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P age A2
A ugust 30, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The Jio rtlan h © bseruer
bi
R everend J ames T. M eeks
i NATIONAL
do not support the
possession, distribu-
tion or use of illegal
drugs of any kind at anytime.
On the other hand, I do believe
in equal protection under the
law.
Those being caught w ith one
type o f drug (e g., crack cocaine)
should not be given disproportionate
prison sentences over those caught
w ith sim ila r illegal drugs: and they
should not be tried in diffe re n t courts
resulting in uneven sentences fo r the
same offense. In my judgem ent, the
uneven incarceration o f those caught
w ith crack cocaine is a deliberate
attempt to f ill the ja ils w ith young
B lack youth.
The FAC TS are astounding, dis
turbing and outrageous! In 1980, o f
every 1,000 persons arrested on drug
charges, 19 were sent to prison. In
1992, the numbers were 104/1,000.
In 1993, the nation’ s prison system
grew at a rate o f 1,200 inmates per
week.
Between 1982 and 1992, state
governments b u ilt 455 new prisons.
S ixty percent o f those in prison are
B lack, w hile Biacks are only 12% o f
the population. N inety-one percent
o f those serving a five-year mandato
ry sentence fo r possession o f crack
cocaine are A frican Am erican, yet
55% o f all crack cocaine users are
W hite.
The L A Times reports that the
“ W ar on Crack Targets M in o ritie s
O ver W hites” despite evidence that
large numbers o f W hites use and sell
crack cocaine. Federal law enforce
ment in Southern C a lifo rn ia has
C O A L IT IO N
Jail Industrial Complex
waged its w ar against crack almost
exclusively in m in o rity neighbor
hoods, exposing B lack and Latino
offenders to the toughest drug penal
ties in the nation. N o t a single W hite,
records show, has been convicted o f
a crack cocaine offense in Federal
courts serving Los Angeles and six
southland counties since Congress
enacted s tiff mandatory sentences for
crack dealers in 1986.
O nly a few W hites have been
federally prosecuted in the region
stretching from San L u is Obispo to
the M exican border, w h ile hundreds
o f m inorities have been locked up in
federal prison. V irtu a lly all W hite
crack offenders have been prosecut
ed in state court, where sentences are
far less. The difference can be up to
8 years fo r the same offense.
In Los Angeles C ounty, hun
dreds o f w hite crack tra fficke rs were
convicted in state court between 1988
and 1994. N o Whites were prosecut
ed federally duringthis period, though
one was indicted a few months ago
and is aw aiting tria l. W hites are more
lik e ly than any other racial group to
use crack, according to surveys by
the National Institute on D rug Abuse
But the U.S. Sentencing C om m is
sion reports that about 96% o f the
crack defendants in federal court are
Owner o fa prison in Florida): A m er
ican Express (p a ri owner in O klaho
ma): General E lectric (part owner in
Tennessee(; P rudential Insurance;
M e rrill Lynch; Goldm an Sach’ s and
the C orrection C orporation o f A m e r
ica, a private developer o f prisons,
w hich earned revenue in excess o f
$ 100 m illio n last year.
In 10 years the prison popula
tion in C a lifo rn ia has gone from
19,000 to 124,000. The largest sin
gle campaign co ntribution to a can
didate fo r governor was $423,000,
given to Pete W ilso n by the C a lifo r
nia Corrections Officers. I don’t know
the average teacher salary in C a lifo r
nia, but the yearly salary fo r prison
nonwhite. And, records show, the
m a jo rity are low -level dealers, lo o k
guards in C a lifo rn ia is $45,000, the
highest in the nation.
outs and couriers rather than drug
kingpins.
New Y o rk ’ s latest state budget
seeks to dismiss 84 o f its 159 Chap
lains, w hich w ill result in even less
In order to serve 5 years manda
tory fo r the possession o f powder
cocaine, one must possess $3,000
worth. Five years fo r m arijuana re
quires one to possess $42,000 worth.
T o serve 5 years fo r crack cocaine,
one must possess o n ly $29 worth.
From 19 7 9 - to - 1990, p riso n
buildinghasincreased6l2% . In 1948
the prison population in Am erica was
155,000 In 1995, Texas alone had
more than 155,000 prisoners. In 1972,
169,000 people worked fo r the pris
on system nationwide. In 1992, that
number is more than 523,000.
In I960, president Eisenhower
warned us about the m ilita ry-in d u s
trial-com plex. In 19 9 5 ,1 am warning
you about the prison-industrial-com
plex To prove that investing in pris
ons is big business let me list some o f
the investor: S m ith Barney (part
spiritual guidance fo r inmates in the
future.
That is w hy we must again m o
bilize, become active, return to the
streets, and register and vote. C lergy
from around the country are com ing
to Chicago on M onday, August 2 1 st
to plan such an action campaign.
I, a lo n g w ith o th e rc le rg y and
the c o m m u n ity in C h ic a g o , w ill
lead a m a rch on the C o o k C o u n ty
j a i l on S a tu rd a y , A u g u s t 2 6 th to
dem and th a t b u sin ess-a s-u su a l at
the C o o k C o u n ty change; S u n
d a y , A u g u s t 2 7 th is R a in b o w
N a tio n a l V o te r R e g is tra tio n D a y
in o u r c h u rc h e s ; and an a c tio n is
p la n n e d fo r M o n d a y , A u g u s t 28,
the a n n iv e rs a ry o f D r. K in g ’ s
s p e e c h . F M I : R e v . Jam es T .
M e e ks, 3 1 2 -8 2 1 -4 3 0 0 .
Business Exchange
Renewing The NAACP And Black America
by
W
il l ia m
S
R eed
from B altim ore and form er chair
o you remember when
the “Flip-Top” cigarette
man oftheCongressional B lack Cau
~ box was the latest rage
across America?
cus (C B C ) is the latest touted figure
fo r being the next executive director
o f the N A A C P . Rep. M fum e w ould
bring the knowledge and culture o f
That period, in the 1960s, was
the streets, as w ell as that o f C apitol
probably the last time that the venera
ble National Association for the A d
va n ce m e n t
o f C o lo re d
People
(N A A C P ) was held in high esteem by
people across the country and funded
by a significant portion o f Black Am er
icans. In 1994, theN AAC Pwas rocked
to its roots and its top tw o leaders
sacked forfinancial wrongdoing. Now,
after the organization's 87th Annual
Convention the clearest message to
emerge was that the A frican A m eri
can com m unity w ill have to take more
responsibility fo r the survival o f the
N A A C Pand theorganization w ill have
to look beyond M y rlic Evers-Williams
for the sophisticated leadership that is
desperately needed toguide a besieged
black com m unity through harrowing
times into the 20th century.
The man who may be the best
choice to guide the N A A C P back
H ill, to the leadership o fth e N A A C P
But, many do question w hy M fum e,
who has been in Congress fo r almost
10 years, w ould leave a safe congres
sional seat and become the day-to-
day operating c h ie f o f the nation’ s
oldest c iv il rights organization? The
reason “ w hy” is that a man w ith his
special attributes could do much more
fo r “ The Race” at the N A A C P than
he could being a professional p o liti
cian lunching at the governm ent
trough.
Those among us who sim ply seek
the security o f “ a jo b ,” during their
lifetim e w ould wonder: “ W hy would
he give up a good government jo b to
take one w ith a debt-ridden group o f
blacks?” The N A A C P is old and
wounded and deeply in debt. K w eisi
M fum e is a person who can take the
w rong side o f the streets in Baltim ore
when “ F lip -T o p ” cigarette boxes
N A A C P to a new level o f function
and finance He has consistently stood
up and fought fo r the interests o f
black people in M aryland and across
were in vogue. But, K w eisi M fum e
was probably smoking them, along
w ith a few other unsavory things, as
the U.S. As the four-term representa
tive o f M a ryla n d ’ s 7th Congression
al D istrict, M fum e has traveled the
a teenager w e ll versed in the ways o f
the streets N ow , the Congressman
country prom oting the C B C , and oth
from o b liv io n was grow ing up on the
er causes. He knows where to go to
ge, the funds - in governm ent and the
private sector - that the N A A C P so
desperately needs. He has the image,
among blacks and the m a jo rity com
m unity that w ill allow people to buy
mem berships and fund program s
w ith o u t hesitation. The N A A C P is
b attling a #3.8 m illio n budget d e ficit
and a hostile p o litic a l clim ate and
needs to raise $10 m illio n ju s t to
carry the group through 1996. The
money is needed to retire the debt,
run the group’ s B altim ore headquar
ters and four regional offices and
provide a necessary cushion as it
struggles to elevate its presence as a
national c iv il rights force.
The outlook for most o f Black
A m erica is as precarious as that o f a
dinghy in a hurricane. V o tin g rights
are under attack and B lack A m e ri
ca's scalawag group o f representa
tives are about to be ousted in droves.
The shaky edifice o f a ffirm a tive ac
tion is being dismantled, funding for
p u b lic school systems w ith large
black populations is eroding and ed
ucation and training programs are
being scuttled. The tim e is ripe for
someone who has more than their
personal interest in m ind to take the
leadership mantle o f B lack America.
I f M fum e is offered the N A A C P
jo b and doesn ’ t take it, it wou Id speak
volumes about his concern, o r lack o f
it, fo r the grow th and developm ent o f
A fric a n Am ericans. For the better
ment o f t h e Race’ M fum e w ould do
w e ll to fo llo w the example laid out
by his predecessor, Parren M itch e ll
As opposed to the blacks in Congress
w h o ’ ve been there fo r decades, w hile
th e ir d is tric t’ s com m unities continue
a fre e -fa ll o f deterioration, M itch e ll
came to the Congress, authored nu
merous b ills that helped blacks gain
access to more governm ent contract
ing and supplier opportunities, and
retired to private life. Rep. M fum e, a
I ife member o f the N A A C P , undoubt
edly has reached his zenith as far as
what he can do fo r blacks in the
It was not unusual for a lending
institution to have three o r four times
the num ber o f branches in W hite
neighborhoods than in Black o r H is
panic com m unities, and to make few
or no loans in low - o r moderate-
income neighborhoods What hap
pened to change this? The passage o f
several equal opportunity lending
bills, in clu d in g the C om m unity Re
investment A ct and the Home M o rt
gage Disclosure Act.
A ccording to federal o fficia ls,
the number o f home purchase loans
to A frica n Am ericans increased 55
N ow bank industry lobbyists are
pushing legislation that w ould se
verely cu rta il the C R A and other
laws related to equal access and de
live ry o f banking services.
I f passed, House R esolution
1858 and Senate B ill 650 w ould ex
empt nearly 90 percent o f A m e ric a ’ s
banks from com plying w ith the C R A
The rest w ould be allow ed to regu
late themselves.
The C om m unity Reinvestment
A ct o f 1977 has provided a tool for
pending legislation, this type o f ac
tion w ould not be possible.
For all o f the complaining about
the onerous regulatory burdens o f the
CRA and H M D A , the banks are not
suffering but have instead made lots o f
money from lending to people o f mod
est means. According to the National
Community Reinvestment Coalition,
over $ 6 1 b illio n has been targeted by
banks to distressed rural and urban
communities, and lending institutions
have garnered at least $ 6 .1 b illion in
interest income from those loans.
m oney and m em bers. The m ain
fundraising tool fo r the N A A C P has
to be recruitm ent. Current N A A C P
o ffic ia ls say th e y’ d like to get 50,000
tir e d , d i s i l l u
sioned and ex
h a u ste d fro m
A lth o u g h in fo r m a tio n on the
ethnicity, gender and location o fb o r-
rowers is available fo r bank home
mortgage data, no such inform ation
is gathered fo r the small business and
personal loan markets. In fact, feder
al agencies p ro h ib it banks from v o l
u n ta rily co lle ctin g that inform ation.
T his needs to be changed. A fte r
a ll, significant disparities in the home
merge o r expansion o f lending insti
tutions that have not met the credit
needs o f low -to-m oderate-incom e
T his is not the tim e to turn back
the clock on progress. It is the tim e to
and m inority communities. Underthe
can Am ericans are s till turned down
move forw ard w ith conviction.
present mayor, the honorable Vera
Katz, chaired the process w hich
was so interesting
in respect to the
c o n c e s s io n s it
was w illin g to
make.
I to ld o f be
sters w ho w ould be disadvantaged
in any case, perfect 4.0 grade p o in t
who, only then, opened their mouths
in sym p a th y w ith m y protests
average o r “ o p p o rtu n ity ro o m ”
m aterial. But when State School
Supt. Norma Paulus says, “ l 995
Oregon math and science test re
sults are unacceptable!” there is no
choice except to regroup and assail
against L o w e rin g Standards fo r
the barricades again. A ll o f o u r fu
tures are at stake.
A concerned reader and parent
o f fo u r sent me a copy o f m y June 2,
1993 colum n, “ In The B eginning
Was The W ord III: But Y ou Need
T o Start E arly” . The lady thought I
m ig h t not have retained the m a te ri
al, but I have it and w ould re p rin t it
on demand.
I fo llo w on here w ith an ex
cerpt fo r it is so necessary to under
stand that math and science them
selves are no more than instructions
w ritte n in “ w o rd ” codes.
T his was the education para
digm o f even the segregated gram
mar schools o f m y youth (see older
editions o f, ‘ Taxonom y O f Educa
tio n a l o bjectives’ ):
m in o rity teachers (they said, “ not
in m y neighborhood” ).
As 1 said readers, I thoroughly
understand that many o f you are o f
that “ tired, d isillu sio n e d and ex
hausted constituency” . A nd I am
aware that devils have again risen
from the ashes and again are try in g
to in stitutionalize ignorance and
classes o f so -ca lle d “ disa d van
taged” fo r n e fa rio u s purposes
(m ostly m onetary).
The educational carpetbaggers
never give up so we have a push
now fo r such pedantic degenera
cies as “ Ghetto S p e llin g ” and new
versions o f “ B lack E nglish.”
It hasn’ t been too easy but I ’ ve
managed to survive the m achina
tions o fth e gateKeepers, the frig h t
ened and the incompetent.
They seem to have a lo ck on
in n e r-city schools, but I get con
tracts fo r appearances and dem on
strations in o u tlyin g d istricts and
‘O ur teachers and designed the
cu rricu lu m decided in their in fin ite
w isdom that each and every child
[in St. Louis], regardless o f race,
W hite teachers have d iscov
ered that A ll C h ild re n can be in
re lig io n , gender o r previous degree
o f servitude must have a thorough
accounts o f the “ B la ck Inventors
O f A m erica” and the m any black
grasp o f the construction o f the lan
guage ifto be enabled to function in
ture.
o u r society - and this Before H igh
School, where these tools w ould be
As m entioned I w ill have C -D
rom revisions available by late w in
em ployed in the understanding o f
ter o r spring -- thanks to support
from some fe llo w members o f the
The thought may cross some
along the 1-5 co rrid o r.
spired and m otivated by structured
scientists excluded from the lite ra
“ Association ofO regon Industries".
Next week we ’ll explore where
we are in respect to SA T and Ore
gon 's educational scheme fo r Year
2000.
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loan market were known o n ly after
that inform ation was made public.
There is no reason sunlight should be
w ith h e ld from the personal and home
loan markets.
tee On Teacher’ s Standard. O ur
years o f fig h tin g
fo r q u a lity education fo r young
to w a rd a ch ie vin g the “ em pow er
ment” o f B lack Am erica.
W hites and A sian A m erican, even i f
they are o f the same income level
few years ago my testim ony before
the Oregon L egislature’ s C o m m it
in g su rro u n de d
O u ts id e
The
hearing Room by w hite teachers
new life members at $500 each and
500,000 regular members at $10
apiece. This type o f “ empowerment”
w ould bode w e ll fo r the N A A C P and
M fu m e at the helm w ould do w ell
fo r loans at a much higher rate than
‘ Forbes M a g a zin e ’ recently de
scribed. I described here in detail a
many o f that con
s titu e n c y are
men and women to help us get o f f the
bottom o f A m e rica ’ s social rung.
Just like cigarettes and the flip -
top box, the N A A C P is out o f vogue
and supporters. Its m ajor needs are
mischievous (alert) m inds that per
haps in the earlier tim es there were
no teacher unions o f the type
I know that
co rd in g ly).
Banks are, in fact, knocking one
another over to service the low-and
moderate-income markets-because
they are profitable.
I f anything, the equal lending
laws need to be strengthened A fr i
local neighborhood and com m unity
developm ent groups to block the
s
we
p arents,
grandparents, spon-
sors, patrons, what
ever prepare to reintroduce
our precious charges to the
authoritative yet peripatetic
standards of our school
system, we had best, perhaps,
sharpen up our own skills for
an effective interface with the
| system.
tim e fo r a dedicated leader o f black
Equal Lending Laws Should Be Reinforced, Not Weakened
percent.
(And Not Just For Reading, Writing And Arithmetic)
Congress. It is tim e fo r him to help
the N A A C P repair its image. It is
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
efore 1977, African
Americans and other
people of color had
d iffic u lty
getting
home
mortgage, personal and small
business loans from the
nation’s banks.
We All Need To Go To School
more sophisticated concepts.
It was given that no teacher
was hired unless they were masters
o f this craft (and were tested ac
better T5d T5he (Scditdr
jJ jl
Ip e r s te c liv e s
P ortland , O regon 9 7 2 0 8
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