4A
EDITORIALS/ tC(e CliarUitte
Thursday, April 22, 2004
t!ri)e Charlotte ^os^t
The Voice of the Black Community
A Consolidated Media Group publication
1531 Camden Road Charlotte. N.C. 28203
Gerald O. Johnson
CEO/PUBLISHER
Robert L. Johnson
PUBLISHER/GENERAL
MANAGER
Herbert L. White
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Financing
our own
oppression
By James Clingman.
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
Have you kept up with the progress of the reparations move
ment as it pertains to getting firms that benefited from slavery,
such as insurance companies and banks, to pay reparations to
the descendants of slaves? The argument is that since those
businesses gained much of their wealth from financing and
insuring the ships and other instruments of oppression utilized
during the most heinous treatment of a people in history, they
should also pay reparations.
From what I understand there are several well documented
cases, put together by top-notch legal experts, that will make
significant progress toward reparations when they come to
court. Some are also calling for boycotts against the companies
involved if they do not voluntarily admit their
involvement and compensate black people for
obtaining their wealth on the backs of our
ancestors.
That’s not bad idea as far as I am concerned.
- I spent a little time with Conrad Worriil on
two occasions during the past six months, and
^ I am thoroughly impressed with his knowl-
—edge of the reparations movement and his
Clingman focus on bringing it to fruition. He is doing
righteous work and we should support him
Uptown giveaway, CMS blame game
Don Reid
and all of those, including our dear elder, Robert Brock, who
have fought and continue to fight for what is right.
As I was reading an article in Cincinnati Magazine, titled,
“The Baptist Economy,” which noted the “wild-eyed glee” with
which city officials and the virtually all-white Cincinnati
Convention and Visitors’ Bureau looked at the National
Baptist Convention U.S.A., it occurred to me that Black peo
ple, and in this case, black churches, are financing the oppres
sion of Black people as well.
You may have read my column, “The Rest of the Story,”
where I discussed the Baptist Convention deciding to come to
Cincinnati despite being asked to stay away because of the
Cincinnati boycott against travel and tourism to this city.
When I read the piece in Cincinnati Magazine, I was even
more assured that my assessment was absolutely correct: It’s
always about the money; and we are financing our own oppres
sion.
Done under the tired mantra of “racial healing” the Baptist
convention will bring $21 million dollars to a city in which
oppression continues to run rampant. The only healing will be
financial, and that will be for the oppressors. Vanessa
Williams, the new spokesperson for the National Underground
Railroad “Freedom” Center, came to town and said it was good
that the Freedom Center was “built by black hands” and was
a symbol of healing, which are more statements that not only
are incorrect but also would make the ignorant person think
all is well in Cincinn-apathy. I wonder how much her compen
sation is.
Black leaders and black folks in general should stop financ
ing the oppression of their own people. But since it seems they
are not ready to stop this kind of madness, I think we should
implement the same tactics against them that have been
brought against the insurance firms and the banks. They
financed the oppression of black people, and now black organi
zations are financing the oppression of black people. Why
should we have a double-standard? Don’t you think that
because everything is about money, especially for many of our
so-called black leaders, we should seek reparations from our
own organizations as well?
Crazy, you say? I don’t think so. How can we ask for recom
pense from white-owned companies and not seek it from black
organizations that continue to finance our oppression by com
mitting black dollars to cities where black people are
oppressed? Turnabout is fair play, and in the case of hundreds
of millions of black tourism dollars being looked upon with
“wild-eyed glee” by white-dominated convention centers that
get much of their funding from black tax dollars, our acquies
cence to calls from our organizations (and loc^ black politi
cians) to go against boycotts is unconscionable. Despite the
horrendous treatment of our people, both economically and
otherwise, all over this country, we continue to mimic the over
seers and the crumb snatchers of the past, selling out for a few
dollars, hotel suites, and banquets.
Yes, we must seek reparations from anyone and any compa
ny that benefited from the misery of black folks. We must sup
port Brother Worriil in any way we can, and we must never
give up. During a retrospective on Harold Washington’s may-
oral tenure earlier this year in Chicago, I heard Worriil say,
‘Yes, our initial lawsuit was denied, but that’s just the begin
ning.” He went on to ask, “Do you know how long it took for
Black people to gain the victories of the past? Do you know how
many lawsuits had to be filed to remedy other wrongs against
us? This is just the start and we will continue to fight no mat
ter how long it takes.”
The same attitude must be applied to these sell-out Black
oi^anizations that do nothing but help hold us down. Their'
leaders are interested in two things: Money in their pockets
and not offending those who give it to them. They will contin
ue to finance our oppression, just like the financiers during
slavery, if we don’t hold them accountable for the dollars we
give them.
JAMES E. CLINGMAN is former editor of the Cincinnati Herald and
founder of the Greater Cincuvuiti African American Chamber of
Conunerce.
You sure can’t blame
Spectrum Properties for ask
ing the city for $9 million to
help build an entertainment
complex on the old conven
tion center site.
After all, the city has given
your tax money to many
companies over the years,
including McDonald's
Restaurant and Hotel on
Beatties Ford Road, Time
Warner Cable, Johnson &
Wales University, Bank of
America Stadium, Rooms to
Go, Convention Center
Hotel, not to mention the
millions lost on the failed
retail project, CityFair and
$300 million for the uptown
arena.
Spectrum is holding pri
vate meetings with elected
officials and the city is doing
a big shell game with your
money. It works like this:
The banks provide $50 mil
lion to help with arena
financing with the under
standing that the city will
repay the banks with city
property or cash from the
sale of city property. The old
convention center property
is given the banks, for $14
million, in part payment of
the $50 million loan. The
banks then sell the old con
vention center to Spectrum
Properties, who now ask the
city to contribute $9 million
to assist in developing the
site.
If the city council accepts
this deal, the city wiU, in fact
have received only $5 million
for the old convention cen
ter.....$14 million from the
banks less $9 million rebate
to Spectrum, equals $5 mil
lion! In the early 1990’s, we
were told that a new conven
tion center would pay for
itself by bringing events and
people uptown...it didn’t. We
were then told, that building
parking and a convention
center hotel was the answer
to poor convention center
attendance....it wasn’t.
Now we’re told that biggest
complaint from bookers of
events at the convention cen
ter is not having something
to do at night and on week
ends, thus the need for an
entertainment complex
.. .and your money to build it.
The uptown power structure
has spent hundreds of mil
lions of dollars in the upto-wn
area, while the politicians
have ignored the rest of us.
Road construction and main
tenance, water run-off, crime
prevention, sidewalk con
struction, garbage collection
and other basic services have
taken a back seat to uptown
investment, mainly forms of
entertainment. If the free
market had been allowed to
determine its value and use,
the old convention center
site could have been sold and
developed years ago. When
it comes to the big money
issues, our town is controlled
by the uptown power struc
ture and our weak-kneed
mayor and city council do
not have the will or the
courage to resist. There is no
reason to believe that this
deal will be any
different...Spectrum will get
the money and you will take
the risk and get the bill!
You just knew it had to
happen. The race card is now
being played in the contro
versy about where to spend
school construction money.
Rev. Casey Kimbrough of
Mount Carmel Baptist
Church supercharges the
racial rhetoric by charging
that shifting of construction
money from low income cen
ter-city areas to the suburbs
“is like robbing hungry chil
dren to feed those who have
plenty.”
His charge, which is
patently false, immediately
transforms the argument
from common sense and rea
son to one of emotion, divi
sion and fear.
If Rev. Kimbrough is look
ing for someone to blame, he.
need like no further than
recent school boards, domi
nated by blacks and liberals,
which used race as the chief
factor in deciding school loca
tions, size, expansions and
repairs. If, instead of inte
gration, education had been
the chief aim of\ our school
system, the savings would
have more than paid for the
repairs to old schools and the
construction of schools in the
areas of growth.
Sadly, school board policies
have contributed to the
dropout problem and the
graduation of thousands
who can barely read and
write. I would be interested
to know just how much
money it is costing the tax
payers to augment the edu
cation of these students
failed by the system, at
CPCC.
DON REID is a former
Charlotte City Council member
and founding member of Citizens
for Effective Government, a con
servative watchdog group.
Life through the eyes of white folks
In America, equal weight is
rarely given to issues that
impact African Americans
Bill
Fletcher
I think that what struck
me was her smile. You must
receive these flyers and post
cards all the time. On one
side is an advertisement. On
the other side is a picture of
one or two people who have
been missing.
The other night I hap
pened to look down at the
mail and saw the picture of a
very pleasant smile. I
stopped and decided to read
the information. It appears
that this woman, and I
assume her son, have been
missing for nearly one year.
I cannot remember ever
hearing anything about
them in the national or local
media. No surprise to you,
the reader, they are both
black.
I have written about this
before, back during the dis
appearance and national
coverage of Chandra Levy,
but once again we witness
the stark contrast in the
manner in which black life is
viewed by this society com
pared to white life. A few
weeks ago a white college
student’s disappearance and
recovery became, for several
days, a national news story.
Let’s leave aside that it
appears that the entire dis
appearance was a charade.
Think about the events
unfolding on this planet: the
Middle East is in flames;
ethnic cleansing is taking
place in the western part of
the Sudan; the U.S. economy
remains sluggish with the
bizarre contrast of some job
creation along with
increased unemployment.
Yet the media has time to
focus on the disappearance
and recovery of a white col
lege student finm Madison,
Wis., but cannot find the
time to call our attention to
the disappearance of Marcia
and Nicholas Candela.
It is not only that there is a
different value put on white
life compared to black life
and that the media insists
that we see the world
through the eyes of white
people. lb put it another
way, if something is not seen
by white people or through
the eyes of white people, for
all intents and purposes, it is
not seen. Thus, the regular
disappearance of black
women and children, in
some cases apparent run
aways, in other cases, kid
nappings, enslavement and
murder, is simply not rele
vant as far as the media is
concerned. It is happening
to a population that seems to
be viewed as only relevant
when it is rioting or enter
taining, not when it is siiffer-
ing.
It is not only a matter of
disappearances that make
one consider this. The
Washington Post recently
ran articles on South Africa,
10 years after the end of
apartheid. The articles could
have been collectively enti
tled “South Africa as seen
through the eyes of white
people.” It was fascinating
that the entire post
apartheid era was interpret
ed largely through the expe
riences of white people. It
was as if the black people
were background to the real
stoiy.
The failure of establish
ment institutions to appreci
ate these two interrelated
problems is as much an
obstacle to the fight for
equality and an end to
racism as is the destruction
of affirmative action. The
devaluing of the black expe
rience and the elevation of
the white viewpoint and
experience undermines the
possibility for the civilizing
of U.S. society. Instead, it
perpetuates the marginal
ization of Black America and
the view of us as the perpet
ual “other,” to be treated
eternally with suspicion, dis
trust and, indeed, hatred.
Let’s look for Marcia and
Nicholas Candela. Perhaps
in searching—and hopefully
finding them — we can also
discover whether humanity
has regained a foothold in
the USA.
BILL FLETCHER is president
of TransAfrica Forum, a
Washington, D.C.-based non
profit educational and organizing
center formed to raise awareness
in the United States about issues
facing the nations and peoples of
Africa, the Caribbean and Latin
America. He also is co-chair of
the anti-war coalition. United for
Peace and Justice (www.united-
forpeace.org). E-mail him at
bfietcher@transafricaforumorg.