,
don'
,
'The FBI needs work ...
: Detroit Mayor Colern n Young called it right hen he aid
thi wee , "I think the country hould top ling operations.
They're entrapment. We pend million of dollars on tbe e
Mings. I think the fact spe for themselve , tbe feds re out
of control."
He was speaking of the FBI sting that led to the rre t of 11
current or former police officer and the mayor' own niece
and brother-in-law. The FBI did not catch any of them in a
crime. Rather the FBI et up a crimin I cenario and I d the
12 into the net.
The FBI did the same in Ohio. Again, Black police officers
were sought out by the FBI and enticed to come to gambling
house created by the federal agent.
There i enough crime around for the FBI to solve without
creating new criminals. Greed i as American a violence and
few public officials or private citizens without their price.
It doe n'r take FBI training to find mo t person' eHing price .
.. . start with Eric
Mc Ginnis drowning , · "
_ There is one incident that � g ,..F ttention and if the fed
.. , "could refocus lhc'r ere tive e from inventing crime to
olving real-life tragedie ,we ould a them to investigate
the circumstances surrou ing the drowning death of Eric
.. ..., .. J McGinnis.
McGinni is the 16-year-old
African American youth from
Benton Harbor who was la teen
alive in lily-white St. Joseph. Thi
paper has published report that
white youths "had gotten into it"
with Mc�inJ)is for dancing with a
white girl and accounts of Me­
Ginni being chased through St.
Jo eph by White youths the night
he disappeared. His body wa bed
up in the St. Joseph river five days
'later and after almo t a month, the
County Prosecutor can only say,
"I'm scratching my head, I d
know how the body got in the river. n •
This is the same county prosecutor who ruled the hooting
death of Norris Mabens, was "justifiable." Mabens, unarmed
Black male, was shot in the -back by a white police officer
standing in the second floor window from which Mabens had
just jumped.The incident began when Mabens was in the apart-
ment of a friend, not in the act-of committing ny crime.
Now, with the McGinnis drowning, the Prosecutor ha
criticized the NAACP for offering a reward and has kept ilent
in what many are coming to believe is a cover up.
McGinnis's death was very real. No imagination required
here. This is one job for which the community would ap-'
. preciate having some FBI-involvement. We want 'to know how
McGinnis got in the river.
ERIC MCGINNIS.
THE MICHIGAN CIT·IZEN.
, ..
Publish d eaoh
Sunday by
NEW DAY
PUBLISHING ENTERPRIS
12541 Second St
P.O. Box 03580
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Pubttstie»: Charles D. Kelly
Editor: T re.a K lIy
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Copy Editor: L ah Samuel
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Correspondents:
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T rry Broyles
VIEWS
o LEADE S charged
or Blac elected officials to
be urpri ed demon tr ted that
they er out of touch ith and
insen Hive to the concerns of the
Latino community.
Of course these tti tudes mu t
be e sed ithin the context of
an piring African American
community which i still trug-
over, th t imper live
hould not be e ercised to the
e cl ion of other people of
color r poor d di dvant ed
people ho e al 0 victimized
by th American system of raci I
oppre sion nd economic ex­
ploit tion.
The po
country h
division
tlgoni m
and conquer.
er elite in thi
I Iy U ed r cial
nd intra-cl . an­
tr tegy of divide
T E CD ND the super
rich are quite content to ee
.people of color and poor and
or ln people fight over few
crumbs while they retain their
ealth, po er nd privilege.
African Americans of all
people - given our hi tory of
victimization by tho e in power
in thi y tem - must have
poli ti grounded in the vi ion of
ociety where all groups can
enjoy the opportunitie , benefits
nd wealth of thi nation with
equity and parity.
It i ine cusable for African
TIMES, "Now, as AIDS looms as
far deadlier threat than syphilis
to impoverished minority groups
and wi th no cure in sight, scien­
tists are struggling with the ethi­
cal questions raised by the
Tuskegee experiment and the
weakne ses of. current effort
like informed consent and peer
rev ew, to protect patient from
exploitation. "
Wilkerson Iso tressed that
the medical e tablishment in
orne quarters view this matter
wi th urgency. Some doctors are
no advoca ting segregating by
race organ transplants and blood
transfusions. In other word,
race i emerging once again as a
major factor in ethical well a
medical decision-making.
Gi ven the fact of the high in­
fant mortality rate, low �irth .
weight, lac of prenafal care,and
decreasing life expectancy of
African Americans, in addi tion
to the current cutting of medical
and beal th care outreach
progr ms to the African
• •
ac SID In
e·alth Care
Benjamin
Chavia
by Benjamin F .• Cbavls, Jr.
We have in the pa t applauded
Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, the U. S.
Secretary of health and Human
Services, for hi courage and
forthrightness in peaking the
truth about the state of eal th in
the United States. At a recent
meeting in Minneapoli of heal th
c re professional, ethici t and
physiclans, a review of the tragic
Tuskegee project was under­
taken to ascertain whether or not
the heal th care system, in
America a racially just ystem.
To the chagrin of some and the
upport of others, Dr. Sullivan
confirmed, "There i clear,
demon trable, undeniable
evidence of ·di crimination and
racism in our health care ystem.
Each year since 1984, while the
heal th tatus of the general
population hu increa ed, Black
he lth statu . ha ctually
declined. The decline is not one
or two health categories; it i
acro s the board."
Over fif y year ago,
hundred of African-American
men were deliberately ubjeoted
to a feder I study on the long
term effects of untreated syphilis
in AI bama which was caUed the
Tuskegee Project. The subjects
of tbe study were not told that
they had syphili by the medical
researchers. In 'other words, the
federal government sponsored
experimentation on human
beings which ultimately caused
death and great uffering.
One would think that type
of travesty in racial justice and
human digni ty would not be po -
ible today in the 1990' in the
Uni ted States. Yet, given the
current trend of inere cd in-
titutionalized raci m in the sQ­
cial fabric of the nation, ome
medic 1 authorities w rn that,
po ibly, project like the Tus­
egee. Project could be repeated
nd ju ti tied in an effort to
ecure needed medical re earch.
CORDI G TO Isabel
Wilker on of the NEW YORK
IC ICA
m t truggJe to forge principled
coalition wi th people of color
b ed on mutual re pect and n
agend of common intere ts nd
concern .
I would be the first to concede
tha t· this i no mall undertaking.
Cultural di fference , friction
over control of neighborhood
economies, competition for job
and other carce re ource ,and a
lack of communic tion are bar­
rier to building viable coali­
tion between communities of
color. And there i often a reluc­
tance on the part of other
minori ties to enter into coali­
tions with Blacks.
Unfortunately the attitudes of
other minorities towards BlacD
are often shaped by the prevail­
ing ,tti tudes of the larger racist
ociety. However, in every com­
munity of color there are
progressive activists and leaders
who recognize that conflict
between communitie of color is
counterproductive.
African American bould be.
proactive in see in out the.
progres lve activis and leade
itbin communitie of color.
Consi tent communication .
and dialo ue hould be estal-]
bi hed as a basis for identifying'
problems nd i of mutu I
concern. Tbe dialogue sbould
Iso produce agreement on:
trategle and programs hich
ill en ble communities of color
to combine their energle to con-
front the real enemy.· :
•
•
THE LAST THING com-] .
munities of color need is to be.
consumed by conflict witb each!
other. Communities of color�
must unite to fight racism and:
economic exploitation. •
•
African Americans are chal-.
•
lenged to- be in the forefront of.
initiatives which will galvanize:
communities of color and other:
oppressed people to late on that:
fight. " :
•
•
CIVIL
RIGHTS
American community, the itua- �
tion is indeed cri tical. For-:
tunately, Dr. Sullivan and others :
who arc committed to addressing:
these problems are not remain- :
ing silent. •
The delivery of health care in �
this nation should not be deter- :
mined by race or socio-economic :
factors. We must say not all re- :
searcbers wbo would try to Jus- :
tify the immorality of racist:
human experimentation. ::
The health care system must '
be made more inclusive and
more just in tbe provision of':
medical treatment as well a :­
preventive medical programs. A
nation that discriminates and ':
limits the standard of health of :
its own citizens because of race:
or any other. factor is a nation •
who e national life is doomed. .
