"Why Peter can' do i
While Lo Angele wa still smoldering, the Mayor appointed
Peter Uberoth to come in and "save the inner city."
The appointment is insulting. It is short sighted. It is racist.
Why do the powers that be always believe non-residents can "save"
African American communities.
First of all, African Americans do not need avlng, other than what
. we do for ourselves. What is needed most of all is for all the exploiters,
the rip-off artists, the poverty pimps to stand b k and let the com­
munity do for itself.
That has never happened. The Peter Uberoths keep getting 'in the
way. These saviors are 0 busy channeling and funneling money to
their good old boy network that the inner city not only remains
destitute, but gets worse and worse.
Only 12 percent of federal urban development doUars coming out
of HUD in the 1980s actually went into community projects. Fancy
hotels, riverfront apartment complexes, roads and sewers for wel1-es­
tablished businesses --all these projects and others like them cap­
tured the economic development dollars intended in theory for inner
cities.
Peter Uberoth will fail in his stated goal of revitalizing Los
Angeles,just as surely as Chrysler and General Motors got new plants
with the aid of federal development dollars while Detroit neighbor­
hoods deteriorated over the past 10 years.
Another tired tune is being revived in the wake of the Los Angeles
uprising. It is enterprise zones. Ask the folk in Benton Harbor about
enterprise zones. That city is this state's only enterprise zone. All the.
white, non-resident businesses who enjoy zone tax breaks love the
enterprise zone. The 10 city residents who got a new job out of the
600 jobs created by the enterprise zone also probably will speak
favorably of enterprise zones. But the other 13,000 residents-50%
of them without jobs- will tell you the truth.
Enterprise zones and Peter Uberoth. It is the arne old tune of the
few makingmoney on the pain of the poor. The rich and greedy see
in the ashes of the rebellion continuing opportunity; opportunity
created by the pain of-the 'poor, the dispossesed.
VIEWS OPINIONS
Donte you people
realize that you're only
destroying property and
businesses In your own
community?
By JAMES E. ALSBROOK
Clear and strong Signals indicate
that Black people are on the verge of
enjoying a new era of much-im­
proved race relations and a more in­
clusive role in the workings and
benefits of mainstream America.
•
•
. . ,
will be held in November and that
Willie Horton-like cares will be
used.
Also used will be Reagan-like
pilgrimages to the ghastly sites 'of
murder where Ku Kluxers shot to
death three civil rights workers and
o
th
Perot:' Mon Y,and
political proce
Democratization, the process of
, political transformation toward
democracy, has become the
I international rallying cry of the
1990's. In Eastern Europe and .... in
other parts of the world there is a new
embrace and demand for simple
democracy.
We upport the process of
democratization and it is because of
our support for democratic-reform
tqat we take an early stand on the
growing national desire, at least as it
. is perceived by the established
, B8tional media, for the entrance of
, X billionaire, H. Ro Perot into
: the 1992 Presidential Campaign.
_ The poli tical process here in the
United States has often been offered
I to the world communi ty as
"civilization's" best e ample of
democracy at wor. We have
; witnessed over the las t several
t ltecade how involvement in the
t national political arena bas become
i creasingly expensive and thus
,-prohibitive for many.
e UDders d the I ulce arm
many of the current
, ·ndidate for President have'
I received from the public at large.
, The issues and the platforms that
.. . .
are being offered have not been
endorsed enthusiastically by the
average American voter.
THERE IS A sense of national
disillusionment with the "politics of
the day." The alienation of more and
moI'C? persons among the electorate
throughout the nation is cause for
great concern. When the majority of
the people do not participate in the
political process, something is
wrong not with the people but with
the process itself.
Our point here is not to bemoan
the ineffectiveness of some of the
candidates for President. We
question the exclusivity of the
political process which is more and
more being determined by the need
to have millions of dollars before
important high political offices. In
our view this emerging situation
threatens the very definition of
democracy.
The truth is that presently the best
minds, talent, and competence are
not even attracted to consider
entering the p<>li tical structure of the
nation because of the enormous
financial threshold that must be
eros ed. Of course, for leaders
coming from people of color
communities, these obstacles are
even greater because of the history
of racism and economic
disempowerment of these
communities. '
WE ARE NOT opposed to H.
Ross Perot because he is billionaire,
but we are opposed to Mr. Perot or
anyone who would attempt to
literally ''buy'' the office of President
of the United States. We do not
believe that having a society where
the fruits of democracy are only for
the rich is morally acceptable nor
politically tenable.
What this country needs is a
President and other national leaders
who are committed to leading our
nation forward to becoming a true
multiracial, multicultural and
multilingual society where justice,
financial well-being, decency,
mutual respect are realities for all.
without discrimination due to race.
gender, religion or nay other factor.
IT I indeed very revealing that
there are growing tendencie in
governmental actions that seek to
I know that recent racial friction
has sparked fires of hatred and fight­
ing on college campuses. I know also
that variou bigot groups have
stashed nests of hatemongers in
various locations nationwide.
I know that nationwide elections
(WEL� .... ACCORD'NG TO TH'S CAAt> rrs.;
i SUPREMECDURT JUSTCE. THOAA�"
...... ' Clt:f>5.. . . ... . . • •
._--_
A new era in race 'relations dawns
CIVIL.
RIGHTS
JOURNAL
"restrict" access to political and
economic power at a time when
other members of the international
communi ty are expanding access to
political and economic power.
The fact that Perot's exploratory
committees are receiving more than
. 30,000 telephone calls a day is
instructive concerning the
"vulnerability" of so many people to
be lured into thinking that Mr. Perot
will be that "Great Cowboy Riding
on a White Horse" that will lead the
nation forward again. The poor are
getting poorer and yet their cries are
not heard by the Perots of our
society.
No, we do not question Perot's
right to run for President. We
question the exploitation of the
poli tical process which will
inevitably lead to the exploitation of
"the least of these," the poor and
those economically locked out of the
political realm of our society.
were implicitly pardoned and ap­
plauded by the grinning and vote­
seeking Reagan at Philadelphia,
Mississippi, but greater force are at
work. Unexpectedly appearing on
the side of better deals for Blacks are
two of the most powerful forces in
America:
THE PRINT AND electronic
media, which finally have begun to
exercise that social responsibility ad­
mired by good journalists. They
seem to have begun a public rela­
tions crusade to reduce further racial
hostility.
The women of America - the
single largest group identified as a
"minority." Most are motivated by
first the abortion issue and second by
the Anita Hill issue. Their power was
demonstra�d in part by the defeat of
ex-Senator Dixon of Illinois who
was replaced on the Illinois
senatorial ballot by a Black woman,
Carol Moseley Braun.
The action of the print media has
been shown by the more frequent
printing of uccess stories concern­
ing Black people a positive role
models.
In various ci ties having large
Black populations, the newspapers
have used their Black reporters to
find good feature storie that accen­
tuate the positive.
Buffoonery and ignoramuses are
aIm t extinct nowaday . One of the
m . t ignificant projectie of a
positive Blac role model ppeared
Friday, April 1 0, in the seven biggest
newspapers in Ohio. These papers
reaching millions of readers carried
1\
... 50 we ain't
loeln' nuthln'­
But now, I got a etate
of the art VCR and a
40 Inch TV J
•
, .
the arne full-page photograph of an
attractive, dark-skinned, Black cus­
tomer ervice repre entativ who
symbolized the information ource
at Ameritrust-Society, a billion-dol­
lar bank.
MOREOVER, television ta­
tions and networks have become
powerful projectors of the better and
more po itive phase of Black life.
College-bred, competent and at­
tractive Blacks on-camera are con­
fronting white Americans a
professionals who are not their er­
vants but their equals.
In this new barrage of favorable,
African-American images showered
upon televiewers by national adver­
tisers, media owners and consult­
ants, America is experiencing what
amounts to a public relations cam­
paign.
Thi campaign has not been an­
nounced to the public but its
choreography is pleasantly evident.
The first purpose of thi cam­
paign is to soften racial hostility by
demonstrating that Black people arc
not the stereotypical buffoons or
duds previously shown on the tagc
or screen, but are normal, intelligent
human beings worthy of respect and
admiration.
The second purpose of this cam­
paign is to signal to Black people that
they are not the racial outcasts they
once were, but are being recognized
and accepted on the basis of their
value of society.
SOMEONE IS attempting to
replace Black people's hopele sness
and agony with the idea that success
is available to all.
Both purpo es are designed for
maximum impact.
History demonstrates that public
opinion is a very powerful factor in
controlling people. They vote for
president on the basis of opinion, 0
it control politics.
They spend money on the basi of
opinion, so it controls the economy.
Public opinion usually dominate
human behavior.
With print media, electronic
media and most women of America
putting.positive faces on Blacks, the
climate will change and the sun will
shine brighter.
Just watch the better-balanced
media and the politically active
women!
Send
announc m nt
to:
Michigan Citizen,
P.O. Box 03560
HI hi nd P rk; I
'48203