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