K lIy
A(Jy, rtlslng Manager: Icha I Ru
II
Adv rtI Ing Repre entatlves: T rry Broyl.
J rom Ky· Bob Zwal k
EDITORIAL
Road, ride
nd riche
SMART (Suburban Mobility uthority for Regional Transporta­
tion), the uburban b y tern that erv metro-Detroit, i now faced
with an $8 million deficit nd i 'thre tening to hut down ifit can't merge
with th Detroit D partment of Transportation (DOT).
Th SMART tern i th only link to the wor in the uburbs for
m ny rle hous hold in th city of D troit. For uburbanit , the
SMART bus i th only w y ther than private car to reach the cultural
and so ial cent iru id D tr it.
Mayor Colem n Young i opp ed to ny link between DOT nd
SMART unle the u ur pick up their hare of the tab.
Th mayor i right.
The I on Young i trying to preach can be een aero the tate in
southwestern Michigan. There, th bigge t ci ty i Benton Harbor, which
is also the tate's poore t city. And, not only are the re ident poor. but
the city i If truggle to provide th mo t b ic city ervices: public
afety, garbage pickup. It i a city with only on grocery t reo no
• ho pita! or hardware tore and no mAjor hopping outlets. And most
residents are forced -like Detroiters-to leave the city to find work.
AI 0 li e Detroit, the only one paying for public transportation are
th poor. Benton Harbor city residen pay a pecial property tax and
acrifice a portion of th city's general fund to keep th ir bus y tern.
Dial-A-Ride, on th road. No suburb of Benton Harbor pays a nickel into
the public tran portation y tern, al though they are the chief
beneficiaries, because it i the Dial-A-Ride that carries Benton Harbor
dollars out to th only mall. When city re idents spend their �oney in
the ubur ,tb municipalitie there are enriched, yet contribute not one
dime to h lping the poor of th city get there.
Roadwa are the highway to commerce aoo wealth. The te h
th responsibility for the roads that link us. It is also their job to ee that
we all can use them, not only tho e who can afford their own automobile.
We all should pay to keep transportation flowing.
It is an impossible task for Mayor Young in Detroit, or Mayor-to-be
Emma Hull in Benton Harbor SO organize suburban financial support for
mas transportation.
A good, reliable, area-wide, mass transportation system is to
everyone's benefit. Everyone should bear the cost. Lansing alone can
make that happen. It is incumbent upon the tate government to assume
their responsibility and provide the legi lative mandate and financial
incentives to guarantee regional mass transportation.
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HARRIS
BLACK f1 EN .. , � � � ,
40Z UNEMPLOYED ..... "
50Z OF THE PRISON POPUlATION ...
lOUT OF EVERY 22 DIE IN
VIOLENT CP!MES .
WH OLU BU first ar-
We tern Hemi phere
there were 40 million Native
Americans in North America.
The brutal conquest and coloniza­
tion of th Am ricas which wa ig­
nited y th explorations of Col um­
bus re ulted in the elimination of
whole nations of indigenous people
tice.
African Americans were al 0 vi -
1 f
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RI M 10::
understand the burden of ci m and::
cultural aggre ion: BI ck people ':
have had to fight against degrading I
images like Amo nd Andy, Stepin ::
Fetchit, and white minstrels in black- ::
face. ::
R pect, recognition, restitution i:
and r toration are al 0 central goals I
in th truggle for Black liberation. :,
So a man r of blood - com- :
mon hi tory and ance try - and ::
nrincinle. R1Rr.k and R�c1 . honlc1 "
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. LJNCURtOU5 GEORGe.
BY MARLETTE FOR NEW YORK NEWSDA Y
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Thanksgiving: ,Speaking truth
about' native Americans
ByBENJAMINF.CHAVIS,JR. EVERY TIM'E CROWDS in
Ye ,thi i. the eason to give the tens of thousands can now be
thank to God for all of the ble sing seen on national television at sports
of life. For the overwhelming events shouting mimicking, and ac­
majority of the world's population. ting in a frenzy of o-called "tommy
thi i' a time of profound hunger, hawk" move. we wonder if these
pain and truggle for survival. To sports fans arc aware of the racial and
some in the United State culturalindignitie thattheyare"ac­
Thanksgiving isa traditional time for ting out" toward the Native
familie to be together and to share a . American community.
.sense of gratitude for all the "good" Of course baseball, football and
things that have happened over a other sports fans should enjoy them­
period of time. selves, but not all the expense of the
For millions of Native dignity of the ative people of thi
Americans, the celebration of land and world.
Thanksgiving in the United States Maybe Thanksgiving 1991 will
serve as an annual reminder of the • give the nation another opportunity
contradictions of American myths to express "thanks for the giving" to
and value and the commercializa- the millions of Native peoples who
tion of these my.ths and value. were forced to "give up" their lands
On the eve of the 1992 quincen- and life in the birth and .historical
tennial ob ervance of the arrival of development of what is now "the
Chri topher Columbu to the mo t powerful nation in the world,"
Western Hemi phere, it should be in the view of Pre ident George
neces ary to speak a word of truth Bush.
concerning the circumstance of Na- Will our national elected lcadets
tive Americans in the history and life call the nation into a moment of
of hi nation. "repentence" for the past and make l\
Although there are num rous ref- commitment for more fairnes ,
erence to ative American ymbol respect, and reparational support of
and term in ports, television, and in Native American 1 Will our nation­
other levels of ociety, there i a very al religio leaders call the com­
inadequate CIVIL understanding on munitie of faith into prayer and acts
the part of many Americans bout of repentence for the " ins" com-
• the tate of Native Americans today. mitted against N tive Americans?
The truth is that Native Americans The truth j that the future of the
have urvived five centurie of op- United State will not depend upon
pres ion and genocide, which is un- military might or industrial or even
paralled in human hi tory. economic development as ured
. method of maintaining " uper-
power status." But the future of this
nation, we believe to a large
measure, will depend upona national
commitment to revisit, rethink, and
repent for the historic national sins of
Native American genocide and
African American slavery.
IN OTHER WORDS, until we a
a nation, face up more readily to the
true history of the nation, the real
positive potential of the nation will
not materialize.
President Bush's exclamation 0
a "New World Order" eeks to offus­
cate the truth of U.S. hi to . Fro
. the perspective of People of Color
communi tie throughout the nation,
before the issuing of a call for a new
world order for the world, it would
be better for the President to help
establi h a more just and equitable
mulriracial ociety here on the horne
front.
Given the fact of the rise in infant
morality, poverty, health-care crisi ,
and other devasting conditions Na­
tive Americans are being forced to
endure, the vast resources of thi
society must be reprioritized and
redirected to help meet the needs of
our Native American isters and
brothers, Yet we II till have m­
thing to learn from the ative
American community. The i ue of
environmental justice i a good ex­
ample:
The indu trial policie of our
ociety are etting the framework for
the d truction of the environment. '
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No community has had more con- :
tructive experience in under- :
tanding ths: "sacredne s" of the :
earth and the environment than the:
Native American community. :'
The general destruction of the :
ozone laxer i only the tip of the :
iceberg when it comes to the future :
of environm ntal pollution and in- :
justice. It i ironic but tragic that :
tho e in power may have to tum once :
again to the fundamental truths of'
Native American understanding of '
nurturing and protecting the environ­
ment in order to live into the next :
century. :
Will those in power treat Native :
Americans with a greater degree of :
justice? We all need to be involved
In thi struggle beca e the ultimate
fate of ative People will be the fate
'of all.