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· Page 4 MICHIGA crnz
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January 6-11, 1 1
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ani ge. ot Convenierice1'
, 1
Ie
h
d
•
seriou ly the mes age of the
Je se Jackson challenge frag
ment the degree 'Of partisan
ship and loyalty Black have
toward their party. .
Unle white Democrats
really begin to champion
Blacks' intere ts, Blacks in
growing numbers will"col
laborate with Republicans at
• state and national levels.
Something Blacks Can Do Now'
.
I IftJe £IfCOURAG£D 1l:)l\4Y
'THAIt'� IIEtH INA LONO
TIJfL IJII.HAHl.TOH SAIl) HIS
£HCOUIlMiDfEHT DID NOT awE
FIlOII THE EHUGHTHF.N T OF
WHIT[ PrOPlE, IWT FRO" THt·
DETf'IlH'*TIOH OF BU£I( ._
P£0Pt.� roOOFOR THfrUEL W'S.
4
Disputi.ng. the myth- of prison 'perks' .
By Dnnny R. ooks ... churci;l' and communi y
The Michigan Republican leaders complain.'
Party c au c rs h.ip poorly GOP parnplctscondcmncd
served t c'state with its dis- the Dc rnoc ra t i c coddlin-g ,)1'
t o r t i o n " �lnd untruths in p nsonc rs , "rewarding" ihc m
mc d i a spots and l it c r aturc ' w ith :',1 ICC food, �lothln�, and
regarding prison, duringthe l o d g i n i." ��.Ylng th,ing�'
gubernatorial. campaign would he d iflc r c n t wi t h a
, 'hange i n I�der' hip, '
,,- ...... __ ....;.. __ '!"'-_�- ..... ----------__ - Man y co m m 1I ni t y groups
and agencics pr vidc a larger
vilriely or service' (free food,
'clothing, transportation, and,
sheller) to the pll91i-c than
thai. reecive� hy prisoners,
according to community ac
tivisl' .
Privale room, college
cducation', anll '011' were
')lhe� ."perks" receivell hy
prisoners c.(lunc ''lor tax-,
payers und'r thc Blancharll
admini'trillion, says
Rcpublic-an literature. How
ever. these "perks" arc a GOP
. fant"sy and an in ult to the
i ntclUgcntc of Michigan
citizens, a recently-relea cd
pri 'oncr, Todd McKcpnc ,
'aill.
8yDr. M n
M
i being u ed by cynic I
ysterrawnicb pe rpcturates
oppres ion. on hi own racial
group.
pi Y a trong interest in
minority electoral participa
tion. In a half million dollar
project, Benamin L.
Ginsberg, the chief counsel
of the Republican National
Committee, is collaborating
with civi rtghts organiza
tions to help them ,with tech
nical assi tarrce in proposing
minority districts.
Other Republican gr-oups
are offering Mexican
Americans and Black free
computer time, l.egal assis
tance and tactical upport.
Some statewide etections
,Ia t year also indicate
another kind of pragmatic
. cooperation between Blacks
and Republicans.
In Illinois, Rep uhl ican
gubernatorial candidate Jim
Edgar received public endor
sement from several
Chicago Black leaders, large
ly due to the fact that his
Democratic opponent had op
posed the late mayor Harold
Wa.hington in his 19H7
rce ection campaign.
About one-fifth of the
Black vote went to Edgar.
statewide. which provided
'the Republican with :ltn unex
peered margin of ictory .
Other than thai, you"don't
gel a cell. They'll probably
; hip . Y () 1I. H1 � pol e b a rn , "
Mckenney explained thai
pole b a r ns are what tern-·
porar.y pr isons arc made' or:
where individual accornoda-
t io ns aren't a va i lab lc and
'where- lip to 120 pri'soners
s lee pin r (lll r <\r s' x - n1 a n
cuhicle�,
Accord i ng to the 0 'part
ment or orrcctions higher
educati<?n in prison i' cour
tesy of a Pell grant, a fcderal
elluc� 'onal grant which all
qua Ii flcd Micigan re ident
may ohtain.
A high s<.:hool diploma or
G.E.O. and poverty are the
two major rC4uirement for
lhe pell grant. according to
federal guideline. .
Because the �o-callcd
"reward ott or heing a con'
vicled fclon arc available to
all poo people some chvrch
ad a nll com mu ni t y' ac-
'tivist believe the GOP'
me age i tho 'C les than
rich yill utle r greatly under
a Republ ican allmini tration.
"COU TRY CL BS
.... OR fe Ions was me rely a
pretext for HttHcklng humane
{reatmu.nt of all dtizcn',"
'aid a Grand Rapid' eo-or-
1I1ntftor of communily 'cr
vi e
. .....
"GOP'
'painp!ets
condemned
the'" .
Democra'tic
cod_dling of
prisoners.
While the Grand Ole Party
'ought to make prisoners
capegols for social ill�,
O.OC P ri so ne r� pai{} a I mos t
S270.000 toward the <':0" of
their incarceration during the
fi cal ycar cIH.1ing Septemhcr
30. 1990, according to Attor
ney General Frank J. Kelly.
"A far a' that ad aboul the
DOC provillin I golf cour e'
, ��
tor prisone r� IS conee rned,"
McKenncy said. "That's a lie.
The DOC' doc 'n't evcn
provide tootl)pasle to
pri on rs anymorc. Whatever
prison.cr do rc recreation
you an hCI lhat they're
paying for it. ngler lied hi
way into office. can we ex
pect him IO,tcll the lruth no\
or continue to dump n
pri oner' an� poor people?"
. ,
La t month' controversy
over the Bu h
ad mi nistra tion's temporary
deci ion to deny Federal BUT THERE'S ALSO
fund to college aw rding.
scholarships to minority tu- evidence lndicating that the
dent on the basi of race had connection betw en Blacks
and conservative
an intere ting econdary
dimen ion. The bure ucrat Repub l icans is rooted in
announcing thi new raci t ) curiou convergence of-Inter-
; policy wa an African- e t�he VotillS Rights Act of
American, Mich el 196� and s u bseq ue n t
Iiams, the assistant ec etary Supreme' Court decision
for civil rights in the Depart- reg di .. l' ' ' .
ment Qf Education.. ". ar 109 minon ie VOtl�g
Wi II iams jus ti fied the. rights have forced �ate. legl�.
elimination' of education I lat�res to create) district. an
opportunity to thousands of which. BI�ck� .. and Lat�nos
Latino and Black students by comprise stgmucani percent-
declaring that the policy ages. ,.
, paralled other Bush ad- Today, about eighty while
mini tration pos tions 'on af- Dem�crales, represen� Con-,
firmative action and racial gressional di trrcts which arc
quotas. 30 p�rcent BI�C�� Blacks and
After Bush was forced to Me xican-Amc r icans repre-
" - .. sent the most dependable and
retreat, the hapless Wilhams eli bl ti bl hi h
, was again pushed before r �a e vo mg ocs w, IC
, . white Democrats have, espe-
tet e vts io n cameras, to ciall in b dl t . t ·
d ' . 'i I ur an IS nc s.
eclare that the new policy S' f C . I d'
, would be replaced by yet . 0.1 �ngresslona �s-
another more moderate ap-' mer lines are redrawn to an�
proach, wh!9' still rejected clude ,greater ,n,��b�rs o�
the use of racial quotas., nQn�hl te � to ass: tin the
The white power system in election 0.' grca��r. n����r,s
this country has �lways u ed o� BJack an� H��pa.�I� �an
Blacks to articulate dis- didatcs, �ther districts �()n-
criminatory pollcies, to ju _ vers�ly Will �ecnmte ttwhlt�r"
t i fy ,race and c I ass and �ore alll ue,nt • a prot tic
explitation. � Iavoring Republicans ,
" While America's "favorite
'Negro" a century ago was TillS FACT liAS not cs-
Booker T. Washfngton, the ped J - conse r va ti vc
educator who defendedlthe Re bf icans. who 'now di -
political disfranchiserncnt of
. Blacks and the expansion of -,.
r' cia I segre gation throughout
society. ..
A decade ago, Hoover In-
ti tution economist Thoma
Sowell became prominent as
the Black a po l o g i t for
Reaganism. The easiest wa,y
[or Blacks "to become milo"
I ionai re in this country is 10
publicly defend reactionary
anc raci t pol icies, williams
, LACK AMI�RICANS
under tand that the
Republican party is clearly
hostile 0 our interest. But
potuics make' urange bed ..
fellows" and the refusat of
white,/l)emocrats to take
:J
THE MICHIGAN CITIZEN '.
Publ-i&hed
Sunday by
NEW DAY
PUBLI6HING ENTERPRISE
12541 Second St
P.O. Box 03560
Highland Park, MI 48203
Phone: (313) 8&9-0033 / Fax II: (313) 869-0430
-
Western Michigan Bureau: 175 W Main St
P.O. Box 216, Benton Harbor, MI 49022
(616) 927·1527
"INDIVIJ)U 'L CELL
don't· . ae." McKenny
i nsi�ted, "If i� ��ct you cali
gel'one. You have to he doiAg
hig time, erving for a par
lL<:ular kind 0 crime, like
hi Id mole' ti n ' or murocr. Or
uu have to 'tay in troubl<.: a
lot.
Publisher: Charles D. K II
General Manager: Mlcha.1 T. Jo nson
. Editor: Teresa K II
Office ,Man-ager: B.rnlc Brown
Correspondents:
Orrick Lewis - Bernie Brown
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Leah Samu Is
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