r
Pro cutor crltlc/�
NAACP for feW rei In
drowning d th
By TERRY KELLY
"'kid." CilIu"
BSNTON HARBOR - St.
. Jo eph Police Detective Denni
Soucek began questioning white
youths about the drowning of
Eric McGinnis before any news
reports of the youth' drowning
.urfaced.
. Opportunities
in military not
what they seem
by DERRICK C. LEWIS
SI4II Writer
,
y
That revelation from a reli­
able ource call into question
recent t tement of Berrien
County Prosecutor Denni
Wiley and strengthens com­
munity belief that an attempted
cover-up i underway.
McGinni , a Black 16-year­
old Benton Harbor High School
scphomore w s last seen alive
ERIC MCGINNIS,
'drowDla ylctl.
when hi. father dropped him off
at The Club, 50S Pleasant, St.
Jo eph on Friday, May 17, bout
9 p.m. The youth wa found in
the St. Jo eph River Wedne d y
jnomtn ,May 22.
Th Club is a teen dance ,and
recreation center with a
predominantly white clientele.
The bu iness is owned by Chri
Adam of Stevensvllle and hi
partner George Zinkil.
At least three sources relate
that McGinnis wa chased from,
the club site by sever 1 white
youth the night he di appea�ed.
The Club is at Pleasant and Lake
Blvd. on the bluff overlooking
Lake Michigan and the St.
Jo eph River.
COUNTY Prosecutor Dennis
Wiley has officially taken over
the investigation. He has said
there is no evidence of any foul
play connected to the drowning
See, DROWNING, Pale 11
PEOPLES POWER MOVEMENT SLATE - Pictured (I-r) are, AIltolDe chol Elar od
Je., aad Erick Hockett. The three YOUDI meD re caDdldatel for eats a BeDtoD Harbor CIt,
Co ml loa. the three I, why It' time for young people to et lD.olved. Story 0 PI .Il
(Pboto 'b1 .rllle BrowD).
•
•
E'me
Although Blacks are represented
in the military in proportio greater
thin their representation in the U.S.
pop alion, econoJqic opportunlti
to In dvI r.
A report fro the adoaal Urban
_._ (NAL) Indk:atecI B1acb are
more than 17 percent of all military
pel'lOnnel, but occupied only 6-7 B,MICHAEL SCHILLICUTT
percent of all officer positions in, THE TYPICAL STATE "IN-
1�." This repreaen . 69 percent MATE is a young, unemployed
fewer omcer positions than Blacks minority male with a 10th grme
"would have held if they were repre- education who use. drugs or al-
sen1ed proportionately. cohol and haa prior arrests.
In 1990, Blacks comprised ap-' Twenty-five years ago, the
proximately 10 percent of the average sentence for a Michigan
employed workforce but only six ' felon was 2.�3 years. Today it is
percent of the managerial and 4.SS years, according to Hou e
professional occupations. The Fiscal Agency analy t Warren
report indicated Blacks held 40 per- Gregory.
cent fewer managerial and profes- Gregory's April, "1989 3S­
sional jobs than they would have if page House Fiscal repor-t
they were proportionately repre- sounded the alarm for
Kneed in these occupations. Michigan' Prisons mounting
Thi.s represents a 29 percent dif- crisis. The 95-percent Irrcrease
ference in the proportion of Blacks in sentences i directly tied to
ho�ngmanagerialandprofessional judge's tougher sentence
jobl vel1US holding officer positions pollcies. '
in tbe military. "Tough" measures also keep
prisons over crowded.
BLACKS WHO HAVE While law enforcement offi-
achieved officer status are under- cials and prlson analysts con­
tepresented in the higher ranks. In tinue to debate whether the
1990, nearly 98 percent of all Blac ma.sive prison buildup is cost
military offi�rs held rarik below the effective at controlllng crime,
nNlition of 0010&1, in contrast, tho Gregory's report s ta ted that
r-. rti (i" Michigan crime rates had at­
cone ponding propo on or all ready stabilized in the early
nces" was more than five percent.
White officers achieved a rank of 1980s and actually began to
decline by 1988, two years
lonelorabove2.7times tbe rate of before the first new batch of
their Black counterpans. pri ons opened.
Even in the enlisted ranks, ,!here Each prison, costs about $11
•• ILITARY, Page 11 million to operate. Corrections
Deputy Director Dan Bolden,
said, "We are going to have to
re-educate the publi'c:
Everybody we're ending to
prison doesn't need to be in
prison. "
THE TREND toward longer
entence and tougher parole
tandard in Michigan means
more inmate are coming into
the pri on y tern each year and
fewer are leaving.
There is a common miscon­
ception about incarceration 's ef­
fectiveness. As tudy of parolees
o
show nearly 7S-percent of all
eriou crimes are committed by
, only 17-percent of the state's
convicted felons.
Michig�n taxpayer spend
about $42 million to cover con­
struction co ts and commit to
pending the $11 million per
year to operate a pri on a long
a it is open.
In 1980, voter rejected a t�x
increase to pay for building ad­
ditional' pri ons. Four years
later the governor nd lelis-
S •• PRISON, Page 11 •
..
GOP racial politics cond
Charge Bush is
'utttmetelv
responsible"
NNP)& N.ws S.",Ic.
Several prominent civil
rigbt. leaders in Wa hington to
.support passale of the Civil
Rights Act of 1991, condemned
White House efforts to ba e the
forthcoming presidential cam­
paign on the use of "racial
politics" -l.e. the creation and
manipulation of racial
animosity for political purpose •.
The presidents and chief ex­
ecutive officers participating in
today's pres conference are
.members of the Black leader­
Ship Forum, an organization
which includes all of the major
African American civil rights
membership organizations in the
United states.
John Jacob, chairman of the
forum and president of the Na-
,tional Urban League, warned
that "the White Hou e has
chosen the i ue it hope will
dominate public di cu ion in
1992-that is ue is race."
The joint tatement of the
civil right 1 ade on behalf of
their organization pointed out
that, although White House and
Republican official had once
condemned the racial politics of
David Duke, "today some of
those very official, enticed by
the number of vote which Duke
won, are making the same ap­
peals in all too similar lan­
guage."
THE LEADERS charged the
White House with tactic "all
aimed at per uading 'white
voters that racial preference are
the cause of many, even most, of
their problem ," and that "only
one candidate and one party will
protect the interests of whites."
The statement warned that
"once racial fear nd an­
tagoni m are inflamed for
political purposes, they would
pread rapidly beyond the con­
trol of the poli iicians who
tarted the proces ."
The clvl] rights leaders em-
mn
d
phasized that President Bu h
wa ultimately re ponsible for
the decision to resort to racial
politic , and called on him to
end u e of such divi ive tactic.
"The narcotic of racial
polarization is once again being
peddled in the hall of Congres
and the White House. The time
has come to ju t say 'no'."
The civil rights leader. join­
Ing in thi statement included:
John E. Jacob, chairman of the
Black Leader hip Forum, pre i­
dent and CEO National Urban
League, Inc., Thoma H. Wat­
kins, president" National
Newspaper Pubii her Associa­
tion; Juliu Chambe ,director-
A I 0 TO : "Yos, by
an all white company. They
gave very few minority promo­
tions. They tried to intimi ate
you."
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