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