Publl h r: Ch rl
Editor: T r K 1
n n Editor: Wanda F. Roqu more
Con rlbutor. : B rnic Brown - Danny Cook - ary Golliday -
Allison Jone - Flodean S. Riggs - Leah Samuel- Nath niel
Scott - Ron Seigel - C rolyn W rfield - Ver White
Production an 9 r: Kascene Bar s
Production: Kai Andrich- Anita Iroha
Account Ex cutlv : Erlene Tolliver- Bob Z
EDITORIAL
AID
education i
he key
When AIDS first came to light in 19 the majority of us, including
our elected offici I , regarded AIDS "gay" or "IV drug users"
di e. It affected a certain lifestyle, a Iif tyle that the majority of
didn't live. So we put our blinders on an our earplu in and went on
with life usual.
It w n't until Earvin "Magic" Johnson announced last ovember
that be w infected with th mv virus did we take out earplugs and
pull off our blinders.
People started kin que tions about the di ease. AIDS hotline
phone rang off th hook. Tal show personalities devoted entire
egments to AIDS. New papers and TV tations eros the country
gave much time and pace to the topic.
The reality had et in - thi is not a "gay" or "IV drug users" disc e,
it could happen to any of us. The disease does not discriminate.
In communities of color the percentage of AIDS victims is hish.
In New York and New Jersey AIDS i the leading cause of death
among Blac and Latino women 22-34 years old.
In Michigan Blac account for 48 percent of all AIDS cases. '
Education is the key,
We must begin to understand the full impact of the disease. No
longer can we afford to become so overwhelmed that we fail to educate
oursel e and our loved one. Our future is at stake.
Thus far, the disease has killed more Americans than the Korean nd
Vietnam wars combined. And, some experts predict that by the year '
2000 AIDS will be the number one killer in this country - that's only
eight years away!
What's good for housing ls
good for schools, too
Last week the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Develop­
ment said they wanted to take control of the mismanaged, neglected
public housing away from Detroit city bureaucrats and return it to
the tenants. .
The tenants were happy, so too were the taxpayers who for so
long have watched their public housing stand empty while fellow
citizens walked the streets looking for shelter. The only disgruntled
"no comments" came from the city administration.
Within days of the HUD announcement, came release of the
report card written by New Detroit on the Detroit Public Schools.
Grade ranged from C's to D'$. -grades most parents would find
intolerable if brought home by the kids.
We think it is time to return control of the schools to the
community. It would be as appropriate for education as it is for
housing. The gigantic and growing school bureaucracy sucks up the
taxpayers money in ever more clever and devious ways. Education
dollars are siphoned off for consultants, studies, staff and now
George Bush's America ZOOO project, which like the Points of Light
is not funded, just public relations to make folk feel like something
is happening.
Who better to guard the education dollars than the very parents
who have to pay them only to see so few of them applied directly
to their child's classroom.
Detroit's 'teacher -pupil ratio is at an unconscionable level of one
teacher for every 35 students. Most sububan districts have less than
20 tudents per teacher, almost half the number. No teacher, no
matter how brilliant or dedicated can find the time or energy
required by 35 pupils per class. That is just over one minute' per
pupil per hour of instruction. ,
Let community-elected boards govern each school. Elimm ate
the district offices and trim the central administration down to bare
bones to allocate out to individual schools the education dollars. We
think parents can find a cheaper way to buy supplie . They have
more than enough sense to hire and fire administrators, who should
then be free to find classroom personnel, who are after all state
��fied. .
We entrust the voters with the job of electing the board of
, education to run all the schools, surely they have enough sense to
run one school. Community control of schools: an idea whose time
is past due.
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VIEWS OPINIONS
d tically reduced the
paymen to people on general relief"
nd Illinoi . i planning to follow uit.
. Califomi' Governor Pete Wil-
on i moving forward with a ballot
initi tive which lis for a d tic
curtailment of benefi to th poor in
that state.
IN NUMB of citie .Includ-
ing AU nta, W hington, D.C. and
ew Yor ,aid for the homel ha
been reduced and ordinance have
been p sed to "Protect" the general
public from the homeles .
Thi mean spirited scapegoaung
of the poor and disadvantaged by
politicians of both establishment
partie constitute the worst kind of
political expedience and cowardice.
Politicia� and "wanabe" presi­
dents can scapego t the poor because
the dispo se ed and the di ad­
vantaged are largel y disoriented, dis­
organized, and unregistered.
The poor are not viewed a
potent force In U.S. politics. Hence
the poor can be disrespected, dis­
regarded and discarded with im­
punity by politicians woo lac both
the insight and the will to place the
bla�e for the aillng.economy where
it belongs - on a flawed ystem and
, failed policies.'
It was not the poor who decided
that the U.S. hotild ignite an arms
race in the quest to make this nation
the muscleman/policeman of the
-L the fr be emptied into W. G them
land and � to art on. Teach them to read and'
writ.. Then they will be somebody."
• Sojourn r Truth
The welf re recipien nd the
homel were not t 0 who mi -
managed nd uandered $600 bil­
lion ($1 trillion over the next 30
yea with inte t) in the S Lscan­
dal, and nother $10 billion in the
HUD scandal.
The poor re not re po ible or
the rampant peculation, greed and
mi management that threatens to
bankrupt the Federal Deposit In-
urance Corporation (FDIC), requir­
ing $25 billion in taxpayer dollars to
bail-out that gency.
It was not t,he poor who went on
a binge of leverage buy-outs, merg­
ing corporations, and purging
workers of their jobs.
It was not the poor who reaped
obscene fortunes from this un­
productive, non-job generating,
paper huftling.
No, th poor, welfare recipien •
the homeles , the disposs and
the di dvantaged are not the vil­
lains. They a the victims of the
greed, corruption, mi pI ced
priorities and wanton neglect in­
herent in a sy tern that place profit,
property, and material acquisition
[or the few above the general welfare
and well being of the majority.
That ystem must be changed. F
too many politicians from the estab­
lishment partie are incapable of
promoting the "radical revolution of
value" which Martin Luther King
called for in order to change the
plight of the poor in this nation.
Virus'of raci
No one is born a racist. No one is
born with racial hatred and fear.
Racism is a "social virus." In other
words, racism is generated and per-
_ petuated by individuals, group and
social institutions that engender a
"Social conditioning" which nurture
racial hatred and fear into the fabric
of society. Children are exposed to
trus dangerous virus at an early age
and as a consequence become either
victims or perpetrators.
A recent racial attack near the
Whalen Intermediate School in
Bronx, New York i but another
shameful example of how racism in­
fects growing numbers of children in
the nation. Two African-American
children attempting to walk to school
were attacked by a group of white
male children. ,
The African-American youth
were brother and iter, age 14 and
12 respectively. The ttack occurred
at 8:00 a.m. in full public vie on
Boston Road only a block from the
school.
The group of white male youths
approached the African-American
m
pread
to chil
ren
youth from the rear screaming, "Nig­
gers, niggers, niggers." They first .
grabbed the little girl, beat her and
then cut her hair with a box cutter
knife.
. Then the African-American male
was attacked and punched to the
ground. Hi sister was then thrown
down beside him and the group
robbed t!)em of their lunch money.
The attackers then began tQ spray
whi te paint in the face and hair of the
two beaten children shouting. "You
Blacks ... are turning white today. If
THANKS TO efforts of an
unidentified passing motori t, the at­
tackers were chased away. The
-phy ical and p ychological trauma
that this brother and i ter have bad
to endure is cause for moral outrage.
Yet, we know that this attack is not
an isolated incident. From our
perspective, as we monitor these
kinds of lnclden they occur in
nearly every or of the nation, we
find a lng national trend here
African-American, Hi panic­
American, Asian-American and Na­
tive-American children are the
victim of thi type of racial'
violence.
We stand with New York City
Mayor 0' d N. Dinkins in his quick
denunciation of this latest racial at­
tack. Mayor Dinkins stated em­
phatically, "We will leave no tone
untumed to find those responsible
for such a dastardly deed." One of the
problems that contribut to the
preva eree of racial violeoce in the
United States is the mUltiple stand­
ards of j tice in the judicial systems
in dealing with this type of crime.
Very rarely doe the court ystem
impo e stiff penal tie against the
perpettators of racial violence, even
when physical harm II involved.
There are some who uk, why do
we persist in raising these i ues? It
i 'not because we prefer to, but it is
because we have a responsibility to
expo e the painful realities of
America' race problem in order to
eUCOUll1!e more tra
to find a cure for .temlc d
.
• I
e
AS A SOCIETY we can ill af­
ford to deny the gravity of the prob-
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d � :
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I
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Ron Daniels erv as PruiMIII. I
0/ the Institute for Community Or-�' I
ganization and Development in .;
Youngstown, Ohio. He may be con- :
tacted at (216) 746-5747.
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CIVIL
RIGHTS
BEN
CHAVIS
lem of raci m. The ch!ldren and ,.
youth the nation deserve a ben r I
chance for a life free form racial dis­
crimination and hatred.
In the w ke of once agailt
celebrating the birthday and ministry
of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, .
Jr., there i no better way to alute the I
Ie y of Dr. King than for I to
embrace our children and all
children ith a greater commitment
to arrest and rid the world of the virus
of racism.