I
MICHIGA CITIZEN PAGE 5
ack church lea er'·
ulf policy uphold
ByRo
Th Rev. T.J. Jemison.
Pre ident of th National Bap­
tist Convention USA Inc.
recently bl sled President
Bu h' deployment of hugh
U.S. expedition ry force to
Saudia Arabia in re po e to
Iraq's inva: ion of Kuw it.
In his welcome address to
the annual convention of the
7.8 million member Black
church denomination. R v .
Jemi on denounced the U.S.
Per' i n Gulf deployment as a
fight over oi J.
Rev. Jemin on aid "We're
jeopardizing our fine men and
omen over oil 'in the Persian
Gul r."
Citing the staggering price
tag on . n operation which is
costing tax payer in excess of
a hillion dollar a month, Rev.
Jemison raised the principal
� contradiction inherent in the
mass ive deployment of U.S.
troops to Saudia Arabia.
"Thi nk of the good that a
bltlion dollars could do for
Blac America and poor white
America," Rev. Jemi n 'aid
in criticizing U.S. Per ian Gulf
policy.
In boldly making lh sc
pronouncement' on U.S.
policy in th troubled Middle
Est. Rev. Je mison wa gOi ng
against the popular tide of sup­
port which a m..,;ority
American have expre ed for
Pre ident Bu h '. action in the
Per ian Gulf thus far.
MOST
RELIGIOU
cri lcls
the lega�
his time to expres hi uncom­
promising opposi tion to the
war in Vietnam. King saw the
Vietnam war a "a ymptom of
a far deeper malady within the
American p-irit". .
Martin Luther King warned
that "when' machines and com­
puters, profit motives and
property rights are con ide red
more important than people,
the giant triplets of racism,
matcri Iism and militarism arc
incapable of being con­
quered" .
P RIIAPS TillS warning
wa . on the mind of Rev.
Jemison when h said in effect
that the massive deployment of
U.S. troops to Saudia Arabia is
about oil.
America is prepared to go to
war to protect "our way of
life," h ich translate' into
cheap oil for an American
'public which has become ad­
dicted to cheap energy.
Obviously no nation ha the
right to invade another nation.
But it i. interesting to note
that when the "madman" Sad­
dam Hus ein invaded Iran in
an attempt to overthrow
anoth r I de r branded as a
"madm n" by Arneric and
the west, the United States,
ual Time For
y Lie J me
The trial of W hington
Mayor Marion Barry and it
ttcndant notor rc ty. i now
hi tory. Those \ ho put in aJl
,that time and money to entrap
him, c n no . t urn their atten­
tion to ei I Bush.
They arc oing to do that
aren't they? As taxpayers ex­
peered- to ta e the hit for the
exhorbitant amount of money
helled out h� I ree-handed
cil, surely c arc entitled to
have him hauled- into court.
nd forced to 1\ c an e ccount­
in in the same manner a
M rion Barry. The man ha
e rned equal time. and he
hould have it.
Except 'Ill It he 'n the
arne manner. if at all...for
wh tever Marion Barry may
have don �"'the real rub con­
tinu to be the �'ay hi situa­
tion wa handled, how
mi leading the hole thing
a . Ii e they cr after him
for on thing. wh n it wa n't
that at II.
The e peopl didn t care
out Barry dolO dru . Th Y
had no real lntere. t in hi'
"transgre ion • illeg J or
otherwi e. TheJr intere thad
leaders have either been sup­
portive of President Bu h or
very mild in their expression
of reservation.
Rev. Jcmi on, however,
asked the National Baptist
Convention U.S.A. Inc., the
large t organization of Blacks
in the world, to endorse his
condemnation of U.S. policy.
Rev. Jemison' courageous
stand reflect the scmimcnts of
a va t number 01' African
American' who in their gut
sense that there is more to thi '
huge U.S. deployment than
meet the eye.
By speaking out forcefully
on this issue Rc . Jemison of­
fered thc ind of forthright
leadership that is required to
m intain the hest tradition of
African people in America a'
lhe conscience of thi nation.
In that regard Rev. Jerni on
'land' in the tradition of M r­
lin Luth r King. ·
Dr. King br vely ent
again t the prevailing tide of
more to do with not being out­
witted by him ... at any cost:
They et their 'i ht on him
according to report. a many
as eight year go: He ecame
their "rnis: ion impo. siblc".
and they went after him Ii e
bloodhound .g ive n the
cha sccs cent.
(;IVE rur elaborate
trappings of this multi-million
dollar 'sting operation, and
wh t it was a out, it can't
have been anything but the ul­
tim te "be tin of a Barry".
Either that. or the gullibi lily
of John Q. Public i bei ng
te ted mightily. a the govern­
ment would have to be a king
that e view the personal es­
capade of Marion Barry as
more, erious than the in­
credibly high-handed action
of eil Bu h; who a di rector
of a Savings & Loan Com­
pany reportedly approved
100 million dollar in loan to
a man he had previously ac­
c pted a S lOq.OOO loan"
from.
The m n then forgave" th
"loan" to eil, but by that time
hi own loan were Iready In
default by 45 million dollars.
which taxp yer arc now ex­
peered to make good.
While· ttention is being
drawn to this and rightly so.
the proof of the puddi nu J�
till in the caung. Let's just
see if thcs e "fine, upstandin '.
law-abiding people," 0 gung­
ho about ferreting out
omcbody ' improprlcties, are
going to rclcntlc ly pur rue
and take Neil Bush to the wall
they did Marion Barry.
... Me nwhile, George Bush
ho i . morally outraged about
burning rhe flag, and who
found Roseanne Barr's rendi­
tion of the national anthem
"di graceful". seem relative­
ly unruffled by reports that hi
on ripped off un u pecting
·taxpayer to the tune of
$2000. or more per per on. It
would seem the president's
morality i based solely upon
whose ox i being gored.
... And the word is, tax­
payers have no ay in the mat­
ter. 0 if. and' • or but' • we
h ve to pay bac th money
eil lent.
P R DOX I
blat nt
.L.K.
IEngland, Fra
mo t of the
.upported S
Rev. Jern
a ive a
eployment
roops to Sa
call up of th
es is not ab
f Kuwait pc
ceo Germany and
t sided wi th and
dam Hus ein.
on i right. The
� co tly U.S.
f up to 150,000
i Ar bia and th
u and of re cr­
t Iraq' inva ion
e.
hav
cnounced Is acl ' , invasion of
banon, an the U.S. would
pressurin Israel lO rclin-
ui h the W st Bank and th
za trip.
Nor i lhi' rna ive
• deployment bout protecting
democracy or spreadi ng
cmocratic alue. It's about
ho ing wh ch Arah nation
he U.S. pref rs to deal with in
tLc rrns of t he flow of oi I to
America and he west.
The real in gedy is that once
. gai n the rm s .cs of African
meric ns, cople of color,
oor and wor ing people will
car the brun of another U.S.
rpis-adventu e in foreign
policy.
Co t e tim te for HOp ra­
l on De ert S ield" run a high
.. $75 billio next
w en this sy t m will dog a
man' track or ornething
he" doing th t effect him
p .onally. an . tep' lightly
around man hosc p ronal
wrongdoing ef ect million�
of people.
Any cocaine Marion Barry
may have ing ted, had a
direct personal ffect 9n him.
Hi alleged
dir ctJyeffecl
that, too i pe
icon tHue t cert inly,
were al 0 affec ed, the effect
on them wa no nearly a
Continue It
Ron
Daniel.
Add th t to th -10 billion
HUD scandal, the $1 trillion
S&L bailoutand one i forced
to wonder what is going to
happen to all of the BI ck
people. poor nd wor i ng
people who suffer right h re in
:Atmerica.
Th nk God for Rev.
Jemison' righteo indigin-
tion over U.S. Persian Gulf
policy. It is not only on the
mark, it is in k eping with th
spirit and legacy of M rtin
Luther King.
Let th Church 'ay. Amen.
Ron Daniels erves as
President of the Institute for
Community Organization and
D " lopm nt in Young town;
Ohio. H may b contacted at
(216) 746-5747.
This Week
In Blae
�istory
SEPTEMBER 23. 1843 -
oJourner Truth began career'
anti- lavery lecturer. 1863
- M ry Churc Terrell;
civil right. activi t. a born.
1923 - It Y Charfes, Inger
and cornpo er, as born.
SEPTEMBE 24, 1830 -
."'1 t. tio leo Co •
ve tlon m er in Phil delphia.
1957 - Nine children in­
tegrated Centra Rock HI
School. in lillie Roc • Ark.
SEPTEMBER 25, 1895 -
n oker T. i
del ivc rc d fam u
Compromi c spe ch.
Th Unio r
Arric ns, inco r lcd.
SEPTEMB R 26. 1960 -
It er John 'on on decathlon
itt Olympic. 1 C) 7 - Be le
. IIh. .ingcr, di d.
EPTEMBER 27. 184
M con Allen wa fir t BI c
for ally admi lied to b r. 1912
- w.e. lIandy' emphi
BI�es. was published. 1934 -
Gr g Morrl ,actor. wa born.
EPTEMBER 28, 1910 -
ional Urb 0 Le ue wa
o�nd d. 1785 - D vid
Wiker, author of anti- lav ry
Appeal, wa born.
SEPTEMBER 29, 1942 -
Book r . . hin ton, Ii t
U.S. m 'rthant . hlp with BI ck
captain, II h ulz c.
launchcd.