VOL XV NO ·ltJ .. :'.. . . OCTOBER 17 - 23. 1993
Dr.l. c Rlctmond, CORR N tlOnalOlr ctor, Memphl ,TN; urgetheboycoHofSaturncar.OctoberethatGener.,Motor
Maxine Thorna., Helen Long, John 80 n nd Joe Gr n (I-r) Headquarter. In 0 trott. (photo by Efu. Korant.m.)
,
s
,
By CRAIG HILL distribution of handbills on Friday in the
. downtown Detroit area. -
==��==�-------------------
DETRorr - The Commission on Relig- On Saturday, A demostration took
. ion and Racism (CORR) came North this place at GeneralMotors �eadquarte1'8 on
past weekend with its battle against ra- West Grand �ulevard �th a. press con-
cism in the Saturn Corporation. ference at 11.00 on the plck�t h�e. .
CORR began with picketing and the On the Sunday,. CORR distributed l�t-
erature and handbills at Black churches 1D
Detroit.
At the press conference Saturday, Dr.
Issac Richmond, National Director of
CORR spoke about the conditions at the
Saturn Corporation and why Saturn cars
. must not be bought until the car company
SH SATURN, A4
e
Archive devoted to
Black Iawyers to open
DETROIT(AP) - Young Blacks
may have plenty of role models
among athletes and entertainers.
But a federal judge says they
don't know enough about African
Americans and the law.
That's why U.S. Court of Ap­
peals Judge Damon J. Keith is
lending his name, his energy and
artifacts of his career to the first
national historical archive en­
tirely devoted to Black lawyers
and judges.
The Keith Collection will be
established in Detroit next
month, at Wayne State Univer­
sity's Walter P. Reuther Library.
-I' am finding it more and more
significant that young African
Americans are not familiar with
the struggles that went on years
ago," said Keith, 71, who lives and
maintains offices in Detroit while
working for the Sixth Circuit
. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
"They don't seem aware that
they are now standing on the
shoulders of giants who sacrificed
and went to jail for their rights.
We should have a depository
where people can come in and ask
questions and have them an­
swered."
Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967. 'The
native Detroiter currently heads
a national committee to com­
memorate next yeats 40th anni­
versary of Brown VB. Board of
Education, the U.S. Supreme
Court's school desegregation deci­
sion.
"It's important for us to ·iook
back. on people's accomplish­
ments in areas other than sports
and entertainment," said Wayne
County Assistant Prosecutor
Kym Worthy. "Law and science
are fields anyone can aspire to if
they work hard enough."
See ARCHIVE, A8
By CRAIG HILL
The . tion oCCommunity
Organizatio for Reform Now
(ACORN) recently rele ed
"Treading Water: Racial Dispari­
t' in Home Mortgage Lending
in 23 Citi 1990-1992- a study
that found racial dispariti in
mortgage lending which hasn't
changed from 1990 and 1991.
The tudy' the first broad
100 at the newly released 1992
Home Mortgage Disclosure Ad.
(HMDA) data.
-At this rate of change, minori­
ti will have to wait more than a
half-century to achieve equal
treetm nt at the loan windows of
Amerim, It said Maude Hurd, Na­
tional President of ACORN. "Too
many minoriti are till treading .
water in a oflendingdiscrimi-
nation, It she id.
According to Hurd, Blacks and
H· panics were 2.6"- tim more
likely to be rejected than whites
in 1992 by t 120 1 tud-
· ,.4� in the .
parity i 1990 and a 2.8%
increase since 1991.
She dded that a majority of
lenders tudied reduced slightly
th disparity over the two year
period.
"MINORlTIES SHARE OF
the mortgage pie appears to be
shrinking," said Hurd, noting
that overall the portion of all con­
ventional loans originated to
Blacks and Hispanics decreased
from 11.4% in 1990 to 9.2% of all
loens in 1992.
. She noted that reason for hope
could be found in the significant
Soaring prison costs,
it threat to society
GAP,AA
B nnle Whit demonatrat at
23rd and Warr n. (photo by E.
Korantem.)
Sentencing
reaction
split by
race
KEITH WAS APPOINTED
to the federal bench by President
By AMY FINKELSTEIN
C.p"" New. Service
LANSING-If the oorrections
budget continues to grow at its
present rate, the state will be
able to pay only for health care
and prisons by the year 2007,
Corrections Department Direc­
tor Ken McGinnis said.
The corrections budget, at
$1.1 billion, is 14 percent of
Michigan's general govern­
ment spending. One prison
space costs $1.3 million to
maintain for 30 years. This
large portion will cripple the
other basic services the state
f
provides, McGinnis said
"No state will baable to build
its way out of this problem,"
McGinnis said in an interview.
"There are states still trying.
but as every state has found
out, once you've got them built,
you have to have the money to
operate them."
This already has become an
issue at the Maoomb Regional
COrrectional Facility in Lenox
Township near New Haven.
The $21 million, 46-acre fa­
cility, formally dedicated last
month has been open for about
S PRISON,A4
BY ALUSON JONES
Mlchlp.n Citizen
DETROIT - Sentencing of two
fonner Detroit police officers for
murder has highlighted the racial
divisions in metro-Detroit. -
Polls taken after two white.
police officers were ntenoed fOr
bludgeoning a Black motorist to
death with their fl hligh
howed 77 percent of metro-De­
troiters unhappy with the
te . The ults followed racial
lin evident throughout .the trial
of the two cops. .
Whites generally found the'
sentence "too harsh, - while
S eCOPS,M
Should the
fir t mayoral
debate
be in
Southfield?
-It doesn't matter, the important
Issue is what the chosen
candidate will do for Detroit."
"I don't appreciate that, the
debate shouldn't have been
held in Southfield. They're
running for positions In Detroit. "
Meetings like that should be
held in .an environment
conducive to those who wil1
elect the officials they chose.·
- Willi Harg'ett
• r
rrhe debate should've been in
Detroit. It's a race for the mayor
of Detroit. " -
- Gem trice Taylor