01 0 , • clin in African-American vo participation within the political proc 0 r the past twenty ye . In 1992, barely 45 pe nt of th Amam-American regis­ t red vote ballo for the p idency. In e York City, th re are hund of thousands of unreg­ istered Black vote , and nearly one-h If million regi tered BI c vot ho failed to up­ port David Dinkins last Novem­ ber. Million of African-Americans f I that the el ctoral system has no mean­ ingful impact upon their lives. Fifth, th re is a clear schism between African- American pol­ icy makers and black intellectu­ als. Black Studies Programs at hundreds of white universities failed to move toward policy analysis, leadership training, or social and eonomic planning. Mor often than we would like to drnit, Black mayors would have the ability to gain their offi at the polls, but once in power wouldn't have a clue as to what to do next. Th re was no er­ voir of nalysis at their disposal which could be implem nt d into innovati polici . y . Third, we have no tudi ystematically th model of ef­ f ive municipal empowerment and co Iit.ion-building which have developed in Bla politics since 1980. How did th multira­ cial, multiclass coalition of Harold W hington gain power in Chicago in 1983, and hy did it collapse so swiftly after his death? Have black elected offi­ cials who run "deracial ized" campaigns - without any ex­ plicit referen or connections to African American interests - made a significant difference to local Black oommuniti ? SECOND, there was an ab- Fourth, there was a sharp de- BLACK ELECTED offi i Is also failed to bring into th ir administrations bright and talent d young African-Ameri­ cans trained in public adminl- . , s fa tion, social policy and onomic development. They often elected individuals on the b is of "loyalty" rather than tal­ ent or bility. Or worse, they re­ lied on the repres ntatives ofth "permanent government" - con rvative bureaucrats and civil ervants of previous ad­ ministrations - to direct their progr ms. These middle-level bur aucrats inevitably sabo­ taged Black reformist admini­ strations. The road to Black empower­ ment begins with an honest, frank criticism of our immediate past. It is no longer enough for us to elect African-Americans into high public office. We must thoughtfully and critically move toward th next stage, the strug­ gle for genuine power. r ver Readers Write a an ByT�RIKA X There are two types of people: the quick and the dead. The quick are th living, human generation. They can move. The dead are the ancestors, whose culture, tradition and history we oontinue. The dead are history. The quick can make history; th y can .hange the world. A philosopher once said, "philosophers have interpreted the world; tb thing is to change it." The thing isfor the quick to change th wo ld, to make h.istory. Revolutio he critical qui really lively, Doctor charges WSU-is experimenting on Blacks To THE EDITOR: The medicaid system has fallen into oomplete disarray with non payment to physicians who render service. This, by plan, forces poor patients into the clinics of Wayne State University Medical School There they are operated on, and used for financial gain in the name of teaching and research by medical students and physicians in training, without proper' supervision. The bureaucracy of medicaid must be taught that human living must be given more respect. Edward T. Turner, Jr., M.D. Southfield By JERYL BAR GIN EAR . Michl n Cit/an It is always admirable when someone, white or Black, at­ tempts to discuss racism in America. Being the sensitive subject that it is, race re­ quires much deliberation if indeed we, the human race, are ever to re­ sol ve our dif­ ferences. However, there's an )JINCENT appropriate way to say anything. In fact, some things are better left unscud. Detroit F Press oolumnist Charlie Vincent (in an articl printed in the Jan 27 sports edi­ tion) seems to oondon t wav­ ing of the Conf erate flag on Super Bowl Sunday. He ys,"It is their heritage. " . Vincent thinks that Blacks "define onf eracy strictly by lavery." The flag its If d n' so much symbolize la ry it does white upremacy, th Ku Klux Klan, or the strange fruit that hung from southern t an antebellum attitude still smoldering from having lost both the slaves and the war. Then for Vincent to recount the fractional . equivalence of Blacks ["a black was equal to three-fifths of a white person"] as unne ary, in poo! taste, and offensive. .0 8Y PROfESSOR �"ARRJS-H .... � . , • L � . " .. ' . ... , , .. . \ .c , , . ".. '" . ... "_. "'. . .... . ... ... . .. , • , , .. " \ iii I \ , ., , , . .... . .. ' • r- , , , ... , ... ...... , 'W\\� 00 PEOPLE ft.6S\)Mtr TAA T ' '. ..: '_ · AFI=IRMATIVE AC,TION M�NS 7 � '. .. : HIRING UNQUAL.IFI(�D 8LACKS.�·· / . . \ . .'." .. , • r: .': , IFM05TOF .� " -mE �FlE REtElVJN(:, WELF� ARE. 'lIMITE � ... THEN �--� , . w -:. \. , :. " . . ,. . ... -, -, · i IN THE. 19qO� .. � ."', .• HE �ILLEGITI�\(' �TE AMONG BLK.J< , • ".� .. : PEoPt.t IS tJEtARL'{ , . . .,. 70 cS) .. " .... .. to PROBLEM ?� :!,:·.�'WtlEr