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Forty acres and a mule? Conyers reintroduces bill for reparations By HERBERT L. WHITE CONSOLIDATED MEDIA GROUP v Forty acres and a mule haS never been so controversial. The idea of reparations for people of African descent is a hot-button issue not only atnong African Americans but among all Americans. Next week, the National Coalition of Blacks for Repara tions in America will meet in St. Louis for a national conference , that could determine the tone of the reparations debate. N'CO BRA is one of the leadinlg advo cates of reparations. Although the U.S. government has yet to even publicly apologize for slav ery or its effects on African Americans, more blacks are weighing the prds and cons of reparations. Seventy percent of African Americans favor repara tions, according to a poll con ducted by the National Ne\*spa per Publishers Association, a trade group representing black newspapers in the United States. "More people are becoming aware," said Melodye Micere Stewart, co-chair of N'COBRA's Charlotte chapter. "That's the key. As the community becomes informed, we can make an informed decision." America has made repara tions in the past. Japanese Amer icans were compensated for internment in prison camps in World War II, and native peoples have been given land and tax exemptions under terms of treaties signed between their leaders and the government. Black i survivors of the Rose wood, Fla., massacre of 1923 received compensation for their suffering at the hand of whites who destroyed the mostly-blatck town. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reached a S350 million settle ment with black farmers for years of discrimination. As a group whose labor helped build the U.S. economy without pay and bore the burden of racism, reparations is an idea whose time has come, said Robert Brock, a Washington. D.C. attorney who has represented U.S. slave descendants in lawsuits against the government and Internal Revenue Service. "The wealth of America is our legal property," he said, "but we must make our legal claims to get money as others have made their claims and gotten money." That wouldn't work, says D a vy i d Aimasi, director of Project 21, a black con servative consortium. The cost of compensat ing millions of Africans and their descendants would be counterproductive fis cally and socially. "It's a rather silly idea that'll produce more animosity than it's worth," Almasi said. "It's an idea that should've been considered (when slaves were freed after the Civil War). We can extend the hand of friendship and under standing, but we can't consider reparations." Members of the Congression al Black Caucus want the gov ernment to at least study the idea. Rep. John Conyers, D Mich., has introduced a bill that would fund a reparations study commission. The bill, which has been introduced every year since 1989, has failed to win much support outside the caucus, but Conyers remains optimistic. "The time is ripe now to push for a galvanizing of national efforts to put the reparations movement and H.R. 40 at the top of the American agenda," he said. "The president's recent ini tiatives on American race rela tions underscore the longstand ing domestic imperative of heal ing and repairing the suffering from the legacy of slavery and its continuing effects on African Americans today." N'COBRA and the NAACP also back the bill, which will be discussed in St. Louis as a pre cursor to an international forum in Ghana in August. "There'll be studies, but the entire black world should get reparations," Stewart said. "Politically, if that person is black in the way they're treated - like being stopped for driving while black - they should be eli gible." N'COBRA, which is out to recruit 1 million new members, stresses that reparations aren't necessarily about money. Free health care, education and tax exemptions could also be part of the deal. Another progressive group, the Moorish Movement, insists that the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Presi dent Lincoln in 1863 is only one of three provisions for the newly freed slaves. In addition to free dom, the Moors say Lincoln pro vided a congressional represen tative for every 30,000 African Americans, property in what is now the U.S. Midwest and $100 for every U.S. slave in 1863 - about 4 million - paid at 6 per cent interest beginning in 1900. The cost to the American gov ernment, needless to say, would be astronomical. "Where would the U.S. gov ernment find the money to pay everybody," Almasi said. "Our country would be bankrupt in months. It would decimate our system by all the people who would immigrate here to take advantage of reparations." Stewart is amazed that some blacks oppose reparations much like the 1950s and '60s when African Americans questioned the wisdom and methods of civil rights. Once legal discrimination was abolished, everyone benefit ed, which she says woqld likely happen if blacks are compensat ed. "They're going to be the first folk to get iivhtje/to get theirs," Stewart said. "There'll always be those naysayers who say we should be picking cotton or be in segregated sections." Conymr* Briefs from page A2 P serious cereal pest in southern Somalia, threatens the entire crop of the main "Gu" season. This crop is still at a yourig stage. The report of the Food Securi ty Assessment Unit of the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization warns ?<* of major food shortage in Soma lia if the invasion is not stopped. The worm outbreak was first reported ip late April in Rwanda and Burundi, followed by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The worms have destroyed thousands of hectares of cereal crop in these countries. "Should a serious outbreak occur in Somalia, given the absence of a government, there would be no time available for the international community to orga nize and latrhch interventions before irrevocable damage, poten tially of a very large scale, occurs to the 1999 Gu season crop," the FSAU report says. - Judith Achieng for IPS Renowned saxophonist dies COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Ernie Wilkins, an American-born composer and saxophonist who played with Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Lionel Hampton, died Saturday of a stroke. He was 79. Born Ernest Brooks Wilkins Jr. in St. Loitis, he got his big break in 1951 when trumpeter Clark Terry recommended him to Count Basie. In the late 1950s, Wilkins joined Dizzy Gillespie's band, and later went on to write for Tommy Dorsey and Lionel Hampton. Though Wilkins won wide acclaim for arranging and com I posing, he never lost his love for playing sax. In the 1960s, he and Terry recorded "One Foot in the Gutter," which features a four minute solo by Wilkins. Wilkins moved to Copen hagen in 1980 and started his own orchestra, Ernie Wilkins and His Almost Big Band. He also was guest conductor with several other bands. The list of musicians he worked with included Earl Hines, Sonny Rollins, Milt Jackson, Sarah Vaughn, Lena Home and Quincy Jones. Wilkins retired in 1991 after suffering a stroke. ' 1 Presidential hug r> . i? : 1 Associated Press photo by Doug Mills Praiidant Clinton moott with Mitt Stop thm Violoneo National Quoon Soteily Conoy of Ctfrttdmn, N.J., in tho Roto Gordon of tho Whito Houto latt wook. Tho protidont urgod Hollywood and vidoo-gamo makort to "thow tomo rottraint" in uting bloody imagot to markot thoir warot. Clinton ordorod a govorn mont invottigation Tuotday of how tho ontortainmont buti nott morkott vio loneo to childron. ^THEAOTimcmJDIOSCIIOOLFO^IffiraRFOR!SGA5l^| 1415 SOUTH MAIN STREET ? WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. 27127 ? JANICE PRICE-HINTON ? ARTISTIC DIRECTOR M ^ PROUDLY PRESENTS WmVJr 2ND ANNUAL WSr PERFORMING ARTS ? RECITAL aa a-\ r-\ r^rwrfc i?k/~\ r nil Mramiri / SUNDAY JUNE 13?, 1999 / 4:00 pm / kenneth r. williams auditorium / on the campus of winston-salem state university / HOSTED BY: for ticket / wanda starke of wxii news channel 12 information / and please call / buster brown of 102 jamz (336) 723*7473 Pari of the proceeds go to raise funds for an Animal and VAC Emergency Vehicle for the Human Solution Society I The Chronicle's e-mail address is: wschron@ netunlimited.net Transitions... For the change&n^^ Evening College Programs BHNHHfl|H|H^^^^A : at a&t ? ???iiw wsgm y For further information, contact Phyllis Cole Office of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions (336) 334-7607 ? 1-888-323-OCES Fax (336) 334-7081 or visit 1020 E. Wendover Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27405 I With FHA's new I . H I higher loan limits, I ( , - ; . I you can buy your I dream home. * y Since 1934 we've helped over 26 million Americans get into new homes. And starting this year, HUD can help you get a home loan for WT C^B 4 up to $208,800. Be sure to check with your lender to find out what FHA-insured loan limits are in your area. We can also help you PM^EPjfl|^P with any questions you might have. Just call 1 -800-HUDSf HA and ask PP^^ for our free 100 Questions and Answers brochure. If II tell you how to get an FHA loan for as little as 3% down. How to choose the right lender. How to prepare yourself for the homebuying process. And much more. In fact, if you're looking for a home, it's all "I /| ? the information you need. HUD and FHA are on your ode.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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June 10, 1999, edition 1
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