lw £t$9anDaily Eighty-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Detroit's teen gang problem is just a crZy vicious circle Saturday, October 9, 1976 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Jerry's biggest bumble Mr. Ford's comment Wednesday night that "there is no Soviet domi- nation of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford Adminis- tration" comes as quite a shock, and hopefully was just a slip of the lip. It seems quite inconsistent that the President would actually believe such ,a thing. The comment has produced a whirlwind of controversy within the ethnic community, who the Presi- dent had hoped to lure away from the Democrats in November. Lev E. Dobriansky, of the National Captive Nations Committee, called Ford's as- sertion "preposterous" and "shock- ing." Mr. Ford, campaigning on the West Coast Thursday, tried to wiggle out of his blunder by saying he "firmly supports the aspirations for independence of the nations of East- ern Europe." It won't work, Jerry. What's said is said, and it would be better for all if you admitted the faux pas and moved on. What will be interesting is how Business Staff Beth Friedman...............Business Manager Deborah Dreyfuss...........Operations Manager Kathleen Mulhern ... Assistant Adv. Coordinator Don Simpson ................. Display Manager David Harlan . Finance Manager Dan Blugerman ................ Sales Manager Pete Peterson .......... Advertising Coordinator cassie St. Clair.............Circulation Manager Beth Stratford............Circulation Director By KEITH RICHBURG THREE YEARS AGO Detroit citizens vented their unwillingness to submit to the "blackjack rule" of law and order by electing Coleman Young the city's first Black mayor in a squeaker over former Police Commissioner John Nich- ols. Young relied on his "tough East Side beginnings," his down-to-earth street lingo, and his promise to disban the Detroit Police Stress Unit, a decoy operation comprised of licensed mur- derers created by Commander James Bannon. The city is now under an indefinite curfew, the higher echelons of the De- troit Police Department is forever taint- ed with graft and narcotics investigations and Newsweek magazine is referring to the recent crime wave as "nothing since the 1967 riots." (Oct. 11) The question facing Mayor Young is whether his poli- tical future can survive the battle scars, and for Detroiters, the future of the city is the issue. What is being termed the current "crime wave" is being attributed to the teen gangs of Detroit's infamous East Side. The gangs of most dubious dis- tinction are the B.K.s (Black Killers) and the Earl Flynns (supposedly ER- ROLL Flynns, which is in itself a testi- ment to the literacy of some members). Jockeying for position, but far less prom- inent are the Coney-Oneys (a misspel- ling of CORLEONE, as from the "God- father," Don Vito Corleone). The East Side is divided into gang territories, and scrawled graffiti on vacant tenements issues the warnings of gang retributions Keith Richburg ,- an LSA fresh- man and one of The Daily's editorial cartoonists - lives on Grand River and McGraw, in the heart of Detroit's much- publicized East Side. for territorial violations (B.K. ACTION!). GANG VIOLENCE reached its accum- ulation last August when a Cobo Hall concert with Average White Band and Kool and the Gang was "terrorized" by umbrella yielding youths who ran through the main floor aisles slitting pockets and molesting patrons. An enraged Mayor Young - enraged for having had to cut short his vacation - returned to slap a curfew on anyone under eighteen and a warning on Police Commissioner Philip Tannian. At the end of the curfew was tacked a "stop and frisk" clause which gave the police the arbitrary right to stop anyone at any time and demand proper identification. The new Police Commissioner, Philip Hart, has had the curfew extended. Now the city is a boiling pot with the lid on too tight. Angry citizens are de- manding the reinstatement of a Stress- type decoy unit, while civil libertarians are arguing that the curfew and the "stop and frisk" ordinance are uncon- stitutional as they are both selectively enforced only on the East Side and only against Black youths. So what is the answer to Detroit's war on crime? IN ORDER TO find the answer, it is first necessary to find the causes, with thus necessitates the establishment of a few basic facts. First of all, gangs are not new and unusual to Detroit, or any large metro- politan city in the world. In fact, gangs are as old as magic markers and city bus seats. The city, however, never had a comprehensive program to deal with youth gang and juvenile activity like, say, Chicago or New York. This leads to the conclusion that the gang problem isn't really as bad as the crime problem itself. In fact, youth gangs only constitute a fraction of Detroit's overall crime sta- tistics. Here begins a vicious circle. The more the media gives attention to the gangs, the more these gangs become impressed with seeing their handiwork on the six o'clock news.pThus, the undue (and some- times dune) publicity only incites more gang action. Also, our use of hyperbole and sensa- tionalism only adds to the ego of a young B.K. or Earl Flynn. Hearing themselves called "menacing," rampaging," and "terrorizing" will only instill a sense of accomplishment. Teen gang members are not Mafia killers or C.I.A. assasins. THE DETROIT FREE Press (October 3) reported a plan to curve crime institut- ed by a coalition of Detroit area business and labor leaders. The plan will sup- posedly call for the removal of some judges who keep "letting criminals back out on the street." Also the plan calls for meetings and a "better relationship" between the Mayor and the Police De- partment. Why penalize the judge for releasing a criminal when with Detroit's over- crowded jails there is literally no place to lock them up? . . . Perhaps if we used the spacious attics of some of those wealthy business- men... The Free Press also instituted its own point-program to curve crime, the points of which consisted of everything from minimum sentencing to another youth home. The problem with all of these plans and proposals, discounting the fact that they reek of rhetoric and would add a billion dollar price tag onto an already financially unstable city, is that they all offer ex-post facto solutions. THERE IS STILL no comprehensive city effort to study the causes of crime and attack the problem at its source. Unemployment among inner-city youth is reportedly over one half, and with the municiple worker lay-offs, recreational facilities are almost nonexistent. There are no country clubs for iner- city youths. Jobs and recreational facilities are the answer, from the Federal levels and Federally funded. On the local level, there is a desparate need for a little image-building, and in the city government, there is a need to give us an image on which to build. When the Police Commissioner is fired, the Number two man is under investiga- tion, and the next highest up is found shot to death, a rather unpleasant pic- ture emerges. On the part of the media (and the Detroit News is an infamous example) there is a consistent effort to play up crime, violence and things that go bump in the night. WHEN YOUTHS ROB and molest pa- trons at a Cobo concert - That's News! When 24,000 young people enjoy two con- certs by YES in the same week, without even a hint of violence, that doesn't rate a back page! The $337 million Renaissance Center is nearing completion for next year, and a downtown Trolley car a la San Francisco is running down Washington Blvd. The foot of Woodward Avenue is being con- verted into a plaza to host Detroit's summer ethnic festivals, and a major renaissance project west of Cobo Hall on the waterfront is in the making. These projects cost money, and I can't see Henry Ford and Max Fisher pouring billions into a decaying city. And it doesn't seem logical that the wealthy endorsers of Detroit's renais- sance are going to let a gang of teen- agers destroy over a billion dollars in revitalization efforts. Gerald R. Ford far Jimmy Carter will take the re- mark. It would be snide of him to insinuate that he could bring about some sense of freedom of action in the Soviet satellite countries during a Carter Administration. It would be no less hypocritical of him to pre- occupy himself and the American people with the comment and keep the solid issues from being aired. TODAY'S STAFF: News: Mike Norton, Lani Jordan, Tim Schick, Jim Tobin, Jeff Ristine Editorial Page: Steve Kursman, Tom Stevens, Keith Richburg, Billy Sa- fire, Rob Meachum Arts Page: Lois Josimovich Photo Technician: Pauline Lubens Ss............................,,::............:.:;:::x:;.. . ........ ..* :........:.:. " a.?..... ......e.......:....:..... .^. r:".sn,:.e......:... .... ..".: :.. a"...:..:.... . ..:.:..:".:......*.:. ::::v:::::". .- .:.:^ .. ..r.:::" . T~ONE 1tbU&C~ D © YokY CoAT'tA~t.? l' 0. Q/ Speak about justice? Go ask Billy Holcomb (F)p Joe MICHAEL BECKMAN I By SUSAN HILDEBRANDT BILLY HOLCOMB could have been considered a prison success story, if such a thing exists. After spending three years of a three-to-fifteen year sentence for assault in the State Prison of Southern Michigan (Jackson State Prison), Hol- comb returned to Detroit-not to resume a delinquent life, but to "help the youth of his com- munity become a positive force rather than future inmates." Imprisoned behind the bars of the world's largest prison, the population of which is almost 70 per cent Black, Holcomb saw Detroit's Black ghetto youth wasting vital years in cells. Up- on leaving Jackson in 1973, he organized community alterna- tives for youthful offenders and offered them a chance to pro- ductively integrate themselves into the city. And Billy Holcomb succeeded. He disbanded many Eastside street gangs and helped reduce the crime rate by arranging meetings with opposing gang members, locating jobs and es- tablishing educational tutoring services. He co-founded the De- troit Youth Association, design- ed to give misguided and dis- enchanted youth d i r e c t i o n through cultural and recreation- al opportunities, and he receiv- ed numerous civic awards in recognition of his achievements. BILLY HOLCOMB could have been considered a prison suc- cess story, had he not been re- turned to Jackson Prison last Anril for committing an illegal U-turn. Holcomb walked away from the Jackson Prison trustee di- vision after being denied parole in 1973, and walked into a life of self-imposed community or- ganizing. A Kettering High School drop-out, Holcomb never hid his identity while coordinat- ing youth activities on the city's east side. However, as an es- canee he had no driver's license and a record check following the minor traffic violation re- vealed his identity and forced his arrest and subsequent re- turn to prison. Holcomb's prison record was no mystery to those with and for whom he worked, according to money rather than steal, organ- izing a clothing cooperative for inadequately dressed children, and establishing a GED (Gen- eral Educational Development) program. "HIS COUNTLESS contribu- tions prove that he has been tions prove that he has been sig- nificantly rehabilitated," states the defense committee. "His work is evidence that he did not pursue a life of crime when he gained his freedom. He chose instead to give his energy, un- selfishly, as an organizer and participant to various commun- ity efforts." The organizations Holcomb as- sisted include the Detroit Public Schools, the Postal Street Acad- emy, the Drop-In and Butzel Family Centers, Parks and Pec- reation, Operation Get Down, the Southeast Neighborhood City Hall, the Citizens' Crusade Against Crime, and the Inner City Sub-Center, among others. The defense committee seeks Holcomb's return for Detroit's benefit and for that of the youth he served. "We want Billy back,' stated Clara Parks of the defense com- mittee. It is such a poor ex- ample for someone like Billy, who has sacrificed so much and worked so hard, to be put back in prison. Those kids have established associations and de- veloped responsibilities for each other and the community. To see their organizer put in prison has a devastating effect on them," she warned. PRESENTLY, Holcomb is awaiting trial on escape charges. However ,the defense commit- tee is calling for dismissal of these charges and his release on parole, a move originally sipported by the Jackson Prison deputy warden but rejected by Warden Charles Egeler. The committee is sending letters to Steven Pearse, Chief of Proba- tion for JacksonCounty, honing to influience the parole board when it convenes on Oct. 20. "As a young street worker, the youth of Detroit greatly resoected Billy-ve cannot af- ford to lose him," concluded Ms. Parks. MODERATOR: "GOOD EVENING ladies and gentleman, and welcome to round 2 of the great and historic Presidential debates, live and with sound from Tumbleweed Convention and Rodeo Center in Joplin, Missouri. The contestants are the semi- incumbant President Elephant, and the usurper-governor Don- key. The questions will be asked tonight by Fifth Estate, the assistant night editor of the Schenectady Weekly Dispatch, in al- ternating fashion to the two candidates with no rebuttal. Ques- tions are to be worded succintly and answers are to be limited to one sentence or less. By virtue of the fact that Mr. Elephant called evens and put out two fingers as did Mr. Donkey, the first question will be directed to Mr. Elephant. Estate: Mr. Elephant, in the short term of your Executivcy, you have consistently advocated your continuing desire to main- tain detente. In what ways do you intend to follow through with this desire? Elephant: I feel that we should maintain our complete sup- port for the existence of Israel. Estate: Mr. Donkey, you have claimed that the President has continued to uselessly spiral upwards the already disproportion- ately large amount of the federal budget on defense appropria- tions. What suggestions can you make to decrease defense spend- ing? Donkey: I believe that it is despicable that the President doesn't have the guts to carry out his own policys, and relies on a Secretary of State to run foreign affairs, who is a holdover from a corrupt administration. Estate: Mr. Elephant, Salt I agreements expire next year. Do you have any hopes that a new and more comprehensive agreement can be reached by that time, to prevent an escalation of the arms race? Elephant: We feel that we have helped achieve the gradual and peaceful succession of minority white rule to the colored, er black majority in the southern African countries. Estate: Mr. Donkey, if the Arab countries declare another oil boycott, will you consider drastic action, such as armed inter- vention? Donkey: I believe that the slurs made by the Secretary of Agriculture regarding the supposed inferiority of coloreds was deplorable, and that the President should be held accountable for all opinions and actions of his cabinet officials. Estate: Mr. Elephant, if Vietnam gave this country a com- plete accounting of all POW /MIA's would you then consider lift- ing the American veto of Vietnamese entrance into the U.N.? Elephant: I feel that my strong actions with regard to the Mayaguez incident were justified under the circumstances, and many lives were saved by a quick military strike. Estate: Mr. Donkev, what would you do to improve relations with the People's Republic of China, and would you continue rela- tions with the Taiwan government? Donkey: I believe that the administration ought to be ashamed of itself for not taking a strong stand against American businesses that go along with the Arab boycott of companies that do business with Israel. MY NAML 1S -EA BROWN, AND~ I Sfo Th NA"Z'15 auqs R~EA A UA Nb S p~ R PRSDNTGRLD Ob MY NAME.15 ANN Supaj M AISZzjti ?$uTZ, AwptI t oR.. x'M -E