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Alarm Bells on Campus:
■
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Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure
Institute a public
works project
with job training
by J udge G reg M athis
stretched across the Mississippi
River was declared “structurally
deficient” years earlier.
Anotherexample was last month,
when a steam explosion from an 83-
yearold underground pipe in Man-
Also needed are jobs for those
Americans who are increasingly
becoming isolated from the main­
stream, particularly black men. It's
time we learned a lesson from his­
tory and instituted a public works
A program similar to the WPA that
uplifts black men and addresses the
needs o f aging cities would be both
creative and resourceful.
American cities are get­
ting old. And the infra­
stru ctu re th at sustain
those cities - the bridges,
the roads, the u n d er­
ground pipe systems - are
starting to break down,
no longer to able efficiently oper­ hattan killed one and in jured nearly
40. Clean up costs were estimated
ate.
The break downs of these sys­ to reach the millions.
The American Society of Civil
tems are costing the American tax­
Engineers
says that it will take over
payers millions in repair costs and
$1
trillion
to repair the country’s
in some cases, costing some unfor­
roads,
airports
and water systems
tunate residents their lives.
over
the
next
five
years. The num­
The deadly collapse of a40-year
old bridge in Minnesota is the most ber is staggering, but the repairs are
recent example. The span that needed.
project that would train black men
and connect them with public im­
provement jobs. Such a program
would save the country billions,
while sim ultaneously saving a
population that is slipping away.
The story o f black men in
America has always been one that
breaks the heart. There are success
stories. But, forever LeBron James
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President and CEO oi the
African American Chamber oi Commerce
or more of students are women —
has set off alarm bells among edu­
cators and politicians alike.
Earlier this year, the Presidents'
Round Table, a group of black com ­
munity college presidents, joined
forces with the Congressional
by M are H. M orial
Black Caucus to study the is­
In a speech at the
sue and make recommenda­
N atio n al
U rban
tions.
League's 2006 annual
But much of that needs to
co n fe re n ce , T im e-
start at an early age with the
W arn er C h airm an
help of effective role models.
Dick Parsons said the
The reason why fewer black
reason why he pur­
men are going to college is that
sued higher education
they
think it's unattainable or that
was that it was expected of him - by
they're
better off on the streets.
his friends, parents and the com­
With
the
odds so stacked against
munity as a whole.
them,
it's
a
miracle that any of these
There was no question in the
at-risk
black
men get into college -
matter. He was just brought up that
let
alone
finish.
way.
Where we need to focus our
Parsons' personal anecdote is
efforts
is on these boys at an early
something all African-American
age
when
they perform fairly well
families should embrace and aspire
to. If we demand that our children - compared to white boys. Progress
especially our boys — make some­ has been made in the early years in
thing of themselves and instill in closing the achievement gap. How­
them the value of education to ever, a major disconnect occurs by
achieve theirgoals, we'd have fewer high school: by age 17, black males
behind bars or w andering the are further behind their white coun­
terparts than they are at age 9.
streets.
The sudden
decline in black
male enrollment
s s S ^ te o w p ^
N t'N 'N
August 15. 2007
or Sean Combs there are dozens
more who never reach their full
potential.
In 2006, a study revealed that
more than half of the black men in
the inner city do not finish high
school. By the time they reach
their mid-30s, 60 percent of the
black men who had dropped out
of school will have spent time in
prison. A high school education
doesn’t guarantee success: half
of black men in their 20s, includ­
ing those with a diploma are un­
employed. It doesn’t have to be
this way.
Black men can help rebuild
American cities. During the Great
Depression, the U.S. government
established the Works Progress
Administration (WPA) to provide
jobs and income to the unem­
ployed.
Over the course of eight years,
more than eight million Ameri­
cans were hired through the
WPA. The program built high­
ways, sewers and parks, provid­
ing work to both blue and white
collar workers alike. Unemployed
blacks were given a portion of
these jobs as well.
A sim ilar program , one that
focuses on repairing existing
infrastructure and the need to
em pow er black men could have
the same positive effect on this
country.
Black men deserve a similar
opportunity, one that is imple­
mented on a national scale.
Judge Greg Mathis is a na­
tional vice president o f Rainbow
PUSH and a national board
member o f the Southern Chris­
tian Leadership Conference.
Saturday, Aug. 18th at 9:00 AM
in Dawson Park
(a t N. Vancouver & Stanton)
Somewhere down the line a
growing population o f black males
began to deem a college education
as unattainable or just not worth
the investment
But it’s so much easier said than
done. With more black men behind
bars than in college, it's difficult for
young black males,especially those
from one-parent households, to fi nd
adequate role models.
More than half the nation's 5.6
million black boys live in fatherless
households, more than 40 percent
of which are impoverished. They
are educated in school districts
where 21 percent of teachers have
less than three years of experience
- more than twice the percentage of
inexperienced teachers in majority-
white districts. They live in a world
where 18 percent less is spent for
their education than for whites.
Since the m id-1960s, much
progress has been made by blacks
on the college education front. In
the past decade or so -1993 to 2003,
black enrollment climbed nearly 43
percent to more than 1.9 million
students. Black men, however,
made up 38 percent of this popula­
tion in 2005, according to Census
Bureau data. White men, on the
other hand, made up slightly less
than 50 percent of white college
students.
The decline in numbers of black
men on campus - even at Black
Colleges, where at least 60 percent
tÿ
5K W alk and 1.5 mile loop!
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$20 registration, children under 6 free
Discounts available for teams of IO or
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Contact the AAHC to register
at 503.413.1850 or
www.aahc-portland.org
The American-Arab Anti-Dis­
crimination Committee is shocked
and appalled by recent comments
made by Republican presidential
c a n d id a te C on g ressm an Tom
Tancredo of Colorado.
While speaking to a group of
voters in Iowa, Tancredo said "If it
is up to me, we are going to explain
th at
an
a tta c k
on
this
hom eland.. .would be followed by
an attack on the holy sites in Mecca
and Medina: that is the only thing
I can think of that might deter some-
Ih r
¡fr ita r
body from doing wha, they would
otherwise do. If I am wrong, fine, tell
me, and I would be happy to do
something else. But you had better
find a deterrent, or you will find an
attack."
Unfortunately, this is not the
first tim e th at C o n g ressm an
Tancredo has made such ignorant
and hate-filled remarks. On a radio
show in 2005, Tancredo suggested
dropping nuclear bombs on the
holy city of Mecca in retaliation for
any terrorist attack directed against
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Charles H. Washington
E ditor M ic h a e l L eig h to n
D is t r iiu t io n M anager : M ark W a sh in g to n
C reative D i r k tor : P aul N e u fe ld t
A d v er tising : K a th y L in d e r
O f f ic i M a nag fr : S h a ro n S p erry
R ir o r h r : R a ym o n d R en d lem a n
E ditor - in -C h i í f , P urlisher :
In Maryland, an education task
force characterized school as "an
at-risk environment for African-
American male youth” and recom­
mended that the state take steps to
fix the situation "whatever the cost."
The solution could come in the
form of more all-male schools such
as New York City's Eagle Academy
that features mentoring as well as
longer school days to remove some
of the distractions and obstacles
standing in the way of the educa­
tion of black boys.
Even in college, black males at
times require special "intrusive
counseling" by very committed
mentors to stay on course. They
tend to "come to the academic en­
vironment with incredible degrees
of distraction and more often than
not, not with the tools" that they
need to succeed, says Malcolm B.
Williams of Morehouse College.
Somewhere down the lineagrow­
ing population of black males be­
gan to deem a college education as
unattainable or just not worth the
investment. This is exactly the atti­
tude we must reverse in light of an
increasingly high-tech economy.
Marc H. Morial is president and
chief executive officer o f the Na­
tional Urban League.
Shocking Hatred
the homeland of the United States.
Tancredo's comments serve only
to encourage hatred towards Mus­
lims of all ethnic backgrounds. His
views are not shared by the US gov­
ernment; Deputy Spokesman Tom
Casey of the State Department called
Tancredo's recent comments "rep­
rehensible" and "absolutely crazy".
ADC asks our members to con­
tact Congressman Tancredo con­
cerning his remarks.
A merican-A rah A nti-Discrimi-
nation Committee
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