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Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
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Ì—
m R n urN p J esse L. J ackson
’“’"‘t l
know it’s unseemly to
say it-but I told you so!
v '
Patrick Buchanan, bag
gage and all, is aloft, lifted to
victory In New Hampshire by a
potent message of economic
nationalism, political populism
and social reaction. The first Re
publican primary has been won
by the candidate that rails against
“the betrayal of working Ameri
cans who lost their jobs in trade
deals made for multinational cor
porations that care nothing about
America or its people."
For many Republican voters in
N H —even in the midst o f a recovery
that has reduced official unemploy
ment figures to 3 % —Buchanan’s
message made sense. He alone stood
with working people against eco
nomic violence—the merging o f cor
porations and purging o f workers.
He alone spoke against the radical
economic polarization that angers
and frightens people, an economy in
which wealth and profits go upward,
jobs outward, the middle class down
ward and the working poor back
ward
Both companies and government
brag about downsizing. Now the peo
ple who are outsized are fighting
back. Buchanan has captured their
attention. They see him as a man o f
convictions, stating what he believes,
standing against the packaged politi
cians with their fingers in the wind.
The insider favorite, Bob Dole,
reflected the establishment's shock.
“ We didn't plan it this way," he said
the day before the primary . “ I didn't
realize that jobs and trade and what
R ainbo W
C O A L IT IO N
Don’t Miss The Message
makes America work would become
a big issue in the last few days o f the
campaign” (“ Where has he been?"
asked Buchanan] Although D ole’s
remark w ill be ridiculed, it perfectly
describes the widespread establish
ment consensus that things are about
as good as they can be A little tink
ering might be done around the edg
es, deficits brought under control;
but, the conventional wisdom holds,
nothing need or can be done—even if
people are hurting, insecurity spread
ing, and wages falling People should
just lower their expectations and ac
cept their lot.
Don’t underestimate the power o f
Buchanan’s message. This was not
an upset, a last minute. Hail Mary,
touchdown pass. Buchanan beat Dole
and Alexander straight up. He may
have the wrong answers but he is
asking the right questions-and peo
ple have been demanding that these
concerns be addressed for a long
time. I raised these issues in 1988.
Voters turned George Bush out o f
the White House when he didn’t get
it in 1992. When Democrats failed to
act, they booted them from Congress
in 1994. And people are still looking
for a champion against the callous
companies that treat them as dispos
able goods, a corrupt government
that sells them out, and a complacent
establishment which does not have a
clue.
D on’t underestimate the anger at
the economic violence people are
suffering. Take one example. These
days C E O salaries soar even as their
com panies sour. A T & T has an
nounced the firing o f48,500 workers
in the last two years-largely due to
bungled mergers and bad manage
ment strategy. Yet Robert Allen,
A T & T ’s Chairman, who helped lead
the company into the mess, sees no
reason to sacrifice any pay or perks
as part o f a shared sacrifice. Indeed,
he reaped a multi-million dollar bo
nus when the company stock price
rose after the firings were announced
People are not going to go quietly
into this foul night!
Buchanan warned his followers
that the full force o f the establish
ment is about to descend on him He
knows better than most the flailing he
is about to receive from the media.
They w ill assault him for protection
ism, but that is just a label. C allin g
for fair trade is not protectionist, it is
just fair. Yo u can support free and
fair trade, but oppose the unchecked
corporate order enforced by this
N A F T A and this G A T T .
Buchanan’s real problem is that
his answers are wrong and danger
ous. He chooses a scapegoat politics
of fear that leads nowhere Mexicans
are fleeing for survival, not coming
to take our jobs. Women and African
Americans seek affirmative action to
unlock closed doors, to level the field,
not to gain an edge. Gay bashing is
wrong and dangerous. Anti-semitism
has no place in our politics. Ending
all immigration or repealing civil
rights laws offers no way out for the
pain people feel. Instead, it simply
divides them and feed their fears,
leading to hate crimes, church bomb
ings and gay stalking.
The White House is said to be
overjoyed a, the Republican disar
ray. Whoever survives this alley fight
will enter the general election badly
wounded. But the White House would
be well advised to stop listening to
pundits and start listening to voters.
The feel good, kinder, gentler mes
sage that the White House is ped
dling seems as out o f touch as George
Bush was four years ago. And while
Buchanan may go down, Ross Perot
waits in the w ings-w ith a similar
economic message and without the
hate. I f the White House doesn’t aet
the message soon, working people
w ill keep looking elsewhere for help.
Civil Rights Journal
What Is Wrong With America?
m B ernice P oweli J ackson
t ’s been some month,
this African American
History Month of 1996.
I’m not sure what has horrified
me more. The report of the burn
ing of 2 3 African American
churches In Tennessee, Louisi
ana. Mississippi and Alabama or
the statement by the Justice
Department official that we can’t
assume that these are crimes of
racial hatred. The dieoloeuro that
Pat Buchanan's aide has ties to
the militia movement and white
supremacist groups or the fact
that Buchanan hasn't been forced
to fire him and his support of this
“fired” has gone almost unques
tioned. Indeed, after his win in
New Hampshire, one must won
der whether Buchanan hasn’t
been rewarded for his extrem
ism.
What is wrong w ith a nation which
bums black churches? Ho, one fire
has been attributed to a disturbed 10
year-old, but that still leaves 22 fires
which have burned black churches to
the ground Twenty-two fires where
the building has been destroyed, but
the spirit ofthe people survives, along
with their determination to re-build.
The stories o f the burning o f these
houses o f God recalls for many o f us
the bombing o f the 16th Street Bap
tist Church in Birmingham. A L in
1963. That wretched deed resulted in
the deaths ofthe four I ittle girls whose
deaths rocked the nation and made us
face the evil that was among us. And
while no one has died in these firs,
these fires are clearly meant to terror
ize African American people. For if
their churches are not safe, what is?
Four o f the fires have occurred in
one town, Boligee. A L ., two on De
cember 22 and two on January 11 . In
Kno xville, TN , Inner C ity Com mu
nity Church, w here Green Bay Pack
er Reggie White is Associate Pastor,
was burned on January 8. Indeed, it
may only be because o f White's sports
fame that U S A Today began its in
vestigation and there began to be a
recognition that something bigger
than isolated church fires was going
on.
What is wrong with a country
which burns houses o f God? And
why hasn’t there been an outcry by
churches across this nation? An out
cry by government and political lead
ers? An outcry by people o f good
w ill and all faiths?
Then there is the case o f Larry
Pratt, the co-chair o f Buchanan’s
campaign who is now on a leave o f
absence. W hich means Larry Pratt
can come back any time he wants.
It amazes me sometime how short
our collective memory really is. It
was less than a year ago that the
Oklahoma C ity bombing occurred. It
was less than a year ago that little
children and federal workers were
killed, injured and shaken. We de
cried the m ilitia movement then and
reports o f the connections between
the m ilitia movement and white su
premacist groups came to light.
Y et, we as a nation seem wi 11 ing to
accept Buchanan’s acceptance o f a
leave o f absence for Larry Pratt and
his continued "support” for his friend.
Even if Larry Pratt w as only tangen
tially involved (and the evidence
seems to be otherwise) in rallies by
these hate groups, do we really be
lieve that he didn’t know what they
were advocating as he stood on the
platform with them? Do we really
want a supporter o f militias and the
Aryan Brotherhood as a kitchen cab
inet advisor to a Presidential hopeful
or a Presidential nominee or a Pres
ident?
Many o f us who are African Amer
icans in this land ofthe free and home
o f the brave are forced once again to
wonder when w ill it all end? When
w ill the hatred end? When w ill we
truly be at home in this our native
land? How long, O Lord, how long?
(Contributions to aid the churches
destroyed by fire can be sent to Greene
County Emergency Church Fund, Rt
2, Box 94. Utah, A L 35462 or Mr
Nelson B Rivers HI, Southeast Re
gional Office N A A C P , 970 Martin
Luther K in g Jr. Drive SW , Suite 203,
Atlanta, G A 30314.)
V a n ta g e P o in t
©
richer even as the poor get poorer
and poorer in Am erikkka.
Africans in the Untied States have
a B lack consumer dollar power in
excess o f $420 billion and growing.
We are major consumers o f every
thing, but major producers o f very
little. Hence, B lack Am erica with its
hefty consumer dollar is the object o f
Madison Ave. market analysts who
calculate and scheme on how to im
prove the bottom line, the profit mar
gin for giant retail establishments
nationwide. We are the objects o f
scorn and ridicule, the pawns and
scapegoats in a racist game o f divide
and exploit orchestrated by govern
ment policy makers for the benefit o f
the rich and super-rich, the conglom
erates and trans-nationals that rape
us all - Black, Brown, Red. Yellow
and White We are despised and dis
respected. the victims o f government
cut backs in social programs, the
d o w n s iz in g
o f governm ent,
privatization, and criminalization o f
a race - the prison/jaiI industrial com
plex.
There is no cut back, however, in
the deluge o f advertising that will
flood the airways, no downsizing of
the massive effort to entice the de
spised and disrespected to improve
the bottom line, the profit margin o f
the victim izer class during the X -
M A S season.
Tim e and time again, as teacher,
leader, activist and organizer. I have
called upon mv people. Black peo
ple, Africans in Am erikkka to put a
halt to this madness. Last year I chal
lenged us to fantasize about what it
would mean if Black America boy
cotted "White Christmas “ The Black
consumer dollar must be used as a
weanon in the Black Freedom Strug
P
e r s p e c t 1 r e s
Sugar Is Sweet
(But Things Could Be Sweeter!)
reached that conclu-
sion a long time ago,
but clearly the issue has
been brought to the forefront In
recent decades by my intensive
research into the mind-boggling
realm of black inventors and
scientists.
Always I have
been especially
entranced (that's
the word for it) by
the genius o f two
ebony innovators
in particular, un- “
connected in time but united in a
creative exuberance that carried the
I science o f“thermodynamics” to new
31
C
heights. That term shouldn’t cause
any fear or anxiety. It is a process that
goes on all around us every day,
invading every aspect o f our lives.
I acquaint you with the definition
cited to me by one o f the two African
American geniuses we shall discuss
here (David Crosthwait, 1891-1976).
I immediately ordered the book writ
ten by one o f the great European
physicists o f the century: “Thermo
dynamics”, Enrico Fermi, Dover,
1956 ed. On page I X ofthe introduc
tion we are informed with a simplic
ity and clarity uncommon to such
scientific works; “Thermodynamics
is mainly concerned with the trans
formations o f heat into mechanical
work and the opposite transforma
tions o f mechanical work into heat.”
Now, at this point we may bring
the title o f this article into the discus
sion, for it is our second black inven
tor, Norbert Rillieux, who raised the
science o f thermodynamics to new
heights with his revolutionary indus
trial processes. “Norman Rillieux
( 1806-1894) revolutionized the sug
ar industry by inventing a refining
process that reduced the time, cost
and safety risk in producing good
sugar from cane and beets.”
In the June 27, 1990 edition o f
“The Portland Observer” I wrote an
article, "In a Tradition ofExcellence.”
Here I paid tribute to a young
African American role model, 14
| year-old T ara Lo u ise Johnson
Stroud who had graduated from
Beaumont Middle School with a
3.86 G .P.A . This young, budding
scientist, just the previous Febru
ary, had won the essay contest on
American Histoty, sponsored by the
Daughters o f the American Revo
lution (D A R ).
tLhc
The title ofher presentation was,
"A Black American's Invention o f |
the 1840’s makes Life Sweet for Us
A ll.” Tara went on to detail the
seminal importance o f "The Sugar
Refiner (Evaporating Pan), patent
No. 4879, Dec. 10, 1846. The U.S.
Department o f ]
A g r ic u lt u r e
called his inven
sy
tion the greatest
Professor
in the history o f
Mcklnley
c h e m ic a l
Burt
engineen ng.giving
the
U nited
States’ sugar industry worldwide
supremacy.”
Our gi ft ed young lady makes my
points so well, let us continue in the
words ofher award winning essay.
“ Because o f racism, R illieux has
never been recognized for his in
vention in any chemistry, physics
or technical journals. The basic
principle o f R illie u x ’s is used
throughout the world today in the
makingofsugar, gelatin, condensed
m ilk, soup and glue, his methods
are also used in recovering waste
liquids in factories and distilleries”
(not to mention the great German
dye and other chemical industries
as Mr. Crosthwait informed me).
But let us continue with the es
say: “Norman R illie ux also de
signed a plan to get rid o f yellow-
fever infested mosquitoes in the
sewers o f New Orleans. H is plan
involved draining the sewer. C ity
authorities refused to approve the
plan because it had been put to
gether by a blackmail. Yellow fe
ver was permitted to continue k ill
ing the citizens o f the city until a
sim ilar plan was submitted by
whites” (see p. 97 o f the January
1995 National Geographic Maga
zine for a schematic o f low-lying
areas o f New Orleans).
I was very pleased that the young
lady cited my book, “ Black Inven
tors o f America”, as the source o f
some ofher information and docu
mentation. A s we continue next
week. I shall bring into fuller view
the other black master o f thermo
dynam ic processes, Mr. D avid
Crosthwait, whose 90-odd patents
cover most o f the inventions in
heating, a ir co n d itio n in g and
plumbing that make possible the
modern sky skyscraper. I spent
hours talking with, learning from
this genius in 1974 and 1975.
(Olisemvr
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uy Black For The Holidays
nee again the X-MAS
season is fully upon us.
The season used to offi
cially begin the day after Thanks
giving. Now there's “Christmas
in July” and hints of the coming
of Jolly old St. Nick In the early
Fall as Amerikkka's merchants
prime our appetites to fall for the
foolishness of sacrificial spend
ing far above and beyond the call
of necessity or reason.
Black people, the sons and daugh
ters o f Africa livin g in America, X -
slaves, still slaves, slaves who have
never been paid reparations for the
holocaust o f enslavement, we are
also slavishly caught up in this orgy
o f capitalist consumerism - the com
mercialization o f the birth o f the
Christ whose birthday camouflages
the real deal - spend that money so
the rich, the oppressor class, can get
/
gle. I appealed to us, Africans in
Am erikkka to prepare to enact eco
nomic sanctions on these United
States in the year 1999, on the eve o f
the 21st century, if B lack America
has not been paid the reparations we
are due for the genocide inflicted on
our ancestors during the long travail
o f slavery.
I know it w ill take time to kick the
habit o f making other folks rich o ffo f
our precious, hard earned dollars. It
w ill take time to denegroize, to break
the slave mentality o f a people who
have been robbed o f their heritage,
stripped oftheirculture and deprived
o f their very names; a people who
have been conditioned to believe that
the “white man’s ice is always cold
er.” It w ill take time to shed the slave
mentality, but we have to get ready to
make the change that w ill liberate
our minds, our bodies and our spirits.
better 'Uo {Uhe
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