N ovember
16, 1994 • 1 he
P ori land O bserver
P age A2
C ivil Rights Journal
An American Tragedy
by
B ernice P owell J ackson
'e all saw the grim
pictures. The two little
white boys supposedly
kidnapped by a black man in
the course of a carjacking. A
tearful mother begging that her
children be returned. A police
drawing of a black man flashing
on television screens across
the nation.
3$
ties, the number o f African Ameri
can prisoners far outdistance the num
ber o f whites. Nearly half ol the
prisoners on death row are African
Americans or people o f color.
A frican A m erican men are
a d v e rse ly im pacted in o ther w ays
as w ell. E ven th o se w ith co lleg e
d e g re e s earn less than A frican
A m erican w om en and w hite men
and w om en, a c c o rd in g to a r e
c e n t su rv e y by th e E co n o m ic
P olicy In stitu te T hose who w ork
it.
in c o rp o ra te A m erica are seldom
African A m ericans in Union
able
to reach the u p p er-m o st lev
County, S.C. when they were inter
els.
Even
w hen they do, they are
viewed voiced a number o f opinions.
not
allow
ed
to jo in p riv a te clubs
Some said they knew it was a talse
and
they,
to
o
, o ften are follow ed
accusation because there was no way
by
se
c
u
rity
g u a rd s w hen they
a car driven by a black man with two
en
ter
d
ep
artm
en t sto re s. In c itie s
screamingchildren in the back would
all
a
cro
ss
this
co u n try A frican
not have been seen by someone. Some
A
m
e
r
ic
a
n
m
e
n
, e v e n th o s e
said they thought the mother was
d
ressed
in
three
piece
suits, find
guilty all along. Many looked fright
if
d
iffic
u
lt,
if
not
im
p
o ssib le to
ened and relieved that this nightmare
hail a cab on the street. Two years
was over.
ago, six A frican A m erican S e
The nightmare is over in Union
c re t S e rv ic e a g e n ts w ere not
County, but African American men
served at D e n n y ’s.
in this country have not awakened
The messages which America
yet from the daily terror o f racism.
receives
about African American men
For years African American men
are
that
they are criminals, they are
faced higher rates o f incarceration
fast-talking
con artists, they are lazy
than black men in the w orld's most
people
who
refuse to work and to
racist country . South Africa. Today,
take
responsibility
for their families.
with over a million Americans im
Even
when
the
Bill
Cosby show was
prisoned in state and federal facili
would have resulted in a black man
swinging from the branches ot a tree
or walking into a gas chamber. \ es,
we have made progress - no innocent
man was jailed or killed - but we can
be pretty sure that some innocent
black men w ere follow ed, were
stopped, perhaps were harassed all
across South Carolina and its neigh
boring states. We have made some
progress, but once again we were
eager to believe that a black man did
And then the horrible truth came
out - a mother who drove her two
little children into a lake to drown. A
country that was once again taken in
by the accusation that it w as a black
man who did it. A country that did
not think twice about the accusation
because we so easily believe that a
black man did it.
Some o f us remember the same
song, different verse which was
played in Boston only a few years
ago. Another horrible murder. That
time it was a husband who killed his
pregnant wife and blamed a black
man who had attacked them in their
car. A country that was taken in be
cause it’s so easy to believe that
when it comes to crime a black man
did it.
Some o f us remember the time
when such accusations would have
resulted in false arrests, or worse yet,
on the air, he was seen as the excep
tion to the rule. The reality is that
most African American men are hard
working, law-abiding citizens who
overcome enormous odds each and
everyday o f their lives.
These negative stereotypes ot
African American men are danger
ous for us all. They are dangerous for
black male children who can too
easily fall into the trap o f self-fulfill
ing prophesy. They are dangerous to
African American women because
they threaten our families by degrad
ing our husbands and sons. They are
dangerous to white men and women
who find themselves protecting their
purses and wallets when a black man
walks by and who may be losing the
chance to meet or work with tine
human beings. They are dangerous
to other people o f color who can
easily be put into the same category.
T he n eg a tiv e ste re o ty p in g o f
A frican A m erican m en is tru ly an
A m erican tra g e d y . Just as the
Sm ith fam ily in South C a ro lin a
a p o lo g iz e d to the A frican A m er
ican c o m m u n ity , so m u st the
m edia, law en fo rcem en t agen cies
and o th e r in stitu tio n s w ho p e r
p etu ate th is b e h a v io r. T hey m ust
a p o lo g iz e fo r th e im ag es and
p ra c tic e s and then they m ust do
so m eth in g ab o u t ch a n g in g them .
p e r s p £ c t i £ £ £
Th© I.Q. Attack Is
Resumed: “Bell Curve” Is
Right Wing Icon! II
r tr r *
ast week we intro
'll]
duced two new aca-
(2
demie comedians
who intend to milk the I.Q.
lecture circuit for all that
lucrative hustle is w o rth -
replacing the vaudeville twins,
Jensen and Shockley in the
“Black-Bashing” arena (“The
Bell Curve: Intelligence And
Class Structure In American
Life”, Herrnstein and Murray,
The Free Press, 1994).
THIS WAY FOR BLACK EMPOWERMENT
As America Goes, So Goes South Carolina
by
D r . L enora F ulani
■ayne Griffin is a 36-
year-old African Ameri
can man who runs his
own small insurance company
in Greer, South Carolina.
He is married, with one child, and
will soon be a father again. He calls
him self "an ordinary voter,” and in
many ways he is. Mr. Griffin was
also an independent candidate for
governor o f South Carolina, where
Black people make up one-third o f
the population and 27% o f the elec
torate, but where no Black person
has been elected to statewide office
in more than 100 years. I am proud to
have endorsed him and Charles
Bunche, an African American activ
ist who was the candidate for lieuten
ant governor. Both were the candi
dates o f the New Alliance Party,
which is a ballot status party in the
state.
“ I do not believe that the Demo
cratic or the Republican candidate
for governor has the capacity to pro
vide my kids with a future,” Mr.
Griffin says. "M r. Beasley, the Re
publican, is hoping to win the elec
tion by mobilizing white voters who
think that the Black folks have too
much in this country already. The
Democratic Party takes us for grant
ed. Mr. Theodore, the Democratic
candidate, assumes that he will get
the Black vote automatically.
“Now the Black community may
be suffering from chronic poverty,”
Bother Griffin continues. “And it
may be the target o f a new wave o f
racist attitudes. But it is not stupid.
And more and more, around this state
and in this country , the Black com
munity is looking for alternatives to
the Democrats and Republicans. I
decided to run as an independent on
the New Alliance Party line to pro
vide that alternative, and so that the
people o f this state, and the Black
community in particular, could get
busy starting to build an independent
party which can represent our inter
ests.”
A pollbytheT im es-M irrorC or-
poration indicates that halfthe Amer
ican people are sick and tired o f the
two old parties and want to see a new
third party' formed. The poll showed
that nearly half o f the African Amer
icans surveyed want such a party.
Like me, Mr. Griffin was a del
egate to the founding convention o f
the national Patriot Party in Arling
ton, Virginia this past April. Like
me, he recognizes that our people
may at long last be ready to declare
their independence from a two-party
political system in which we are still
treated as second-class citizens. And,
like me, Mr. Griffin is committed to
building bridges between the Afri
can American community and the
predominantly w hite base ofthe Perot
movement in the effort to create a
new, national third party capable of
competing with the Republicans and
Democrats for power at every level
o f government, from the White House
to City Hall.
The possible defection o f Black
voters is scaring the professional
politicians o f the Democratic party’*
silly. And they have good reason to
be afraid. A sacolum nistfortheN ew
York Post noted recently: “N ation
wide, Democrats have grown so de
pendent on overwhelming Black sup
port that losing even a small percent
age could cost them big. Alarm bells
went off when a recent T imes-Mirror
poll found only 71 percent o f Blacks
planed to back Democrats on Nov. 8
instead o f the usual 90 percent,
prompting speculation that many will
stay home.
“In virtually every big state. Dem
ocrats lost key races - including [New
York]. Which is why President Clinton
went to Harlem to appeal to blacks to
back Cuomo - and chose Black-orient
ed WL1B for a radio interview.
“”It’s an even more delicate
question for Democrats in the South,
where the party's candidates can get
by with about 42 percent o f the white
vote because they get nealy 90 per
cent among Blacks. “The majority of
Southern whites are going to vote
Republican. The question for Demo
crats is whether they can get a big
enough Black majority,' says Emory
University politics professor Merle
Black. 'B u t southern Democratic
politicians have not found it to their
advantage in recent years to empha
size issues that directly appeal to
Blacks’ -- for fear, o f alienating
whites.”
In other words, African Ameri
can voters held the key to elections
around the country this year. Like the
majority o f white Americans, they
are burning up with anti-incumbent
fever. And they don’t look kindly on
the professional politicians who seek
to replace them by pretending to be
“ p e o p le ’s can d id ates” - johnny-
come-lately supporters o f term lim
its, initiative and referendum, recall
and other democratic reforms whose
commitment to democracy is about
as deep as the commitment o f the
average w olf to the rights o f chick
ens.
No doubt, many o f our people
expressed their disgust with two-par
ty politics-as-usual by staying home
on November 8. That’s one way to. A
far more powerful way to make that
statement is to have voted indepen
dent wherever that alternative is avail
able, as it is was this year in South
Carolina.
An independent political m ove
ment is being bom in America. It’s
name is the Patriot Party , and inde
pendent Black leaders like Wayne
Griffin, Charles Bunche and many
others are helping to bring it into
existence. Come with us.
V a n ta g e P o in t
Supporting Real Democracy In Haiti
by
R on D aniels
eveloping democracy
has never really been
the major priority of
U.S. foreign policy.
'T T 1
X l
As President Calvin Coolidge
once put it “the business o f govern
ment is business.” No matter how
rosy the pictures coming out o f Haiti,
with the masses flying American flags
and praising President Clinton as their
savior, the ultimate goals o f the U.S.
occupation are clear: create the con
ditions to enable U.S. corporate in
terest to exploit cheap Haitian labor
in a “secure environm ent” and stop
the spread o f radical ideas and m od
els for change in the Caribbean re
gion.
To achieve these objectives it is
essential that President Aristide be
tightly reined in during the remain
der o f his abbreviated term and that
the radical pop u larm ass movements
which com prise the backbone o f his
support be neutralized or destroyed
A ltern ativ es to the pro-A ristide
movements will be cultivated and
more "m oderate/responsible” lead
ers will be and surfaced who are seen
as com patible with U.S. interests and
designs on Haiti. You can be certain
that the U.S. political apparatus in
Haiti - the occupation force, the CIA
and U.S. diplomatic mission - is busy
working to implement its program
for “democracy" for Haiti at this very
moment.
While it is good to see Father
Aristide back in his beloved Haiti as
president o f the Nation, in reality his
power is severely limited. Having
returned to power on the back o f the
U.S. occupation o f his country,
Aristide is now almost total ly depen
dent on the U. S. for his safety and
survival. At any moment President
Clinton can use Congressional and
popular opposition to the U.S. mili
tary presence in Haiti to bring the
troops home, thereby leaving Aristide
naked and vulnerable before his en
emies. The U S. will use this depen
dency as leverage to impose its will
around the key issues that effect its
interests and strategy for the "new ’
Haiti.
Aristide and the U.S. have al
ready clashed on a number o f issues:
Aristide is insisting that the U.S.
trained military be drastically reduced
in size from 8,000 to 1,500. For some
inexplicable reason the U.S. prefers
a larger Haitian military; Aristide
would like to begin the reconstruc
tion o f the Haitian police force by
screening out all o f the terrorist ele
ments that dominated the force under
the dread Colonel Francois. Thus far
the U.S. has shown little inclination
to purge the police force o f these
elements. Instead, the U.S. has sought
to revive the police force and utilize
it as an ally in the pacification pro
cess; Aristide is demanding that the
Cl A created? sponsored para-military
organization FRAPH be disarmed
and dismantled. The U.S. seems de
termined to recognize FRAPH as a
legitimate rightwing political party
in the new Haiti. To reiterate the
balance o f power is on the side ofthe
liberators/saviors/U .S. occupation
forces.
There is an important X factor in
this power equation however, the
Haitian masses and the popular move
ments comprised o f peasants, work
ers and progressive priests and their
parishioners. Like it or not the U.S.
occupation has had an unintended
consequence. The Haitian masses
have been emboldened by the rela
tive safety created by the U.S. occu
pation and are taking matters into
their own hands - sm ash in g po lice
sta tio n s and m ilita ry b a rra c k s,
a rre stin g a tta c h e s and m em bers
o f FRA PH and d e m a n d in g that
they be p ro se c u te d , and p o u rin g
into the stre e ts in m asse w ith any
rum or or hint th at the re a c tio n a ry
forces are m oving to harm P re s
ident A ristid e The H aitian m ass
es, not P re sid e n t A ristid e alone,
are the best hope for real d e m o c
racy in H aiti.
A lth o u g h
c le v e r e n o u g h
to a v o id a n y
hint o f b o rro w
ings from D a r
w in or his su p
p o rte rs am ong
th e
c u rre n t
crow d o f so c io -b io lo g ists, th is
ra c ist p a ir e m p h a siz e d ev ery
canon o f the “ M an ifest D e sti
n y ’ crow d. In case an y th in g was
m issed, they c a re fu lly h ed g ed
th e ir sta tistic a l bets by in se rt
ing m any little b o x es w hich,
w ith o u t a p p e a rin g to do so,
w o u ld e f f e c tiv e ly sk e w th e
ream s o f S c ie n tific c o n d itio n s
reached in the fo rm id ab le a p
p e n d ices. O ur sym pathy to the
g rad u ate stu d e n ts w ho w ere e x
pected to c o rre la te th is triv ia .
Y ou w o u ld have th o u g h t
th a t ta lk - s h o w h o s t “ R u s s
L im b a u g h ’ w as d ire c tin g the
show , given the box a p p e a rin g
on page 2 7 1 o f the chapter. “ E th
nic D iffe re n c e s in c o g n itiv e
A b ility ” . T his cute little sk e w
ing d ev ice w hich I have given
the nam e, "W h o s On F irst' (b e
fittin g a v a u d e v ille sk it) a c tu a l
ly is title d “ E thnic N o m e n c la
tu re". T his p a rtic u la r h e d g e ' is
a m ixed bag o f p o litic a l c o r
rectness and an o b sequious kow-
to w in g to th o se m in o rity gro u p s
that have po litical pow er enough
to affect the sales o f the book.
Do you rem em b er th at a few
w eeks ago we p u b lish e d a v e r
batim d esc rip tio n o f the feds
c o n te m p la te d re v isio n o f the
eth n ic c a te g o rie s to be used
h e n c e f o r th ? T o o b a d th o s e
“ grad u ate stu d e n ts” d o n 't read
the C o n g re ssio n a l R ecord.
But, hold my sc a th in g o p in
ions for a w h ile, lets see w hat is
the o p in io n o f the very re s p e c t
ed co lu m n ist fo r the “ W a sh in g
ton P o st” , W illiam R a sp b erry .
“ W hat is h a p p e n in g ” . T he B ell
C urve a rg u e s, “ is th at m o re and
m ore im p o rta n t jo b s re q u ire
m ore and m ore b ra in s, th a t the
p o sse sso rs o f th o se b ra in s tend
to m arry am ong th e m se lv e s and
that (b ra in in e ss being h e rita b le )
the sm art get sm arter and m ore
in co n tro l. On the o th e r end o f
this “ co g n itiv e e lite ” , the dum b
also m arry am ong th e m se lv e s.
V oila! T he u n d e rc la ss.”
“ M u rra y ....se e m s not to n o
tice th at he has e m b ra c e d large
|y d isc re d ite d view s re g a rd in g
the h e rita b ility , m e a su ra b ility
and im m utability ot in tellig en ce
(A s I p o in ted out last w e e k )... or
that he may abe c o n tu sin g brains
w ith so c ia l ad
v a n ta g e ... nev
e rth e le ss, M u r
ra y
and
H errn stein - cite
th e w id e n in g
gap b etw een the
a v e ra g e m a n u
fa c tu rin g em ployee and the av
erage e n g in e e r.”
M r. R a s p b e rry ’s p o in t is
w ell tak en , there is no u n a lte r
able, in h erited c o g n itiv e c h a r
a c te ristic in hum an b ein g . I o f
ten use a perso n al e x p e rie n c e .
T here w ere four A frican A m er
ican kids o f the sam e age and
m iddle class w ho rem ain ed in
touch from kindergarten through
high school o f the se g re g a te d
St. L ouis school system . And
th ro u g h a s s o c ia te d a c tiv itie s
from m usic schools and scien ce
clu b s to Y .M .C .A . cam ps and
B oy S c o u t T ro o p s : W illia m
W ilson, PhD (so cial sc ie n tist);
L o u is C lo y d ( P h y s i c i a n ) ;
C harles P roctor. PhD (scien tist);
O ur for I.Q .s ran g ed from 189
dow n to 162.
And m ore at th at “ so cial a d
v a n ta g e " Mr. R aspberry sp eak s
o f - h a s n o th in g to do w ith any
“ innate in te llig e n c e ” . All four
o f us w ere read in g and w ritin g
from k in dergarten on. All hom es
w e re f ille d w ith th e “ rig h t"
books and m agazine, all fa m i
lies had o ld e r p e o p le in the
hom es w ho w ere not em p lo y ed ,
but had plenty o f tim e to teach ,
guide, nurture and tra n sla te the
real w orld for us (w e w ere c h il
dren o f te a c h e rs, d o c to rs, post
o ffic e -e m p lo y ee s).
But, when l revisited the St.
Louis scenario (or other large cit
ies) years later, I found that the “rest
o f the crowd had caught up. Life
experiences had effectively trans
lated the system for many, many
who had tested in figures more close
ly related to dai ly temperature read
ings. Though late, they too had be
come engineers, doctors, scientists,
administrators, curiters. professors,
etc .-a n d good one.
Continued next week
<HI{ l ' ^ o rtla rth (!f)bseruer
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