r,
EDITORIAL
h
r p r Ion
Thr
"Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned
among the several States which may be included within this
Union, according to their respective numbers, (which shall
be determined by adding to the whole number of free per
sons, including those bound to service for a term of years),
and excluding Indians not taxed, (three fifths of all other
persons) ... "
-Preambl to the Co tUutlon of the United latel,
Article I, ctlon 1, Part 2.
"No person held to service or labor in one State, under the
laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of
any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such ser
vice or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party
to whom such service or labor may be due.
-Article IV ectlon 1, Put 3
The e two ection of the United States Constitution
re there for every Americ n child to read in their civics
classes. Though te cher may explain that the sections are
now obsolete, the sections have never been officially con
tradicted, let alone apologized for or removed.
On December 18, 1865, 126 years ago, the Thirteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution wa
adopted. It mar ked the end of legal slavery in America, but
made no corrections to the "three-fifths" clause of the
Constitution.
The "three-fifths" attitude governs U.S. policy.
Today, in 1991, the remains of the slave system, em
bedded in the American way of life, continue the evil that
wa constitution lly blessed by this nation. The chains and
whips m y be gone, but the deprivation, inspired by the
three-fifths attitude thrives: crack hou es, low life expec
tancy, high unemployment, miseducation, teen mothers,
fatherles homes, proliferation of guns for our youth, sub
standard housing, wandering homeless . . . all the ills
inflicting a people who were stripped of their language,
family, religion, custom, and history 0 that the riche t
country in the world could be built.
The United States has yet to compensate the descen
dants of the slaves, has never recognized the slaves' con
tributions or even apologized for the evil inflicted on a
whole people. •
President George Bush took center stage o� the an
niversary of Pearl Harbor to apologize to the survivors and
families of the 40,000 Japanese citizens imprisoned on the
West Coast during World War II. A few years ago it was
Bush's secretary of the treasury who knelt down to hand
the first reparations check to the Japanese internment
survivors and their families. '
No such effort to rectify the past when it comes to
Africans has yet been made by this government.
A high school class in North Carolina has begun to show
us all the way to making America recognize its evil past.
On December 18, the students will gather at the court
house in their community where the issue of slavery was
debated over 100 years ago to honor the slaves for their
unheraled, uncompensated contribution to America.
Every Black community across the nation should begin
to search out ·the dates with historical significance for
Blacks in this country. And those dates must include the
painful ones. Just as the Jews never let anvone forzet the
holocaust, 0 too must Blacks first of all face the horror
that was slavery, a holocaust which has yet to be fully
documented, explained, studied, remembered, acknow-
ledged, and rectified. .
The process must involve forcing this nation to make
reparations - financial and spiritual. The first step is to
add an amendment to the U.S. Constitution apologizing
for and amending the three-fifths Clause, if not rewriting
and printing all editions of the document so' that those
words never again ap'pear.
In the process will come self-healing. The chaos that
surrounds us is not of our making, it is the remnants of
slavery. All of America must face it. They will, only if we
forte them to do so. It's time to set ourselves free.
r
WORDMAKERS
THE SUCCESS RULE
STAY IN SCHOOL
Hey teenagers. Have you heard?
"Don't be a dropout" is the latest word.
Hey good friend. Can't you see?
Going to college is a rewarding key.
Ask your friends that have quit (school);
Ask them if they are proud of it.
To have money and a car-you need a job.
Slicks go to jail because they rob.
Education is the way to lasting uceess-«
It gives you pride, a future and happiness.
-Carolyn A. Shephard
Detroit
VIEWS
I
I.
I
"
, .
, .
"
ter rou ht
or in peopl d
e g ni m
nomic i ener tin
re te t di f e tion ith th
Republi n nd Democratic p rtie
ttl h ve n in my lifetime.
Mu h 0 th left i particul rly
di g ted with the pitiful perfor
m nee of th Democratic Party over
the I t de de.
While Re g n nd B hun! ed
th ir de dly ult against poor nd
working p ople nd minoritie , th
Demo r tic P rty 1 c ed the
courage, the vi ion, or the program
to fight b ck a party of oppo i tion.
Thi defacto collu ion with
Re g n and Bush, and by extension
with the rich and the uper-rich,
helped to produce the greatest ex
treme of wealth and poverty in the
hi tory of the U.S. Reagan, Bush and
the Republicans may have ponsored
the "Reagan Revolution," but it was
a Congre controlled by the
Democrats which went along to get
along. Now the bitter harvest of dra -
tic cuts in ocial prograrTl£, dramatic
increase' in military/war p nding
and tax breaks for the wealthy is at
hand, '
Poor and working people and
minoritie are reeling under the im
pact of poverty, unemployment, un
deremployment (the working poor),
no he lth care or inadequate health
care, collap ing chools systems, en
vironmental pollution, deteriorating
inner citie and in ugly new climate
of racial antagonism and violence; a
re ction.
On the left number of con- 0 0 TH be t kept
titu n ie re ponding to th cur- in America i th tremendo
rent en by calling for n w politi- of the Greens roo en-
cal mech ni m - third p rty, , vironmental nd ecologic I j tic
new p rty or a third force - to fight movem nt. I H VOl L Y r-l.
for the intere of poor nd working Inspired by th uc of Green gu d th t the collective voice of thel'
people, women, minoritie and tho e p rtie in Europe, p rticul rly Ger-
progre ive movement, with it :'
who want more human society. many, the U.S. Greens now hav
vi ion, valu nd pro m m t b :
Broadly defined the e force more than 500 hundred local chap-
hare in common a commitment to ters. h rd in th '92 P id ntia! el ction]
a a clear altern ti to th e tab-:
place human needs above greed, Th Green party of AI a h
profit, materiali m and the narrow ballot tatus, and Green partie in r hment partie. :
intere t of th wealthy elite in thi California, Hawaii, Arizona, and Th whil th m dia b nj
N M 1, m meriz d by th for of racism', .
country. ew exico are curret y working t
Unlike the force of racism and achieve ballot tatus. and rea lion nth right, the trem n-::
reaction the e progre ive con- Gr en-ba ed tatewide party- do Ierm nt brewing on the left h ::
b n virtually ign red. ,
stituencie favor complete equality building work or electoral political Collectively considered, the "
for women, racial equality, the right activity is al 0 underway in Oregon,
of labor to organize and maintain Mi ouri, Maine and ew emerging independent progressive '
unions, environmental justice, con- Hamp hire. constitu ncei on tn left could forg� :
a formid ble force for fund m ntah
version to a pe ce economy and th Anoth r little noted..developm nt chan e in th U.S. : '
decentralization of economic and i the emergence of the Harold It may well be tim for the e con-l
political power. Washington Party (HWP) in lllinoi. tituencie to coalesce to pre ent:,
There is al 0 the hared convic- The HWP fought the Cook County th ir vi ion, v lu and program to:,
tion that the two e tablishment par- Democratic party all the way to the the American people and the world.i ;
ties are unwilling and incapable fo U.S. Supreme Court to win ballot
providing the leadership required to status in Chicago/Cook County. p :-1_ I:
Ron Daniels erves as resuu;ntl•
bring about the e desperately needed HWP leaders have indicated their of the Institute for Community Or-:
changes in American ociety. willingness to support an inde- .
ganization and Development mil
Hence the increasing outcry for pendent candidate for Pre ident in
new political movements and or- '92. Youngstown, Ohio. He may be con-:,
ganizations to lead the struggle for Then of course thee is Project tacted at (216) 746-5747. :
fundamental change. New Tomorrow Which I have been : :
The National Organization for organizing with the support of a :
Women's (NOW) Commi ion for number of constituencei from I'
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------�:.
, -,J
, .-
t'
, ,
, ,
.
"
,
,
,
,
I,
, ,
I·
"
I,'
"
I'
"
,
I
,
,
'.
,
I
Definitely UnAmerlcan .
Thi photo of the George Bush re-election team UI'!strates how far Bu h remains isolated from the
American mainstream. From appearanc ,there are no African Americans, no Asian American , no
Polish American no Latino American no ltaUan Americans ... and the only woman on the team tells
us with her body language that being on the 'campaign Is bit uncomfortable. .
,
�----------�--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------�:.
I,
I,
"
t,
,
I
I'
"
, '.
I'
"
,
,
,
I
\ I
Jackson and others are right to rnobl-
• I
Lord have mercy on U.S� hypocrisy and
racism toward Haitian refugees
"
By BENJAMIN F. eRA VIS, JR. will" or an equitable and humane
policy toward a crisis situation in our
Lord, have mercy on the geographical region, the White
hypocritical and racially dis- House is playing racial politics.
criminatory policies of the U.S. Im- Countless numbers of Haitians,
migration and Naturalization Ser- some say over a thousand, have
vices and the entire Bush Ad- drowned at sea, while attempting to
ministration. flee the misery of the military die-
No one in good conscience tatorship which overthrew the duly
should tolerate yet another blantant elected Haitian government of Presi
example of the racist inhumanity of dent Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
U.S. dome tic and foreign policies .. In one 307day period between
toward the people of Haiti, especial- October 29 and November 29,1991,
ly the thousands of Haitains who tbe Coast Guard reportedly picked
have attempted to come by boat to up nearly 6,000 Haitians.
the shores of Florida eeking refuge
from the violent political state inside
of Haiti.
This is supposed to be the season
of "peace on earth and good will
toward all," yet President Bush and
others in the Administration have
shown contempt and utter disregard
for the human rights of Haitian
refugee . Even after a federal judge
in Miami ruled that it was illegal for
the U.S. Coast Guard to forcibly
return these refugee back to Haiti,
the U.S. Justice Department together
with U.S. Immigration officials
ought to have the judge's rule
reversed.
Once again rather than "good
WHY? IT i raci m in its mo t
contemptible form. It i a policy
based on race and di respect for the
value of a Haitian life. But it is also
a case of too much tolerance of thi
hypocrisy by the African American
community aero the nation, Ray
Fauntroy of the Miami SCLC, Jes e
, Guantanomo Bay, Cuba are women
and chlldren. The sight of seeing
. Haitian children lined up behind
razor sharp barbed wire barricades at
the naval base resembles a con
centration camp rather than a relief
center.
The Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights of the Organiza
tion of American States has con
firmed reports of political detention,
torture and killings in Haiti. Ope
report cited the discovery on
November 12, 1991 of large human
burial pits in Haiti, some with over
60 bodies including those of mur
dered children.
In reality, the crisi of Haitian
refugees is not a new problem.
'ng the last ten years the U.S. ha
tood relatively ilent and reluctant
to lend a helping hand to Haitian
refugees. '
BEN
CIVIL
,
,
lize the African American and rill
communiue of conscience on His
, I
IS ue. . I
Our Haitian sisters and brothers
de erve and need our help. But mqst
of all we need an effective Herms
phericjustice movement that has the
capacity to mobilize millions pf
people to change the unjust power
relationship between the peoples pf
this region. I
'R cuing the Haitians from the
decades of exploitation is an hi to�
cal necessity and step toward the r�
cue of all of humanity form the i�
of greed and injustice throughout '.:
world. I
I
J
BUT TO DATE, only 1 than
200 Haitians have been allowed to
even "apply" for political asylum in
the United States. The Bush Ad·
ministration takes the posltion that
these refugees "are not victims of
poli tical per ecution but of
economic persecution. "
This is the bogus line of officia�
U.S. policy toward Haitian refugees
in the face of the whole worldknow
ing that political oppression doe
exist in the extreme at this moment
in Haiti.
Many of the Hai tians tha t are now
being held at the U.S. Naval Base in