WOULD T� HEAA, ., ....
MO A� JES5E
FOR VICE PRES\�"_'"
GLIN10M
VIEWS, OPINIONS
Tbc t
characteristic of date Perot,
bo er, i his commando type
peno ty aDd his light reprd for
ci.u liberti .
He once recommended that the
If on dru be coJlduc1cd like a
"civil here aU civil h"berti
auld be s pended in the interest of
fl bing out dru dealers ithin
inner-city neghborhoods. And Perot
not been above hiring . own
pellOnal army to conduct foreign
policy missions in support of his
company aDd placing such fo=s at
tbe disposal of his partDCrs in '!be
White Ho in order to circumvent
official U.s. policy at their �L
A great deal of Perot's bad IDd
ugly . not known by much of
tbe American public.
Some 6()CJ, of Perot's supportera
com that they kDo virtually
DOthing about him beyoDd the all
American, Rambo, I'll get it doDC
for you Image he portrays in !be
mcclla.
When people get so delperate
that !bey &Ie willlng to encourage a
billionaire like ROIl Perot, with all
of his warts m1 moles, to buy the
election for tbcm. that's scary. It.
potentially the road 10 fasdlm. .
PEROT IS NOT AN option for
those of ... who want to bulkt a IDMI
bued, democratic, progressive
movement 10 traDIform tbII nation.
,� to the problems �
Ill:!;. ctj ,;m"DOt flow r.am ob
high !rom some man on a while
horse. The amwers will be fouDd
within the flow from !be of
the people in thia COUDtry •.
The good in the Perot
phenomeDOn doea DOt outweight the .
bad m1 the ugly. As Ja� O'Dell of
the Rainbow Coalition once put it,
"the people organized is
democracy'. greatest guarantee."
We don't need Perotism, e Deed a
peoples movement.
ROil DtIIIkls serves as President
01 the Instltut« lor Commu1lity
Organization tmd Development in
YOU1IgstOW1I, Ohio. He may be
COfItQCtU at (216) 746-5747.
salute
, ,
hurqood Marshall
Bar Association (NAP ABA),
presented a national tribute to .tustic:c
Thurgood MaIshall. The Asian Law
Caucus affillDed, -Marshall brought
a grounded understanding. of racial
discrimination to the Supreme Court.
More significantly, he held steadfast
to his belief that the most important
role of the Constitution w. SO ensure
the fair treatment, for the
disadvantaged and disenfranchised
in a society wberejudgll;_police and
legislatures could not be relied on to
exercise their power fairly. We are
proud to honor the work of Justice
Thurgood Marshall."
In the audience were Korean
Americans and other Asian
Americans from Los Angeles. It
indeed important for the Asian Law
Caucus to provide 'a national forum
to dispel the stereotypes and
so-called "model minority" images
that the established national media
has attempted to codify in the.
nation's public mind about Asian
Americans.
THERE WAS a genuine desire
expressed to strength a bond of
stronger Wlderstanding between all
people of color communities, but in
particular between the A ian
American and the African American
communities. In light oftbe fact that
there are cynical and reactionary
forces attempting to pit some people
of color communities against the
interests of other people of color
communities in the United Sta1CS,
what happened at the Asian Law
Caucus 20th Anniversary w much
more thaD a symbolic affair.
If among African American,
'Latino American, Nati� American,
and Asian Amatcan communities BENJAMIN
there was t.greater awareDCIS .and CttA VIS
knowledge of the commonalities of
ourdiffeient strugles forJustice and
empoweDDCDt, !ben a greater clarlty
could develop to help each
community to view its mutual CML
interest with otbtz communitiea of RIGHTS
color. In other words, while there '
are a multitude of calls for a JOURNAL
multiracial/multicultural social
trarisformatory movement here in .
the United States, this movement Native American Legal Defense
will not evolve by a process of Funds will all meet together to plot
o mosis. But, it will take consistent o�t a joint legal strategy in concert
'intention to renew build and WIth grassroots move�ents to
strengthen this kind �f multiracial further dismantle "American .
movement from the grassroots. Apartheid" �re in the United Sta1CS.
We mUlt not let 1992 be the year As the g10� struggle for jus�ce
of racial animOSity aDd confusion and frce:dom m�ifies, the soaal,
between people of color economic and evuoDDlCntal Justice,
communities. Rather we have to struggle in this nati�n take on
work hard to make 1992 a turning additional responsibilities. AJ �
point, which actually began in of the speake� s�ted at the AsIan
October lut year with renewed �w Cautus, Our �terests are your
momentum at the First National mterests and your mterests are our
People' of Color Environmental interests ..... there may be diffeIent
Leadership Summit held in languages and cultu.res •.• but the
Washington, D.C. To the extent to convergence of our �tcreats and
which culturally divct'IC peoples can de�ds for equal Justice are a
celebrltetheirdivel1ityinthi nation reahty we need no� fear ... but
while at the same time working at necessitates our working together
building and uniting around 'thetowardsamegoalmoretbinever
common is ues that demand equal before in the history of this nation.-
justice for all, is the extent .to which
the remainder of the lut decade of
20th Century will become a period of
fundamental soc:ia11raD1formation.
We would lib to envision a time
in the near future when the AJian
Law CaucuI, along with the
NAACP, Asian Amerlcan, Puerto
Rican, Mexcan American, and
LET US all work to make sure
that 1992 is not a repeat of 1980
when the nation leaped backward
instead of going forward. Out of the
ashes of despair hope comes to those
who dare to demand and struggle for
equal justice.
EOITORIAL
George Bush,
the real Amerikan
President George Bush took time before flying off to two
summits in Europe to veto the "motor voter" bill. This piece of
legislation would ease voter registration laws across the coun­
try.
Under tbe bill, citizens would be auto{Datically registered to
vote when th� sign up for welfate or other social programs or
when they obtained a driver's license. Though Michigan allows
the secretary of state to register voters while obtaining a drivem
liscerse, the stale is only one of 15 that provide for such a
service .
. However, M NISB, a citizen group in Benton Hartx)lj
discovered last f even attempting to register votem at the
offices of the Dep eat of Social Services can lead to arrest
NISE had to hire a lawyer am file suit against DSS to get the
right to register DSS clients tbey paued through the lobby
of the Berrien County DSS office.
The suit is still pending, although NISE w. able'to get a
res trai ning order permitting them to register voters prior to the
Benton Harbor mayoral election. .
So the legislation Bush vetoed would have a direct impact
on Michigan voters.
Bush took his action, he said, because he feared "masstve
voter fraud" if enacted. Bush is truly an all-Amerikan, right
makc dab on center of historic Ameriican politics. And appro­
priately enough, Bush executed his veto during Fourth of July
festivities. Despite all the mouth for democracy, white males
from the signing of the y.S. Constitution 200yeam ago have
attempted to preserve that privilege for themselvcs.
Slaves, women, native Americans, --all were banned from
voting until one by one, each group marched, picketed, strug­
gled, shed blood to gain the right to vote.
Standing shoulder to sboulder with Busli is the majority of
Congress. Observers say that the required number of votes to
override Bush's veto are not there. The white nuUe b tion
--and remember Democrats control Congreas--&tands firm.
Citizens need to get their pens in band, grab their pbcoes
and start contacting their representatives to get the message out:
You want to know why tbe American voters are upset? It is the
preservation of privilege that galls us.
Jnstead of opening up tbe process, these guys opt each time
for exclusion over inclusion. The L.A. riot, the Ro Perot
phenomenon, the voter "apathy" these same politicians dccry
are all messages from a public fed up with the political hog
feast. '
Again, it is up to Joe Voter to redefine America. To let Bush
aM buddies know that their Amerika doesn't fit our image of
America. Open up the process.
I TH I E CH for
al tematives to Bush and Clinton,
both of whom are widely seen
undesirable by huge numbers of
voters, people are turning with a
passion to the billionaire from Texas,
H. Ro Perot.
The unortbodo Perot announced
on Larry IGngLive that he would run
for President if his supporters were
able to get him on the ballot in all SO
tales.
There was an immediate and
amazing re pon e to Perot's
Challenge; a response which was
further fueled by appearances on a
OM G point
the Perot phenomenon has it's
positive and negative pects, You
might call it the good, the b and the
ugly.
The good thing' that th Perot
candidacy dramatically demonstates
the depth of di gust which many
American voters feel toward the two
establishment parties and their
lackluster candidates for PresidenL
That voters in Jar numbe are
willing to eriously entertain and
take up the cause of an independent
campaign for pre ident may
permanently open up this avenue
a credible vehicle for seeking the
DmlrerfUJ. Demoaa
ver petS on if it
material in reat.
Hence hen pI build a
cargo airport and a oommunity
development on )aDd 0WDCcl by
family reviewed vorably by
FAA, Perot called on the then
Speaker of the House Jim Wright.
Within days Perot's proposal
ailing through the appropriate
govemment withDO 1\u1ber
questio
Perot is not only an insider
po an ou der, be alao
made lome ugly remar �bout
omen and I bJaua aDd pya. Ik '
routinely refers to omen glrla,
gals aDd chicb, betra)'iD8 an "old
Caucu
We were fortunate to witness a
, historic event in San Francisco on
June 6, 1992. The occasion was 'the
20th Anniversary of the Asian Law
Caucus (ALe). The ALC was
founded in 1972 as a civil rights law
office and institution dedicated to
ensure the civil rights of Asian and
Pacific Islander Americans. During
the last twenty years the Asian Law
Caucus has successfully defended
the civil and human rights of Asian
Americans who have had a long
history having to withstand and
endure racial discrimination and
economic exploitation throughout
the United States.
In the wake of the Los Angeles
Rebellion, there are many who
believe that an unbridgeable and
irreversible gap and division has
erupted between the African
American and Asian American
communities. Nothing could be
further from the truth. Yes, in Los
Angeles and in other cities there are
some erious and complex problems
tha texis t between the Asian
American and African American
Communities. But, the truth is that
both of these communities have been
exploited and denied justice by the
common foe of institutionalized
racism couched in the historical
context of American racially
, motivated economic exploitation.
It was quite an emotional as well
as a p,iritual moment, even among
that very diverse gathering of over
even hundred persons, when ALC
Executive Director, Attorney P.aul
M. Igasaki, and Attorney Peggy
Nagae Lum, President of the
National Asian Pacific American
I