VIEWS
M
EDITORIAL
,
Politi in the fa ' BI c communitie -Ii e politi n tional-
ly t 10. But th politi 1 ill in th BI ck community
dp inbeca eofth tremendo uffering of our people:
fe or dcq te jo d th , i ufficient nd in deq te helter, .
ed tion I th re, nutri tion.
Whil citize uffer, city 0 icials play power politic in v in
. fy tbeircut-of-control ego. It i difficult to recall any
p blic 0 lci tti huffed nd puffed, insulted or ggrieved over
sufferin inflic d on iden. 0, the offici I concerns are the
offici ls.
In Hi hl nd Par, bic erin between f; ctions on the council and
in the yor' office hit bottom. A city coun i1woman w
arrested for failwe to tum in travel fund dvances. Reports re that
the am t a political move on the part of the mayor. Th $1800
in question been repaid. In the meantime, house deteriorate,
'. . thrive, Hey clog with garbage, crack touche more liv than
any deci ion rendered by the council. And "gol dam, we showed her
didn't we."
In Detroit, city council has dded to its hemorrhaging legal budget
by havin to e the COUJ1S to force Chief Stanley Knox to come and
a wer que tions. The long tated policy of the Mayor is that no
depal1ment chief to nswer to anybody but himself. While
Coleman worrie about the extent of his personal reign in the cor­
ridors of power, more job leave the devastated city, the debris from
the recent torm and its week-long power outage litter the streets, the
city face a budget hortfall of historic proportions. But, "gol dam, J
howed them."
And in Benton Harbor where city hall chaos was invented, the long
term results of the ceaseless charges, counter-charges, counter­
counter charges and other petty jocking for power and po irion are
now manifest.
Disgusted' with a decade of wrangling at city hall for power,
position and one up-mansbip, the voters of that beleagured -93%
Blac -city voted in a white mayor in the hopes that "white folks
can get something done."
Ye , indeed the Mayor got something there done. Stepping into
the vacuum of leadership caused by the petty bickering: the mayor
, sold the city's tallest building -not to the highest bidder, but to his
brother. Every public agency in the area who would never consider
renting in the city moved into the mayor's brother's building to
provide a nice cash flow of public funds in the form of leases and
rents.
The corporate world too, was ready to seize the opportunity.
Whirlpool Corporation, with its world headquarters in Benton Har­
bor, announced it would donate a $1 million a year if the community
matched the funds. With tbe money gathered from every municipality
in the comm nil)'., a quasi-governmental organization -the Com­
munJty Economic Development Corporation (CEDC)- was estab­
lished. This CEDC gets grants, does studies, makes recommenda­
tions, all in the name of making the Benton Harbor area a better place
in which to do business. Well, if you think Benton Harbor residents
are benefiting, guess again. The CEDC is slowly'but surely gutting
the political power of alacn in the city.
While the city voted the same amount of money this year as last
for its Community Development Department, it simultaneously laid
off the ,majority of tile employees in the department. These Black, city
residents are now in the unemployment line. The work they used to
,do will be done by tbe CEDC or its spin-offs such-as the Non-Profit
Housing Corporation, or its forbear, the Southwest Michigan Plan­
ning Commission (16 employees, 0 Black and 0 Benton Harbor Ci ty
residents) ... or any other non-city controlled agency.
All studies done by the CEDC for other communities find ways to
shift tate, federal or county funds to those communities. When it
comes to Benton Harbor, the movement is a taking from. .
'Ibe CEDC's recent study of water and sewer recommends an
authority take over the Benton Harbor water plant. The CEDC
recommended all Benton Harbor city property be d 0 a board
composed primarily of bankers. This board will ve the C8 ity to '
market and manage the property. The botto ine is that th ery
financial institutions that redlined the city causing the abandollln�- ....
and decay, now get their hands on the vacant lots, empty houses.
So, what's the connection to Highland Park or Detroit? While
Black politicians are playing out their ego games, non-resident cor­
porations with an eye on valuable inner city land are being taught a
valuable lesson: how to steal political control from Black folks. Let
the Blacks have the titles Mayor, Councilman, Commissioner, be­
cause the power they refuse to use today, will not be theirs to use
tomorrow.
THE MICHIGAN CITIZEN
P,ubll.hed eaoh
Sunday by
NEW DAY
PUBUSHING ENTERPRISE
12541 Second St
P.O. Box 03580
Hlghllnd Plrk, MI 48m
Phone: (313) 189-0033/ Fax.: (313) 88 .()43()
Western Michigan Bureau: 175 W. Mlln St
P.O. Box 218, Benton Hlrbor, M148022
, (818) 827·1527
Publisher: Chlrle. D. kelly
Editor: Tere I Kelly
Westem Michigan Editor: Bernice Brown
Copy Editor: Lelh Simu I
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Correspondents:
D rrlck C. Lewl. • B rnlce Brown· Miry GollldlY
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Advertising Representative: 11 rry Broyl a
',.t
Historically, African Americans
have generally not b en fervent flag
wavers or super patriots. Our refusal
to be flag wavers 'was/i a form of
ta it, quiet protest and re i tan e to a
. system which brutalize th rna es
of Black people.
On holiday like Memorial Day
and the Fourth of July, you can use
the flag gauge to tell where Black
communities end and where white
communities begin.
I THE DLAe community
th re will virtuall y be no flag . How­
ever, when you cro over into a
white community, flag will be
flying in relative abundance.
African Americans have alway
been aware that we are in America
but not fully accepted in America
and treated with respect, dignity and
complete citizenship in thi country.
This is not to say that African
Americans have been disrespectful
of the flag. Black people are general­
Iy not flag burners either.
Impoverished
children
'cennot eat flag'
'sandwiches.
demonstrations 0 the 60' to
bolize the hope and a pi ration th t
th United Stat would become a
just and decent nation. And it i not
un ual for the families of deceased
Blac veterans to drape the coffin
wi th an American Flag.
But African Americans have not
been a party to e mindless hoopla
and the kind of hallow patriotism
which i now engulfing thi nation.
Because of our history of resistance
to exploi tation and oppression, be­
cause Black people constitute such a
powerful potential force of oppo i­
tion to this racist and exploitive sys­
tem, the Black community is a prime
target for cooptation and pacifica­
tion.
African Americans MUST be
made a part of the "patriotlc"
mindset. The fight for fundamental
change in this country would be
severely retarded if the government
could successfully pacify African
Americans and acclimate Black
Iy."
C"1&'.&'-&',"-_"" 1"1I�'t'J.��C have
no on to enga e in America'
orgy of celebration. Celebrate what?
Certain} y African Ameri can-
not condone or celebre burtal war
that unnece ily killed or wounded
n rly 1 million Iraqi people.
Certainly Black people have no
cause to celebrate given th death
and destruction that befalls Black
communities in this country daily
a result of racism and government
neglect.
Why hould African Americans
embrace the flag of a nation that fails
to embrace Black people with jus­
tice, equity, parity, dignity and
re pect.
One half of Black children in the
U.S. live in poverty in 1991. These
impoverished children cannot eat
flag sandwiches.
AFRICAN AMERICANS are
called upon to be patriots of a dif­
ferent kind. Our allegiance must be
to God and humanity. Our devotion
must be to human development. Our
greatest loyalty must be to the prin­
ciples of justice, equality and peace.
Unti] the United States can
reasonably come to reflect these
principles, Afric n American
hould forcefully raise the question:
Wha t i your American Flag to Black
people?
The e word from Frederick
Dougl , July 5, 1852 speech on the
relevance of the Fourth 0 July
celebration to Black people hould
be a modem day guide for African
Americans": Your sounds of rejoic­
ing are empty and heartless; your
denunciation of tyrants, bras
fronted impudence; your shou1S of
liberty and equality, hollow mock­
ery; your prayers and hymns, your
sermon and thanksgiving with
religious parades and olemnity, are.
. . mere bombast, fraud, deception,
impiety, and hypocrisy - a thin veil
to cover up crimes which would dis­
grace a nation of savages. "
rll !nUl
L- LI
U
., HA�b ON �o� A MI�UTE • t-\('S
H;""
ti"'SiNt1S" ..
Ron Daniels serves as Presiden:
of the Institut« for Comnumity Or­
ganization and Development in
You1lgs�Ht! may b« COII-
toctt!trat (216) 746-5741. .
James Farmer, founder and
former national director of CORE,
was present and his keynote address·
revealed not only "the passion for
justice and equality" exhibited by the'
"Freedom Riders," but also the bold
determination of these "nonviolent
warriors." Farmer emphasized, "We
are here to commemorate an auda­
cious a t of 30 years ago when a
group of Americans of all colors rode
buses into the teeth of liatred and
shattered forever the obscene pattern
of Jim Crow in interstate travel."
Farmer explained, "The freedom
ride was originated and sponsored by
CORE, which recruited the first 13.
When the first 13 could not proceed
beyond Birmingham" the ride was
taken up by members of the Nash­
ville Student Movement (a SNCC
affiliate), joined in Montgomery by
some CORE youth from New Or­
leans. I rode with them to Jackson
where we proceeded to fill up the
jails of Mississippi; including the
maximum security unit at the State
Peni tentiary in Parchman."
IT IS IMPORTANT to remem­
ber the names of the initial Freedom
Riders who started the freedom ride
'Freedom Riders: 1961-1991
in May 1961. Their names are James
Farmer, John Lewis, Jimmy Me­
Donald, Frances Bergman, Walter
Bergman, Genevieve Hughes, Jim
Peck, Hank Thomas, Albert
Bigelow, Ed Blankenheim, B. Elton
Cox, Charlotte DeVree, and Joe
Perkins.
Congressman John Lewis
reminded the crowd that there is a
need ,today to rekindle the "spirit of
struggle" of the Freedom Riders to
challenge the multiplicity of justice
issues prevalent taroughout the na­
tion. Dr. Joseph Lowery stres ed the
need for our communities to ch nge
the current "lifestyles" of le s invol­
vement to that of full-time "libera­
tion lifestyles," that will chalJenge
both the internal and external
problems of the African American
community.
The conference adopted an eight
point action plan which included
"total opposition to the nommation
of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme
Court of the United States; paying
tribute to the outstanding tenure of
Justice Thurgood Marshall on the
Supreme Court; calling for con­
tinued economic sanctions against
South Africa; expressing resolute
By B JAMI F. CHAVIS, JR.
Thirty years ago, thirteen
courageous "Freedom Riders II in­
itialed one of the' most effective
� strategies of the Civil Rights Move­
ment. The strategy was to board in­
terstate buses in Washington, D.C.
and ride into the South to challenge
racial segregation and discrimina­
tion in interstate travel. As a result
'of �s type of "direct action," the
Freedom Movement gained greater
momentum leading to the eventual
participation of thousands.
We witnessed the Thirtieth An­
niversary Freedom Riders' Com­
memorative Conference held on the
campus of Tougaloo College in
Tou aloo, Mississippi. It was like a
family reunion of the Movement.
Activists and leaders from the Con­
gress of Racial Equality (CORE),
Southern Christian Leadership Con­
ference (SCLC), Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC),
National Association for the Advan­
cement of Colored People
(NAACP), and from many other or­
ganizations all gathered together to
recall and pay tribute to the success
of the Freedom Movement three
decades ago.
.,enJlinln F.
Chavla Jr.
solidarity with the African National
Congress and Ne180n Mandela;
demanding a recount of the 1990
Census; reprioritizing voting rights
as a national priority; and calling for
a national movement against en­
vironmental racism.
At one point, one night during the
conference, the electricity was cut
due to a thunderstorm in the area.
James Farmer was peaking at the
time and be kept on speaking during
the five minute interval of darkness.
Although Farmer is no blind, his
vision of the freedom movement is
just as sharp today it w 30 years
ago.
We thank the Freedom Riders of
yesterday, and we call for a new
generation of Freedom Riders be­
cause we need the movement for
freedom and justice today mOre than
ever.
.a� � � �� __ �, , � ...