OPINION
WirntoN Itua Cuinigio Bioa Imdi
The Chronicle
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Photo by /umu Press
Michael Jackson rides to Sony headquarters in New York
atop a double-decker bus. He is holding an unflattering sign
depicting the head of Sony Music, Tommy Mottola.
It now matters
whether you are
black or white
Michael Jackson, "the King of Pop." has been in the news a
' lot this week as a result of a strange news conference he held in
New York City flanked by the Rev. A1 Sharpton and legal eagle
Johnnie Cochran. Jackson is joining the two men in a new
coalition that will apparently fight for the rights of African
American recording artists, who Jackson says are taken advan
tage of by recording industry honchos.
Idptcrvn Omr\iioci7(?c ?lv>t rvnint t-??' .?<?!!
rv""1
ing the head of his record label. Sony
Music's Tommy Mottola. a racist ' icl on
even accused Mottola of using e word
"nigger" to identify one of the black
artists on the Sony label.
It is debatable whether Jackson has all
of a sudden become a civil rights activist,
or if he. as many have claimed, is just
upset about owing Sony millions of dol
lars and wants out of his contract. At this
point, the latter seems more probable.
After all. this was the man who said it
doesn't matter whether you are "black or white" and took that
message to the top of the pop charts.
Jackson may have valid concerns about Mottola and the way
black artists are treated, and Sharpton and Cochran may think
those concerns are grave enough for thent to intervene. But
there are bigger fish to fry. Jackson, by many accounts, still is
a very wealthy man. He can afford to take his disagreements
with his record company to a court of law; he can afford to fight
Mottola.
There are millions of other blacks in this country that can
not, people who can't draw media organizations from around
the world to address their concerns. Sharpton and Cochran
would be better served helping these people. Of course, the
spotlight would not be nearly as bright.
If Sharpton is serious about running for president in 2004,
he should return to fighting for issues of the common man -
issues that involve blatant racism against blue-collar workers
* and poor blacks.
Jackson, who, to our knowledge, has never stepped up to the
plate for civil rights before, should be left to his ow n devices.
I 1
Sharpton
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Thanks for
supporting
Roundtable
anniversary
To the Kditor:
On behalf of members of the
Black Leadership Roundtable of
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County,
and co-conveners Rep. Larry
Womble and Khalid Griggs, we
wish to thank the Winston
Salem community for coming
out to celebratClhe Fifth anniver
?ary of the Black Leadership
Roundtable on June 20.
We appreciate the opportuni
ty to share our successes with
the community. We also appreci
ate the community's support of
the work of the Roundtable, and
we invite the community to
attend Roundtable workshops,
seminars, and events that may
be held during the year. Again,
thank you. Winston-Salem.
Irene Phillips
Chairperson, Anniversa ry
Committee
Black Leadership
Round table
Let's vote
on a lottery
To the Kditor:
Some well-meaning people
have attacked the character and
motives of those of us who sup
port the right to vote on the N.C.
lottery. May I explain why I
started five years ago petitioning
for a lottery referendum?
In 1997, a few politicians in -
Winston-Salem and Greensboro
were trying to force the taxpay
ers to pay for a baseball stadium,
so the Minnesota Twins could
move to the Triad.
I felt that the team's owners
ere using ihe threat of reloca
on to blackmail the taxpayers
F Minnesota to build a new
aseball stadium. If they didn't,
te Twins would pack up their
alls and bats and go south to
te Triad!
The politicians at first tried
i raise taxes on beer and wine
i pay for the s'adium. But the
.juur industry has a lot of clout
ith our lawmakers!
Then a food tax on prepared
eals was proposed. Every time
family goes to their favorite
staurant. or grabs a burger for
nch, they'd subsidize the pro
rsed stadium.
I thought this new tax was
coercive and unfair to working
people and low-income people.
So I started petitions for a lot
tery, as a voluntary alternative to
the restaurant tax. No tax is fun.
but at least you choose whether
you want to buy a lottery ticket!
Over the next several years I
printed thousands of petitions at
nty own expense and dropped
them off at hundreds of gas sta
tions, restaurants, ice cream par
lors and convenience stores
throughout North Carolina.
Thanks to all the good, hard
working people who collected
6,000 signatures on our "People
for the Lottery" petitions! I
delivered the big stack of peti
lions to the General Assembly
last year, as one of a handful of
people who testified in favor of
the right to vote on the lottery.
The General Assembly will
decide next week on whether to
have a referendum on the lottery.
Please tell your local offi
cials and your state legislators
that you deserve the right to
vote, to make your own decision
on the lottery!
Our forefathers and our vet
erans fought, bled, and died for
our freedom. Let's use it!
Sincerely,
Gary James Minter
Founder and volunteer.
People for I he Lottery
1AA G&VLIES *
THp reow *******
Thirty-seven
cents just to
mail a
letter?
\VJ^C
W
What's a
LETTER?..
A
Martha s stewardship
James
Clingman
Guest
Columnist
I write a lot about steward
ship and how we should apply
ltin our daily lives; I also have
written a considerable amount
on liars, cheats and thieves,
when it comes to the bastions
of capitalism such as the stock
market, banks, insurance com
panies, and savings and loans.
Do you remember the article
titled "Enron's End Run"?
Well, now we have WorldCom
and 17,000 workers thrown
into the streets by this compa
ny, whose leaders lied, cheated
and stole their way.to temporal
riches. And to top it all off,
there is the Miss Martha
(Stewart) connection. What
did she know, and when did
she know it?
You know, it's almost com
ical to hear the latest "shock
ing" revelation about the pos
sibility (and some say the
probability) that dear Martha
may be involved in yet another
huge rip-off by the elitists of
this country. While 1 don't
know a great deal about Miss
Martha and her empire, and
really don't care to know, it is
intriguing to hear all of the
news reports concerning her
alleged collusion in the World
Com insider trading scandal. I
don't understand why so many
people virtually worshipped
her in the first place and
bought all of her "stuff." But.
those same folks are now
jumping on the Get-Martha
bandwagon, saying they hate
her and they are showing it by
causing her company now to
suffer a tremendous loss in the
value of its stock. As the old
television show said, "People *
are funny."
This debacle reminds me of
stewardship and what it means
to be a good steward of the
resources God gives you. Miss
Martha, if she is guilty of
wrongdoing, has lost millions
of dollars because she cared so
much about saving a measly
$2()().()()(). Her stewardship
leaves a lot to be desired if she
is that greedy and short-sight
ed. How much money does she
need anyway? How much does
she want?
Despite the mounting evi
dence against Miss Martha, a
top-level executive for Forbes
Magazine, in a recent inter
view on Fox News, said we
should leave Martha Stewart
alone. After all. it was only a
small amount of money, and it
is not important enough for us
to spend time discussing. In
other words, if she broke the
law. we should just wink at her
and move on. I wonder if he
would say the same thing
about others who break the
law. especially if they don't
have as much "jack" as Miss
Martha. It's funny how the
rich stick together. If those of
us who are less fortunate
would stick together half as
much, we'd be in really good
shape.
An interesting aspect of
this money madness is the new
black love affair with the stock
market and the current hoopla
being promulgated regarding
how many black folks own
shares of stock. At a time when
billions are being stolen from
the market, some of us are
bragging about how good it is
to finally be in the game. Some
of our leaders are telling us to
invest more of our hard-earned
money in the stock market and
to ride out the rough period we
are in right now. And blacks
are doing just that, according
to the latest reports. Martha
Stewart, a mega-millionaire, is
yelling. "Sell! Sell!" while
blaek folks are saying "Buy!
Buy! Stay in! Stay in!" Blaek
folks are the group that can
least afford to lose our money
on the market or anywhere
else. Go figure.
I say black folks should
place a greater emphasis on
investing in ourselves and the
businesses owned by our peo
ple. in addition to the blue
chips. Instead of continuing to
make everyone else rich, like
the Martha Stewarts of the
world, we must invest in our
selves and create and retain
wealth for our children. How
much more do we need to see
before we change our tactics?
How many Enrons and World
Corns do we need to experi
ence before we turn inward
and start doing for ourselves?
The bottom line is this: so
called insiders are lying, steal
ing, cheating and ripping off
the markets every day. Do you
really believe that an execu
tive wljp knows his company
is about-to be sold or has been
cooking the books does not tell
someone in his family or his
closest friends? Do you really
believe insider trading does
not go on every day in this
country and around the world?
How do you think the rich stay
that way? Why do you think
those folks are always clap
ping and cheering at the clos
ing bell of the New York Stock
Exchange, even if it has been a
bear of a day? C'mon, brothers
and sisters, let's get real.
My guess is that Miss
Martha will not do one day in
prison if she is convicted of
acts of unjust stewardship.
After this blows over, we will
return to our state euphoria
and wait for the next crisis to
come so we can have some
thing to talk about. We will
either go back to buying
Martha's sheets and every
thing else she makes, or we
will find another hero or hero
ine to worship. I hope we don't
miss the lesson on steward
ship. however, because
Martha's stewardship is one
for the books.
James E. Clingman. an
adjunct professor at the Uni
versity of Cincinnati 's African
American studies department,
is former editor of the Cincin
nati Herald Newspaper and
founder of the Greater Cincin
nati African American Cham
ber of Commerce. He hosts the
radio program ''Blackonom
ics" and is the author of the
book "Economic Empower
ment or Economic Enslave
ment - We Have a Choice."
File Photo
Cooking and crafts guru Martha Stewart has been making headlines for something other than
her cookies and wreaths lately. The feds are looking into Stewart's timely selling of stock that
was about to go belly up.