By KELLY L ANDERSON
A • .oc,.ted Pre • Writ
DETROIT (AP) - � r Lout
Farrakhan urged people to register to
vote Sunday, but he stopped far hort
of endorsing any presidential can­
didate.
"The people allover the country,
the Black poor, the Hispanic poor,
the white poor are getting tired of
abuse and neglect and the lying of
politicians, the deceit of govern­
ment," the Nation of Islam leader
told a crowd of about 6,800 in
downtown Detroit.
Farrakhan noted that fewer than
20 percent of eligible voters exer­
cised that right during the recent
primary season. I
"Will you cass a vote for B h?
No. Will you cast a vote for Gore?
No. Will cast a vote tor Cinton. No.
What are you going to do?
"Brother nd Isters, that'
serious," Farrakhan aid." Beca
in a democratic society, upposedly
where you have the right to vote and
._�_'1 it
at you re di encb nted ith
poUd,. Utfcians, and
with their way of doing business.
f' And yo,:, want change. "
Black communl -es suffer
more toxic waste, EPA admits
DETROIT (AP) - The government
is acknowledging a University of
Michigan report finding minorities
more at risk of eXposure to bazardom
substances and is trying to cut that
risk. .
"The EPA's basic goal is to make
certain that the comequeocea of en­
vironmental pollution should not be
bome unequally by any segment of
the population," Wllllam Reilly, us,
Environmental Protection AgeDCJ
administrator, said in a statement
Thursday.
"EPA his a responsibility to iden­
tify and target these populations" for
special attention, he sai�.
Reilly also said that he has ked
staff from all the agency's programs
and regions to come up with policies
and a plan to address the problem.
UNIVERSITY OF Michigan
professors Bunyan Bryant and Paul
Mohai in January released a study that
showed minorities in the Detroit
metropolitlp area were significantly
more likely to live near commercial
bazardous wastes sites than whites of
the same income level.
The EPA report released this week
recommends that the government try
to f 'reduce high concentrations of risk
to specltlc population groups."
This so-called enviro1l8ntal af­
firmative action would make it more,
difficult to put incinerators in poor
mloority neighborhoods than in mid:­
die-class white neighborhoods, the
Detroit Free Press reported Friday.
"It's been found that if you're a
mioority, whether you're poor or mid-
die class or doing a little bit better,
you're still exposed to more, and the
under! ying reason is racism,' , said
Lawton Jackson of Detroit, who runs
a regional office for the national group
Qean Water Action.
Mohai � suggested that rather .
than racism, the cause of the tre� is
a lack of political clout.
He said mioority neighborhoods
simply might not have the connec­
tions and visibility of white neighbor­
hoods that fight the facilities'
placement in their area.
TIlE EPA report grew out of a
1990 conference at the University of
Michigan on issues of environment
and race. People attending the con­
ference - organized by Bryant and
Mohai - urged federal authorities to
respond to their concerns.
EPA officials appointed a task
force, and Wednesday's report was
the result.
Bryant and Mohai were out of
town Friday and could not be reached
-for comment.
. Work charge
racist, par · cal tactics
State reorganization .
angers workers
By LEAH SAMUEL
Sf." Writ",
State workers are upset over a
recently instituted reorganitation
by Gov. John Engler which will
combine, eliminate or otherwise
restructure state departments.
Workers claim that women,
Blacks and other minorUJes have
been demoted or eliDllnatcd in
state government departments.
The Department of Civil
Rights, the Michigan Employ­
ment Security Commission
(MESC), the Michigan Depart­
ment of Labor, and the Michigan
Department of Corrections were
affected by this most recent reor­
ganization. Also involved were
the Public Health, Mental Health,
and State Police departments,
along with the Department of
Licensing and Regulation and the
Department �f Commerce.
In each of those departments,
female or minority workers are
being demoted or eliminated.
AT A PUBLIC hearing held
July 27 at Wayne State Univer-
ity, Rep. Floyd Qack (D-Flint)
heard testimonies from tate
workers affected by the reor­
ganization. Cack i a member of
the House Committee on Qvil
Right, Constitution and
Women's Issues.1be committee
is currently investigating the ef­
fect of the reorganization on
female and handicapped workers
and workers of color.
Henrietta Morin, budget direc­
tor for MESC, said that position
was "redlined," meaning that it
would not be eliminated. Her con­
cern, however, was for her suc­
cessor and for long-standing state
workers who will not be retiring.
"My successor would be in a
See WORKERS, A10
VOTE, 10
FCC fine
Michigan r dio
MIca (AP) - Federal regulators
have tined orne radio statio and
warned others to boost the number of
minority and women employees,
prompting two Chri tian tions to
challenge the sanctio •
The Federal Communlcado
Commi ion otdered 11 racHo
stations in Grand Rapid&, ZtMIlaI4
lq)Orta detail·
promotfng � .. .nin.
Six of the cations lIDod be-
tween S2,OOO and $7,500, II1d LewfI
Pulley, a W hington attomey with
the Equal Employment OpportuDlty
Branch of the Enforcement Divialon
ttl the FCC Mass Media Bureau.
The FCC action earlier this
month followed a petition filed in
1909 by the National Aaaodadon for
the Advancement of Colored People
and the National Black Media Coali­
tion. The groups challenged licente
renewals for 32 radio statio.. in
Michigan and Ohio, Pulley said
Thursday.
THE PETITION, b ed on a
review of the tatlons ' annual
employment repora, claimed the .ta­
tions were lax in hiring and promot­
ing minorities, Pulley iald.
But the FCC found no evidence of
discrimination, Pulley said.
"However, we did flnd that lOme
of them had room for improvement
in their (equal employment oppor­
tunity) recruitment programa." be
said.
Also named in the petition are
Michigan radio stationa in AnD
Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit, Blat
Lansing, Lansing, MUI�aoD, North
Muskegon and NUes; and in Ohio,
Cleveland, Columbua, Dayton,
Eaton, Oberlin, Piqua, SpriJllfteld,
Toledo and Sylvania.
Q.
Have the
Democrats
neutralIZed
Jesse
Jack on?
,