Poultry-Pl nt F.lr VIc­
tim Awarded $16 Mil­
lion Seftl m nt -
CHA LOTI, -Victims
of a poultry-plant fire in 1991,
h v finally been warded a et­
tlement totaling $16 million
after months of re i tance by
three insurance companie . Th
plant, owned by Imperial Food
Products, Inc., was ruled hazard­
ous by the insurers citing illegal­
ly blocked or locked doors that
were a prime factor in th 25
deaths and 56 injurie . Imperial
Food owner, Emmet Roe,
pleaded guilty to 25 counts of
manslaughter and was sentenced
to 19 years 11 months in pri on.
The ettlement will be
divided according to several fac­
tors, including the everity of in­
j urie among those who
survived. Residingjudge, James .
Wolfe:' Jr., recommended that
payments be divided among 101
families that have filed claims
for dead, injured, or emotionally
di turbed workers. Families of
some of the victims have' also
begun to file clai� against the
J U.s Departm n of:AgricqltuIe.
one of who e inspectors ap- .
»-proved the locking of a fire door
at the plant.
Oregon's Ballot
Mea ure 9 Causes
Anti-Black, Anti-Gay
Uproar
OREGON-The passing of
Oregon's Ballot Measure 9
. would require the state of
Oregon to discourage
homosexuali ty and would label
homosexual as "abnormal,
wrong. unnatural, and perverse".
The proposal of the measure has
caused quite an uproar, pitting
homosexuals and skinheads
against one another.
The most publicized incident,
a fire that led to the death of a
Black lesbian, Hattie Mae
. Cohens, and- a white
homosexual, Brian H. Mock,
was a mixture of emotions
generated by racial intolerance,
a feud, and Ballot Measure 9.
Witnesses told police that the
firebomb was thrown hours after
a relative of one of the victims
had a fight with skinheads.
"This clearly was not a crime
targeted at homosexuals," aid
Dale Penn, District Attonery of
Marion County, prosecutor of
the case. "When all is aid and
done, the primary motive for the
killings will likely not be race or
exual orientation, but both of
them played a role." Four have
been charged in the firebombing
with violations of Oregon' hate
crime hate.
HOLIDAY
SCHEDULE
The 0 ffices of the
Michigan Citizen will be
clclosed at 5 p.m., Wednes­
day, November 25, until 9
a.m. Monday, November
30.
Deadline for all ads and
st rycopyis 12noon,M n­
. day, I ovemher 23.
\Y()RIJ)
Africa
Despite stepped-up relief efforts
in Somalia, 2,000 to 5,000 people
continu to die daily. "The current
ituation in Somalia is horrifying,"
said Philip Johnston, president of
CARE, "I saw children who e thighs
and legs were no bigger in
circumference than my wrist
Their bodies had no muscle mass
Relief nd local official tress
that food must be po itioned before
the harsh weath r begins if food
distribution is to be effective.
"Mozambique is on the brink of
becoming -another Somalia," said
John Hammoc ,executive director
of Oxfam America. "The
combination of continuing drought,
a devastating war and tructural
adjustment policie adopted by the
the m jor
B nk and donor countries, ve cut
ubsidies, ending food, health and
transportation co ts kyroc tinge
"WAR RE AI
Di turbing rend for
Hungry American
INCREASES
• Hunger in the U.S increased 50%
(1985-1992) . .
� 50% of Arn_4'_4
decrease (IDOU�.&o::IH�lI:I
� The federal
houstna pro
(1978·19§'I, ""�1ft1
I( ."11" �
,/� IVnnimum \\!f;Ief�_�
, • I. , 2� .from- t�;j!UJ.el
value (1979-
� AFDC ben 2% in
real dollar 19
� The proportion of poor Idren
recetvtng z DC decreased 28%
(1973-1989)
� 27 states decreased or froze
gc. rul , sststancc benefits t 1 uur
people (1 91)
� 20 states decreased funds for
homeless peo Ie (1991)
• The number of people living in
shelters increased 155% (1984-88)
,. Unemployment increased to nearly
10 million workers (June 1992)
• The number of poor children
increased by 900,000 (1990-91)
.• The number of chtldren in the
school lunch 'program increased by
500,000 (1991·92)
The Children of omalla
. .
Need Your Help Now
The following agencies pledge to see that your donations are used
, where tt'ley will do the most good.
Please don't let the children's cry go unanswered. Send your
tax-deductible check to any of the agencies listed below, earmarked tor
Adventlse
CARE
Intern·atlonal Rescue
Save the Children
Development It Relief
660 First Avenue
Committee
PO Box 975-Dept.1
Agency (ADRA)
New York, NY 10016
386 Park Avenue South
Westport, CT 06881
Box 4289
(212) 686-3110
New York, NY 10016
(800) 532-1818 .
Sliver Spring, MD 20904
. (212) 679-0010
(800) 424-ADRA
CONCERN/America
Lutheran World Relief
UMCOR, United
2024 N. Broadway
Methodl t Com mitt e
PO Box 1790
390 Park Avenue South
of Relief
Afrlcare .
Santa Ana. CA 92702
New York, NY.10016
475 Riverside Drive
440 R Street NW
(212) 532-6350
Room 1374
Washington, DC 20001
(714) 953-8576
New York, NY 1-0115
(202) 462-3614
MAP International
Doctors Without
2200 Glynco Parkway
(212) 870-3816
Border
Box 50
US Committee for
American Friends
30 Rockefeller Plaza
Brunswick, GA 31520
UNICEF
S rvlce Committe
#5425
(800) 225-8550
333 East 38th Street
1501 Cherry Street
New York; NY 10112
Operation USA
Dept. SR
Philadelphia. PA 19102
(212) 649-5961
New York, NY 10016
(215) 241-7158
76151/2 Melrose Ave
(212) 922-2259011
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Food for the Hungry
(213) 658·8876
World Concern
American Jewish
7729 E. Greenway Ad
Oxtam America
PO Box 33000
World S rvlce
Scottsdale,'AZ 85260
26 West Street
Seattle WA 98133
15 Wes1 26th St 9th FL
(800) 2-HUNGER
Boston, MA 02111
(206) 546-7201
New York, NY 10010
(SOO) 225-5800
World Vision
(212) 683-1161
Int rnatlonal
Iding Bishop's
PO Box 1131
Pr
Medical Corp
Fund for World Relief/
Pasadena. CA 91131
Baptist World Aid
5933 W. Century Blvd.
Episcopal Chur�h
(800) 423-4200
6733 Curran Street
#31Q .
815 Second Aveue
McLean, VA 22101
Los Angeles, CA 90045
New York, NY 10017
(703) 790-8980
(310) 670-0800
!212) 867·8400
ay wan
ichigan. right
law xpanded
another Somalia, The United Stat
MUS t lead effort to a is t
Moz' mbique with food,
transportation and water, and use its
influence to halt international aid to
By SUSAN VELA
c.pIt!l New. S.rvlc.
LANSING - Activi ts ay civil
rights do not exist for most of
ichigan' hom I population:
,." 0'rt1 I 1 ''In, ""l)tn .,
Ann 'Arbor, Bast Lansing or
Kalamazoo, which have ordinances
specifically banning discrimination
due to one's sexual orientation, gays,
le bians and bisexuals could lose
their jobs, for example, and have no
legal protection to fall back upon.
That' why the Michigan Or­
ganization for Human Rights has
been pushing for state government to
amend the Elliott-Larsen Civil
Rights Act for the past. everal years,
said MOHR director Bob Egan.
The 1976 state law makes it illegal
to practice discrimination in housing,
employment, education, public ac­
commodation and public service due
to a person's race, color, religion,
age, sex, height, weight or marital
status.
"I DI AGREEvehemently·when
people say gays and lesbians are al­
ready protected under other
categories of this act," said 'Egan of
Lansing. "If that was the case, I
wouldn't have to worry about leaving
a restaurant while holding my lover's
hand and not fear being physically
beaten."
Meanwhile, conservative
politicians like State Rep. David
Jaye, R-Shelby Township, said
separate civil rights protection
regarding race, gender or sexual
orientation shouldn't exist.
"We should have one civil rights
law and that should be for all
Americans," aid Jaye, who was re­
elected during the Nov. 3 election.
"(Specifying civil rights protections
for different groups) continues to
divide and separate us."
A state constitutional amendment
that would've banned discrimination
against homo exuals was introduced
in the' Legislature in the early 1980s
but died a quick death.
d public donatio to
priv te relief org nization
providing istance in Africa.
- Increased medi:l coverage of
the drought, not only in Somalia, but
in other parts of Africa well.
-In edresponsebyth U.S.
government, pecifically:
- The U.S. hould continue to
flood Somalia with food and step up
efforts to provide non-food aid
- development s· tance to outhem
Africa;
- The State Department must
play a more active role in seeking
S SOMAUA, A11
Homosexuals have never been
protected at the federal level, either.
The 1983 federal civil rights act
makes no mention of discrimination
against gays, esb] ans and bisexuals.
That lack of p�tection has' al­
lowed employers to get away with
ome of the most blatant examples of
discrimination, said a spokeswoman
for the Wa nington, D.C.-based Na­
tional Gay and Lesbian Task Force .
FOR EXAMPL� the manage­
ment staff at 118 Cra ker Barrel res­
taurants received a memo noting that
the company would no longer
employ people "whose sexual
preference failed to demonstrate nor­
mal heterosexual values."
" Separate civil,
rights protections
regarding race,
gender or sexual
orientation
shouldn't exist. "
- st ... Rep. David .laye
At least 10 employees were con­
sequently fired, including Georgia
resident Cheryl Summerville. Sum ..
merville received a termination
notice that read "this employee is
being terminated due to violations of
company policy. The employee is
gay." .
"These people could not request
their jobs back withou any legal
recourse" aid Robin Kane. "(And)
this lack of legislation perpetuates
the problem because these people are
not coming forward with their com­
plaints because they're afraid things
may get worse."
And now a Cracker Barrel re -
Se RIGHTS, A 11
CAR
.th mo
wond
d
plan
t
rful
arth,
1-800-S21-CARE
on