The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 1, 1992- Page 7
I
U-M profs.
speak out
on minority
power
by Mona Qureshi
Daily Minority Issues Reporter
Four U-M professors shared his-
torical, contemporary, personal, and
educational perspectives on em-
powerment for people of color last
night at a panel held in the Michigan
Union Pond Room.
"Adversity forged community
organization," said American
Culture and Residential College
Prof. Gail Nomura of the Asian
American community during the
panel, titled "The Historical
Exclusion and Inclusion of People of
Color."
Like Nomura, Associate
Professor in the School of Nursing
Linda Daniel recalled unity as key
for Native Americans.
"In Oklahoma, everyone had to
work together," Daniel said, recall-
ing her Choctaw experience.
American Culture Prof. Frances
Aparicio expressed her discontent
for the U.S. government for not in-
cluding Puerto Rico as an indepen-
dent Latin American entity. She said
she attempted to attain a fellowship
to study the U.S. provice, but the
university she attended did not rec-
ognize Puerto Rico as Latin.
Nomura gave examples of histor-
ical exclusion of Asian peoples, such
as the Chinese Exclusion Act of
1882, which the U.S. government
implemented to halt Chinese
immigration.
As a result of these acts, Nomura
said, "Asian Americans took up le-
gal challenges. They were agents of
history." She explained that Asian
Americans wished to become a part
of history, not for history to domi-
nate them, so they became involved
within legal confines to make their
voices known.
"If it's not a collective memory
of the United States for our memory,
it's not our memory," Nomura
concluded.
"We have to realize we're more
similar than different," Daniel said.
Daniel spoke on the experience
of the Choctaw and the four other
civilized tribes from the Southeast
U.S. which were forced to move to
"Indian Territory," known now as
Oklahoma.
"It was a mix of whites and
Native Americans as I grew up,"
Daniel said. As a result, she said she
never felt any prejudice.
But when Daniel moved to the
University of Washington in Seattle,
she said she experienced her first
pangs of racial exclusion. "Everyone
needed high-top gym shoes as a re-
quirement for school. A lot of
Native Americans could not afford
them, and had to drop out," Daniel
said.
Aparicio added, however, "It's an
exciting time for those of us who
have been studying the Latino cul-
ture for years now," referring to new
recognition of cultural diversity.
Sociology Prof. Donald Deskins
focused on the issue of people of
color in higher education, speaking
from, a paper he recently finished on
graduate school students of color.
He cited statistical trends which
indicate an increase in doctoral de-
grees for people of color, particu-
larly foreign students, but a decrease
in such degrees being issued to
whites from 1975 to 1990.
The panel discussion was spon-
sored by Minority Student Services
as part of the Hispanic Heritage
Month celebration.
Detroit Summer '92 program
spurs revitalization of city
by Jen DiMascio
Grace Boggs, organizer of the
Detroit Summer '92 Program, wants
to break the "North-South
syndrome" - a chronic illness
prevalent since the Civil War.
Blacks, explained Boggs, "got
caught on that white thing."
She said that since Blacks consti-
tute the majority of Detroit residents,
they should start taking
responsibility for revitalizing the
city.
"They need to get off their butts
and do something," she said.
Detroit Summer '92 aims to bring
back the spirit of volunteerism and
make people of all races responsible
for improving Detroit, Boggs said.
The Detroit Summer '92
Program, which ran from July 12-
Aug. 2, drew ethnically and racially
diverse volunteers from across the
country.
The volunteers conducted several
social action projects, including: two
anti-drug marches, house repairs,
and community garden and park
constructions. Program participants
also enacted a life-sized puppet
show, held poetry readings, and
painted murals.
Both volunteers and community
members were apprehensive at the
program's onset. Many of the volun-
teers, specifically ex-gang members
from Fresno, Calif., were afraid of
Detroit.
After being billeted by families in
the area and working in the commu-
nity, volunteers viewed the program
as a learning experience - not a
struggle for survival.
Carter McLeod, a student at
Eastern Michigan University, found
inspiration from the program after
viewing the results of his work. He
witnessed the transformation of a
vacant, weedy lot into Beniteau
Park.
The park now consists of a com-
munity garden and playground. The
volunteers sanctioned off portions of
the park for basketball courts and
soccer fields - projects to be
continued by future volunteers.
The park was dedicated to the
volunteers Sept. 19. McLeod said
nearly 80 people attended the cere-
mony. He added he was particularly
impressed by the presence of teens at
the dedication because their in-
volvement with the program was
limited.
"It gives me a sense of pride and
sense of belief that if people will
come together anything can work
out," he said.
Jeffrey House, a 1992 graduate of
Haverford College and former Ann
Arbor resident, said the program
provided a solid base for the
multicultural rejuvenation of Detroit.
He credited the program's diverse
volunteers and the cooperation of
community members for its success,
but said he was disappointed that his
personal involvement had come to
an end.
"The solution is long term. It's
not going to happen in three weeks,"
House said.
Emily Melnick, a recent RC
graduate, echoed this sentiment. She
said the program's limited size pre
vented it from curing the "NorthP
South syndrome."
For Melnick, the best part of the
program was meeting other students.
"We've probably learned as
much from each other as from the
experience itself," she said.
Through the looking glass
LSA junior Wen Min Chao braves nippy weather to do his homework near
the North Campus Commons.
Vandals shower Planned Parenthood clinic with gunfire
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP)
- A Planned Parenthood office
was sprayed by gunfire early yes-
terday, one week after vandals hit
the health clinic with vile-smelling
chemicals.
No one was in the building at
the time of the 5 a.m. shooting.
The clinic provides gynecologi-
cal services, cancer screening for
both men and women, as well as
family planning services. It does
not perform abortions.
"This isn't just about stopping
abortion. We don't even do abor-
tions," said Deb Spicer, a spokes-
person for the Grand Rapids Plan-
ned Parenthood clinic. "This is anti-
family planning and it's anti-Plan-
ned Parenthood terroristic activity."
About 15 shots from a high-cal-
iber handgun were fired through
windows and a glass door off the
center's parking lot in a residential
area just southeast of downtown.
The center was open yesterday.
Police estimated damage at
about $20,000, though Spicer said
additional damage to duct work
from bullets that passed through
ceiling tiles had not been totaled.
The Planned Parenthood office
and another Grand Rapids women's
clinic, which does perform abor-
tions, were targets of vandals in the
early morning of Sept. 22. The
clinics were saturated with butyric
acid, a long-lasting chemical that
smells like vomit.
Barbara Listing of Right to Life
Michigan said her group does not
condone violence, but added that
"you have violence inside the clinic
with the killing of unborn babies.
Violence begets violence."
When told that the clinic does
not perform abortions, Listing said
Planned Parenthood still is closely
tied to "promoting abortion."
David Andrews, acting president
of Planned Parenthood Federation
of America Inc., based in New
York, said the shooting "is still fur-
ther proof of the violent tendencies
of the anti-abortion fanatics."
Police responded to a neighbor's
complaint of gunfire in the neigh-
borhood at about 5 a.m., but the
damage was not discovered until
about two hours later, when a clinic
employee arrived, said Lt. Dale
Winters of the Grand Rapids Police
Department.
AP PHOTO
Jane Lukens, a medical secretary at the Grand Rapids office of Planned Parenthood, vacuums the clinic's
board room after it was damaged by machine-gun fire early yesterday morning. No one was in the building
at the time of the shooting, which was the second incident in eight days. Last week, the clinic was bombed
with a chemical that smells like vomit. Police suspect that anti-abortion activists are responsible for the
vandalism, but no suspects have been identified. Abortions are not performed at the clinic, but Planned
Parenthood does offer family planning counseling.
Michigan Senate will consider several
a e backed by Republicans
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A bill
to legalize wiretapping in Michigan
cleared the Senate yesterday as
lawmakers continued to work on
tough anti-crime bills backed by
Gov. John Engler and the chamber's
Republican majority.
The bill was criticized by several
Democrats as a threat to privacy in
Michigan. It passed 23-11 and now
goes to an uncertain future in the
House.
The passage of such bills is de-
signed, at least in part, to force
House Democrats to choose between
staying in session or adjourning with
the package pending, and explain the
inaction to voters in an election year.
All 110 House seats are up for
grabs this year and that chamber
planned to adjourn yesterday eve-
ning until after the Nov. 3 election.
In the House, the wiretapping bill
will join other Senate-passed crime
bills, including one to allow police
use "no-knock" warrants if suspects
'We can no longer tolerate the human toll taken
by criminals who bring fear and hurt to our
schools and our communities. We intend to
take back our schools and our neighborhoods.'
- Dick Posthumus (R-Alto)
or evidence were likely to be lost.
Several other bills still are awaiting
final passage in the Senate.
Altogether, the Senate approved
11 crime bills yesterday. The Dem-
ocrat-run House has stalled or killed
many such bills in the past, and the
chamber was expected to delay
action at least until after the election.
"We can no longer tolerate the
human toll taken by criminals who
bring fear and hurt to our schools
and our communities," Senate
Majority Leader Dick Posthumus
(R-Alto) said.
"Those who claim that this pack-
age threatens 'civil liberties' need to
wake up and realize the lives of our
children are at stake. We intend to-
take back our schools and our neigh-
borhoods."
He said that "protecting
Michigan citizens is not a 'political'
issue,"- but then said House
Democrats "will have a lot of ex-
plaining to do if they leave town
without passing this package."
While wiretapping is permitted
under federal law, Michigan doesn't
allow it for its police. Under the bill
passed yesterday, a judge could al-
low wiretapping or eavesdropping in
drug investigations or in the investi-
gation of alleged bribery of public
officials.
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