P 2
Hom I In
D trolt
According to the ce us
Detroit h found only 1.300
homele per ODS in com-
parison to t year ' tot
which ranged from 30,000 to
60,000.
The Census bureau . d
the natural ob t clc to
counting tran ient popul -
tion made complet count of
the homele virtually impo -
ible.
Olivia Wilcox deputy
director of the Coalition on
Temporary Shelters, a
Detroit shelter says, "It
doesn't sound like they found
everyone on the streets."
Racial Slur
In L.A.
Following the abuse of
Rodney King, Black officer
in Los Angeles have had to
deal with undue abuse. They
are viewed by other Black
Americans in their com­
munity as being 'Uncle
Tom's'. The police officers
are anguished over doDDing
the uniform of a department
accused of racism.
Rodney Kina
Although, Black officers
of L.A. have not poken out
uniformly lheir have been in ..
terviews with about 20 Black
police officers. Some say they
are torn, they want to believe
the beating was not racially
motivated but they say there
is no other explanation.
Don Hardemen, as a
Black police officer says,
"We're exposed to the �e .
kind of discriminory treat­
ment they are."
Am rlean at
Africa conf. r nc
vow aid
Some 300 African
Americans meeq in Abid­
jan, Ivory Coast April 19-21,
vowed to help end economic
hard times in the mother­
land.
Rev. Leon Sullivan, con­
ference organizer, said Black
Amreicans had come home
to support their ancestors'
continent. He said the con­
ference w a tep toward
fOJ'lDiDg the same emotioual
bond that tie Irish
AD;lcricans to Ireland, Jewish
Americans to Israel.
Sullivan. founder of OIC,
said the first "African­
African American Summit
should garner U.S. support
for development in Afric
and � er BI ck American
pride in their roots.
el on n
fro pri on la t year
brou ht about chan
South ric. at er, outh
Africa ha been plun ed into
poli tical compte ity and con­
fu ion.
Even the promi ed tart of
the con t i tutlon I ne oti -
tions eem I 0 to be a pipe
dream. 1991 is almo t h If
over ith no i n of the be in­
nin of the promi ed con titu­
tional negoti tion bet e n
the African I der nd the
regime of Pre ident F.W. de
Kler .
On March 21 t United
lion , the U. . Speci I Com­
mittee Again t Ap rtbeid
commemor ted the Shar­
peville Ma acre of 1960 in
which 69 PAC peaceful
demon tr tor were unned
do n by the pol ice for
protesting the ·Pas La •
Spe king t the com-
memoration for PAC, Mr. S.E.
Phe 0, told the attendee,
inter alia. that a negotiated
settlement of the South
African r cial problem would
only be pos ible under the fol­
lowing condition:
-There has to be majority
rule.
-The I nd and n tur a l
re o urce s have to be
redistributed.
-A non-racial Constttuent
A sembly ha to be e tab­
lished.
-South Africa has to be
treated as a unit ry tate.
Pheko pointed out that it
wa anomalou that white,
13., of the population, have
grabbed 83% of the country'
land are , Ie ving only 13%
of the most arid parts to the
Blacks, who make up 80% of
the country' population.
"There is no' way," Pheko
said, "apartheid can be dis­
mantled, and colonialism
destroyed without redressing
this economic imbalance."
everywhere.
He onder d hy violenc
till ontinued Iter the an-
la-Buthelezi peace accord.
He dded th t PAC would not
be involved in violence. "In-
read," he id, "we rote to
Buthelezi nd Mandela to end
their conflict."
Referrin to the economic
sanction a ainsi South
Africa, Alexander id that
they "must tay until there
irreversible change." He
I 0 mooted that the impend­
ing conference of BI c or-
g nizations to· form
P trio tic Front would be held
in Harare, not Joh nne burg,
"for obviou rea on ."
MAYORS HONOR HARRY B LAFONTE-Human and civil rlab actlvl t Harry
te will b tbe recipient of the National onference of 81 ck M yo , Inc! (NCBM)
pre tI lou "Tribute to BI ck Am rl n" aw rd. ,HI torte lIy, NCBM' membersblp of 326
w rd to prominent Afrlc n merle n who re plonee In their field or
o e contrlbutlo have uplifted the BI ek community. NCBM' pre Ident, Mayor Unlta
. Black ell of Mayersville, MI lippi, a Ion -tim frl nd of Harry Bel fonte, y, "There re 0
any reat African Amerle n , but ome 0 th t extr mile In their commitment, p r I tence nd
dedication. "One oftbo e pe on I H rry Bel fonte." THE "TRIBUTE will be held on S turd y,
April 27, 1 1, from 7:30 PM • 10:3 PM at the Cleve I nd Convention Center, Han D. The dinner
Is open to tbe public, and ticket m y be purch ed b'y c IIln ndrla Youn at (216) 621-3300.
Police Major tells impact of.Civil Rights Act
Montgomery, Alabama i a
city who e name figure
prominently in the history of the
Civil Rights Movement. It wa
there, on December 1, 1955, that
a seam tre and the treasurer of
the local NAACP branch, Rosa
Parks, decided tbat he was not
going to give up her seat on a city
bus to a white man. Ms. Parks:
arrest touched off the now
famous Montgomery Bu
Boycott.
Now, 36 years later, anotber
person from Montgomery, police
Major Sidney Williams, an
African-American, is playing a
key role in yet another civil
rights struggle ... securing pas­
sage of the Civil Rights Act of
1991 is now being con idered by
Congress.
Major Williams was in
WaShington recently to support
the bill and recount his personal
experience with discrimination·
in the Montgomery Police
Department that led to his filing
a successful civil rights suit. He
made the point that were be to
file that same suit today, be
could not win.
The reasons lie in a decision
banded down by the U.S.
Supreme Courtin 1988 changing
the rules on bow an individual
goes about proving job dis­
crimination has occurred.
Prior to tbat ruling, in tbe
Ward's Cove v Antonio case, if it
I'
could be shown an employer
used a selection test or'procedure
tbat adversely impacted minority
workers, the employer bad to
prove, by a preponderance of
evidence.. tbat the � e of that
selection procedure furthered a
legitimate business interest.
FURTHER, Pheko said,
PAC has also approached Nel­
son Mandela and Mangosuthu
Buthelezi to mediate, so that
there can be peace among the
. oppressed (Blacks). PAC, he
said, has also made efforts for
the formation of a United
(Black) Patriotic Front of all
organizations of the op­
pressed. He went on to stress
that:
-Only Africans should be
vehicle for change, not the
regime.
-Since apartheid cannot
be reformed, it must be
demolished.
-The arms struggle must
be encouraged as a political
weapon.
"The dispossessed people."
Pheko said, "must never ex­
Change their land and usurped
national sovereignly for mere
release or political prisoners
and exiles to a bigger jail
called "old" or "new" South
Africa. "
Concerning the return and
indemnity of prisoners and
exiles, Pheko aid emotion 1-
ly, "The question of indem­
ni ty for pott tical pri ners
and exiles by a regime t
has committed the crime of
apartheid and genocide, mu t
be totally rejected. It is. tbe
dispos es ed people of Azania MAJOR WILLIAMS did
who must consider indemnify- this in 1979-after failing tbe
ing the perpetrators of the test for sergeant three times. He
c rime 0 f a p a rthe i d aga i ns t persuaded a federal judge tbe ex-
humanlty, when apartheid has aminfon and other promotional
bee n d i ma n tie dan d con - des sed by t be
proce ur u
signed to the dust bin of his- Montgomery Police Department
tory."
Concluding, Pheko said, had not been proven to be job
"Political pri o ne rs and exiles related. They were ordered
can only be returned to a aboli bed.
si tua lion tha t ha cha nged "After I won my case and new
fundamentally and irre- and fairer election procedure
ve r ibly. not to the arne w�re put in pi ce, I.became a
raci t colonial i tuation they ergeant in 1980. I rose through
had left behind when they the ranks and became a major in
were sent to prison or exi Ie June. 1988," be aid.
for tbe liberation of their Under the new standards, all
country." . an employer ba to do to ucce -
FINALLY, on M rch 23, fully defend a ca e, uch as the
Benny Alexander, PACts one brought by Major William,
Secretary-General, topped in is to offer om proof the selee-
New Yor City on his educa-
\.
tion procedure meets a business
necessity.
The burden then shifts to the
minori ty employee to prove, by
a preponderance of the evidence,
tbat the selection process does
not advance a legitimate busi­
ness necessity.
The Civil Rights Act of 1991,
which the NAACP supports,
would re tore the law to where it
wa before Ward's Cove. It
would also 0 rturn several
other Supreme Court decisions
tbat have had .an adverse impact
on the employment rights of
minorities and women.
IN
COMING
WaShington, Major Williams
was motivated 'by a desire to
provide a· human dimension to
tbe struggle to have the bill
passed, over the opposition of
the Bush Administration, which
bas submi tted a weaker bill.
When Williams joined the
Montgomery Police Department
in 1968, it had only two' Black
patrolmen on tbe force. He
faced the discrimination and
racism inherent in a police
departmenLthat bad traditionally
been all-white and possessed a
reputation of being particularly
brutal to Black people.
"In 1970, I went to the Justice
Department to seek action
against what' 1 considered to be
racially discriminatory employ­
ment practices in the police force
that prevented Blacks from
reaching the rank of sergeant or
above," Major Williams said.
Frustrated witb being unable
to advance, he finally took ac­
tion against the department.
-I reluctantly sued the police
department in 1978 nd chal­
lenged their promotional proce­
dures, including tbe written
examination that all applicants
had been given that year. I felt
that going to court wa the only
option I had for getting a fair
chance to use my talents .and
abilitie ."
MAJOR WILLIAMS chal­
lenged the examination on the
basis tbat it had nothing to do
with being a good sergeant and
that many of the questions were
irrelevant to hi being a super­
vi or and admini trator in the
department.
"My lawsuit didn't addre s
the i ue of wbether the police
department wa intentionally
discriminatory in putting
together that test-I w imply
aying they didn't ta e enough
care to de ign a test that wa
directly related to tbe job," he
aid.
In June of 1979, Federal
judi' ruled the ex m nd other
promotional procedure in
Mon tgomery' Police Depart­
ment had di parate impact on
Blacks. The court decided that .
the Police Department's test bad
not been proven to be job-re-
lated. Subsequently, the test and
other selection procedures were I
ordered abolished. ,
"All that I wanted in my case!
was fairness, and an equal;
chance to compete. I like to'
think tbat my case had a lot to do.
with moving Montgomery closer]
to giving equal opportunitie to;
all races." �
Today, approximately 20 per}
cent of MontgomGry' pOlicel·
force i Black. .
.
TO