wec9.9w�Inuni y'
ilent.
. We ee nothing at stake in
the Per ian �If which merits
the death of a single
American of any" race or
color. .
. We re taught t at the
United States Constitution is
a covenant be twe e n the
people and th�s government:
We have marched, prayed and
died in seeking to enforce,
this Covc ant.
"IITU1:10N
expres Iy and clearly states
that Congress - not the
President - hall have the
power to qcctare ar. �
d emt is provision .. to be no
ss i mpor tant than the
provisions-of the 13th, 14th
and 15th amendments which
sought to make this nation a
true democracy.
We have watched and Ii -
tened carefully as, he Presi
dent and his advisor have
searched for some rationale
which could pos ibly justify
TilE HISTORY OF U. the suffering their po licic:
warfare is both shameless may yield. If a war was truly
and cy n i c a . Few of the justified it 'does not need
.d med i nte rve n- 'spin doctors.' to articulate its'
ons broad can in any way .rcaso ns. Nor do tho. sc rca sons
be construed as necessary to 'hift from day to day and
-the defense of this country or a ud i e nce to a ud i c ncc to
any of its higher ideals. audience.
In a moment �f s rtling r- We have heard no reason
ca dor, President U .. Grant. which would, justify thc u re
c sually recall' at .the ,of force in the Persian Gulf.
cxican American war was Moreover, we insist that
.tgnncd by ending American President Bush Iuf Iil l hi.
troops to the boruer with the oath of office and ob the
intent to "Provoke a fight. but Constitution. S-y this. we ask
. it was. c .senuat that Mexico that he seek a declaration of
· commence .. war before shedding blood.
Tbis ac . wa�ary A full and hone t dcbatc of
because, " a J.tery doubt- the intcrest at stake and the
ul whether Congress would consent of our elected reprc
"declare war i underway .. few se n ta t i ves is the {e x p r css
le adc rs "would have the promise of the Con. �t "ion,
· courage to oppos it.".
Any Ameriea.n �ho has
li�ed through' V.fet' am,
Grenada, Panama and the
. host of other illegal military
· adventures abroad will easily
recognize U\i scenario even
though it wa wr Hen more
than a century ago.
It i a blueprint for evad
ing the mandates of the Con
stitution and m rality. Wc
cannot and wi 11 not-be Iootcd
again.
MICHIGAN C TIZE
o
Am
We have watched with di •
may and pprehen ion a
American forces ha ve
gathered in the Persian Gulf
accompanied by unabashed
saber rattling by' those who
purport to govern this
country.
We ee war clouds ather
ing and. we wi h to offer a
perspective on this devetop
ment which we think is uni
que to the African American
Community.
Nothing could be plainer
than that the Afncan
American community will
bear a disproportionate share
of the casualtie and suffer
ing of this war. We know this
from our experience in Viet-
nam. '
We also know tha] far' too'
many of o ur very finest
'young men and women have
been forced to seek their for
tune in. the U ni ted Si a res
armed force becau e of a
dearth of civilian oppor
juni tics.
..
WlI N 'I'll E uo m es
begin to c me home. we
n w that far to many of
th m will bc the on and
daughter . Alr i 'Ct. We know
that onc a a in. tho e who
receive th lca 't of the fruit
of American citi7Cn hip will
disproportionately bdH it
most onerou b �,
We are 'ick and ti red of
young Black men ant) women
dying. We arc lired of bury
ing the bodies of tho e too
young to have kno .. n lhc full
ness of life's pa sinns and it'
challenge .
, W NOTE THAT most of
the w rid has condemned
Iraq's aggression and we join
in the condemnation. Indeed.
the international unity on this
matter make' the violent
resolution of this problem un
necce ary.
Time and trict enforce
merit of the United Nations
anction will create pre '
sure which Iraq. will ul
timately find unbearable. ' ,
We only wi h the We tern
Power. were as res lute 'and
determined in .nt'orcinu U
sanctions a g a i ns r South
Africa. '
Violence always brings the
allure ot-quick 'olutions lO
problem. Yet. hi tory ha,
demon traled time anti tim
again that this' 'olution'
often create more PJoblcm
than it olve .
We ought to recognize that
the u e of vi'olence in re olv
ing dispute i an extreme
mca ure and i ju tified only
by extremc circumstance.
We realize. will require
.1
Afri.c
'.
. '.
ore tbaa 400 people latbe�at the Federal u
U.S. preparatioa for pOftl1)le war wltb Iraq.
Vietaam veteraa rips II ·U.S. nag, i� prot
parte nee torbeararice , the Reagan-Bush court ap- plan to deal with ·the
But we feci' al if even one .. pointccs. . '. problems of our cities. �
life i avcd, such patlence " . It seems' contradictory
and forbearance wi . be j�- INS'fEAl) AVA. LADLE that money can always be
tificu. to all who seek it, wc were found for military adventures
pre cntcd with the costly war abroad ye can never 'be
W": ,BRLIEVE· THAT 'on Marion Berry. The �educa- found to meet our eru hing
President Bu h's rush to war tion president' has provided domestic needs.
is an effort ;to divert our at- little more than words to" Because our community .'
tcntfon [rom the fact tilat' he those who ish to rcvi tal ize has far too manv unmet needs
is ne.it hc r inning nor public cducauon. And there herc at hornc auu bocausc we
waging the rea wars hcr at are no policies or prpgrams in will disproportio natcf y bear
horne. place' to addrc s the candal the burdens of this 'undcrtak-
. Fa i I u rc to win the W1fT • of homclessncss in thi na-. ing we stand, opposed to the
against racism. drugs. AIDS. tion. usc of force in resolving the
hornclcss ncss , ignorance and We resent ri king the lives current crisis in the Persian
poverty poses, a far greater of our brothers and sisters at Gulf.
threat to the future of thi. na- . the command of a man who Wc applaud and, upport
tion than docs the di place- would not risk offending the tho c African-American ser
ment of the billionaire David Dukes of hi party by vice per on' who have opted
monarch. of Kuwait. igning thc Civil Right Bill for co n .c ic nr to us objector
African Amcricans have of 1990. tatus.
w a tc hc d in anqu is h a a We resent the Iac t that
decade of Reagan-Bu hism Pre ident Bush ha accepted
Americans have watched in a nd rna kcs no effort to
anqui h as a decadc of chance thcccnrinucd drift of
Re agan-Bu hism ha e radi- this nation into two cparatc
cared the gain of the- i tic'. nation; one white and com-
No fact more graphically fortable. the other Black, di -
depict thi tragedy than the po e sed and incrca ingly
fact that under Reagan and de p e r a ic , w h'i Ie he an
Bush. our life expectan y ha' nounced thai hI; cannot ac
a luall' begun lO decline, it cept or t Icrale Sadaam
statlstica·1 event wholly Hu 'cin's aelion' half a
without preccdent. world and a lion hile he an-
Prc 'ident rcagan and BU'h iCipates the plt:a' and need'
have eon'i tently turned a of wealthy feudal monarch.
deaf e r to our aspiration'. It eem' tld to u that thi
Indeed, In October. Pre ident countr� cannot toleratc a
Bu h vetoed a civil right bill threat to .or mole tation of an
which would have undone American in grenada or
.ome of the damage done by Baghdftd, yet ha no policy or
r
w ;' U RG E 'I'll E African
Amcrican community 10 op
po c the UM; of terce w i th
re olution and determination.
We must speak out against
war and contact all elected
repre c n t a t ivc to advi e
them of our oppo ition. We
c,annot \Vai t unti I the body
bags b�gin to come home. we
mu t act Now.
"
Detroit Ad Hoc African
American committe for Peae:
P.o. Box 32907
Detroit, Michigan 48226
(313) 893-3663