EDITORAL
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VIEWS OPINIONS
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whi - inned
"domin ted th
However, the
money-big
id
p- money.
If Black women had been
fin ncially trong white women,
the merchants certainly would have
found ways to get orne of that Black
money by glamorizing "BI ck
beauties" in order to 11 expensive
clothing, jewelry and other female-
trink
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Thomas' bad record on civil
rights was very well known.
In the case of Black women,
BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL.
But in the case of Clarence
Thorn ,BLACK IS UGLY. •
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o B C TO th first ex
ample. Insofar co metics are con
cerned, the idea that light- kinned
women look better than d r -
kinned women ha een drummed
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E1.E�Atn'?
,WHAT
, a.EPHANT?
\
'he Blind M.en and t.beElephan.t
A'#NI.
i�ER&
NO'1l4INEJ
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exposed to and poisoned by lead. No
percentage of children in any
communi ty should be deemed
"socially acceptable" in regard to
lead posioning.. This issue is the
glaring disproportionality of lead
posioning when it comes to children
in people of color communities.
Al though numerous national
studfes have confirmed that people
of color communities in the United
States have a dangerously high level
of lead in the blood of their children,
there still bas not been a national
outcry effectively strong enough to
change this situation.
The Center for Disease Control
(CDC), based in Atlanta, Georgia,
bas called for lowering the
acceptable level of lead in blood
from 25 micrograms per deciliter to
10 micrograms. The new action by
the CDC is the result of new medical
evidence documenting the fact that
serious negative health effects are
caused by far lower levels of lead in
blood than previously assumed.
It i generally �� .. �tJ.ead
poisoning cau es deere ed
Intelligence, learning disabilities,
anemia, convulsions, hypertension,
kidney disease and various kinds of
adolescent cancer.
There are many in the public
education sector ho focus on what
b been identified m tiple
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of color children primary and
secondary cbool systems. Yet, we
believe, there needs to be a more
oomprehen ive understanding of
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few days ago, we gave
testi before the United States
House 'Qf Representatives
Committee on Energy and
Commerce Subcommi ttee on Heal th
and the Environment. The focus of
that Congressional hearing as the
issue 0 lead posoning, particularly
among a high percentage of children
in the United States.
Congressman Waxman (D-CA.)
wa the Chairman of the
Subcommittee and was one of the
sponsors of the Lead Contamination
Control Act Amendments of 1992.
We supported this legislation
because we feel that it will
strengthen the enforcement of
regulations in regard to human
exposure to lead. In addi tion, the
passage of the Waxman Bill would
begin to Significantly prevent the
unchecked and indiscrimnant use of
lead in paint and in other substances
which pose a dangerous threat to
public heal tho
For African-American,
Hispanic-American, Native
American and Asian-American
communitie , the is ue of lead
poi oning, like other environmental
issues, is an issue of life and death.
It bas been reported that 70 percent
of urban African and Hispanic
American children have a dangerous
level of Ie d in their blood,
oppo cd to 35 percent of hite
Cbildft. in milar circumstances.
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top I .ad poi' .oning
of our child� n!
LET US BE clear. We are
opposed to any community being
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what are the causative factors that
lead to the high rate of learning
disabilities in these communities.
CIVIL
RIGHTS
JOURNA�
OUR POINT HERE is to
emphasize that in addition to.
poverty and other socioeconomic
factors, there i the growing'
awareness that a key factor is the
rising lead po ioning in children
from these communities,
Once again we are obligated to
point out the role that race plays
concerning this issue. The high level
of lead posioning in urban people of
color communities is integrally'
connected to patterns of residential
segregation based on race.
Raci m in America consigns
large numbers of children who are
born in people of color communities
to an unfair, unjust and an immoral
situation where the "cards" of society
are painfully stacked against them.
BENJAMIN
CHAVIS
announced EPA's opposi tion to H.R.
2840, the Lead Contamination
Control Act Amendments of 1992.
Why in the world would the one
federal agency with the statutory
responsibility to protect this nation's
children and adults from
environmental �ards go t Capitol
Hill to oppose the Waxman Bill?
The EPA claimed their
oppo ition was based on "no need for
further regulation" and that the
Waxman Bill would cost toe much.
Who would it "cost too much?" No
TH� CIVIL RIGHT child' life or future should be
Movement and the emerging. sacrificed on the altar of
environmental justice Movement Reagan-Busb politic. We
must become effective advocates for encourage you to contact every
the rights and plight of our children. member of Congress to demand'
We were, therefore, encouraged to passage of the Waxman Bill and all
shareourtestimonybeforeCongress other legislation, like the
on a panel that included the head of Environmental Justice Act of 1992,
the NAACP Legal Defense and . which seek to ens ure the
Educational Fund, Attom y Jull non-di �rimantory protection of
e ery cbUd in t' nation from
eDViroDJDeDIIl degradation.
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To 0 y, rep tatives of
the United States Environmental
Protection Agency later testified
during the same hearin and
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