VIEWS OPINIONS
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EDITORIAL
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There is a lot of talk about Enterprise Zones. The idea i a
Republican one, taken from Great Britain, and advocated by Ronald
Reagan when he was president. Nothing much happened to the idea,
· but now that the folk in Los Angele have reminded the rulers that all
is not well in th country, talk of Enterprise Zones is all that anyone
· seems able to come up with in addressing urban ills.
We think U.S. Representative John Conyers has it right when he
says he fears zones will be little better than another trickle down
theory to enrich established businesses. That is certainly true in
· Michigan's only Enterprise Zone, Benton Harbor.
If the politicians create legislation enabling Enterprise Zones, we
hope they get it right. F'lISt of all, they need to interview African
Americans who live in the community designated for zone status.
• Without the input of those who are supposed to benefi t, the zone plan
will indeed be just another law to funnel money, tax breaks, incentives,
and other forms of commercial w Ifare to the unneedy.
We think any workable enterprise zone -if it is to bene t \he
• residents of the inner city - must incorporate these items:
-Tax waivers for at least the first two years of b iness life. That
. means a 100% tax break on all taxes including payroll, property, sales
and business taxes for resident business owners onJ y. No more, come
• in during the day and take the money out at night. You want the
benefits, you take all the risks and, most importantly you put back.
-To open up the banks to the previously redlined, lenders must
get federal and state tax credits for providing money for business
development, but again only if the money is lent to resident business
• owners.
-Shoppers should be entitled to a tax deduction for at least 10 to
• 20 percent for all purchases of goods or services from certified,
resident-owned businesses. This is to encourage the flow of money
. into and within the zone.
-Uncle Sam should provide a rebate to all businesses for wages
paid to residents of an enterprise zone. This should open up employ-
• ment opportunities for zone residents both within and outside of the
zone.
Anything lessthe politicians come up with is simply more of the
same old same old: Using the poverty of African Americans to enrich
those who live elsewhere.
We are tired of being used to generate income for others lnthename
, of helping us. We say to the politicians, keep your enterprise zone if
. you don't do it right.
"crimi 1" j tice
poli 0 c
th ting 0
guilty bec e of the RACIS
i titutionalized in th court
RACISM w both the " park" and
the "fu 1" for the explo ion in Lo
Angele.
Th olatile fuel that w ignit d
by the park of the verdict in the King
e h been and continu to be
tored in giganti ocial fuel ta
located in nearly every community
and neighborhood in the country.
The name of thi fuel is RACISM.
The high octane numbe of this fuel
help to generate poverty,
exploitation, degradation,
oppression and genocide against
people of color. In ome instances
thi fu 1 e n certain hypnotic
properties that cause people of color
to tum against other people of color.
But, let us be clear, the fu I of
RACISM is not natural. It is
ynth tic, or in other words it i man
Th church community cannot
fford to b ilent in th ce of
rowing r ci I pol riz tion of
communi tie in ev ry ection of the
country. Pre ident B h' idea
"Ent rpri e Zone" to olve the
problems of the inn r citi is off
b e. We need economic justice in
every zone of every city and town.
e need employment, health
care, education, and housing in every
zone for every child of God of every
color and race. RACISM prev n
every child from having fair chance
fulfilling life. Our greate t national
tragedy i denying the defining role
tha t race play in the deci ion
rna ing of the government,
in titution, and in everyday
deci ion . of a large number of
persons in po itions of power.
QUITE RANKLY, we are very
concerned that President Bush'
proposal "Weed and Seed" is being
recommended by ome national
organizations quick fix to the
CIVIL
I HT
in g 1 nd oth r
citi. c ordin to publi hed
p rts, thi propo would
1 w d ord r" nd crim control by
"w ding" out gan m m nd
dru d
Then fed rat d m nie would
b put into the eeded out
comrnuniti to d 1 ith job .
training, educ tion and hou ing
progr m. On the urf ce, thi
appro h m y m vi bl to om .
But we b lieve uch n initial .
pproach will only further "i olate" .
out nd not "weed" out the
communitie in n ed of help.
After the video tape expo ed the I
horror of the Rodney King beating,
the gang members mo t feared in
many com.muniti are th e in the .
uniform of th police. Giving these
uniformed "gan ," who practice ·
RACISM under the color of the law, ·
more guns will not olve the
problems in the urban centers.
The eed that needs to be planted
is the eed of respect for the equal
worth of all of humanity. Thi seed :.
need to be planted first in the :.
consciousnes of all persons. If we . '
did not stop as a nation denying the
problem of RACISM, then tho e fuel ·
tanks will not only explode again in
Los Angeles, but in every place
where RACISM is being stored.
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� II IT'S BEEN A WONDERFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD." .t;;
II
The explosive psychic and
political "reverberations from the
stunning acquittal of 4 white cops
videotaped while bludgeoning Black
L.A. motorist Rodney King
continue. The Ba'ath regime in Iraq
seized the political initiatives for a
moment when its diplomats at the
U.N. offered a resolution
condemning the USA for its "human
rights" violations in Los Angeles,
prompting unaccustomed silence
from the U.S. delegation.
Not surprisingly, th resolution
did not pass. It did, however,
provide propaganda ammo for
countries like Israel, which chided
the U.S. for sparking its own
"intifada" among
African-Americans. owhere in the
world was the irony lost of the
world' biggest crier [or "law and
order, " caught in the practice of overt
injustice-- the judicial and legal
whitewash of 4 cops caught in the act
of attempted murder and criminal
assault.
Coming off the King verdict, the
U.S. can hardly lecture' other
countries on social justice, the
self-serving political pointsmaking
of President Bush not withstanding.
While LA.'s riotous explosion was
not unexpected, the outbursts of
quickly muffled resistance in other
U.S. cities certainly was.
The President'S statement
post-verdict was, as ever, set in the
mold of conservatism: "You may
not agree with the law, but we must
all obey it," or fumblings to that
effect. America' birth as a nation
was in its refusal to obey the British
royal House of Hanover, and its King
George ill, who was, in that age, the
law of the colonie .
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MUMIA
ABU-JAM
IT MUST be said then, that there
are times when people must
disobey the "law," when it becomes
oppressive, and hinders the natural
human instinct for freedom. What
has come to be called the "law" is as
far removed from justice, as the earth
is from the moon. There are few
social evils today that were ot at one
timed called legal.
The criminal rape of Africa's
millions to enrich Europe's coffers
was blessed by pope and crown.
This Black Holocaust w legal
throughout the New World for
centuries, nd anctioned as
"natural" by the U.S. Supreme Court
in Dred Scott \'S. Sanford (1857).
The European Holocaust of
earlier this century, 'W hich ucked
FROM
DEATH RO
millions of Jews and Gyp ies intq
ovens was totally legal, and
anctioned by Germany's Peoples
Court. So much obedience to
"law." When the "law" pummels a
man into the mud, then denies his
people the right to judge that wrong,
then flee to a "court" of friends an4
relatives, and then exonerate thal
wrong before the world, then thaJ
"law" is but another process for
injustice. That was the side 0
America that the world saw in the
King verdict, a ide
African-Americans have known and
dreaded (or five centuries.
It i the "law" of the outlaw.
