi ties be recognized
through the media erving'
them, Wilkins greed 10
arrange that Mandela peak
directly to the PA's
cheduled stop in Los Angeles.
Rep. Gu Savage
(D-Chicago), I 0 insi ted that
PA be provided acce at
the Mandela ession. Before
the South African leader's
Blacks reduce educati
I
The gap bet een the
proportion of Black and white
high .school graduates nar­
rowed significantly from 1978
to 1988, while annual dropout
rates declined to about the
same levels for both races, ac­
cording to a report by the Com­
merce Department's Census
Bureau.
About 75 percent of Blacks
and 82 percent of whites aged
'18 to 24 were high school
graduates in 1988. The propor­
tions in 1978'wcre 68 percent
for Blacks and 83 percent for
whites.
The annual high school
dropout rate for Black students
aged 14 to 24 declined from 10
percent in 1978 to 6 percent in
1988; while the rate for wbites
fell from 6 percent to 5 percent;
the 1988 rates for Black and
white students were not sig­
nificantly different, the report
says.
The dropout rate is the
proportion of 10th-to-12th­
grade students who drop out in
one year.
The proportion of Black 18-
to 24-year-old high school
graudates enrolled in colJese
grew from 25 percent in 1968 to
30 percent in 1978, but did not
change ipificantly over the
next 10 years. The proportions
for whites were 35 percen in
1968,31 percent in 1978, and 38
percent in 1988.
arrival, Lin iwe Mabuza
ANC . epre entative i�
the U.S., explained tbat Mr.
Mandela ould not vilit
Cbicago de pile tbe fact tbat
Rev. Je se Jackson, a
prominent member of the
National Reception committee
for the tour once served as
president of People United To
Sa�e . Hu�anity (PUSH),
�hlch 1 ctively p rticipating
ID the NNP A convention.
The C pita!. -"Black Pre s�
meeting was held at the
Madison Hotel national tour
head-headquarters, a block
fro,!, the historic Metropoli tan
Afncan Methodist ".Episcopal
Church, here rs, Winnie
Mandela addressed an
overflo c�ow4 of 3,000 or
more as ber husband met the
Press.
However, the traditional
BlaCk Pre s ( nel a few Black
reporters from "White owned
majority press" who were
allowed to monitor the
session) ere blocked from
entering 'the" church or the
hotel unti I WaShington
Informer Publi her elvin
Rolark and Afro-American
'pu�lisher. Francis Murphy
insisted th t they be allowed to
attend one of the sessions.
DlSTI CTIONS
BETWEE Black and white
media coverage in Washington
ha been the topic 0
prefessional journal ism
forums and Howard University
Bethune-Duboi political
e sions as a are ult of the
exten ive media coverage of
the drug trial of Mayor Marion
Barry. Asked .to comment of
the role of U.S. Black Elected
official and the Barry ca e,
Mandel said he i anxious to
mcet a many 0 ficial a
po ib le , "but, I cannot
comment on matters about
which I am not informed."
109 million i slapped
agai st Rev. AI Sharp on
By� S lr
From lIN New York Voice 1M.
In the mid t of celebrating
the Bensonhurst ca e verdicts
the Rev. AI Sharpton wa hit
with a whopping lawsuit
i ni tiated by three' television
news camera per on who
allege they were physically
Hacked and injured, at
Sharpton's in tigation, outside
of Court in Brooklyn last
September.
The camera persons are
seeking $3 million each in
damages, and an dditional
$100,000,000 million in
. punitive damages, m king for
a grand tot 1 of $109,000,000
. in damages.
_ According to the attorney
for the crew t the two ere
engaged in the performance of
their duties outside of the court
on or about September 1, 1989,
when they were all eked, they
allege at Sharpton's
instruction.
At lea t one or' the
defendant allegedly leapt at
and kickcd the camera
persons, cau ing . "traum to
the pinal cord, neurological
damage a well as
pOSH aumatic arthritis" to one
or more of the plaintiffs.
Al 0 named a defend nts
in the uit ar Mo es Ste art
and Walter Brown.
Sharpton i de crib d in the
urt paper a "an advi or,
rrt termind, and ring lea er,"
o th "Hawkin family."
"IT WA' h mef'ul,
al icious and cri mi nal a piece
of conduct as one could
p ibly imagine. It wa
I v led at perfectl y innocent
p opJe who de rved better
t an what they received at the
h nd of these creature ." the
at orney told The ew York
Vice.
al gap, Ceil.
- BI de males aged 18 to 24
were less likely than Black
females to be high school
graduate (72 percent com­
pared with 78 percent) and to
be enrolled in college (25 per­
cent of male high school
graduates compared with 31
percent of females).
- Some 426,000 Blac
males under age 35 were en­
rolled in college in 1988 rom­
pared with 689,000 Black
females. The comparable num­
bers in 1978 re 452,000 and
569,000. The change for males
no tatistically significanl
- The proportion of Blacks
and . aged 14 to 24 en-
rolled in vocational course
. Was' not signifiouJtly different
a 28 percent and 2.5 percent,
- Thirty-nine percent of
B ck undergraduates were en­
r lied in two-year colleges
GFor and rommunity) com­
p.�ed ith 36 percent of
whites.
- About 69 percent of
Black and 26 percent of white
3- and 4-year-olds in nursery
s 001 attended a full day.
� Fifty-eight percent of
B des and 34 percent of whi
ag 3 to 6 enrolled in kinder­
g ten attended a full day.
"We're suing for:} million
a piece for person inj urie ,
and 100 million in personal
damage ag i nst Sharpton arid
the creature who did this .. The
ci ty is al 0 bei ng ued by
re on of the fact that it h d
plenty of notice in advance of
the po ibiliti 0 thi riotou
conduct...Th city fa,led in its
duty to make proper
preparati charged -
_ Lip ing.
Meanwhile. Sharpton ha
b en placed under police
prot ction thi w ck after
aile edly re iving what
police arc calling "se riou
de th threat " from th f ther
of one of the two men
ntenc d in the Ben' onhurst
murder trial.
Blacks in dr
near Dovern'
WAsHINGTON, tIlc.
Although the Blac middle class
continues to grow, a recently
released study by a roup of"
busin s and demic leaders
concludes tha a majority of the
nation's Afric a-Americans
live in or very D pov ny.
The study by the B in
Higher Educati found
tllat pproxim tely 33% of
B c lived in poverty and that
r 25% to 00% "lived t
the margin" of verty earning
mimmum wage and not qualify-
ing for govemme istance.
_ J Meanwhile, n estimated
36% of Blac f lies had year­
ly incomes of at least 25,000
aed could be considered middle
class by traditional measure­
ments. However, there re
strong indications of a growing
• class gap" among Blacks.
Other studi have found that
while 10% of Blacks doing
very well and be ctually
ca ching up wit their white
erparts in � of i e;
another 3O%of BI appear to
beg�