EDITORIAL
ing in an intervi with his c n new pape , De it
yor Coleman Young began an apparent, though unan-
no� cam ign r . n. U Iy, Y
tired.wom-o t th th t I to here.
Invoking th peeter of . m: the
police 0 lee h ld over from days 0 unit for
police brutality. Young aid in the interview that though som
Bla officers are involved with brutality, it i m t often whi
officers.
. Then Ma�ar p�ed .the police aviation scandal, where police
J flew pohtcal bigwigs to Us Vegas for gambling trips and
brought in the the otre Dam coach fa suburban school
fundra�r, on � Irish �p who h been at Young' side, uQ
under him and m a posmon of power over the years. .
In both cases Young was taking th easy way out The
interviewer 1 t him lide, allowing the Mayor to slip past the fact
that he, Coleman Young, is in tge and p<}osibl. He i t&
one who appoints the ineffective police commission that acts
oversight H appoints the chief who w minding th store
when these things happened. H I ds an entire generation th t
has failed the young people both by example and in dearth of
opportunities offered.
THAT RACISM IS ultimately behind urban ills, we do not
argue. Only racism can explain a nation's willingn to write
off the inner cities largely populated by people of color. But
when we re in charge of the watch and have control of certain
resources and the power to acomplish certain things, we must
be held accountable for our charge. To whom much has been
given, much will be asked and to whom little is given, something
will also be asked. .
It is time to stop pointing fingers, summoning up the specter
of racism. It accomplishes nothing, offers no future and solves
no problems. ,
After staunchly opposing for years, all efforts at hand gun
control south of Eight Mile, the Mayor's most insulting revela
tion in the recent interview was his proposal for crime control.
Lamenting the loss �f youn� life, he proposes that when reports
come in to . of 0 Ie . in�u"
n their car, au d rdon
everyone 1 ·lAtd friSkect.' �"'I¥l7'�t-
We all grieve for the young that are dying. We grieve for all
the lost youth caught up in the criminal justice system, the
miseducation system, at the point in life when they should be
preparing for their future. But taking away civil liberties is no
way to rolve the probl m.
First, get rid of the guns. It isa proposal Young hru oppo. ed
again using the divide-and-confuse tactics of racism. The Mayor
has said he will neve.r support gun control south of Eight Mile
as long as folks above the city limits have unchecked access to
guns.
IT IS NOT the folks north of Eight Mile who are killing each
other or us. It is us killing us. It is up to us to stop the madness.
Our goal hould be to disarm the community, and eventually
even the police.
Ironically, the Young administration's economic develop
ment projects have almost exclusively assisted major corpora
tions. That emphasis has come at the expense of the'
neighborhoods, the very breeding grounds of death, Young
deplores.
While HUq housing dollars helped build exclusive
waterfront digs to lure back suburbanites and to enrich the
Mayor's friend AI Taubman, public housing and neighborhoods
lid into despair breeding the gun-toting youth who ee lif
ch ap as their lders have made it.
Thi is not a Black or white issue. It i an issu of too many
guns combined with too little opportunity to make an honest
living. To throw color in the picture only confuses th question.
Make it illegal to have a gun below Eight Mile. Then work for
national gun control. To us that makes a sensible eff rt to attack
the problem.
To abridge constitutional rights while abdicating one's own
respon ibility i unconscionable. Take away the gun " not our
rights.
By JAMES E. ALSBROOK
If Bill Clinton really wan hi tory
to proclaim him on of the great presi
dents of thi nati n, he can realize that
ambition by continuing he great
movement toward freedom, justice
and equality "m v d" by Abraham
Lincoln and " econded" by Lyndon
Johnson.
Lincoln in 1863 i. u d the Eman
cipation Proclamation that freed the
hundreds of thousand of slaves in th
rebelling firs n -
tionallega
aboli h sl�lY..� __ leJttlIl.u_d
State. This was the first "strike" ,...---------------------------�--------
toward counting slavery "out."
About 100 years later in the
nineteen sixties, Johnson threw the
econd trike in "counting out" slavery
and its abhorrent remnants. Johnson
supervised and engineered the prssage
of civil rights law guaranteeing 3lack
people equality in public accommoda-
, tions, voting, educati nal opportunity,
employment opportunity, property
purchasing and in other crucial areas.
The e law constituted the second
tep upward for Black pcoolc and
were the ccond strike in "counting
out" the ogre of race di 'crimination
that plagues Bla k people t�ay.
THE TIIlRJ) TRIKE an be
thrown hy Clint n. the upcoming
"pit her" in the White H usc. Clinton.
,like Johnson and the liberal Jimmy
Carter is a southern white man who
ance tor propagated or at least
tolerated lavery and witne sed its in
sidious. contagious, Inter-generational
damag over many years.
Clinton i an intelligent, ensitive
outhemer ocialized by hi I al cul
ture and hi. to ric tradition that
• wri r in a major nati nat d ily
��WSl)aoer Attempted to paint 'Marshall
an eliti�t who 0 n criticized his
cont mporarie I' .Martin Luther Kin
Jr. and M lcolm X.
But th truth' ThW' Mal hall
was a t am player who kn \\ th
importance of the unit' ot th
"Movement,"
Y , different lead ha different
and gi&. The key i to work
ther and to promote unity alXl the
cen a 010 i for
ra ation 'of U
deliberately enforced Bla k ubor
dinatin and humiliation. Because of
thi cultural and political h ritage, he
pep cial insights and a pe
cial legacy that give him th moral and
ethical authority to cck forgivcne
from Black people r r unavoidable
afterbirth of social problems and be
havioral monstrositie .
Bill Clinton, leader of the U"itC<i
States, could ta e his cue from rope
John Paul. leader of hundred of mil
lions of Cathol i
lac
"".
A national apology to Black
Americans i long overdue. Clinton
hould apologize. As an opinion
leader, Clinton imparts credibility
wiler· exp ing hi ideas and val
As a role model, Cinton atttacts fol
lowers and imitators in word and in
deed. As an authority figure, Clinton
uu rs word that are re peeted.
_.,.
Cape Verde I lar.d .
The P pc apologized, expre iug
deep regret that Slavery exi ted and
w tolerated. His m sag" he said,
was '''no' LO di riminatio.l of every
kind, 'no' to more lavery of man by
man, n mort forms OJ vivolcncc that
undermine people's d.g-uty, no more
denial of the rights of God over man."
Leaders of various big nations ar, {
others have apologized (or various His apology would h lp purge and
crime recently, in luding murder, . leansc the ul of this ra ist na.ti�n.
�,'" "J J l I "III'
rape. war mongeri nd oth r offcn-
t lJ ;Jllull 1 ,lJ h ��b� "..11 4
scs.
"I'm sorry, you can't stay here ... unl ss you're co!J1.ind
to do household 'WOrk for Zoe Baird ... "
v
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" '
11: 0 A.M., n the rd, and 17th, with
ix more additional .arly U1 rni: sals or
"Half Days" yet rcrnainin 10 the b I
year,
Elementary S ho J . h w one earl y
dismis I in OC10 r on th ttl, at
11: A.M., � r ser Planning Day; two
early di mi aI. al11: 0 AM., and 2:.
P.M., n ovcrn r II th, and 1 th, for
Veterans Day and Staff Mceun with
the 2 th, and 27th. no sch 1. f r
Thanksgiving R
. In the month of D . mbcr not U arc
three early di missals all hcduled � r
11 : AM .. On Thursday th rd, r
i hcduled an early di mi al f r
Compensatory ime. Follow d 1
days later by an early dJ mi on the
th, fora "Scorin WritingTest" and th
16th,for 'Tea h r Evaluauon" with n
ch 1 hedulcd from December 24
lhru January 1 t for Om trnas and w
Years Recess.
By th cbruary 19th erne. ter
break, Loui Past ur tudcnt will have
received a total 9 .'ally III missal ,
One the 13th of January at 2: P.M.,
and two early di rru in Feb ry f r
NORMAN
CLEMENT
YOUR'RE
WITHIN
THE NORM
rught of mber th, woo raised U
. me n rns with union p idem
John Elliott on what appea to be
c ive num rs half day given to
Public h 1 children, and ea h time he
. need d to only eight per hoot y •
Havin been a taun h upporter of
the teachers union during th 1 2
h 1 trike, I believe we may have
either a problem of credibility or
c untability, with our school teacber
union p ioent, Mr. John Elli .. tt, his
cxccutiv committee, the
and ch I Superintend nt Deborah
M<.:Gri •
I'd like to find out what other Detroit
Public School 1992-93 endars have
that may ap� to be e ive early
di missal days. So, nd a copy of your
child' hool calendar hedule to the
Mi higan Citizen and let' what we.
can find out
For now you Ire with 1M norms-