Million Man March viewed with King's legacy, impact By Jeff Eldridge Daily Staff Reporter Last year's Million Man March will go down in history as a landmark event of Afri- can American introspection and as aquest for increased self-determination. That was the resounding message presented by six panelists before an audience of 300 in yesterday's forum, "The Million Man March: Where Do We Go From Here?" Hanley Norment, president of the Mary- land NAACP, interpreted the relationship between the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Why distill Martin Luther King into a dlreamer? I believe that man was awake!" - Rev. Dawud Muhammed, Nation of Islam andthe spirit of the Million Man March. "It is significant that this assessment of the Million Man March is being made on Martin LutherKing's birthday," Norment sajd. "(He) vould have been a fervent supporter of its purposes and its goals." Lester Spence, a Rackham doctoral candi- date, recounted his experience as a partici- pant in the march. He said there were people occupying the ~Washington Mall fron the White House to the Lincoln Memorial. "We were so taken in by the day, by the experience, by the brothers around, we only got to take in a few of the speakers," Spence said. Norment said the march has led to several smaller-scale imitations in cities and towns across the country. LSA senior Sherise Steele, speaker of the Black Student Union, said the march was 'meaningful even to college students who were unable to attend. - Steele also said that, as a woman, she did not feel excluded from the event. "It never occurred to me that I wasn't invited or that it wasn't forme, because I think in a way it was for me." The Rev. Dawud Muhammed, a represen- tative from the Nation of Islam, criticized the way themedia havesimplified King's legacy. "Why tape and distill Martin Luther King into a 'dreamer?"' Muhammed said. "I be- lieve that man was awake! " Muhammed also criticized the media's portrayal of black men. "There's a considerable number of whites who fear black men because of the way they're portrayed in the media," he said, referring to the television program "Cops" as one of the few dramatic shows where black men are seen on a regular basis. LSA sophomore Tiffany Matthews said she walked away from the forum with a new per- spective of the event. "The march was more than just a whole bunch of black men pretend- ing they wanted to make a change- they were serious about the purpose of the march." MAS ayF TE IMAGES OF THE DAY The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 16, 1995 - 8A& Above: Former Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn M. Elders delivers the keynote address for the University's ninth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Symposium at Hill Auditorium yesterday. Right: The Alliance for Justice put up, signs renaming campus buildings byd replacing the original names with those of civil rights leadersT and social activists. Photos by SARA STILLMAN/Daily .. ~A ., AlUnmi Association honors 2 students fo essays on social justice in America Panel says racial. division affects housing, labor By Souya Mhan Daily Staff Reporter Five papers presented yesterday as part of a pane* discussion addressed the problems in using race as a major factor in making hiring and housing decisions. The panel - "Race, Labor Markets and the City" - pointed out how discrimination plays a prominent role in modern society. David Featherstone, the director of the Institute for Social Research, moderated. Camille Zubrinsky, an assistant sociology professor at The Ohio State University, presented her paper - "Race and Residential Segregation in the City of Angels" - using Los Angeles as an example of how race discrimina4 tion exists in public housing. "Whites are the most preferred neighbors while blacks are the least," Zubrinsky said. "Blacks are the group most open to a racially diverse and culturally mixed society," he asserted. Other panelists focused on discrimination within America's job market. Economist Chris Tilly spoke specifically about em- ployer screening methods and racial exclusion, while emphasizing that blacks' ability to get jobs has taken a "turn for the worse" in the past 15 years. Tilly attributed some of the downturn to more wide' spread use of informal, subjective screening mechanisms, which he said impede the hiring of black men and women into high-skill jobs. Sociologist Larry Bobo, who co-authored Zubrinsky's paper, spoke about racial discrimination in a multi-ethnic job market. Bobo reported a relatively high overall discrimination rate, especially toward blacks, and said that the likelihood of experiencing discrimination increases with increasing education. His report pointed to a general potential for ethnocentric bias. Michigan State University economics Prof. Harry Holzei and Alice O'Connor, a professor of history at the Univer- sity of California at Santa Barbara, also spoke about varying levels of race discrimination in employment. Three University professors addressed the audience fol- lowing the panel's presentations and gave their opinions' about the presented papers. None ofthe University commen- tators were black. Featherstone said invitations had been sent out to prominent blacks in the community but none of them could make it. "It was not an exclusion by design, but an exclusion due to other responsibilites," Featherstone said. Infomaion age raises new verything will be qi ormed... not let a racalequality o vote," she said. By Christopher Wan aid. People "must For the Daily 4artin Luther King Theminformation age brings newchal- ,dent membership lenges to the struggle for social equal- dentmemershp- ity, and the ability to access informa or of the Office - tion must not separate America's social r of the ie of classes. on, executive di- This argument was the cornerstone n. , Edith Bletcher, of a presentation by Earl Lewis yester- SEdithe Biletherday at the Clements Historical Library: cted the fsilms "The Lewis is a professor of history and cled the history of Afro-American & African Studies, and cussion followed the author of"In Their Own Interests: Race, Class, and Power in Twentieth Century Norfolk." The one-hour lecture, in the library's main room, was attended by a very diverse audience ofmore than50 people.' Many said Lewis' chosen format, i which he relates a conversation he has' with himself, was interesting, informa- tive and thought-provoking. Lewis discussed how "the develop- op-ranked ment of the information age may indeed begin to re-entrench certain aspects of social inequality into the future of S; America" and the roles of the Univer- .sity, the state and the country in that matter. "The one point that he makes that I think is particularly pertinent and itcam to me," said Liese Hull, a graduate-stu eek at dent in psychology, "is that information' rnd is increasingly becoming a commodity earch that separates one class from another,s we keep hearing about these disparities in social class and we know that race is in-state linked to class. "Information is increasingly becom, ing yet another commodity that sep = ield. rates one class from another," Hull said. jesirble."When we are not allowing general pq*i desirable. cess to information, we are looking-lt another way in which we can continue ERNSHIP disparity between groups in this coun- try." Mary Alice Parker, a member of the iU.EDU history faculty at the University of To- ledo, said that the lecture "raises issues that we need to deal with." "Regardless of improvement andtech- nology, if we don't make people stop and think about what's going on and th# fact that we're all community, we would maybe find ourselves having a greater cross divide between groups," she said. ng learning. "The general message to the audi- ting-edge ence," Lewis said, "is that all of us should take a position, allofusshould be [ critical onsumars Af infnrmatinn and By Laura Nelson Daily Staff Reporter Students were invited to demonstrate the power of the written word as a vehicle for change as part of an essay contest commemorating MLK Day. Building on the theme of this year's celebration and the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., the essays addressed the topic: "Affirmation through Action: What can we as individuals do to ensure liberty and justice for all?" The second annual Student Essay Contest was spon- sored by the University Alumni Association and the Office of Financial Aid in celebration of King's life. The two winners, Emre Conklu and Rebecca Rodriquez Marko, read their essays yesterday dur- ing a seminar at the Alumni Center commemorating MLK Day. Conklu, an LSA junior concentrating in an- thropology-zoology, said he was prompted to write the essay after reading an article in The Michigan Daily which made him realize that "minorities haven't attained .,. respect from the majority." Conklu responded to the contest's theme by empha- sizing that racial tensions could be reduced by "re- specting, understanding and listening to each other." "Martin Luther King Jr. wanted change in soci- ety," he said. "Our society is evolving, requires new perceptions. (King) contributed ... to this change." Marko, an LSA sophomore studying English and film and video studies, said she focused her essay on "avenues that citizens can take" to reform the govern- ment in order to protect civil rights. "l know that ... just because (a law) is written," Marko said, "it doesn't mean e perfect." Individuals need to "keep inf campaign manager tell us how tc "We have the power," she sa continue fighting for the vision N Jr. shared ... and never stop." The awards of $250 and a stu in the University Alumni Asso sented by Judith Harper, direct Financial Aid, and Steve Graft rector of the Alumni Associati After the award presentation the program's organizer, presen Shadow of Hate," which chroni intolerance in America. A dis the film. Doctoral Degrees in Educational Research & Psychology at Michigan State University Study with renowned faculty in one of the t departments in the country. Measurement & Quantitative Method: Ph.D. degree plus assessment experience. 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