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• Opinion, Commentary, Edito�ials
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By Ron Daniel
II came like a bombshell
on the hills of the Bu h veto
of the Civil Rights Bill of
1990. In mid December
�chael Williams, the "Civil
Rights" chief for the U.S.
Department of Education, is
sued a policy decree tbat
. race-based minority scholar
s nips viofated civil right
laws.. .
According to tbis ruling, it
is illegal for any college or
unive ity to use their in
ti tutional resources to fund
minority scholarships.
. Williams threatened a cut
off of all fede; I nds to any
cortege OJ unive ity that
continued to grant "race-
...
based- scholarship. •
Beyond -the significance·
of the policy itself, however,
it is intefesting to note who
the Bush administration
trotted out to float this
odorous trial balloon (the
policy has since b en
reversed in the face' of a trail
of p te t).
MIchael Williams, the As
sistant Secretary for Civi
Rights '""7for the U.S. Depart
mc nt of E�ucation is an
African American. He is tN
el.UDED along with many.
other 'African Americans in
the Bush administration. '
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WILLIAMS, A B r, ACK
1
By Uenjamtn F. Chavt jr.
When a new year begins,
there is always the oppor
tunity to a e . the past year
and make predictions and
commitments for the future.
Thc Civil Right Movement
in the United State has won
� some victorie • but lso we
have suffered some defeats ..
While some gains were ac
compl�hed during the year
ith the enactment by Con
aress of lellslation concern
ing houlinl, clean air, and
the rights of person itb dil
abi Ii tic • President Bush's
veto of the Civil Ri hts Act
of 1 990 was a major setback.
The Republican have an
nounced their national
. tegy in 1991 as targeting
race-r I ted issue like; af
firmativl: action and 0-
called �uotas as a· mean 'of
mohilizing white American
re entment to racial progres ,
e pccially during the current
economic downturn and
recession.
..
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o
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J nuary 6-12, 1 1
.X
"-
or whi·
·tu Ion:
domina
man, doggedly articulated
the policy on minority
. cholar hips with a fervor
and pa sion which
demonstrates the dangers of
,t�,e new found strategy of .N
elUSION FOR EXCLUSION.
Now Black faces can be
counted on to take the point
in the offensive to return
America to a kind of race
neutral society; a "colo
blind society", which relin
quishes its sponsib'ihty to
develop and maintain
policies which provide
remedies for the white racist
pohcies of discrirnmination
an,", exclusion which have
stymied advancement for the
rna ses of Black people and
damaged the African
American communi ty;
potrcie which will per
manently freeze vast num
bers of Black people into a
condition of jobltssness,
poverty and economic
peonage an.d peimanently EX
CLUDE them from the
promi e of the "Americarr
Dream".
.' Now persons who have
risen from amongst the vic-
·tirnized and oppressed can re
relied upon .to be the
spokespersons for. re pre-
entatives of and apologist
for the victimizers and the
victlmizfng system.
THE POLITICAL AND
economic system in America
i still controlled by and
operated in the interest of a
relatively small but wealthy
white male elite. .
Business, capitalist, profit
oriented, reed motivated
business i . till the "business
of government" it) the U.S.
The wealthy white male eli te
wbicb rules and. runs
America .uses the trappings
of, " representative.
demo acy" to perpe tua te
the'ir power, privilege nd
dominance over thi society
and much of the world. •
Exploitation for profit is
'their game. And in the final
analysi if they have Ii ttle
regard for ce. color, c eed,
sex, nation I origin or sex aJ.
pr�ference.' .
Everyone nd everything
in ,he U.S. and the world i
fair game for t�eir scheme.'
Ra . m and racial 'and intra
class strife and division' .
but a tool to keep thi whi te .
ma�e elite at me helm and in
control.
AS EVIDENCED by the
counter inte lle gences pro
gram (cointelpro) in the six
ties, those who control the
system are prepare . t use
disinformation, lanUer: ter .
ror. intimidation and even
murder to maintain their
rule.
. .
. However, rule by any
means necessary is the name
of the game. Ther fore, like
the rulers of any systCim of
domination, the efite will
.also u e COOPTATION or IN-
..
,elUSION !is a trategy to
maintain the status-quo.
Typically, the European
colonial pow�rs in Africa and
the Third World utilized 'a
. trategy of including a few
from among the colonized as
a means maintaining control
over the masses.
Those. who are include,",
must be of a certain mindset
or they are expected to
develop the correct mindset.
As Carter G. Woodson put it
"he who control the mind
has nothing to fear from
bodie ".
There is now a small b�t
significant number of
African Americans who have
deve loped the co ir.ect
mindset for inclusion ito the
sy tern of white domination.
The power eli te ha noth
ing to fear from Michacl'Wil
Iiams or tho e "respon ible"
�'-can American who
. U Gf.D B,ush to veto the civil
ght BIll. .
T n: J.:STAR-
. LI. IIM .. :NT has nothing io
f ear fro m J u d g c I are nee
T..n.omas (often mentioned a,
th� Black succe sor t Thur
good Marshal) whose judi-.
•
on
. .
divide� into multiple unequal �evelop��nt is critical to the
societies. . future etlectiveness o r the
The Civil Rights Move- truggle for justice and em-
m � ha. another opportunity powerment.
to crt leadership in helping
the United State' to rid itself
oT its most his oric and per
sistent problem: racism.
Wf: ARJ.:, 1I0WEVER,
optimistic about the potential
for significant change in this
nation in the near future. The
Rev. Dr. William Howard,
Executive Director of the
Black Council of the
Reformed Church in
America, ha best started a
new year vi. ion. Howard •. •
erred, "In 1 C)C») a new breeze
i . going to hlow. BI ck
peopl arc waking up a ain.
We know wh t the deal i
artd w re not going to lay·
down and tak� what i being
di hied out to us wi thout a
fight. The in titution of thi
country will once g in be
challenged to come to terms
with the reality of our
pre ence in America.
In tbe day that is dawning,
we II will have to come to
term ith M rtin'Luther
Ron
Oenl.l.
cial philosophy i as
�onservative and antithetical
to Black interests a that of
the infamou Judge Bork.
The . establishment can
take great pride in General '
Colin Powell who perform
his duties so' well in defen t
of a racist and explot tive
U.S. system tbat the power
elite may we)) promote him
for inclu ion into tbe oval of
fice as President.
The African American
communi mu t be increas- -
ingly wary of Black'faces in
high places within the estab
lishment. Their positions
�ay not repre ent progress at
alJ but tather a mere iIIu ion
of progrcs .
A focus on Black faces
alone may only .make us- the
unwi ning accomphces to in- •
cluslon for excul ion, t e
new s tra tegy for white
domination.
Ron Daniels serves as
President of the Institute for
Community Organization
and Developl1lell.t. ill
Young town,' Ohio.
Year of
truggle,_' �- __
In other wordsr conserva
tive Republicans ee the fu
ture viability of negative
campaigning on racial issues
io win election in 1991 and
se t the tage for the 1992
Presidential election .
WE BELIEVE, however,
th�t depending on how the
Persian Gulf c n I' is
re rolvcd, the Uni ted St te
will face in 1991 unprece
dented oclal and economic
di location due to the con
ti nued deterioration of the
domestic economy. There
fore. ome of tbe traditional
assumptionl about the infal
libility of tbe U.S. economic
m rket y tem will face
severe te t .
It i again t the national
intere t, particularly as the
global community continue
to change for the betterment
of humankir1d" that the
Unit1:d St tes, "the leader of
the free world," continue to
be racially egreg ted and
-E'the, we will m to
'Ive toge",.,
bt'tItM,." .,.,. Of'
1'_"'"
We must gear up our forces
no to strengthen upport for
the pa age of the Civil
Right Act of 1991.
, We mu t place a greater
empha is on t e involvement
of the youth of our com
munitie in participatory
event and demon tration
around the i ue of educa
tion, employment. hou'ing.
health c ret drug abuse, and
violen e. Youth leader hip
a.njemln·
Chevll
CIVIL
RIGHT
King, Jr.', admoniti'on'
"Either we will learn to live
to ther 81 brothers (and
lilters) or we will ,peri h
t�ther as fools."
ndeed, African Americans
as ell IS other racial and
cthnic communitie acro I
tbe United Sllte are waking
up a ain. Let, ou collective
re olve be 0 unite our ener
gie and effort in tenaciou
and audaciou revived move
ment for r cial justic not
only for 1991, but a long a
there i one child of God who
i per eeuted, exploi ted nd
denied liber tion in thi n
lion nd world.
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