Detroit-Police ill elze
vehlcl ed for illegal dump
ing in the city, Police Chief
Stanley Knox aid.
nox aid the ction i
ba ed partly on comment
made last week at a police
community meetin .
A city ordin nee al 0
provid maximum penal tie
of 90 days in jail nd a S500
fine. Anyone with informa
tion on dumping m y call 596-
1010 from 10 .m. to 10 p.m.
Monday through Friday.
AIDS and murder fa t
growing cau of
pr matur death
A1LANTA - Accidents are
till the leading cause of
premature death for
Americans, according to the
government. However, AIDS
and murder are growing rapid
ly.
The Federal Center for Dis
ease C ntrol reported late last
week that accidents in 1990
robbed Americans of 2.1 mil
lion years of "potential life"
they would have had if they
had lived to be 65 years old.
Accidents were followed
by cancer at 1.8 million years
of potential life, and heart dis
ease at 1.4 million. The
fastest-growing causes of
premature death were murder,
In fourth place and AIDS, in a
. virtual tie for sixth.
way.
February report by the
Department of Cometio stated
that Michigan p 0 have 438
inma with either AIDS or the
HIV virus, the virus that causes
AIDS. There are 21 inmate with
full-blown AIDS.
Prl oner are not i ued
condoms in Michig n, nd only
ome pri 0 ! ue them t the time
of a prlsoner' rei e. However,
pri oners are now being educated
about HIV and AIDS in mo t
prisons aero the state.
KE NETH
McGINNIS,
director 0 the Dep rtment 0
Correctio , id t p in out
in condo in pri 0 ludicro
concept."
"P ing out condoms ould do
o thin. e'd be onin
th r (homo exu 1) ctivity and
quite frankly, we'd be encouragin
that ctivity," he aid.
McGinni tres ed thatalthougA
hom e ctivity . problem in
pri 0 , the ubject e blown out
of proportion by the movi .
"The fact of the m tter that the
general public as ume that
whether it' male or female
pri one , that they're all en ging
in homosexual activity," he aid.
"It' not proven; it' not reality; it
doe n' t happen."
Sherry Burt, warden of the Ryan
Correctional Facility in East
Detroit, aid her facility does have
an orientation proces that educates
" 0 ve obll tion to
educate people bout the vi and
i co equen ,but e cannot
condon it," e d.
Th S te Pri on of Southern
Michigan t J c on tarted a HIV
Peer Education Program in 1991.
The program h prisoners
educ ting other prisoners on
prevention strategic nd facts
coacemln AIDS. y Cotton, the
pri on partner notification
coordinator for the Michigan
Department of Public Health, said
he hop to pre d the programs
aero the tate.
The We tern Wayne
Correctional Facility at PI ymouth is
THE PRESS PO MAN
for the CDC in Atlanta, Kent
Taylor, said the CDC doesn't
inpris
co ult
country.
"Tb CDC allo to
make i own on, d.
"All e y i that condo
e ective barrier for
e ly tive."
Taylor d h belie AIDS
ed cation pro are de tely
needed for everyone, hether they
are in pri on or not,
McOinni greed that education
programs are needed throughout
the country. He d the nera!
public ell prlsone should
take universal precautio .
"You have to a sume that
everybody, employee and/or
prisoners you come in contact with
are mv carriers, and that's the
main deterrent right no t" he said.
Cia ,not race
behind rebellion,
aide says
aosros=- The civil distur
bances that followed the Rod
ney King verdict are the
result of economic despair, a
top Justice Department offi
cial said last week.
"Problems of class, not
race, constituted most of the
tensions that led to the riots, tI
said Assoicate Attorney
General Wayne Budd, a
former U.S. Attorney in Mas
sachusetts.
Budd heads up a federal
investigation to determine
whether the four officers ac
quitted in the King beating
can be tried for a federal civil
rights offense.
Despite news coverage
that would lead viewers to the
contrary, of approximately
S,700 people arrested for
rebellion-related incidents,
15 percent were white, more
than half were Hispanic, and
the res t African American,
Budd said.
Judge bans Kente
cloth In court
WASHINGTON, D.C.- A
judge told a lawyer that he
will not be permitted to wear
his African-style kente cloth
in front of a jury, but the
lawyer is resisting.
Judge Robert ,Scott of the
D.C. Superior Court, a 70-
year-Old white, told attorney
John T. Harvey 3rd, a 32-
year-Old African American,
to explain in writing his wear
ing of the kente cloth.
Harvey, an officer in Faith
United Church of Christ, and
wears the cloth privately and
publically as an expression of
faith and ethnic solidarity. He
has asked the judge to excuse
himself from the trial for a
lack of impartiality.
The judge declined and in
stead offered Harvey's client
a plea bargain which. Harve.y ,
refused saying the Judge IS
denying the defendant legal
representation of hi choice.
Harvey has asked for a ruling
from another judge.
(Photo by Tom Sherry)
Kathy Carpenter, from Sterling Heights, gets an autograph from
form r Tiger, Willie Horton at Hudson' Eastland. Guests had
memorabilia al,gned.
Study: Educators often
mlsunderstend u Hip"
attitude of Black youths
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Black
teen-agers displaying cultural
mannerisms are often punished
by teachers and police who
misinterpret the expressions, a re
searcher says. Rlchard Majors, a
professor of psychology at the
University of Wisconsin-Eau
Clatre, said a jaunty attitude or a
form of dress may seem confron
tational.
"While many Black males are
'suspended from school for fight
ing, just as many are suspended
for culture-specific behaviors
strutting, rapping, wearing hats or
expressive Clothes," he said.
"African-American students
are sometimes suspended for be
havior they consider to be stylish
or cool," he said. Majors has
'published "Cool Pose: The
Dilemmas of-Black Manhood in
America, " a book based on na
tional research.
"COOLPOSE" refers to the
aloof and tough behavior, speech
patterns, clothing styles and other
mannerisms of some Black
males. Majors said such com
mon behaviors of urban Black
youths are adopted as a way of
coping with oppression, dis
crimination and racism.
"These boys sense at a very
young age that people don't like
(them)," he said. "They feel the
second-class citizenship, and
they know how teachers look at
them, how police officers treat
them, how other white authority
figures treat them. These be
havior' give them a sense of
power."
The book cites national tudies
by the Children's Defense Fund
and an other book, '�Psychol
ogy of Blacks," that indicate
Black students are suspended
three times more often than
whites in elementary school and
twice as often in high school.
Black males also have the highest
suspension and dropout rates and
leave school twice as often as
Black females, the book says.
"Teachers misunderstand
these culturally specific be
haviors, they overreact, and they
overreact because they fear these
behaviors, because they are in
timidated by these behaviors, be
cause they see these behaviors as
being aggressive," Majors said.
"When they overreact, Black
boys are more likel y to be recom
mended for special education,
remedial education or classes for
special students. It's a very puni
tive kind of orientation toward
Black boy , so they are getting
punished for the e culturally
specific behaviors."
MAJORS AlDyoungBlack
males are more susceptible to
'picking up and imitating cool be
havior than their white counter
parts because they are influenced
more by their environment than
whites.
White� tend to be influenced
more by family and other institu
tions than young Blacks, he says,
partly because young Blacks are
more likely to live in fatherless
home . That means young Black
males are exposed more often to
treet-culture influences, includ
ing peer influences.
Majors contends cool be
havior is defensive, a way of
bolstering elf-esteem and deal
ing with racism. And because
raci m and discrimination con
tinue past adole cence, the cool
po e is common in adults, even
Blac professionals, he ay .
GOP lawmaker balks at
proposed Black affairs agency.
BY BILL KOLE
Aaoc"twJ Pr ... Writ.,.
LANSING, Mich. (AP)-A
Republican lawmaker and congre ..
sional hopeful caused stir when he
opposed a plan for Black affairs
agency aimed at thwarting a repeat
of the 1..0 Angeles riots in Michigan,
Rep. Margaret O'Connor, of Ann
Arbor, said recently the proposal by
Rep. Joe Young Jr., D-Detroit,
would w te taxpayers' money and
put group rights over the rights of
individuals.
"Certainly we were all dismayed
by what was going on in Los An
geles. But the Korean businessmen
there were victimized too. Do you
think we should have an Asian com
mission too?" said O'Connor. She's
one of three candidates for the 8th
District GOP nomination to face
U.S. Rep. Bob Carr, D-East Lansing.
YOUNG SAID he COUldn't
believe that 0' Connor would oppose
legislation to establish a Michigan
Black Affairs Commission. The
panel would review the problems
facing the state's Black residents and
suggest ways to end racial dis
crimination in Michigan.
"I'm going after this. I'm serious
about it," he said. "The riots in Los
Angeles in the wake of the Rodney
King verdict have made this country
painfully aware of how far we have
yet to go in the area of rebuilding our
cities."
The House State Affairs Commit
tee, which Young chairs, approved
the bill 5-1 and sent it to the full
House. O'Connor voted against it.
O'Connor, one of four state law
maker mounting challenge to
heavily favored incumbent con
gressmen, aid she didn't believe her
opposition would hurt her bid for
Congres.
, THE FIVE-TERM legislator
said he voted againat the creation of
• Black affairs panel "not because
I'm against equal rights for Blacks,
but because we're looking out for
group rights. I think we should be
looking out for individual rights."
"I think the Civil Rights Com-
. mission should be looking out for
everyone's rights;" aid O'Connor,
a member of the House Civil Rights
Committee.
But John Castillo, director of the
Department of Civil Rights, recently
testified that budget cuts to his agen
cy have left it without the resources
it needs to do the job alone.
CASTILLO SAID similar
panels such as the state Indian Af
fairs Commission, Women's Com
mission and Commission on
Spanish-Speaking Affairs have
helped those groups right wrongs
and make political and social gains.
"We can see what's been hap
pening in the country recently. It's
clear we have to do something to
help people who have been dis-
represented?"
Strand said he does not think so.
When legislators immediately
become lobbyists after leaving
office, they have too much influence
and too many contacts at the Capi tol,
he said.
ALTHOUGH HE DOUBTS
that his ethics reform legislation will
eliminate what is often referred to as
the "revolving door' problem, Strand
said he hopes that it will minimize it
by encouraging lawmakers to allow
alternative career paths.
Gary Owen, former Democratic
speaker of the house and powerful
Lansing lobbyi t, disagrees with
Strand' proposed restriction.
Owen, who left the house in 1988 to
become a lobbyist, said not only are
Iegi lators the mos t qualified
candidate to lobby, they are
accustomed to being in the public
eye.
"To exclude the knowledge of the
system is crazy," Owen said.
"Who's going to do the lobbying
if they (legislators) don't?"
A partner in Governmental
Consultant Services, Inc., one of
Mic gan's largest lobbying films,
enfranchised,' said Willie Davia Jr.,
a Black Detroit social worker.
"We need to tal about race,'
agreed Will Franklin, of Saginaw,
, who wrote the original proposal for
Young' bill a decade ago. "As long
as we allow these two worlds to
exist, we'll be separated."
O'Connor's opposition drew
criticism from others on the House
panel. Rep. Hansen Clarke, D
Detroit, aid stressing individual
rights won't help Black citizens in
Michigan .
"WHAT YOU SAY would have
a lot of merit if America didn't dis
criminate against people based on
the group they belong to," Clarke
told O'Connor. "There have been
group wrongs. "
If the Legislature approves the
creation of a Black afIairs commis ..
sion, lawmakers said they'll seek
$300,000 to get it up and running.
O'Connor said that cash instead
should be funnelled to the Michigan
Civil Rights Commission.
The Black affairs panel's 19
members would be nominated by
group such as the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Colored
People and the National Urban
League. Member would be ap�
pointed by Gov. John Engler and
confirmed by the state Senate.
thiC bill would limi
exlawmaker lobbying ·
By JENNIFER FOSS
C.p'''' N.w. S.rvIc.
LANSING-State lawmakers who
aspire to be lobbyists may face a
one-year roadblock if a bill propo ed
by Rep. John Strand, R-Lapeer, is
passed.
Introduced May 7, Strand's bill
would institutionalize ethical
behavior in the Legislature by:
-Restricting lobbying activities
for retiring legislators.
-Requiring financial
disclosures of income/benefits.
-Mandating annual ethics
training for legislators.
-Prohibiting legislators from
accepting gifts.
-Requiring all legislators to
report attempted bribes.
Strand said that the lobbying
issue i the most controversial
provision of his ethic reform
legislation. If it passes, legislators
and legislative employees will be
prohibited from working as lobbyists
within a year of leaving office.
"There was lots of grumbling
among them (legislators)," he said.
"But you have to conslder this:
'Is the public interest being
Owen and his colleagues represent
more than 75 clients, including
. Michigan Bell, Chrysler Corp., the
Michigan Education Association
and AAA Michigan.
OWEN DISPUTE�
STRAND'S theory that legislators
who become lobbyists will have an
unfair advantage because of their
contacts and influence.
"'Influence peddling' sumes
that just by who you are, you can
instantly influence people," he said.
"That is incredibly naive."
Naive or not, some lawmakers are
Siding with Strand and pushing hard
for tlle ethics refonn legislation to
become law.
Rep. Paul Hillegonds, House
minority leader, is among them. He
said that public outrage and political
games have created a need for ethics
standards in Michigan.
"Our goal is a new era in tate
government," the Holland
Republican aid. "Unless we raise
the level of expectations, Michigan
lawmakers will fail to meet the Deeda
of the people.