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OPINIONS/ The Charlotte Post
Thursday, November 13, 1997
Toward a real conversation about race
Manning
Marahle
When President Clinton announced the creation of a
national commission to address the state of race rela
tions, many African Americans were understandably
skeptical. After all, Clinton had in the previous year
signed a welfare bill which unfairly punished women
and children of color. He had failed to offer strong sup
port to the proponents of afSrmative action. His
administration had done next to nothing to rebuild
and revitalize urban ghettos. And Clinton was all but
niute when confronted with widespread cases of police
brutality and systematic violence against African-
Ajnerican and Latino communities.
however, Clinton’s selection of venerable historian
Dr. John Hope Franklin to head the commission
instantly gave the effort credibility. Three generations
of black Americans have learned about themselves
and the richness of their people’s history from Dr.
Franklin’s works. His classic interpretation of the
African American experience, “From Slavery to
Freedom,” set the standard for scholarship in Black
Studies. As chairman of the advisory board. Dr.
Franklin hopes that his panel “will turn the corner for
this nation once and for all with respect to the ques
tion of race.” The commission has set a schedule of
twelve months in which it must issue recommenda
tions to the president. Dr. Franklin states that the
adoption of an effective plan of action may represent a
“decisive moment” or “watershed” in the construction
of positive race relations. So far, the seven- member
panel, which includes three whites, two African
Americans, one Latino, and one Asian American, has
n’t done much. But we should suspend critical judg
ments until the agenda of the commission becomes
clear.
If this nation was truly committed to a real “conver
sation on race”, we would want to put on the table
many concerns which white elected officials avoid like
the plague. We might begin with the observation that
prejudice is never an accidental element within the
makeup of a society.
Hatred does not emerge in a social vacuum. Bigotry
is not natural or inevitable within human beings. All
white people, simply because they are born white, do
not have to be racist. All males, just because they are
born male, don’t have to tolerate sexism, or sexual
harassment of women on the job. Intolerance is a
social consequence of how society is organized, and we
cannot uproot bigotry unless we are also willing to
examine seriously the economic and social environ
ment which fosters and perpetuates social inequality
and unfairness.
Fear is reproduced when people are taught that the
“other” - the Latinos or blacks or undocumented
immigrants—threatens to take their jobs. Fear hard
ens into hatred when politicians deliberately create
racial scapegoats and homophobic stereotypes to win
elections. When politicians deliberately play the so-
called “race card,” or now the “lesbian/gay card,” they
create the environment for hate groups and vigilante
violence.
If the presidential commission truly wants to under
stand the contemporary dynamics of institutional
racism, it should go first to the prisons and jails across
this country, conversing with black, brown and poor
inmates. The criminal justice system today has
become our chief means of regulating and controlling
millions of unemployed and under-educated black and
Latino young men. What lynching was in the South
when John Hope Franklin grew up in the 1920s and
1930s, the death penalty and life sentences without
parole have become in the 1990s.
As of 1997, there are 1.7 million inmates in US pris
ons and jails. In California alone, the number of pris
oners which stood at 19,000 two decades ago, has now
exceeded 150,000 today. Prison construction has
become a multi-billion dollar business, as small towns
compete for new prison sites. Since 1990, the number
of prison and jail guards nationwide has grown by 30
percent, to over 600,000. We are constructing about
150 new prison cells every single day in the United
States.
Syndicated columnist MANNING MARABLE is
Professor of History at Columbia University in New
York City.
Real men giving real time to African American youth
By Kevin Patterson
SPECIAL TO THE POST
T^wo new friends have a phone
conversation that lasts more than
an hour. “Fm going to kick his
butt tomorrow at school if he says
anything else to me,” says the
younger friend. ‘Why are you
going to let someone else control
you,” the older one answers.
“Don’t waste your time fighting.”
The result was no fight.
'This was a conversation
between a new mentor/mentee
team set up by the Greater
Charlotte Chapter of 100 Black
Men of America. The relationship
is i designed to have one of the
members of The 100 work with a
young African American male,
mpntee in developing life skills.
The Charlotte chapter is a part of
a national organization commit
ted to working with African
American youth.
Recently Nike produced a pub
lic service annoimcement for the
100 Black Men of America. 'The
powerful 30 second spot depicts
challenges young African
Anierican men face and shows
how 100 Black Men of America
changes fives. 'The tag line is
“What They See Is What They’ll
Be.” As president of the Greater
Charlotte Chapter of 100 Black
Men of America I see more than a
glimpse of what fife offers our
yotmg men. I also see how African
American men
100 Black Men of Charlotte
Patterson
can and do
change fives.
Too often we
only hear
.about the nega
tive experi
ences of
African
American
youth. 'The pos
itive work that
our children
do, for the most, goes unreported.
And work of African American
men helping youth is reported
even less.
As Charlotte discusses
America’s cmse - racism - we
must support organizations like
the 100, Save the Seed and others
that work daily with our youth,
serving as role models, expand
ing educational opportunities
and mentoring programs.
Over the past six years, the
Greater Charlotte Chapter of 100
Black Men of America has been
making a positive difference in
the lives of many African
American youth in our communi
ty. Our mission is to increase edu
cational opportimities, empower
success, provide role models and
strengthen community support
for our youth. Our programs
include mentoring, tutoring, job
shadowing, youth volunteerism
and a scholarship program.
Our results to date have been
promising. 'The high school grad
uation rate of our students was
an impressive 86 percent for the
1996-97 school year with an
expecatation of 100 percent for
the Class of‘98. College entrance
will go from 56 percent to nearly
100 percent this year. Our
Movement of Youth program was
awarded the No. 1 prevention
program in North Carolina by the
Department of Public Instruction
and the Department of Human
Resources.
Martin Wilkins, one of our
mentees from Charlotte Latin,
was recognized this year as the
most outstanding student in a
North Carolina prevention pro
gram. Another mentee, Maurice
Loce, who graduated from
Independence High School with
honors, received national recogni
tion from the national office of
100 Black Men of America for
outstanding performance. He is
currently a sophomore at
Morehouse College. These results
have been achieved by a group of
yoimg African American males
that many social experts project
will fail, enter jails and become a
burden to society. Based on the
results of the Greater Charlotte
Chapter of 100 Black Men
America the so called “at risk stu
dent” is less of a risk when they
can see and interact with positive
role models that look like them.
Our job shadowing program,
which now incoporates the
Charlotte Chamber and the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg school
system is another program that
allows our members to see
African American men in busi
ness leadership positions. The job
shadowing program “Dare to
Achieve” has been so successful it
has grown to include over 400
students and volunteers from 43
schools and 82 businesses.
After working with our mentees
during their middle and high
school years we make certain
post secondary education is
financially possible. The 100
Black Men sponsors two major
sporting events as fund raisers.
Each spring we conduct a United
States Tennis Association sanc
tioned Charity Tennis
Tournament that attracts more
than 300 tennis players. Every
fall we sponsor the Carofinas
Football Classic between South
Carolina State University and
North Carolina A & T State
University. This year the geune
will be played Nov. 22 at Ericsson
Stadium. Both of these fund rais
ers support our scolarship fund
and other programs.
Our slogans say it all: “invest
ing in America’s Greatest
Reseouce... Our Youth” and “Real
Men Giving Real Time.” The
Greater Charlotte Chapter of 100
Black Men America will continue
to invest in our youth. Even
though news reports about efforts
within the African American com
munity to help oiuselves may be
rare, we will continue to offer our
time, our talent and our funds to
ensure our youth have a produc
tive future. We welcome support
from aU segments of the commu
nity.
KEVIN PATTERSON is presi
dent of the Greater Charlotte
Chapter of 100 Black Men.
Will hate crimes cease after Clinton conference?
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
NjyriONAL NEWSPAPER
Tn June three young whites
were arrested and charged with
burning down a small black
church in Southwest Alabama.
One of the suspects said, “Let’s
go bum the nigger church.” The
day before he had attended a
local Klan rally.
The timing of the attack was
significant. The week before.
President Clinton in a national
radio address swore to “mount
an all out assault on hate
crimes” in America. Clinton
assured that the assault would
begin with his White House
Conference on hate crimes on
Nov. 10. At the conference, hate
crime victims will tell of
attacks on them, and law
enforcement officials will testi
fy : about their efforts to put
hate mongers out of business.
It’s a noble effort, but victim’s
stories, moral appeals, and offi
cial pronouncements tell little
about why hate crimes contin
ue to terrify many African
Americans. 'Two weeks before
the conference the Imperial
Klans of America mocked
Clinton’s call to end hate by
inviting the “white public” to a
day-long rally in Kentucky.
There were bible-laced speech
es, souvenir tables loaded with
Klan caps, flags, cards, bal
loons and a ceramic statuette of
a hooded Klansman with glow
ing red eyes. The rally closed
with the burning of a giant
cross. The media ignored them,
law enforcement officials
ridiculed them as a handful of
pathetic crackpots, and civil
rights organizations wrote
their obituary.
Yet behind their circus antics,
and apparent microscopiq num
bers hate groups like the Klan
have grown since the
Oklahoma City bombing in
1995, and are more dangerous
than ever. At last count, there
were 858 identifiable paramili
tary groups operating in all 50
states. In 1996, they spent an
estimated $100 million on
explosive manuals, weapons,
and survival gear. 'They held
“Preparedness Expos” in six
cities that drew thousands of
participants, visitors, and
dozens of exhibitors. They had
250 web sites, and dozens of
publications.
But what hasn’t changed is
that African Americans remain
the number one target of hate
violence, and are the victims of
the most violent attacks. In the
more than 30 documented hate
crime murders in 1995 and
1996 more than half the vic
tims were black. And despite
denials by some law enforce
ment officials, and much of the
media, there was much evi
dence that some of the arson
attacks on black churches were
part of an organized racist con
spiracy.
After much pressure and
protest from civil rights groups.
Congress passed the Hate
Crimes Statistics Act in April
1990. FBI officials promised
that they would permanently
count hate crimes in their
annual Uniform Crime Report.
The FBI has, but the number it
reports annually are almost
certainly vastly understated.
Four out of five victims of hate
crimes do not report them
because they are too fearful or
feel the police and local officials
will do little or nothing to pro
tect them. There’s a good rea
son for their worry.
The response to hate crimes
from states, cities, and police
agencies wildly vary. Under the
Hate Crimes Act only 32 states
submitted any data to the FBI
on hate crimes in 1995, and
only 17 states require reporting
and recording of hate crimes
separate from those required
by the federal statute. Only 35
percent of all police agencies
have hate task force units or
specific procedures for dealing
with hate crimes.
Eight states still have no laws
on the books targeting racially
motivated hate crimes. Some
states allow hate violence to be
prosecuted as “stand alone”
crimes, meaning the acts them
selves can be punished, while
others permit the prosecution
of hate crimes only if they are
committed in conjunction with
another crime. Also, only a
handful of states permit judges
to increase penalties when
racial bias is proven as the
motive for the crime.
EARL OFARI HUTCHIN
SON is author of “The
Assassination of the Black Male
Image.” His email:
ehutchi344@aol.com.
If he loves
mother
and work
While the number of racial
hate crimes are much smaller
than the millions of “common”
crimes in America, the social
and political damage they
wreak is much greater. When
individuals are victimized sole
ly because of their race, this
deepens racial fears and frus
tration, reinforces “us vs. them”
divisions between whites and
blacks, and increases the dan
ger of a racial explosion or vio
lence. The turmoil following the
Rodney King beating and the
alleged sexual torture of
Haitian immigrant, Abner
Louima by white police officers
are deadly examples.
Violent hatemongers with
their bombs, guns, fists, cross
es, threats, web sites, and pub
lications have laid down the
challenge. Let’s see how deci
sively the federal government
confronts it when Clinton’s
hate crimes conference ends.
“If he loves his mother and his
work, he is a pretty good risk.”
This is a rule - a rule of
thumb. It sorts out men who are
likely to be worth a long-term
investment of commitment. It
distinguishes them from those
who might be riskier.
Three of us — all men — are eat
ing limch together. We are talk
ing about this rule.
“The Rule,” as we come to call
it, is the wisdom of one of our
spouses. We agree that it is a
pretty good rule. And we laugh
happily about it. Pretty Hkely, we
tell each other, that someone who
loves his mother and takes care
of her will also be considerate of
bis wife. And one who loves his
work will be a good partner to his
spouse as well.
But why shouldn’t we like the
rule? All three of us are mama’s
boys - unapologetically so. And
we are happy at work.
How disgustingly self-glorify
ing we are to endorse a rule that
seems to make us look like such
wonderful catches. But, then, no
matter that we loved our moth
ers, we are still men wiho like to
think we are something special.
One of our mothers is still alive.
Mine has now been dead for
two years. And the mother of the
other died two days before this
lunch. She went suddenly. Her
last, loving, motherly, telephone
message is still on the answering
machine.
“Sugar, I wonder if you have
thought of that....” Her voice still
speaks.
But she is gone. We sit around
the table celebrating her-and the
other mothers, too. We talk some
more about The Rule.
“If he loves his mother and his
work, he is a pretty good risk.”
'The Rule, we assure each
other, has been adopted at the
highest levels of one of our big
banks and at the top of one of the
largest financial firms on Wall
Street. We know some of the
higher-ups. They are using The
Rule to sort out those who are
destined to be happily successful
in business. They understand,
we tell each other, that people
who take care of their mothers
and Uke their jobs are going to be
good business leaders.
In the midst of this ongoing
affirmation of mother love, I
begin to wonder why some of us
love oiu" parents so much - and
have that love reciprocated. And
why some parents and children
suffer a lifetime of estrangement
and disappointment.
Do we love our parents mostly
because they loved us first and
took such good care of us? Or is it
just in the genes? Something
that pushes us to admire and
love them-and they us?
Or is it part of a strong cultur
al drive that affects some of us
and misses others?
Or, is love of mothers just
symptomatic of a general opti-
mistic-upbeat-state of mind?
That kind of person may tend to
do the things that make other
people happy-including parents,
but not limited to them. Later, I
asked the spouse who was the
source of the rule how she came
to propound it.
“It was not meant a rule. I had
decided somewhere along the
way that - if I were going to be
involved with someone over a
long period of time - that one
who loved his mother or who had
loved his mother would himself
be the happiest of men. Such a
person would, I thought, because
of the background and depth of
that relationship, more likely
have an appreciation of the real
ly good things about life.
Former Charlotte attorney and
Davidson College graduate D.G.
MARTIN recently left his job as
vice president of public afpars for
the UNC system.