..
The NAACP leadership did the right thing last week by
telling the world, yes, we will invite Minister Louis Farrakhan
to a plann d BI ck ummit.
The AACP, the Black Caucu members and every other
lead r in the BI ck 'C mmunity ha been under tremendou
pre ur from the Anti-Defamation League to denounce
Mini ter Farrakhan and th outspoken member of the a­
tion of I lam.
The AD I P wer wa evident as it had ample cc to
m dia aero thi country the la t few weeks in a campaign to
di credit the Nation of Islam. The ADL used the speech by a
NOI minister before a New Jer ey college to call upon all
African American leadership to denounce Min. Farrakhan
unle he denounced his outspoken and ill-spoken member.
The use of power to divide people is the definition of
racism. So, while the ADL was calling the NOI foul and raci t,
it was employing the basic tool of white supremacy: divide and
conquer.
That the NAACP stood firm is to its everlasting credit. The
needs of the African American community are too great, too
desperate to allow any division . The job to make our com­
munitie better demand participation from U u. The
M P ( ok the first step in m king that pos ible.
f
AACP nd Min.
Loui arra han
c: o A I� I '1' I () N
Dennis Rivera, Chairman
Rev. Jesse 'Jackson, President & Fcunder
Jesse Jackson Jr., Field Directorl JaxFax Editor
CHED IOlidar·
ndbrot
cia! il\iua-
A8.:lrrM.tion in Binning­
dJacbon,
and . ch red t uthorl·
tarian system of Jim Cro 001·
1 peed.
The chari matic figure of
Maloolm X mad us aware of the
intricat n wor of hypocrisy
and opp ion hich perpetu­
ated Black inequality and white
power. And wit the
rich parade of alternative wi
and pro . io - Fannie
Lou Hamer, Huey P. Newton,
Cesar Chavez, Fred Hampton,
Frantz Fanon, Amiri Baraka,
Sonia' Sanchez, and th "Last Po-
w _ we mowd rapidly into
new I and unanticipated direc­
tions. America would never be
the same again.
My college experience at
Earlham wasjust another phase
oftbat process of cultural change
and self-discovery. The pace of
us.
For example, upperclass stu-
WE CHALLENGED
ri of ridiculou rul which
were ·de igned to egregate
womenfrommenonthecamp .
Freshmen omen had a curti
of 10:30 p.m., which meant that
they had to run frantically out of
the library before it closed, while
the menstuden ill studied, in
order to reach their dormitories
before the doors were locked that
night.
The basic idea was that sex­
ual relations were impossible
w hen three feet were firmly
planted on the ground. Once
again, our deans underesti­
mated our ingenuity - and dex­
terity. Our approach was to
challenge authority at eve:ty op­
portunity. And our motto was
"Be realistic, demand the impos­
sible."
Each successive generation
valua old
i objectiv and l"88,CJlE.
ward new visio and human
ibiliti . The late ixti rep­
rented uch a time in the
American experience, moment
of hope and idei . tic ruggle, of
false pro' and bold dion.
We must revive that of
urgency and political imagina­
tion for our own time, if e in­
tend to dismantle th attitud
and institutions which continue
to divide humanity by race, gen.
der, class and sexual orienta­
tion. Young p ople .mu t be
given the opportunity to eStab­
lish their own ol'ganizations for
prot t and eommunity-activ­
ism, guided by their own ideas, ,
values and goals.
. We must inspire and moti­
vate a new generation of youth
leadership and activism for our
own time. AB in the sixties,
young people must not hesitate
to "be realistic" by demanding
"the impossible." Because only
then will "the impossible" be­
come reality.
. .
. . .
.'
:- ..
.
Creating.,.a· peace
and j t· ce ociety
By Ron Daniels
When President Clinton
mounted the podium to deliver
his first State on the Union Ad­
dress, it was clear that the crisis
of crime and violence would be a
major focus of his speech.
Just prior to the address th
President's pollsters advised
him that this issue had become
the number one concern of the
American people. .
With Senate Majority Leader
Bob Dole and the Republicans
waiting to see whether the Presi­
dent would appear soft on crime,
Clinton redrafted portions of his
speech to make certain that, as
a "new Democrat," he would
sound vel)' tough on the crime
and violence' ue.
Among other things he added
the popular "three strik and
you're out" proposal to an al­
ready draconian package of
flawed law and order measures
being considered by the Con-
gress.
Clinton, the Republicrat, fur­
ther cooped Republican rhetoric
by stressing "values, family and
work."
THE SPEECH STRUCK all
of the "right" chords and went
over quite well with the Ameri­
can public. Any danger that
Clinton might lose support to the
Republicans was successfully
pre-emptied.
But in the midst of all of the
political jockeying and posturing
there is the real danger that the
flawed proposals which are be­
ing rushed through Congress
will not achieve the peace and
security that the American pe0-
ple yearn for and deserve.
Catering to the polls instead
of offering real I dership, Presi­
dent Clinton placed th e pro­
posals which would have the
most effect on creating peace
and security at the vel)' bottom
of his list of priorities.
Jobs, drug education, coun­
seling and treatment were men­
tioned in his address, but these
references came at the end of his
speech. And, beyond these brief
references, there were no bold
new initiatives launched to cre­
ate jobs and to promote mean­
ingful community economic
development. There was/is no
economic justice agenda.
No amount of law and order
rhetoric can mask the cold fact
that drastic reductions in federal
aid for local social and economic
programs is as responsible as
anything else for the crisis of
crime and violence no afflicting
this nation.
Washington D.C., the na­
tion's Capital, is a good case in
point.
ACCORDI G TO D T
Vantage
Point
released by the Washington D.C.
based National Priorities Pro­
ject, Inc., Washington D.C.'s
�e rate has increased by 33%
smce 1980 and 16.9% oftha cit­
ies residents (96,278) live in pov­
erty. And yet the federal
government allocated $43.4 mil­
lion less for job training in 1993
than it did in 1980; $45.7 million
1 for community dev lopment
programs e.g., housing, eommu­
nity services and community
economic development; and
$31,6 million I for various
anti-pov rty programs.
