THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY
26th - Four. 27th - Claude McKay.
28th - Motown records. 29th - David Ruggles.
30th - Curing Salts. 31 - Gh , IL.
I t - The Harlem Globertrotters.
Readers Write
We·Blust make
own peace
Dear Editor:
In th November 28 - D cern­
ber4, 1993 issue of the Michigan
Citizen there was an article en­
titled, "Brady Bill to have little
impact here". The article was
informative in its general out­
line of the legal elements that
described Michigan gun controls
and proved in the final analysis
to support its titl .
The point that only law-abid­
ing citizens will suffer from the
Brady Bill should be an obviou
fact *'0 our legislators. Yet some­
how chis ultimate truth contin­
ues to cape their ob ervations.
The Brady Bill b ically came
about du to th ination
attempt on then president
Ronald Reagan. But how fre­
quent is an attempt made on a
presidents' life in comparison to
the number of people who are
killed during a rjacking? Or
due to drive-by-shootings, or
from children finding guns on
the str and in h home?
Those organizations who sup­
port th Br dy Bill, and those
who have b n against gun con­
trol period are usually tho e
groups who are far away from
the problem of th inner city,
and have very little contact with
its problems. This is a very im­
portant fact for thos of u who
ctuallyliv inth innercitie to
consid r.
sary. Since the governmental
perception is too broad to be of
much use. Perhaps we should
develop our own slogan of, 'No
Guns Allowed'.
At least until we can get a
grasp on the problems that are
driving our communities down
this suicidal path. Otherwise
these senseless killings and
other plagues will continue to
increase. We may ev n find the
law-abiding among us partici­
pating in these acts as this fear
becomes rampant.
Why is do no confound us
all whenever a group of people
d id to support stupidity they
See PEACE, AS
Readers Write
'L·fer law tory
wa e cellent'
Today, I was handed an arti­
cle written by Susan Hedfield
(CNS Writer) entitled "Oppo­
nents challenge Liter Law." It
was in th "Michigan Citizen"
(November 14-20th, 1993). I
wanted you to know that I
thought i was an excellent
piece.
I also w nted to thank you for
using m nd my case in your
rticle. With few words you were
able to ge points across which at
times takes us hou to explain
You also added str ngth to our
sense of hope by con cting At-
torney neral Fr nk Kelly.
Th the type of people we
n ed to support a change in this
insane I w.
Thank you again, Susan I
hope you have a great holiday
season! Take care.
G ry Fannon
Coldwater, Michigan
mph'
h deli
n ChurCh h
Martin Luth King deli
his 1 t pooch, the P ident
med moved to genuine con­
m bout the d h and d
truction that' so oommonpla
in th ghettos and bam of this
nation today,
In very emotional to the
President talked about the job­
I , poverty, hopeI n
and despair that he identified
being causes of the human car­
nage on the nation' streets.
At the heart of the 'crisis, ac­
cording to President Clinton, is
the deterioration of the family 88
the institution which can best
instill the valu of respect for
people and property in society.
ON THE SURFACE Clin­
ton's new found ensa of comp
sion and search for the root
causes of crime and violence in
American society is refreshing.
Upon clo er examination,
however, Clinton' posture on
y 0
Who wrote the poem "Home to Harlem"?
DECEMBER 28, 1940-
found .1905- I" th"
Piano," w born.
With what recording label did the Four Tops sing in 1964F
DECEMBER 29, 1985 - rly half of the largest Black.
own d busine e were automobile dealerships. 1894 �
W.E. • Duboi was the first Black to receive Ph.D. from
Harvard.
Who published the first Black magazine in New York City?
DECEMBER 30, 1852 - ri t her tow t book
Uncle Tom's Cabin, old 300,000 copi
What inoention attributed to Lloyd Augustus Hall, revolu­
tionized the meat packing industry?
DECEMBER3!, 1930-Odetta, blu and folksinger, was
born. 1948 - President Truman's Executive Order called for
an end to segregation in the Armed Forces. 1964 - Carl T.
Rowan became Director of United States Information Agency.
Where was the program "Soul Train" originally produced?
JANUARY 1, EW YEAR'S DAY. 1804 - Haiti declared
independence from France. 1863 - President Abraham Lin­
coln issued Emancipation Proclamation. 1916 - First is­
su of Journal of Negro History was published. 1964 - The
Freedom Democratic Party was organized to challenge the
all-white delegation from Mississippi at the Democratic Nat'l
Convention. 1888 - Rev. W.W. Browne organized the first
African-American bank.
On what professional team did Marcus Haynes and "Goose"
Tatum play I
crim
con die­
nd ehizo-
mo
o .
In
t tion
tratio
ation, aid to u tion, ho
ing, drug education, counseling
nd t tment crime preven-
tion programs. tead t poli-
ticians have in eft fuel t
crisis by favoring th expedient
law and order approach.
Whil this approach has been
popular with 'YO , it is very
costly and it has not produced
the desired r ults. There is
nothing in the Clinton budge
which add the urgent need
for jobs, incom and economic
infer-structure in urban inner­
city eommuniti . And tb is
no comprehensive social and
economic program proposed or
in place that auld reverse the
decades of neglect hich has
devastated the communiti
whiCh are now the killing fields
in terms of crime and violence.
TAKING THEIR CUE from
the President as the leader on
this' ue, me.mbe of the Con­
gress tacked on amendment af­
ter amendment to the bill that
would stiffen mandatory en­
tencing for a number of offenses,
try juveniles as adults in many
in tances and mandate the
death penalty for BOO of of-
THE. CH RlSTMAS
TREE ... ,
I ," .: \. ... -
While many Black people are
rejoicing over the imprisonment
ofpolice who killed Malice Green
in Detroit and beat Rodney King
in Los Angel , other waging
and winning a malicious and
damaging propaganda war that
turns public opinion against all
Blacks a'nd convinces many
whit and some Blacks that the
small-time, dope-retailing
Blacks are the nation's principal
drug dealers and all-around
criminals. Being Black is more
dangerous.
Qu tion: How are many
whites and Blacks being con­
vin that BI are responsi­
ble for th problems?
Answer: By manipulating
the electronic media - espe­
cially television The result is
that you see many young Black
men being h ndcuffed and ar-
ted as do dealers, but you
very few white men arrested.
Qu tion; How are the me­
dia manipulated?
Answer. By prejudiced po­
lice dispatch and prejudiced
cameramen who control infor­
mation regarding raids to be
made by police, When a raid .
about to be made, tb police di •
...
..
nswers
on
CLI TO t CO CER
OR the family is quite touch- "
ing, but famili canno remain
hole and function in an effec-
tive manner unl there is n
environment complete with jobs , �
housing, health care, education,
clean air and ater to sustain
them. :
There is nothing pathological •
about the famili that are com- •
ing apart in this society. There . :
something pathological about a :
society that undermi the ea- .
pacity of the family to function :
and then turns around and ·
blam family instability a
root ca of crime and violence. :
Blaming tb victim is a ign of :.
ones own sickness. ::
We cannot allow Clinton to ::
get away with sounding sympa- ::
thetic in terms of the crisis of :­
crime and violence inner-city :.
communiti while he mis-di- ..
rects the nation's resources to- :.
wards a failed law and order 4 :.
strategy. � ':
We cannot allow Clinton to :
get a way with selling us the idea .
that NAFTA is going to be
. er�city communiti
NAFTA will result in the I
unskilled and semi-skilled jobs .
therebyemoorbatingunemploy­
ment in the inner-city.
THAT MEANS THAT the
social and economic programs
which can serve as a corrective
must showup on the budget. The
resources must be allocated to
fund the kinds of innovative pro­
grams that can address the root
causes of crime and violence in
our communities.
Anything other than that
simply reflects Clinton's schizo­
phrenia about POlicy on crime
and viol n in this society.
Ron Daniel roes as Pr idmt of the.
lnstitu for Community Organization. :
and Deodopmen: in Young own, Ohio: .
He maybe contaaed at (216) 746-5747. .
of
00
By Jame E. Alsbrook
patcher or a special offi r calls
the television ta io and noti­
fies them of th r id 0 h .
be on the scen with m r .
These police who call th televi­
sion stations select mainly Black
neighborhoods in which to make
arrests while television cameras
are present. They occasionally
show a white person b ing ar­
rested, but the white person is
either a d pised" redn ck" or a
person evidently gu il ty of a
crime too serious to ignore in
television n ws covera .
Question: How do you, th
writer, know this information is
true?
Answer: Information com
from fri ndly members of jour­
nalism organizations who ar
disgusted with the unfair poli
actions but cannot s ak out be­
cause of t ir employm nt. In­
formation also comes from white
newspapermen who are both­
ered by discriminatory behavior
of police and think ne cover­
a� on television should be bal­
anced and fair.
Qu tion: What about th
cameramen who take th pic­
tures for television?
An er: They are fre-
quently guilty as th poli
who call them. Th cam ram n
frequ ntly take fron I pictures
of 1a and rear pictu of
whites. You can frequently see
th faces of the Blacks, but not
the fares of the whites. Wh nth
white person's back is turned,
sometimes you cannot t 11 what
color h 'or sh is.
Question: How e are t le­
vision cam ram n involved in
misleading th public on televi­
ion?
Answ r: When a t I vision
station d a s ry on w If: or
pov rty, it n pi . Some
tel vision assignment ditors
anticipate this n and tell th
cameraman t go into th inner­
city and take pict of run­
down buildings, slum-dwelling
people, children playing in filth,
and other ste typical inn r­
city n, but they get no pic­
tures of·white" po rty. Wh n a
so-called "poverty" story is writ­
ten, the "Black" picture re
there and are supposed to be
"typical" and usable.
Question: What about poor
whi people who poor nd
on welfare?
Answer: Most of th money
boto
d
p nt on welf r and food
tamps is spent on white people
- not Bl ck pl. Bla form
higher pe nta per capi ,
but many millions more total'
dollars are spent on whites than:
on Blacks. The dollar amoun .
a vailable at most libraries ..
This is public information, but
th news media deliberately ne--:
gl to u it. M white pov':
erty is in rural a :
Question: What can Bla�
peopl do to get th truth spread
nd rnak th nation a better
pla in which to live? :
nswer: Black community
hould work with th it
la wy r , ministers and thEt
NAAC . They can vid otapa
tel vision news ts and go to
th police tations and get r
co of arr t mad daily by
polic . Comp r drug raid
made on whites with th made
of Blacks and demand equal
tel vision time for white crimi­
na] .
Th findings should be taken
to th mayor and city council for
ion and to a11 w papers for
pu licity.