EDITORIAL
./
r
Let' put the Clarenc
Thomas matter in perspec
tive. Th Suprem Court i
lready t cked. It is no
longer Supreme Court,
standing for the highest
ideals of the nation, but a
Republican Court, repre-
senting the interests of that
.. party. It i powerful, but it is
• I not just.
Justice Thomas deserves a
Senate hearing. And we
. . deserve a Supreme Court J us
. , nee, one who will provide
« reasoning, remedy and relief. Clarence Thom
; � Judge Thomas is indeed a strange creature. He is the primary
" beneficiary of the struggles of the martyrs: Rosa Parks, Dr. King,
· Medger Evers, yet he attacks the tree that bears the fruit of their
labors.
His career is a product of affirmative action and government
support: his matriculation from Holy Cross was affirmative
action, working for Senator Danforth was a government payroll.
The EEOC is a civil rights department. Th Supreme Court is a
. lifetime government job. Yet
he attacks government invol- , .
'.
vement and its measu es for
affirmative action.
Far from lifti,ng civil rights
workers, and then carried in
the arms of Danforth,
Reagan, and Bush. That's
sponsorship top down, not
bootstraps bottom up.
DON'T AGONIZETIIE
Thomas issue too much.
One, the courts have already
shifted. , Two, Thomas ha
not asked our support, ind d
he has shown disrespect.
our heritage.
Anybody who would at:
tack the legacy of Dr, King, Medger Evers, and Thurgood
Marshall, should not expect to pick the fruit oftheir trees.
One has the right to disagree, of course, but not the right to
•• chop down the tree that bears the fruit. Indeed, Judge Thomas
: has benefited more from their trees than they did in their lives,
yet he attacks the 1954 decision that made this education pos
sible.
Without some expression of contrition, and the will to be-fair
and just, it would be a betrayal of the heritage of our struggle to
support anyone who threatens to undermine it.
- Senator Jesse Jackson from a speech to the 20th Annual
Operation PUSH Convention July 17, 1991.
THE MICHIGAN C.ITIZEN
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VIEWS
So rd of Edu tion decision a
ruling rooted in "dubio oci 1
cience." And durin hi seven-year
term Ch irman of the Equ 1
Employment Opportunity Commis-
ion Thom w vocifero critic
of affirmative tion.
What bet r weapon to have at
. your disposal than Bl man who
i willing to be hoc trooper for
the con erv tive cau e? Little
wonder that Thomas positioned
to uoceed TburgOO(l Ion the
bench of the Supreme Co .
Brother Thomas i virtually the
exact opposite of Thurgood Marshall
on mo t of the critical questions
f cing Bl c , minoriti , women,
labor and poor nd working people.
Prior to and during his tenure on
the Supreme Court, Thurgood Mar
shall was an uncompromising cham
pion for the disadvantaged and the
dispo essed and a protector of civil
libertles.
CLARENCE THOMAS once As a o-called elf-made man,
renounced the hi toric Brown v Clarence Thom is a proponent of
top Ch mical Di a
In Our Communitie
t.v. K ... ,
San �Iego Union
Copaey ,....Ientce
. During the last 5 years there have
been an unprecedented number of
petrochemical explosions, acci
dents, leaks and other Iife-thrreaten
ing disasters that have occurred in
predominantly African American
communi ties. Many of the workers
in the petrochemical industry are ra
cial and ethnic persons. More im
portan tl y the loca tion of a
disproportionately high number of
these plants are located in our com
munities.
Since 1987,80 persons have died
and nearly 1,000 injured as a direct
resul t of petrochemical disasters
across th nation, particularly in
communities that have a large
African American percentage of the
population. In the most recent inci
dent, an explo ion erupted at the
Albright & Wilson Americas plant in
Charleston, South Carolina. The
blast killed eight persons and injured
more than 130 people.
A total of $2 billion in damage to
property has already occurred as a
resul t of these chemical di ters.
Yet, after numerous lawsuits, in
surance companie have been reluc-
t to pay. claims that completely
ver the damage from -these inci
dents.
THE, NATIONAL Safe
Workplace Institute located in
Chicago confirms that petrochemi
cal disasters are a national problem.
The an-
n u a ,I
fatality
rate in the
chemical
industry
has
doubled
in the last
10 years.
The Con
gress of
the United
S tat e
enacted
the Qean
,Ai Act of 1990 in part to ure
t grea er federal oversight over the
fcty of the petroc mical industry.
In ct, the gt of the Cean Air�·
Act called the eatab . hment of a
federal CberiUca1 Safety and Hazud
Ron
. D nl
VA'TAG
PO T
In another article, I cautioned
against the "danger of kin politi ."
Blac faces in high pI ces may not
necessarily translate into empower
ment for Black people.
Indeed, we are witnessing the un
folding of a trategy where some
Blac elected and appointed leaders
will be used willing accomplices
to the containment and reversal of
gains by Blac , minorities, women
and labor.
The rich and the super rich who
control this nation have some new
found partners -Bl ck conserva
tives like Clarence Thomas who are
witting and unwitting tools for a sys
tem of white <iomination.
Bl ck Jc:in one i i utficient
when it comes to promoting
protecting the righ of the di pos-
e ed. Thurgood M rsh 11 nd
Clarence Thom are both Bl c
people who grew up in America.
However, the e two Bl ck men
developed radic lly different
opinions bout. wh t it means to be
Black and disadvantaged in this
country.
We could alway count on Thur
good Mar hall to champion our
cause. However, our fate and future
is not secure 'with Blac apologist
l!Jce Clarence Thomas in po itions of
power.
Being Black is not enough. I am
compelled to add my voice to the
chorus of voices aying no to the
nomination of Judge Clarence
Thomas to the Supreme Court.
Ron Daniels serves as President
of the J nstitute for Community Or
ganization and Development in
Youngstown, Ohio. He may be con
tacted at (216) 746-5747.
ters
Benjamin F.
Chavl. Jr.
Investigation Board.
Yet, to our dismay, to. date Presi
dent Bush has not appointed anyone
to serve on this important inves
tigatory agency. We call upon Presi- Louisiana, the cancer rate, among
dent Bush to act immediately to African Americans who live close to
appoint members to the Chemical petrochemical plants, is the highest
Safety and Hazard Investigation in the nation.
Board. In fact, We, therefore, question the laxity
we believe, that and sense of tolerance conceming
because a di - thi � . This is a human rights
proportic lJ.UI��WHII�. 'We cannot afford to be silent
number of these in the face and in the wake of increas
dan g e r 0 u ing petrochemical disasters in our
f cillties are 10- communities. We demand justice
ca te din 0 ur and we demand fairne and we want
communitie, corrective action now.
then a repre- Our communities are not "Kill
entative num- Zones" at the mercy of the un
ber of African abridged greed of the petrochemical
A mer i can, indu try. Our children and our
Hip ani C families have a right to live free of
American, N - chemical contamination and ex
tive American plosi . In the words of the Gulf
experts hould be appointed to this Coast Thnants odation in Missis-
board. ippi and Louisiana which is leading
The main . here is not j t the fight gainst the injustices of the
property damage, it is also the over- petrochemical plants, "Cean them
all health of our communities. In up or sbut them down.
some areas lite "Cancer Alley" in