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5A OPINIONS/ 1^ Calotte 9ot Thursday February 26, 2004 Helping Haiti during nation’s time of crisis America has to make decisions on Aristide William Raspberry What should the United States do about Haiti? That Caribbean country, already the poorest in the Americas, is — again — on a mad dash to chaos. As of this writing, at least 47 people had been killed in violent demonstrations against the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and it was generally acknowl edged that the majority of the protesters had voted for Aristide. Government forces man aged to forestall a major demonstration set for last week by erecting huge, blaz ing barricades. But rebels remained in control of some eight towns, including Gonaives - significantly, the starting place for the 1985 uprising that led to the ouster of the dictator Jean- Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier. The government’s police force is ill-trained and poorly equipped, and there is no army because Aristide dis banded it for deposing him in 1991. He returned to Haiti from his American exile in 1994, with the aid of about 20,000 American troops, and finished his term. Barred from seeking consecutive terms, he ran again in 2000. Legislative elections that his party won are widely seen as corrupt. It is a thoroughgo ing mess. So what should we do? Doing nothing, the Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy told me when I put the question to 2004 shaping up as campaign of non-issues Val Atkinson Democrats want to talk about kitchen table issues and Republicans want to talk about character, values, the flag and patriotism. Since 1968 we’ve only had two presidents that weren’t Republicans - Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. But no mat ter who the Republican pres ident was they always had the same diversionary mes sage. The country could be suffering fiom inflation, job lessness, war, public health issues and a bleak future.... It doesn’t matter because real issues will not be dis cussed for very long. In 1968 the \fietnam war was the center-piece issue, but Richard Nixon claimed that the No. 1 issue in America was law and order. In 1972 when the war was still raging and race riots were the talk at cocktail par ties, he ran against “busing” and that dreadful political label - Liberal Democrat. In 1980, we had gone from inflation to run-a-way stagflation, but Reagan talked about riding “tall in the saddle”, on his way to the shinning city on the hill. And in 1984 when we had record deficits, polluted air and water because of relaxed environmental standards and eroded worker gains and workplace safety violations due to Regan’s pro business, anti labor positions, Reagan was still unwilling to discuss the issues. He continued to talk about that shinning city on the hill and how proud we all should be to be Americans. He almost made us forget that we were unemployed. In 1988 George H.W. Bush prediction came true. When he ran against Ronald Reagan in the 1980 Republican Primaiy race he said that Reagan’s economic plan was little more than “Voodoo” economics. And that only blue smoke and mirrors could make it work. Well, that’s exactly what H.W. inherited. But instead of trying to fix the economy he too got in bed with, the wealthy that financed his campaign. He ended up in Iraq and forgot about the economy. But he and \^ce President Dan Quayle didn’t forget about “family values”. And in 2000 with a huge surplus and the country at peace he managed to get us into an unjustified war and change a huge surplus into a half trillion-dollar deficit. And while aU this was hap pening Dubya Bush ran on prayer in schools, school choice, abortions, and guns. While Republicans were capturing the hearts and subconscious minds of America, Democrats were trying to appeal to America’s cognitive reasoning and intellectual . prowess. Republicans knew what motivated America better than Democrats did. The big question in my mind is how long will America continue to be pat sies for the extreme conserv ative wing of the Republican Party? During election cam paigns they talk about God, country, guns and family val ues. And as soon as they get in office they start their reverse Robin Hood act by taking from the poor and giv ing to the rich. How long America, before you awaken from your pathetic, gullible slumber? VAL ATKINSON is a syndicat ed columnist. him, is not an option. The former D.C. congressman and current president of the National Black Leadership Roundtable in Washington pointed out that the hordes of refugees certain to be headed for American shores may be the least of it. The corruption and insta bility of the island, he said, have encouraged organized crime, and Haiti looms as a major shipment point for illegal drugs bound for the United States and else where. Unless the chaos can be headed off, he warned, Haiti’s problems will become the problems of the Americas. What can we do? A refugee camp at Guantanamo Bay naval station in Cuba could handle 15,000 to 20,000 Aristide refugees, a spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command headquar ters said last week, outlin ing one short-term option. Or we could send the refugees back to Haiti - the moral equivalent of captiuing people fleeing a blazing building and return ing them to the fire. And for the longer term? For several years now, Fauntroy has been advocat ing that America take eight steps, most of them dealing with ways of forcing the Haitian government to nego tiate its way toward true democracy and strengthen ing a fledgling movement toward civil society. He has urged the United States to move against drug traffick ing, revoke visas and make arrests, and he has urged support for those groups — amazingly, still operating in Haiti - that call for greatly increased transparency and accountability among Haiti’s leadership. Unhappily, he says, we may have come to the time for his eighth step: establish ing Aristide in comfortable exile. “I used to believe that Aristide, being a priest and a man of God, would avoid the temptations of greed and power and violence,” said Fauntroy, himself a Baptist minister and a disciple of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “My great disappointment is HBCUs important to education Clyburn By James E. Clybum SPECIAL TO THE POST Two months before my 14th birthday, the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregation in our public schools. This landmark case, Brown v. the Board of Education of Ibpeka, Kansas, embodied 6ve cases, the first of which, Briggs V. Elhott, began in Clarendon County, South Carolina just 20 miles from my hometown of Sumter. On May 17th the nation will celebrate the 50th anniver sary of Brown. Its impact has been both astoimding and confounding. Despite the court’s ruling it would be almost 20 years later before any serious efforts were undertaken by South Carolina’s authorities to integrate the state’s public schools, including its colleges and imiversi- ties. So when I graduated high school in 1957, the only state institution open to me was South Carolina State. And although the rigid segregation that gave birth to histori cally black colleges and universities (HBCUs) like my alma mater is no longer the law, the missions of these institutions remain relevant and valuable. And some would argue more so than ever before. Before desegregation, HBCUs were responsible for educating 90% of African Americans receiving post secondary educa tion in the nation. Today, 15 percent of blacks attend the nation’s 103 HBCUs. Those institutions, however, are responsible for 30% of African American students who earn undergraduate degrees. HBCU gradu ates now comprise 65% of all black doctors, 50% of all black engineers and 35% of all black lawyers. Many of the benefits of HBCUs are intan gible like the sense of empowerment and self confidence students report they gain on these campuses. And, because many HBCU students come from low income families, and are the first in their families to attend college, they find a sense of camaraderie and support on these campuses they might not enjoy at non HBCU institutions. The socio-economic conditions of these stu dents, however, create significant challenges for HBCUs like North Carolina’s Bennett and St. Augustine Colleges. Bennett recent ly regained full accreditation after being on probation due to mounting debt. St. Augustine is currently on probation for the same reason. Tte next step - losing accredi tation - means losing access to federal grant programs, another crushing blow to an insti tution already in financial trouble. Unfortimately, HBCUs do not receive the same level of financial support from the fed eral government that other schools enjoy. In fact, the 18 historically black land-grant col leges are currently owed as much as $18.8 million by the federal government. The 2002 Farm Bill mandated the lowest thresh old that must be allocated annually to HBCU land grant institutions. I find it con founding that the Republican-controlled Congress refuses to meet that minimum level. I shudder to think of what our world would be vwthout the astounding contributions of HBCU graduates such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Toni Morrison, W.E.B. DuBois, Wilma Rudolph, and many of my colleagues here in the Congress. And, we will continue our fight to insrure that HBCUs continue to provide a nurturing and affordable high quality of education to those destined to succeed us and the likes of the others mentioned above. JAMES E. CLYBURN (D-S.C.) A U.S. House Democratic Caucus vice chair. »2004 AMO McOruMrOaL bv Ur>««rW Pr*** SynauK (.. m SINCE WEVE PECjPEP ITS CONSlPtRAPlY^ WORE COST-EFFiOENT 10 PfiOWXE THIS SHOW I IN WEXjCO, YOU’RE ALL FlREP .. his willingness to use vio lence as a tool of intimida tion and repression. We have a particular interest, because a Haitian society in disarray becomes prey to all the forces that destabilize us here in America. We can’t just stand and watch. “In 1986, when there was a similar situation of crime and comaption and violence, we essentially offered Duvalier a nonviolent trans fer to one of his villas in France, letting him take with him whom he would and enough money to take care of him for the rest of his life. “Perhaps it’s time we made a similar offer to Aristide. That, of course, won’t solve Haiti’s problems. But it might make a solution possi ble.” WILLIAM RASPBERRY is a Washington Post columnist. Our voices Stand with MLK’s principles The writer is co-founder of the Coalition of Peace and Justice and pre.sident of the Charlotte Chapter of the Islamic Political PaHy of America. Speaking as one of the organizers of the Martin Luther King Jr. peace rally, I can bear witness to the fact that some of those that pro fess to support King in this city (they know who they are) only want a watered- down version of this great civil rights leader and peace advocate. I was amazed to find out that many who claim to support MLK did not want to be associated with a peace rally in King’s honor. Many of King’s contempo raries turned on him when he spoke against the war on Vietnam. It is safe to say that many who claim to honor him would not stand with him if he were here today. In days like these, when we are facing much of the same issues 40 years later, such- as unjust wars and the struggle for civil lib- erties/rights and a right- wing Bush administration that he would surely oppose, King would encourage protest over parades and actions over dreaming. The past celebrations sur rounding the King holiday in Charlotte brought forth vast differences in the message of MLK. As we remember King, who was a great sup porter of the First Amendment, remember his words: “The ultimate mea sure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor vrill risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.” JIBRIL HOUGH Charlotte Connect with Send letters to The Charlotte Post, P.O. Box 30144 Charlotte, NC 28230 or e-mail editori- al@thecharlottepost.com. We edit for grammar, clarity and space where necessary. Include your name and daytime phone number. Letters and photos will not be returned by mail unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
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