The Michigan Daily - Friday, July 8, 1988 - Page 3 Milan's true colors BY JIM PONIEWOZIK Returning to Ann Arbor from vacation last weekend, I drove, as I usually do, through Milan, a rural town tucked away in the southeast corner of Washtenaw county. It was July 3, and many of the houses I drove by already had their flags up for Independence Day. No surprise. Like the people of many similar towns, Milan folk are, by and large, patriotic. They love to fly their red, white, and blue. But I did think, driving by, that the display was ironic, since some of them had 1 just recently displayed a different version of the national colors, coming across as red-necked, white-skinned bigots blue in the face with indignation at the thought of letting a predominantly Black church come to town. The church in question is the Wells Temple Church of God, an Ann Arbor-area church with a primarily Black congregation which recently purchased an old schoolhouse in Milan with the intention of relocating there. Small towns such as Milan are not known for any particular aversion to churches. But such was not the case this time. No sooner had the congregation applied for permission to open a church in the schoolhouse (since the the area is zoned for agriculture) than several citizens near the site raised a hue and cry over the proposal. They argued that the influx of parishioners would create noise problems and would raise unsightly dust clouds from the building's gravel parking lot. Noise complaints? Against a church? In an area whose citizens allowed a motorcycle club to open on the same street? Dust? In an an area whose citizens are already accustomed to prodigious dust clouds raised daily by tractors working farm fields? If these points of contention sound flimsy to you, you're not alone. The real danger with the church, in the eyes of some of its potential neighbors, is not noise or dust pollution, but the possible "pollution" of the mostly white community with its Black members. Mary Jane Dennison, a Milan resident who lives near the schoolhouse, said neighbors have called her and her mother trying to enlist their support against the church. The neighbors, she said, were concerned that the presence of Blacks in the community might lead to a lowering of property values, or, heaven forfend, to some of the church members actually moving to Milan. I have no doubt that racism is the motivator of many of the complaints. Not to say that it is the only one, or that Milan is a racist community as a whole; there are a lot of decent people in the township - I've known a few of them myself. But I've also lived in Monroe, just a short drive from Milan, and worked at a greenhouse whose clientele included farmers from the rural area that includes Milan. I've heard their racial slurs. I've had one of them tell a co-worker of mine, while I was out of earshot, that he didn't approve of my "nigger" haircut. But I'm not writing this simply as a malediction against the Milan citizens fighting the church. That was my original intent. And I wish it could still be. I wish I could just look at this incident and, loftily deprecate this incident as the work of a group of backward hayseeds, a holdover of the segregation era which could never occur in a community of educated, refined citizens such as ourselves. I wish I could write about this "isolated incident" and think, Thank God the rcst of us aren't like that. I wish I could but I can't. Instead I can only think of Kitty Genovese. I first heard of Genovese in a psychology class. She was attacked in her own home, screamed repeatedly for help and was heard by most of her neighbors, none of whom came to her aid. She was killed. I remember revulsion, on the part of my classmates and myself, then denial - denial of the thought that any of us could possibly react in the same way. And then shock, as we read about studies which demonstrated that the vast majority of people would react in the exact same way as her neighbors. When I read of the Milan controversy, my reaction was a similar brand of disgust. How could any be so blatantly racist in this day an age? I had thought we'd outlived the age of "whites only" signs. How could anyone live next door to people spewing this kind of crap and do nothing? But the more I contemplate the incident, the more I can't help wondering whether I'm in the psych class all over again; whether I, raised in the same environment, wouldn't be out there manufacturing reasons to oppose the church with the best of them, arguing that my motives were color-blind - maybe even actually believing it on the surface - but thinking in the back of my mind, what if one moves in? So I, along with the Wells Temple Church of God, look for the township board's final decision. No matter what happens, I'll still look at the arguments advanced by some of the schoolhouse's neighbors with suspicion, disgust, and anger. But I'll also be sure to save some for myself. Preparing for takeoff ELLEN LEVY/Daily Members of the "Radio Control Falcons" Jake Busch and Chet Rutledge take advantage of the Independence Day holiday to go model airplane flying. - - - - - - - - - - -* ' U'to bu~ld athleti C center BY ADAM SCHRAGER Michigan football coach and newly-appointed Athletic Director Bo Schembechler revealed a plan Wednesday for a $12 million football training center and athletic adminis- tration building. In his first meeting as athletic di- rector, Schembechler described the "Center of Champions" before the University's Board of Intercollegiate Athletics. The center will contain a new locker room and weight training rooms for the football team, as well as athletic department offices, a 150- seat dining room, a museum o f Michigan sports, and an "M Go Blue" gift shop, Schembechler said. The two-story building will be located west of South State Street near the Michigan Track and Tennis Building, where the current Michigan football building lies. The new facility was unanimously approved by the 19-member board, composed of administrators, students, and faculty. The center, which will be privately funded, already has raised $165,000 for its construction. Schembechler, who made the an- nouncement with Associate Athletic Director Jack Weidenbach, is entering his 20th season as football coach. This meeting was his first as athletic director since replacing Don Canham, who retired on July 1. 'h ": ... ... .... ...... Spring & Summer Employment - IIlVIN4 NCW- Go Full Time After Classes CallAr. 1 Iond 996 -8890 / N*.. v .f n'. . f il, MEXICAN CUISINE- LIKE YOU'VE NEVER HAD BEFORE! La Casita Featuring our de Lupe Spring & Summer Outdoor Cafe BREAKFAST: Sat.-Sun. 9-2 pm LUNCH: Tue.-Fri. 11-2 DINNER: Tue.-Th. 5-9:30, Fri.-Sat. 5-10, Sun. 5-9 20% OFF any meal, by mentioning this ad. 315 Braun Ct. 994-3677 (across from Kerrytown, off of 4th Ave.) Justa short walk from campus!