ctlon
JACKSON - Black can­
didated made gain in
Mis issippi's court-ordered
legi lative conte ts,
At least 11 incumbents were
ousted as the whole Legislature
was on the ballot for the second
year in a row.
The 174-member Legislature
had 25 Blacks, but red is tricting
supervised by the Ju tice
Department has created more
than 50 districts where Blacks
are a majority.
Central African
prote t death of
right advocate
BANGUI-Thousands of
people screaming their hatred of
the nation's military dictator
buried an opposition leader who
was beaten to death by soldiers.
Jean Claude Conjugo was
killed by soldiers who attacked
unarmed pro-democracy
protesters. An estimated
100,000 people overflowed
Bangui's cathedral for his re­
quiem mass.
The protest showed growing
resentment of what demeeraey�
Ever 'su pect wants
murder charge
thrown olit
JACKSON -Byron De La Be­
ckwith, a white supremacist ac­
cused of assassinating civil
rights leader Medgar Evers in
1963 lost a court battle to get the'
murder charge thrown out.
Beckwith asked the judge to
let him go tree- because he
'claimed deteriorating health and
memory. But Hinds County Cir­
cuit Judge L. Breland refused.
The judge also ruled the
Beckwith's trial will be in De­
Soto County, howeve the jury
will be elected from nearby
Panola County which is 48 per­
cent Black.
Medgar Evers, field secretary
of NAACP, was slain In his
driveway by a niper's bullet. ,
Beckwith was tried twice in
1964 , but all-white jurie were
unable to reach verdicts.
No money for you
OLSO - Norway has can­
celed plans for drought aid for
Namibia because the outhwest
African nation bought a $29 mil­
lion jet for Pre Ident Sam
Nujoma, the Foreign Minister.
A n tional call to ddre the
continuing menace of crime within
the African-American community
w sounded by the AACP with
the rele e of a report, "Crime and
Criminal Activities in the U.S.A."
which pulled no punche in
detailing the disproportion te
impact crime has on th t
community.
Prepared by the NAACP'
National Board of Directors, the
report tated: "The data and
statistics we reviewed leave no
doubt that minorities living in low
socio-economic neighborhoods are
the one most likely to be the
victims of crime and criminal
activitie ."
Among the statistics cited were
those for homicide which revealed
that 94 percent of all
African-Americans murdered, are
murdered by other
African-Americans.
"Blaming these tragic figures on
racism alone is not enough. We
must frankly discuss the lack of
respect for personal life, family
disintegration, the loss of long held
values and a lack of respect for
institutions and principles which
have long served us so well, the
report said.
i requesting that each NAACP
Unit convene a community
meeting, not later than October 5,
1992, to identify problems, goals,
objective ,and ction items that
meet the need of the local
jurisdictions engaged in the fight
against crime.
THE WO G relationship
between AACP, the Black
community and law enforcement
must be improved by developing
mutual trust and respect for each
other vi personal meetings of the
NAACP leaders and the highest
ranking law enforcement officials
in their respective jurisdiction.
Such meetings hould occur at a
minimum of once every six
months.
We strongly recommend that
Community Based POlicing and a
Police Civilian Review Board be
implemented in each jurisdiction.
We need to increase the number of
Black law enforcement Officers
who live and work in the lower
socioeconomic neighborhoods.
Local NAACP units should
become aggressively involved in
addressing the crime problem. A
suggested beginning is to initi'ate
di cuss ions with local criminal
j tice, 1 w enforcement, judicial,
corrections, and e ecutive branch
officials. The di cussion hould
begin ass ing the status of crime
and criminal activitie in the
community, especially the Black
community, and to formul te
po ible olutions to help reduce
and/or eliminate crime.
AACP unit at all level
should adopt a po ture of dealing
fairly with the offender well
the victim which translate into
showing compassion for both in
many instances where justified and
proper.
Each AACP unit hould
establi h a committee to review all
phases of law enforcemen in their
respective jurisdiction.
NAACP at all levels must make
it ab olutely clear to all that it is
important not to have a criminal
record because uch record will
follow you for life and it will in all
but few instances neg tively
impact you on both a financial and
social basi . Many employers do
not want ex-felons on their payroll.
crime and criminal ctiviti .
Dr. Willi m F. Olb on,
Chairman of the AACP Boud of
Directo, ·d this· the board'
first effort to engage directly with
the delegate to the n tion I
convention on major civil rlgh
i ue. He indicated belief that
thi type of interaction eeds to
continue.
The project is ponsored by the
NAACP National Board of
Directors who e members will
work with local NAACP branches
in its implementation.
The principal earcher and
analyst for the report is Leroy W.
Warren, Jr., member of the
NAACP Nation I Board of
Directors.
Board members ho I'Ve on
the pecial committee for the
project include Dr. Aaron E.
Henry, Chairman; Larry W. Carter,
Franklin E. Breckenridge, Esq.,
Mr. Warren, Leon W. Rus ell,
Thoma Turner, William E.
Cofield, Lenny Sprinp n, T. H.
Poole, Michelle Brown, Rupert
Richardson, Patrice Grant, Ben
Andrews, Sally Carroll and James
Ghce, Esq.
I C LLI G on
African-Americans to become
more deeply involved in the fight
against crime, the report echoed a
general theme ounded by the
AACP' Executive Director, Dr.
Benjamin L. Hoo on many
occasions. As n example, in his
1990 Convention eynote ddre ,
he tated and has repeatedly
reiterated ince then, the following
position.
"It's. time tod y-July 8,
199O--for us to concede that we
are not doing all we should to
ensure our collective survival, I'm
calling today for a moratorium on
excu e . I c' lenge Black
America today-all of us-to et
aside our alibis.
"Doe this mean we have ole
responsibility for our fate?
Certainly not. We still must
insist that the clock of civil liberties
not be turned bac -on Black
America. Big business,
government, and the courts must
still be pressed to do the right
things."
The report contained a number
of recommendations including the
following:
The NAACP Board of Directors
.p
ay: Try American
DETROIT - The National As­
sociation of Black Automotive Sup­
pliers (NABAS) recently announced
that it is on 8 mission to spread the
word to "Try American." On July 31,
five of Michigan'S top minortty
automotive suppliers began traveling
through the United tales talking to
different organizations about the im­
portance of supporting domestic car
manufacturers.
"We want people to understand the
impact they can have if they 'Try
American.' Each new car purchase
can be a profitable experience for our
families, our communities and the.
U.S. economy," said David Bing,
president of Bing Steel and Superb
Manufacturing. "People perceive
that, if it's foreign, then it's better than
domestic, and that is what's hurting us
all."
The upplier's speaking schedule
includes:
George Hill, president of Diver­
sified Chemical Tecanologtes, will
address the National Association of
Black Jo urn a lis ts' convention in
Detroit, Aug. 19-23. Hank Aguirre,
head of Mexican industries, will meet
with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce at its conference, Sept. 23-
30.
CARLTON GUTHRIE'., presi­
dent of Trumark, will speak at the
National Black MBA Association's
convention in St. Louis, Oct. 4-7.
Although the idea for the program
originated among the NABAS mem­
bers, the program is fully supported by
Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and
its Minority Supplier Development
Department.
"Ford realizes the importance of
doing business with minority sup­
pliers, and we are especially honored
that they recognize and endorse the
quality of our products, " said Ray Jen­
sen, Ford Minority Supplier Develop­
ment Department manager.
NABAS was fonned in 1986 by 11
Black business owners whose largest
customers were automotive manufac­
turers. Its current membership con­
sists of almost 30 suppliers from states
such as Michi� Arkansas, Missis­
sippi, Massachusetts, Connecticut
and Ohio.
Minority suppliers are living proof
that those who "Try American" are
keeping Americans at work. In 1991,
Ford bought over $700 million in
parts from minority suppliers. Sup­
pliers from the NABAS received
about $140 million of that total. Six­
teen minority suppliers are providing
about 50 parts for the 1992 Ford
Taurus and Explorer, alone.
Currently, only four companies in
NABAS have contracts with Japanese
vehicle manufacturers.
EACH COMMUNITY must
develop pecific strategies for
dealing with organized gangs
and/or other groups dealing in
\
Wayne State University Endowment scholarship reaches $200,000. The OrganlzatJon of Black
. Alumni at Wayne State University has added $40,000 to the WSU High School Endowed Scholarship
Fund. The endowed scholarship, established by the group this year, will be awarded to deserving
Detroit high school students who attend WSU. So far $200,000 In endowments has been raJ '
Pictured are Oeft to right, tQP row): Walter Strong, WSU university relations; Marguerite Rigby, WSU
alumni relations; Circuit Judge Claudia House Morcom; Brenda Scott, WSU Board of Govam0f'8
member; Rick Jones, Ameritech; and Ron Wood, �SU alumnus. Seated Oeft to right) are: Willie
Ogletree, WSU alamnus; Natalie Tate, WSU equal opportunity; Sherrie Farrell, WSU alumna; Betty
Davis, WSU alumna; and Brent Gillum, WSU alumnus.. '
analyzed minorities were more
likely to receive only job search
assistance. AI though each form of
training has its benefits, Labordata
show that participants receiving
classroom training have a higher
average placement wage upon
completing training than do'
participants in on-the-job training.
Those receiving only job search
assistance have the lowest average
placement wage.
- Black men in clas room
training were more likel y to be
trained in occupation. with a median
placement wage of $5.75 or less.
White men were more likely to be
trained in occupations with a median
placement wage of $7.00 or more.
- Discriminatory practices by
ome employ� and acquiescence
by some JTP A staff in these practices
also appear to be contributing to
disparties in the distribution of
services to women and minorities.
In some case , employers asked
counselors not to send them certain
types of participants, uch as Blacks
or women.
- State and federal monitoring
activities are inadequate to identify
and address di pari tie in the
services provided by SDAs to
women and minori tie in part
because of the limited amount of
data that Labor maintains on
program particlpants, Only 16 tales
could provide GAO data showing
the services provided by JTP A to
pecific demographic group
ithout creating duplicate counts.
GAO report confinn . widespread di ... �rimination in JPT A
- Since 1987, Labor's
Directorate of Qvil Rights has made
monitoring visits to 26 state JTP A
agencies and an SDA in each state.
Of the 26 SDAs visited only 1600uld
provide sufficient data to permit a
disparity analysi and all 16 had
disparties in at least some service .
Yet, to date, the Directorate has not
completed its analysis of these case .
programs under the JTP A.
The bill include change
affecting civil righ enforcement
including: setting up a eparatc
authorization for the lacy and
expenses of additional full-time
employees to better staff the
Directorate for Qvil Rights, for
better monitoring activi within
JTP A and to expedite action on
di crimination cases; requiring the
Secretary of Labor �o include an
ev luation for the Directorate of
ci-u Rights JTPA
nondiscrimination ctivity in the
annual report to Congre ; and,
requiring the Seactary of Labor to
publish final regul tiom governing
JTP A compl�ance and enfon:ement
of this bill.
WASHINGTON D.C. - Recently a
19-month Government Accounting
Office (GAO) study released by U.S.
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI),
Chairman of the House Government
Operations Committee, concluded
that minorities and women receive
disparate treatment under the Job
Training Partnership Act (JTP A).
GAO pointed out the following'
problems in their report about the job
program: .
- In 20 percent of the ervice
delivery areas (SDA) analyzed by
GAO, white participants were more
likely than minorities to receive
classroom training.
- In 13 percent of the SDAs
wbite participants were more likely
to receive on-the-job training.
- In 18 percent of the SDAs
As a result of the Conyers-GAO
report, hearings by the Government
Operations SubcOmmittee on
Employment nd Housing, and
di cus ions be tween chairmen
Conyers, Lanto , Ford and Perkins,
ignificant change to rectify
inewuities in JTP A are reflected in a
bill passed by the House on October
9, (420-6) to revise as istance