t
\ .
al 0 be n reported that tw
worn n were killed in the Iraqi
S cud a tt a c I a' t wee n din
Dhahran, Saudi r bia. And n
Sunday. Mar h 3rd, the U.
military confirmed the death I
32-year-old female pilot MaJ r
Marie Ro i , who died in a
helicopter ra h in north rn
Saudi Arabia.
ment
rywh reo
ow. Pre ident Bu h hould
urute our P ople and become the
mm nder-i n-Chie in a war
a a in t Job dl crimination at
home. The Pre ident hould use
the unity and popularity that he
w rId
ommit ..
applied
EDITORIAL
•
President George Bush is in a forgiving mood. To lure the
Egyptians into the "coalition" force to fight the Per ian Gulf
War, George forgave Egyptian debts to the tune of billion.
When the President of Poland. Lech Wale a, arrived in
the U.S. last week, he too, heard the words of forgivene .
Bu h announced that the U.S. wa forgiving 70% of all
debts owed this country by Poland. Wale a beamed. George
said the Pole needed the money Cor economic development
for their emerging capi talist system.
Well, there are a lot of Americans who also need their
earnings for their own economic development. The Reagan
Bush social agenda has cut deeply into the available funds
for college. The funds for COllege education have dried up
at the very time in history when a COllege education i
deemed essential to urvial in a technological world.
Too many students have turned to the military to find the
necessary money for a college education. Too many other
have simply fallen by the wayside when faced with the
overwhelming prospect of funding a higher education.
Then. the re rare the millions of poor souls who have
mortgaged their future in the pursuit of what in this day and
age is the basic education for the world of ork: a COllege
degree .
. College loan repayments are dogging the heels of too
many young would-be entrepreneurs. These are young
people with the magic letters, B.A., B.S. behind their name,
but young people saddled with monthly payments on that
college education up to 10 to 15 years after the books are
closed.
The monthly payments on the college degree keep our
young people enslaved, eyes focused on job. Job to pay the
college bill. Don't we as a nation owe ourselves what Bush
wants Poland to have? Let's forgive the college debt . Let
the new wage earners keep their money for thei r own
economic deveoloprnent.
Then, let's take one logical step further. Make COllege
education the right of any American who i willing to inve t
the time and effort to earn it.
A a SOciety we say education is important. We say a
college degree Or advanced training is neces ary in this day
and age of high tech and foreign competition. Then as a
nation we must provide ourselves with the skill and train-
, ing the times require without regard to have and have-not,
ability to payor repay, rich or poor.
Extend the mandate for education past the age of 16.
Make higher education and advanced training the right of
every citizen at any age. The money is there to do it if we
reorganize our national priorities. Can we afford to make
the education of our young less than our top priorify?
qeorge, let' . forgive
the student loans
, )
THE MICHIGAN CITIZE
I .
Published each Sunday by
NEW DAY
PUBLISHING ENTERPRISE
12541 Second St
P.O. Box 03560
Highland Park. MI 48203
Phone: (313) 869-0033/ Fax II: (313) 869-0430
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P.O. Box 216. S nton Harbor, MI 49022
(616) 927-1527
Publisher: Charle O. Kelly
. Editor: Ter a Kelly
Office Manager: B rniee Brown
Correspondents:
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Calvin Lowry - Flodean S. Rigg
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Production Manager: Dewayne Such n.
Production Staff: Ka, cene Bark - Idelle Carter
Advertising Representatives:
T rry Broyl
" h n
wortd ora r
hould nd
th 0 track
y t m."
v ter n return home, orne of
h m wi l l v b dl Jed, they
h v th right to e p
t i o n I I d r hlp
meric n peopl to b on their
id . When orkrng la troop
return, they have the right to e -
p ct that the Pre id nt will not
under ut th ir job with cab.
The Pr id nt mu t support
tri e r plac ment legL lation.
When cthni minori tie return,
they mu t b a ured that Bu h
� will be a tough on ra e and ex
di crimination a he wa on Sad
dam Hu sein.
How can he look women in
mendment, comp r ble
nd p rent 1 leave?
o 0 D Iter-
tiv Civil ights Bill of 91
legitimize r ci m and
di crimination in three
y. First, Bu h ys
com ny' di crimin tory
policie are legal if it" ig
nific ntly erves" one of the
company' "legitimate employ
ment goal ." Furthermore, com
panie can require workers to
ign way their right to u
gain t di crimination.
Under the Bush
admini tration' bill, women
would be able to collect ex
panded damages, but only for
exual harassment, not for other
forms of di crimination. Tho e
d mage would be limit to
$150,000 and would have be
warded by a judge, not a ry.
Does Bush believe somehow that
sexual di crimination is less of
fensive than racism? My
friends, all instances of racial
and exual di crimination are of-
fen ive, un-American, and h ve
no pi ce in our democracy.
Thirdly, Bu h's Itern tive
Civil Right Bill w nt to deter
mine how often white, male
worker could go ask judge to
reopen ca es that had been set
tled on behalf of women or
minorities that allegedly cause
"reverse di crimination."
The Civil Rights Bill of 1991
is really a bill to protect the civil
rights of workers. It is not a
minority rights bill. It i an
economic rights bill. Wbite
order, male workers, long with
women, the physically disabled,
and minority workers, will
benefit from legislation that
provides equal protection under
the law for ALL Americans.
Under thi bill, white males,
along with women, the pbysical
ly disabled, and minorities will
not be discriminated against and
denied job by employers who
use arbi trary criteria (i.e., not
job related cri teria) for determin
ing their hiring and promotional
practices.
We must love the troops when
they are not troops. Last week at
a Black History Month _rogram
at the White House, the Presi
dent said .the reason so many
blacks are in the military is that
the military is an equal oppor
tuni ty employer. He is right.
But that principle must apply to
civilian life as well. It must
apply to the President's appoint
ments.
IT MUST APPLY to ,cor-
TneBrowninq of America increases
def'ine the various racial and
'e th n ic ca tegories of the na
tional population. Whoever
h as 'the power to define a
group ultimately has the
power to impose limitations
on that group. .
For example. since 1980
the population of the United
States, has grown ap
proximately 9.8 percent over
all. This figure is according
to the latest count by tbe U.S.
Censu Bureau. This figure
does not. however, take into
account the gross undercount
in many urban areas where
African Americans. Latino
American, and Asian
Americans are concentrated.
According to the NEW YORK
TIMES, "The new totals may
give' ammunition to some
urban, official who charge
that many blacks were missed
in the Census.
While the 1990 count found
more Hi panics, As ians and
Native Americans than what
population expert had ex
pected, the numbers for
blacks lag behind the e -
timates." USA TODAY has
disclosed that the" 199{) Cen
su may have missed up to 2.4
million black people - or 7.4
percent of all b l a c k r r e s i
dent. "
Given the fa t that the in
fan t m 0 r t a I i 1 Y r at e in the
Afri an American community
o nt i nucs to e .ca latc in add i-
t i o n to the u n p r c c c d c nt c d
d e e+i ne in the life expectancy
of African American, another
reason for the lower than
projected number for the'
African American population
may well be the "fatal" social'
condition that many African
• 0 M E TIM � AG O. we' Americans arc consigned to
called attention 1'0 a dis:' live under.
crepancy in the method that· Another problem that we
the U.S. Cen u Bureau have identified i th t the
By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
During the last ten .ye ars ,
there has been a dramatic in
crease in the percentage of ra
cial and ethnic persons as part
of the population of the
United States of America.
Demographer had predicted
tha t the re wo uld be a gradual
incline in the racial and e th
nic percentage during the next
thirty years.
Yet" to the shock of orne
and to the joy of 0 thers, the
percentage Change of the ra
cial makeup of this nation in-.
creased at a faster rate during
the 1980's t han previously
projected. Felici ty Barringer
of the NEW YORK TIMES
stated, "In the field of po pula
tion statistics, the s p ce d at
which the country's racial and
ethnic mix was altered in the
1980'. wa b rcat hta king."
The finding and s u b-
sequent analysis of the 1990
Census are now being made
public. The new data reveal
that in the United States,
there are 30 million African
Americans. an increa e of
13.2 percent since 1980.
,There are 22.4 million
Hispanic American. an in
crease of 53 percent ince
1980. There are 7.3 million
Asian and Pacific Islander
American, an i n c r e as e of.
107.8 percent dur i ng the la. t
ten year.
And there arc 2 million Na
tive American. an increase of
37.9 percent. There arc ap
proximately 186 million
White of European or Middle
Ea tern Background, which
account for a 6 percent in
crease .ince 1980.
U.S. Census Bureau has
counted the majority of the
Hispanic populations as part
of the white American popula-'
tion. At present, the five ra
cial categories, that the U.S.
Census Bureau uses are
White, Black. Asian and
Paci fic Islande r, Indian. and
Other.
MILLIONS OF Latino
Americans arc not considered
to be a racial grouping. The
Census Bureau maintains that
persons of Hispanic origin
"can be of any race." This is
true but, the Census Bureau
does not give the breakdown
of the different racial group
ings within the Hispanic
category. This 'is part of the
problem.
Member of Congress as
well as state legislators will
be using the latest Censu
figures to redraw Congres
sional districts and design
vital programs that are based
porate Americ. For too long,
we've h d two trac y tem.'
Pre ideot Trum n igned the
Civil Right Bill for the mili t ry
in 1948. Congres pa ed Civil
Rights Bill for civilian in 1964.
The new world order hould end
the two trac sy tern. If
Americans who have been hi -
torically locked out are a
protected in civilian life they
are in military life. America will
refelct and epitomize the new
world order.
Fitlall y, we know this is an
economic and worker's bill, and
not a minority rights bill, by
looking at its chief opponents. If
it were a minority rights bill the
chief opponent would be
Republicans like David D ke
and Jesse Helms. In fact, the
major opposition to the bill is
coming from the National As
sociation of Manufacturers and
the United States Chamber of
Commerce.
The President spent six
months uniting, educating, and
preparing the country-to fight a
war in the Persian Gulf. Now,
devoid of divisive and emotion
a II y charged code word • .pt.
should -ral y and educate the
country of the need to move for
ward in tbe area of civil and
economic rights. He hould not
UNITE the American people in
the cause of w ,and then
DIVIDE those same Americans
when it comes to the cause of
ju tice. Tie a yellow ribbon
around the Civil Rights Bi 11 of
1991.
Benjamin
Chavis
on social 'demographic data.
We celebrate the increase
in the browning of America
and we do not fear the future
multiracial and multicultural,
character of thi nation. Our
c cern is that the gove n
men of the United Sta
s h d not' 'use .acia
ca egories that are ei therout
dated or not truly reflective of
the increasing multiracial
reality. Racial ju lice
demands accuracy in defini
tions as well as in number.
Mit hell/The Au trah n/Sydney