y
CO G TO re nt
New York Time /CBS N ws
Poll, American te nags re
forced to tle with a h t of
rious problems. A majority of
•
&'1U." ........ .a_c nation in
reh of itself, beca millio
of people re forced to li in
fear, frustration, nd d ra­
tion. When violence nd poverty
determine the daily . nee of
Americans of 11 , racial
groups and social , there
is no e of amoral or political
center hich can bind people to­
gether for the common good.
When children a afraid to
venture into playgrounds be-
ca oC-drive-by hootings", y
Congress re tedly re to
Dr. GIUliIl cuublc i. Pr0(4 or 0(
H ilb'y and Politicol Sci or, and Di
r of 1M IMti"'. for R in Afri-
can-American Studie., Columbia
Uniw,..ity. "A lAc Color Lin;' ap­
pfON in 00 250 publicnti cuu:l u
broadaut by over 76 radio totlon in­
ternationally.
tough legi I tion trict-
ing the vailability of deadly
weapons on our t ,our ys­
tem failed us. People hate
politi and politicians because
the problems of their daily li
m overwhelming.
America can only begin to
find itself hen its mission a
democracy i redefined, to reflect
the energi , talents and skills of
all its peopl . People of color are
the future of this country.· And
the d tee about health care,
violence in our school and
tree , nd other issues, only
reflect the larger qu tion of
hat bauld � �ntral to the
"new" Am rican identity.
- Readers Write -
the people!
Mario Jefferson and Jam
Mims hould be highly com­
mended for their bravery in ap­
prehending suspect Joe ph
Skipper for the attac on Ms.
Rosa Parks the matriarch of the
Civil Rights Movement.
With more citizen involve­
ment such as that demonstrated
by Jefferson and Mims the
- READERS WRITE -
In th p t month or so as I
h ve been p king to various
groups and churches. I have felt
ompelled to talk about truth in
love, because the reality is that
too ldom do Black and white
Americans sp k truth to each
other.
Too of en we have shield
w y from sharing ch oth r's
pain and joy. And whil African
Ameri . ns know th world of
white Am rica, very f w white
Ameri know th world of Af-
• ri n Am ricans.
Th r ult of our failure to be
truthful with each other has
b n that often it is as if we are
peaking two different dialects
of th m langua in th best
nd two distinctly dif­
f r nt, unr lat d 1 ngu s in
th worst of im . We have, too
often, b ed our common life in
America on lies or half-truths.
. T k , for instance, criminal
justic issues In the eight
months since I have been Execu­
tive Di or of th Commi ion
for Raci I Justi , 15-20 percent
of my I tte h v naboutthe
criminal justice system. Th y
come from prisoners themselves,
sometim admitting their guilt,
but till pointing to the inequi­
ti of n ncing or the racism
h y f .1 in th tr tment they
Coo
room.
Mor than on -third of 11 •
white t nage and 54 percent
of Black teens stated that they
"wo� about being the victim of
public accommodations in the
1940's, 50' and 60's turned to
the judicial system for the e
changes, they were experiencing
th water hoses and do of the
local sheriffs all aero s the
South.
The scales of'justice have not
Iways n balanced when' it
com to people of color.
For many African Americans,
of 11 education and incom lev­
e , th moment of truth was t
Rodney King verdict.
For all America, both white
and t of color had atched
overand over the ta of Rod­
ney King being ten nearly to
d tho And, for th m 'part,
w hi Am 'rica ted t
pl nation of t juro ho
that Rodn y King w in cont ,)
of what was h pp ning th t
night.
For m t people of color it w
proof that even when white
Am rica could with i
ey , it d ni what it
that th re is notjusti
America, we've got to tal
bout th differe in our
perienc . We'v got to some
ho , some way, spes the truth.
We've got to ensure justice for
all. For without j tiee, tb re
'11 no peace.
streets of Detroit can and will be
much safer.
We are the "eyes and ears of
the police and we must work in a
concerted effort for the safety of
our community.
Let's just not make this kind
of effort because it wa Ro
Parks that was assaulted but
make the effort and take interest
on behalf of all our citizens be
they young or old, known or un­
known.
Again thanks to Mario Jeffer­
son and James Mims, and lets
continue to take our streets back
and make them safe for every­
one.
Power to the people!
moMAS A. WILSON
Detroit
"What .. Black Power?
. The po er of the
four-fifth. of the orld
population, hlcb baa
been Y8tematlcally
damned Into a t te of
undevelopment by \
colonlaU m nd
neocolonlaU m. It i the
um total of tbe
economic, cultural, nd
politic power which the
Blac man mu t b ve to
achieve hi urvlv 1 in
highly developed
technical oclety and in
� orld ray eel by .
lmperiaU m, coloniali m,
neo-colonfal! m, and
fa cl m."
WI. KAUMAH, ....... to
the eope of t n.' In
n... $l1'li8';' C0tr'I,.,.., 1
By Bernice Powell .Jackson
receiv by guards and prison
authoriti . ·
THEY TELL ,OF how the
Klan is active in one prison in
Florida. They tell how they have
receive unequ I treatment in
New York, in Illinoi , in states
all acro this country ..
The most difficult letters and
calls come from mothers with
sons on death row.
1 have written about on � such
case, the Chain of Roc Bridge
cas in St. Louis, where four
young African American men sit
on d ath row after a trial hich
in luded questionable testimony
and evidence which mysteri­
ously h d disapp ar d. But
ther a dozens of other stories.
I nd ,Afri an Am rican
still are disproportionately on
death row. That's why the Con­
gressional Black Caucus held up
its support of th President's
Crime Bill for inclusion of a Ra­
cial Justice provision hich
would be used as long people
of color remain disproportion­
ately rep ented on this na­
tion's death rows.
Time magazine recently
wrote, "The perception among
Blacks that the criminal justice
system discriminate again t
th m is pervasive and d p." It
pointed to th fact that justi in
. America till eems swifter
when the murd r victim is
white.
Sixty-three African Am ri­
cans have be n ex cuted for
murdering whit ,whil on
white has b en executed for
murdering a Black in h p s 17
years.
sin .