READERS WRITE
peop ,thmwhydo me
&I�r-."".':'" P PIE seem to the I 8IX1 each other.
Evay y B kill, rob, and tape each other. y wrecking their bodies
with � am aIcoool. Many Black womenare WIeCldng tlmbodi aOO their
bali for "fix". Many of our Black yo are killing ore amther for a coat
or a pair 0 • Many m to love their m1 exploi , b ba
tbemgelves.l..ove their e�mi but themselves. What a shame! ! ! What a
shame! !
Many 0 our cdebrated aIXl talented B athle wen paid for thcir
iOO\Btry, hire whi lawye white aca>untants, am whi nts, igooring
fellow Black specialis th denying them opportunity.
Many of our utiful, rich, well educated am ful Bl women 8re
ing m1 proposing marriage to any white man, bwns more 0 n than rot,
woo will have them rather than comider the chanm of Black men to rve them
h� and fathers of their children.
Many of our Black preadlers are willing to abandon the role of indepervJent
leadership, their commitment to teaching and leading Blade messes, The appeal
of public office, the acclaim of the cxteIX1ed media; forsaking their principl
aJXl obligation to teach and direct Black toward a more fruitful am
uca:ssfullife.
In the final analysi it may prove necessary for Black people' to igoore the
lablished Gods; to igoore the leadership of people woo taIX1 in inksaOO. We
most em tlm busiress of self hate. It' mandatory that we start a dose policing
of outscbools, our churcIa, m1 all that we have learned to lean on.
So, as of row I am praying to Jesus, Mohammad, Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh,
Buddha, 'Ibe Leaders of Shintoism, to the God of Osiris, Godi In, to Olineke,
am to anybody else who may be able to lift this curse irnrrediately from our
Black people.
Ray Jenkin ,Detroit
READERS WRiTE
ow
Editor:
Recently I was asked to temporarily fill in at a recent panel discussion
entitled: The Importance of Black Talk Radio. Lonnie P ek, ho t of
WQBH's "Morning Discussion", was running late du to a prior commit­
ment and J was delighted to keep th eat warm.
Th panel discussion was sponsored by the Malcolm X Center and was
held at Lewi College of Business, As I entered the hall I was impressed
by the turnout considering it was a chilly evening in January. More than
a 100 people attended. .
However, the first question from the moderator troubled me. After'
introducing the panel, the youngman directed the first question to . "Are.
these talk shows really Black?", h asked.
After the que tion was posed and M'zee Nabowe WnTR's "Word Up"
and Tahira Ahmed the h t of "African World View" (which is heard on
, both WDTR and WCHB) responded, it was my tum.
FIRST OF AL , I understood what the question implied. Th Mal­
colm X Center is a self-proclaimed Black Nationali t group. They consider
themselve "Africans in America" as opposed to Americans, Black
Americans, or even African-Americans! 'Kwame Kenyatta, a principal
figure in the movement and recently elected Detroi] chool board member,
often say , "Black ( kin color) is ne ry, but not ufficient."
Secondly, I'm not a Black Nationali t and don't con ider myself
"African in America" but I do believe that some levels of self determina­
tion are necessary for our people. (Every ethnic group in America has
practiced some level of nationalism.) But instead of rai ing a fuss over
what he meant by th term "black", I chose to re pond to th question by
pointing out that each program has it' own unique style and "it' all Black
talk to me."
But I don't think that's what the majority of th people wanted to hear.
In fact, I got the impression that they came that evening to say, while they
praise the work of Nabowee, Ahmed, and to some extent, Jo Ann Watson,
they wanted to check others such as Lonnie Peek and WJLB' Mildred
Gaddis (who apparently declined 0 appear.)
It's Impossible for 35 million African-Americans to think alike. Some
of us are Republicans; many of us are Democ ts. We have different
. religious beliefs, and a few of us don't believe in anything.
According to recent polls we don't even agree on what we hould be
called! So why do we hold each other at gun point ver a olute racial
cohesiveness?
I ATTE D ]) two dif erent "Stop the Killing" rallie in the Detroit
area last year. The first was sponsored by the Malcolm Center in
Highland Park and the econd was put togeth r by everal organization
but principally by the Detroit chapter of the Southern Christian Leade hip
Conference. Both are Black-lead organizations, and don't agree on many
critical i ues, but on area of agreement w_ to call for an end of the
senseles violence and killing in this community.
Before I arrived at the Malcom X Center "Stop th Killing" rally I kn w
many of the participants would � Black Nat�onalists or el,f-proclaimed
"Africans in America." But a philo ophical dl greement didn't top m
from upportin a just cause.
The phen menon of talk radio has to do with the exchange f inf rma­
lion and ideas. If ev rybody aid lh me thing we wouldn't find five
dif erent radi tati ns ffering Black-oriented lk how - in luding
W HB that d vote nearly its entire format to talk. '
TI1e "Blacker than thou" thing i tired and played out. If I disagre with
your p liti 1 philo ophi I po ition on an i ue i n t m ke m any
bla kCI than you. We arc a diverse our' kin col
Jr.,D tro
K nn
\'IE\\,S & ()PINI()N
By ODIE
P ident Clinton unfolds his
program for economic revitalization, it
i incre ingly clear th t welfare
reform will be an in component
of hi plan. By pl in this i
the top 0 hi economic genda,
am n i clearly ugg ting that the
current welfare y t m i a m [or .
burden and drag on the overall
economy.
Eager to reassert hi identity a
"new Democrat," CUntonrecently old
a meeting of the nation' Governors
that his welfare proposal would
provide for more education and
training for welfare recipients.
However, all able-bodied persons on
welfare, with some exceptions, would
have to find a job after two years or do
public service work in order to
maintain their benefits.
The implication behind Qinton's
proposal is that there i a large number
of freeloaders on welfare who would
rather take a hand out than get a job.
This View sounds remarkably like a
refrain from Ronald Reagan and the
conservativ who exploited the issu
of "the burden of government on th
back of the people," to capture and
retain the White House during the 80' .
TH W i ue exploded
int th 92 election year debate after
David Duke struck a responsive chord
by using welfare bashing as a tactic in
his bid for Governor in Louisiana.
The shock waves from the Duke
campaign reverberated aero s the
HARRIS
�====--
. .
I
ay
r
By JAMES E. ALSBROOK
Black· people who think It i
virtually impo ible to rise to the top m
Mainstream America hould 10
immediately at the career of lift n
Reginald Wharton, Deputy Se retary
of State in the Clinton Administration.
Wharton i second in command in
the m st prestigious departm nt of the
Pre ident' Cabinet. He act a
Secretary of Stat when Warren
Chri t pher i not available. H ay
is a han -on deci ion maker a! th
hip of tate glides among th world'
power leade with general gwdelin ,
be h lp to fashion they e olve and
flow from the White HoU!>C.
Th Deputy ecretary' main et
are hi e cellent education hi ,va t
e periencc, hi diploma • h:
leadership quahti and hi h CT ram
power. HI h nor de
Harvard and cl ewhcr
qualiti and m re.
Wharton' . th first Black e c xitivc
o a Fortune 5 Company. H 1 an
econorrn r, an edu ator and an
adrninistrat r. min 192(), t
M ., h graduated In 1 47 m
Harvard wi th honors in hi try. �
ible person would
want to I d at
t p ye e pen ,i t critically
important that e not fall int th trap
of hallowanaly' and pego tin .
President Clinton is correct when
be ys that n one Ii the P ent
welfare y tern, in luding the
• recipients. However, th problem i not
the welfare recipients. They did t
creat th y tern. They are imply
forced to uffer the s y tem's
indignities.
Th single m t importANt factor
in the developm nt and growth of a
gro ly inadequate welfare ystem in
the U.S. is th failure of th capitalist
sy tern to provide b i human rights
for all of th people wh live in this
nation.
MILUO OF P. P _. in this
country are th victims of the failure of
the economic y t m to provide good
job with decent wages and benefits,
affordable housing, a to health
care, a quality education and a liveabl
environment.
What the e n mic y tern ha
allowed i the ever increasing
accululation of wealth, power and
a
re ti Y
and giant
:A clear. M t
people who are caught up in the
deplorable welfare y tern would
prefer to wor . Study after tudy
indicate that th aver ge stay on
welfare i only bout two years.
However, with an unemployment
rate of 73 percent (which is cl r to
10 percent when you take into ccount
tho e who have given up the searcb for
ajob.
And Jhe unemployment rate is
always at least double the national ra
in Blac communities and
communities of color), the hard reality
i that there are virtually no jo to be
had. Then there is the problem of child
care for single mothers if they are
fortunate enough to find a job.
•
I
way
o
in national and intematinal polincal
hool f r mflu nee and prestige. Wharton i 66
. yea old and can top off an illustrious
areer with four or eight years of
top-flight public service on the
International ta e of world affairs.
t ok hi
I � I1A RE F...IVED dozens of
h norary degree in addition to the ne
from hi Alma Mater, Harvard. He has
en capped and gowned at Amburst
Tuft. Notre Dame, Howard, Michigan
tate, New York University,
T ke . Lincoln and many others.
He' on the Board of Directors at
the ew York Stock Exchange, Ford
M t Phillips Petroleum, Kellogg
. and otb r large corporations.
Wherea Black in the ixtie
t doOr. Robert Weaver, an th r
Harvard Ph.D holar, and Judge
od Mar hall a leading
achieve In th national political
potlight, today we can be proud 0 a
n w. rop of ground breakers including
r. Wharton Ron Brown Gen. Colin
P well and th fresh burst of u ful
lack candid te now occupying
v ri poll ucal offi
If Bla parents could learn and
tea h theIr hildren about Black
o 0 the elfare
really very imple: dopt
pollcy 0 full employment with the
government being the employer of 1 t
rt; pt inS} yer health care
tem we unive health
for evey person in this country; expand
day care to provid free rvi for
. pare particularly ingl
o bo I; increase fedetal
d to education with an emp . on
improving the quality of eudcation for
di adv nt ged tuden ; dopt a
guaranteed annual income to provid
decent tandard of livin for all those
persons who, for whatever re n,
lute1y cannot work.
Don't ho d your breath and expect
Mr. Qinton, new Democrat to
Champion these proposals. That would
force him to face ckle the real
crisis in American society; the failures
of a flawed economic system.
H there is to be real change, the
proponents of real change will have to
muster the resolve to fight for
fundamental change and a new ociety.
-r:
", • f, ," ... 1. I
milro
ucc
leaders uch as Wharton and oth r
high-level public ervants, effective
step will have been taken in the
direction of higher achievement for
oncoming generations.
As far as t Blac masses are
concerned, Wharton is probably the
mo t accompli hed but most
"unknown" Black man in America
today.
One thi ng the ucce ses of
Wharton Powell nd Brown hav
taught i that �y of the real "powers
that be" in America are more interested
in getting lh ir problems solved than in
discri rn.i..witing on the b i of race.
R ,wboOirted
with the Klan and other bigo in
Mi . i ippi and el ewhere, cho e
0>1.m Powell be chairman of the
joint chie of taITbecause of Powell'
demonstrated ability and mastery of
the lheori ,tacti and trategies of
defensiv and offensive warfare. ,
Dr. Wharton w pulled upward
because his a ' ties were recognized
and needed. You can't p a good
man down forever.