VIE�VS
P 0
: T rry ro
EDITORIAL
ulldin ,building, bulldln nd
y, no mon y, no mon y
Two major construction projec are ready to go for Detroit: the VA
pi nd the IRS building. How much ill Blec aDd Detroiters
· be involved in m lng money off of the projects?
The VA job' too big, ccording to NAAAB (National Associ tion
of Afri n American B i ). No Bl contractor tbe financing
or bondin to ta e on that kind of job. Even the ub-contracting on
the project will keep all but the big guys out, ys NAAAB. They ant
to see the job cut up and broken down. They want to see an independent
. group monitor the contract process to guarantee that Detroiters and
legitima Blac contractors get a piece of the pie.
NAAAB h expressed i anger with Congre man John Conyer'
office for not folio ing through on earlier promises to ee to it that
Blac nd Detroiters are guaranteed to get ome of the b ioess. At
two wee before bid letting there w nothing in writing no here to
guarantee BI ck or Detroit involvement.
The IRS project holds the glimmer of greater hope. Among the likely
bidders on that job are the Stein Company out of Chicago and a
Japanese company.
Stein was the successful bidder on a VA project in Chicago and
minorities on that job earned 36% of that paycheck, Stein developed
a proce and sy tern for including small disadvantaged builders on the
job and it erves as a model: .
-Stein served a mentor to the smaller contractors providing the
, benefit of their expertise and experience with the disadvantaged con-
tractors. ,
-Funds for bonds for cash- trapped mailer firms was set ide up
front to guarantee the maller builders would be involved.
-Financing was provided to allow small contractors to meet payroll
and buy material during the construction.
-25 percent of the job guaranteed for mall disadvantaged busi-
-nes es.
It is likely that the Stein model will be replicated on the IRS project.
. 'But it cannot be left to chance.
We thank NAAAB for its efforts to dirett the federal dollars into the
hands of Black busine es and Detroiters. We urge Congressman
Conyers to do for his constituents what all other Jegislatorsdo fortbeirs:
bring home the bacon.
It' not Black v . Jew In
Brooklyn disturb nee
The media, which has overdo ed on Russia sending most viewers
running for any alternative to the ad nauseum coverage of the three-day
, Sovle\ coup, has largely neglected the story of what is going on in
Brooklyn. The reports that are making it into the papers and on the new
are often lopsided in their coverage, leading readers to think that Blacks
in Brooklyn have donned the brown shirts of the German Gestapo. and
are running through the streets shouting 'Hell Hitler" while searching
out Jews t9 persecute. ,
What Blacks in Brooklyn are saying, is enough favortlsm. The
message is a call for justice; not anti .. semitism. Black resentment of
neglect has erupted in a call for jobs, decent housing, police protection,
• code enforcement, clean streets . . . all the city services dJspropor­
tionately provided others and neglected when it come to the Black
community.
In the case of Brooklyn, it is Jews who get the favorable treatment.
· In another city, another neighborhood, it would be some other group,
I because from coast to coast, city to city Blacks find that the institutions
that work for others do not work for them,
Do not let the media mislead. Blacks, do not have the power to
prosecute Jews in Brooklyn or in Detroit or anyone anywhere else for
that matter. Just as the Jeffrey Dahmer case in Milwaukee illustrated,
the social institutions including the police, do not function on our
be1)alf.
Discontent with-the malfuncuoning institutions is popping up all .
over. Voter registration drives, recall efforts, marches are all protests
of the insufferable status quo. In Brooklyn, the protest has unfortunate­
ly become violent. This will cause more suffering for Blacks than
· anyone else.
If ABC, CBS and NBC keep their heads stuck in the sands of
Russia, the political leadership cannot afford to. Americans turning
, on one another and authori ties seem indifferent, tells us that this nation
: is hurtling towards self-destruction,'
W�'Ll .. , don't j\Jst "i:t there- ... '
6et Upahd WaLK1!
Nobody's SOMna do that"
-for you!(
'u' , .
... p,I:->ay ...
�L"'fl�""'�
""'OMA�
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r
re ource to concentrate on t
priority stat fi t nd then b
the organizin to develop stNCt
in the econd tier of ted
and other t te the interest
develop.
Local ta organizatio
ponsible for collecting the
ary ign ture to ecure ballot
tatus, outreach to co ti tuenc' e and
recruitment, le de hip trainin and
development, voter regi tration nd
voter education, identifying critical
local! tate i ue and developi
locall tate agend and the conduct
of the election mpaign.
The local/ t te organizations
must a 0 decisively demonstrate the
capacity to raise the b ic financial
resources required to mount n ef­
fective campaign. W' hout the
cap city to muster the human and
financial resource it will be impos­
sible to move forward.
D L GA
Tom
ROIl DanieLr'serva Q.S President
of the I, • e lor CommUllity 0;­
glVlizatioll alld Developmellt ill
YOtUIg#OWll, Ohio. He may � c�.
tacted ,. (216) 746-5747.
DU I G THE Exploratory
phase (October 1991- March 19(2)
we will in nsify the drive to incor­
porate a broad range of constituen­
cies into th' effon.
The equitable incl ion of people
of color i the first priority - Native
American s ; Latinos, A i n
Amerian , Arab Americ ns and
other people of color.
ch community of color will
, have the right to form their own
caucus. Each community will also be
represented in the leadership true­
ture of the exploratory Committee.
Women, youth, lesbian and gay, en­
vironmentalist, peace activist, and
labor win al 0 be incorporated into
the structure ith the right to form
caucuses.
The objective' to build power­
ful coalition which Rflects the inter­
ests and agendas of the masses of
poor and working people and the
progres ive movement in thi
country.
The Campaign for New Tomor­
row must be seen as the foundation
WHEN WE HAVE tisfactori­
Iydealtwith these vital tasks then we
will know that it is feasibility to run
an independent presidential cam­
paign.
The current timetable i to make
a formal declaration of candidacy in
March of '92 to coincide with the
20th Anniversary of the histotic
Gary National Black Political Con­
vention,
COD-
.:
African Am
In Hi,gh�r
rlcan
ducation
Benjamin F ...
Chavl. Jr.
DR. SBIRLEY MeBAY, Dilec>
tor of tbe Quality Education Project
in Washington, D.C. also expressed
criticism of the Busb-propou1 be­
cause it did not deal with the· ue of
racial tracking. McBay 'stated,
"There are tboUWlds 'of minority
tudeDts woo are trapped becaUle �
tracking' in low acackmlc content
with the same level of suppon for �
State's predominantly white col�
Ie :
In a "friend of the court" bti�
fIlod 10 the Sup�me Court OIl thiS'
. ,
case by the NAACP Legal Defensct
Fund, it staleS: "FAucational oppor�
tunities for African AmeriCans in
t
Miss ippi today are directly reflec-
tive of and limited by.MissiSSippi'S
history of race dlsaimination 8nd
segregation in its educational ,sys�
�" :
Tbe outcome of the Mabus case
will have a far reaching impact
beyond the state of MiJsissippi. Tb�
future viability of .many the historit
cally African American colleges �
universitiea is at stake. The I.:.egaJ
Defense Fund concluded, "Higbef
educatioD iDcreaIingly becOm�
the key to breakin the cycle of
poveny, piDiDi full employment in
the gro iog techllical and highly
Jdlled workfo� and developing
healthy, respo Ible and productiv
communid ."
ByBENJAMINF.CBAVJ.S,JR. parents the freedom to place their students into lower academic
Increasingly ,the struggle for em- children in quality schools, or to use routinely.
powerment of the African American the power of choice as leverage to , Unless standardized tests are
community is being cballenged in bring about improvements in ' made to be more multicultural, these
the field of education, particularly in schools. But, many parents say tests will continue to provide cuI­
the area of higher education. In a choice has' worked to segregate turally biased and dilcriminatory
recent edition of the publication, public schools, leaving in under- results.
Black Issues in HigMr EducDlion, funded schools poor and minority
critical details of this resurgent chal- students whose parents lack the will
lenge were outlined. or wherewithal to move them."
Flrst and foremost is the "Educa- William Saunders, Executive
tion Policy" of the Bush Administra- Director of the National Alliance of
tion which seeks to grant millioDS of Black School Educators and many
federal tax dollars for "private" and other African American leadel1 in
"elite" schools and to institute ed tion have publicly expressed
another national testing system opposition to the President's latest
which characteristically will be 'cui- proposal on "choice" and more "test­
turally biased. iog" in schools as the solution for the
President Bush, like Ronald nation's education crisiS. The name
Reagan, continues to exhibit the skill of Bush's new policy is "America
of "mis-Jabeling" and the use of cer- 2000." Yet, in substance, the e
lain terms that are disguisiDgly ra- educational proposals resemble
cia1ly motivated. For example, Busb "America 1800."
bas deliberately mi -labeled the In addidon, the President would
Civil Rip �t of 1991 a "quota" like to see the results of � new
bill knowing that the use of the term " American Achievement Ths�" to be
"quota" engenders an unjustified used not only by colleges in deter­
back) b to affirmative action and mining entrance but also by
racial progre . , employers in biring. If not
Now, the President is using the monitored closely, these new 11
term "choice" in the renewed debate will only increase the racial trac.king
concerning private versus public and discrimination that is now
education in the United States. prevalent in many school systems
throughout the nation.
In Alabama, for example, even in
school districts where African
American students are the largest
percentage of the student population,
racial tracking of African American
COMMENTING ON THIS
is ue in Black Issues lit Higher
EdMcalioll, Jacqueline Conciatore
wrote, "Tbe administration ha
maintained that "choice" 0�11 all
COUl'SeS."
Secondly, the Supxeme Coun of
the United Sea . due to review a
very impol1aDt case this' fall CODCeJ'Da
ina Hipr Education. Some legal
scholars believe that the case, United
States vs. Mabus, will have a
landmark impact on education
similar to the historic 1954 BroWn
decision. Julius Cbambell of the
NAACP Legal Defense P\md ex­
plaiDed, "This is the fillt time the
Court is, raviewin the staDdardl
governing what de jwe sta will
have to do to elimiDate the Ii
of discrimination. "
1bis case ari� from a c:aIO In
Mila ippi, Ayers VI. Mat> here
civil rlgbts la yer Alvin O.
Cbambl' , Jr. filed suit to foa Mll­
I ippi to financially upport the
State's African American colle
ALL LEVELS of education �
important and vital to all Ameri�
aDd pecially to thole who have ha4
decades of systematic racial di ..
crimination. Tbe struggle for justice
in education will continue.,