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PE PET\) mNG
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Another Black in
ong' e .. ?···· ••• ;No surprise
By JA S ALSBROOK '
Believe it or not, the Black man
described by experts probably the
best-trained and m t competent law
enforcement executive in the nation
will be the next drug czar and the fifth
Black person in Bill Clinton'S 14-
member cabinet. Hi name is Lee Pat­
rick Brown, 55-year-Old widower
with foutthildren.
He has many years of experience
to go with his four college degrees
topped by the Ph.D. degree in crimi­
nology from the University of Cali­
fornia at Berkley.
He began as a patrolman and
worked his way up to become top law
enforcement officer or commissioner
of police at Portland, Ore., Houston,
Atlanta, and New York City. His suc-
es made him a much sought-after
leader.
EXPERTS INDI CATE that what
Colin Powell is in military science
expertise, so Lee Brown j in police
seience expertise.
President Ointon aid he was for­
tunate to get Lee Brown aboard his
" hip of state." Brown's very impres­
ive record indicates that Clinton is
right
Brown will join four other Blacks
in Clinton' cabinet.
1bey are Ron Brown, Secretary of
Interior; Hazel O'Leary, Secretary of
Energy; Jesse Brown, Secretary of
Veterans' Affairs; and Mike Epsy,
Secretary of Agriculture.
All reports indicate that the
Black leaders are doing very well in
erving the nation and the President.
Other Black official high in tne
- Clinton Admini tration are: Dr. Joce­
lyn Elders, 59, U.S. Surgeon General,
a pediatrician who was head of Health
Services in Arkansas, and Dr. Clifton
R. Wharton. Deputy Secretary of
State and second in command only to
Secretary Warren Qui topher.
WHARTO HAS, earned de­
grees from Harvard University, John
Hopkins Universi ty (International
Studies), and Chicago University.
His honorary degrees are numer-
ous.
. -
His salary w more than one mil-
lions dollars per year as head of a
bill ion-dollar Fortune 500 insurance
inv tment firm w hen I t December
he decided to top off his career with
the highest ranking position a Black
person ever held in the State De­
partment.
Before 1992, only two Blacks had
been cbosen for U.S. Cabinet job .
TIley are Robert C. Weaver, a Har­
vard University PhD. in sociology
and Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development appointed by Lyndon
Johnson, and Louis Sullivan, M.D.,
appointed Secretary of Health and
Human Services by George Bush.
WHEN BROWN I confirmed
by the Senate, he will be called the
head of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy.
President Clinton has not an­
nounced the probably different job
title Brown will have when he enters
the Cabinet.
Brown M; "paid his dues" through
public service on all ides. He is a
long-time member of the NAACP and
the National Organization of Black
Law Enforcement Officers, the Boy
Scouts, Houston Rotary Club and
many oth r groups.
He also M; taught police work at
Howard University, Texas Southern
and everal predominantly white uni­
versities.
He coauthored two books and has
produced numerous magazin arti­
cles.
Some Black Democrat ay
Brown should be named Director of
the F.B.I. when the current Republi­
can-appointed director, now under
fire for misconduct, is one.
Others say Brown would be handi­
capped as F.B.I. head because it i
riddled with racists as it was when J.
Edgar Hoover was badgering Dr.
King and trying to kill th civil rights
movement.
BROWN' UPCOMING, anti­
drug efforts in the inner cities will
more difficult now that th Republi­
can fiI�b�ter killed Clinton' p kag
contaimng thou and of job for
young people.
Behind cl ed doo m Repub-
licans reportedly aid they killed the
jobs package because they did not
want to "reward" rioters or give them
jo . Moreover, th informant contin­
u d, the Republicans claim inner cit­
ie cons' t mainly of Democrat
anyway 0 they must be puni hed.
Th nation will ee how effectiv
Brown' proposed "education and re­
habilitation" program i when the eve­
ning news how fewer Black youth
being taken to jail in handcuffs or to
the morgue in body bags.
t m 1 rem r •
ble the identity of the women
d cribed here.
The fi t, in ddition to b ing
poli tical I er in her own right, i
the wife of U.S. Congres man.
T ond a prominent prof -
ional i th wi of a St t R P
ntative.
B th worn n re Afri an-Ameri­
can.
Although char
dropped agai t t worn n, t
very fa t th t they were treated
crudely, d pit th ir promin nee
Su h incid nt a but daily oc-
currences in the liv of Bl men
and w men in Am rica, regardl of
cl ,rank, t tus or tation in life.
That cop can treat people so
re out-of-control.
politicia ar out-of-
en of white
middle-to-upper cl exiles of C -
tro' Cuba and who voted heavily
Republican; and the most recent
Spanish- peaking emigrants from
Central and South America. Black
leaders insi ted that Cuban-Ameri­
cans defi ni tely hould not be consid­
ered an Olund rprivil ged minority",
and as such did Dot meri t min ri ty
et- id development program ,af­
firmative action and equal opportu- ,
nity program .
over-
IMMIGRA TI I wer
also at the center of Lati no-Bla k
conflicts. Over n -third of t Lat­
ino p pulation f m re than 24 mil-
lion in th U.. consi ts 0
undocument d workers. Som mid­
die las BI kid to' th p -
Ii tically conservanve : view' that
undocum nt d Latino workers de­
prived po r Blac of job within th
low t wag tors f the e nomy.
Third bilingual education and f­
forts to impo languag and cultural
conformity on all to of ociety
ucb "English-only" referenda,
have also divided many Latino and
Bla k vot rs.
Finally, t re i the f tor 0 d
mography. B usc f relatively
higher birth rat than the gen ral
population and ub tantial i nun I ra­
tion by th year 201 ,Latin will
outnumber African Americans
America's I 1& t minority group.
Many civil rights leaders and
Black elected officia are till
tomed to employing th impl is tic
"BI -white" tegories to d' cuss
race relations andbecom d fe
when Latino pe tiv and i
managers nor
can change that re-
even
us? .
If pe pi can watch the m
ofMOVEpeopleonM y 13th, 1
poli e fir ombed MOVE HQ ;
the ATF/FBI ramming and d true-
"Scared ... of yOU? Get real!!. .. I'm a Blackman living in America."
---uildin
The m"ajor challenge in revitaliz­
ing the democratic movements for
democra y and social justice for
America's people of color i the forg­
ing of creative coalitions r eth­
nic lines. Th major priority here
must be the building of Latino-Afri-
can-American unity. .
Yet for various reasons inc the
late 197 thi effort h b n
largely unsuccessful. Ther arc at
least four critical i u which have
fostered tensions between Latmo and
African-Am rican p litical I ders.
First, after the Census of 1
cor of Congr sional di tn t
were r apporuoned t hav Latino r
African-Am rican rnajori be or plu­
raliti , guaranteeing gr at r rmnor­
i ty repr entati n in Con r
, H W �
are pia ed on the political a enda.
The tragedy h re i that too li ttle
i don either by African-American
or Latino "main tream leaders" to
transcend their parochial' m and to
redefin th ir a endas on common
ground.
Latin
OR.
MANNING
MARABLE
ALONG
THE
COLOR LINE
r 11m nt was just 18 percent. As of
1 2, about 22 percent of the non­
Latin population held a four-year
c lie degree. College graduation
f r Latino were only 10 per-
m fit year.
Thus on a major eries of public
i ues ducational equality, hous­
ing, health care, jobs, civil rights en-
or ement-Latino and African
Americans share a core set of com­
m n interests. What is neces ary to­
day i the creative; visionary
leade hip which can bridge the cul­
tural, language and ethnic divi ions,
creati n a diaJogu 0 mutual re-
p ct.
. Tog ther, LatU;os and African
. Americans can win the fight for
equ li ty and ocial justice.
BY 1 2, the high ch
tion rate for Latin m I had
dropped t only 47.8 percent, tll
1 w t figure vcr r rU d b th
American un il n Educati n
. inc compilin t tisu t cnty
years ago. In colleg nd universi­
u ,the pattern of Latino inequality
w the arne.
In 1991. 34 percent of all whit
and 24 percent of all African Am ri­
cans between 18 nd 24 y of a e
were enrolled in col leg . Latino en-
Dr. Manning MarablA is Profes-
or of Poluical Science and History,
Uni rsity of Colorado, Boulder.
"Along the Color Line" appears in
o r 2 0 newspapers and is broad­
cast by more than 60 radio stations
throughout North America; England,
the arlbbean and India.
