5A
OPINIONS/ The Charlotte Post
October 26, 1996
Black conservative defines American Dream
By Rep. J.C. Watts
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
When it comes to" the American dream, no one has a
comer on the market. All of us have an equal chance to
share in that dream. I never thought I would have the
privilege of addressing the American people, but this is
America where dreams still come tme...
People are dying to get into this country... not out of it.
It is still the greatest, most prosperous, most powerful
nation on the face of the earth and it produces hundreds
of thousands of dreams-come-true every day... This past
year, I had the opportunity to travel the country and
meet the people who are chan^ng lives, one heart at a
time...These people working in the trenches and suffer
ing with those who suffer, understand compassion. They
understand compassion can’t be dispensed from a safe
distance by a faceless bureaucrat sitting in an air condi
tioned office in Washington, D.C...
We (Republicans] don’t define compassion by how
many people are on welfare, or AFDC, or living in public
housing. We define compassion by how few people are on
welfare, AFDC, and [in] public housing, because we have
given them the means to climb the ladder of success....
Compassion can’t be measured in dollars and cents. It
does come ^th a price tag, but that price tag isn’t the
amount of money spent. The price tag is love - being able
to see people as they can be and not as they are. The
measure of a man is not how great his faith is, but how
great his love is. We must not let gov
ernment programs disconnect our
souls from each other... Bob Dole
understands Washington can’t teach
people right from wrong, dry their
tears, or help a child with his home
work. Bob Dole understands it’s people
helping people, neighbor helping
neighbor....there is one title I cherish a
great deal more than congressman and
that is the title of Dad.
So, indulge me while I say a word to
the kids... Young people, America
needs you. If our country is going to continue to be great,
if it is going to continue to be strong, you are going to
have to do your part. You are going to have to fight for
America. Fight against skipping school and cheating on
your papers. Fight against driving too fast and disobey
ing your parents. Fight against cursing and smoking.
And fight, fight with every fiber of your being against
drugs and alcohol.
I Imow, I know. You’ve heard all of this before and you
probably think that J.C. Watts is just another old fash
ioned grown-up and if you’re thinking that, you’re right.
Just ask my five kids - Keisha, Jerrelle, Jennifer, Trey,
Watts
and Julie. I know it’s tough. That’s why I’m asking you to
fight and be counted as a leader. You can help your
friends find the courage to say no to the things that make
them weak. And yes to the things that make them
strong. You see, character does count. For too long we
have gotten by in a society that says the only thing right
is to get by and the only thing wrong is to get caught.
Character is doing what’s right when nobody is looking...
Parents and adults, I don’t just challenge the youth. I
challenge you. For what we build and nourish and
encourage in our youth today, is what our country will
look like 20 years from now. The American Dream is
about becoming the best you can be. It’s not about your
bank account, the kind of car you drive, pr the brand of
clothes you wear. It’s about using your gifts and abilities
to be all that God meant for you to be.
Whether your dream is to be a doctor, teacher, engi
neer, or congressman. If you can dream it, you can do it.
The American Dream is the promise that if you study
hard, work hard, and dedicate yourself, you can be what
ever you want to be... In my wildest imagination, I never
thought that the fifth of six children bom to Helen and
Buddy Watts - in a poor black neighborhood, in the poor
rural community of Eufaula, Oklahoma — would some
day be called congressman. But then, this is America...
where dreams come tme.
Rep. J.C. WATTS is a Republican representing the
Fourth District of Oklahoma This was originally a speech
delivered Aug. 13 at the Republican national convention.
Reviving America’s progressive movement
Manning
Marable
What approach should we
take to revive the African-
American and the progressive
movements in the United
States? What challenges and
tasks are ahead as we confront
the 1996 election?
Labor leaders, liberals and the
civil rights community are
already saying that our only
political alternative is to
endorse President Clinton and
the Democratic Party. Certainly
the election of Republican chal
lenger Robert Dole would be a
disaster for black people.
, Remember Dole’s refusal to
{ speak at the NAACP’s annual
i convention this summer; sneer-
; ing that Kweisi Mfume was
'Trying to set me up.” Yet if we
; follow a strategy which focuses
..solely on the presidential cam
paign, we will limit our effec
tiveness in changing the para
meters of American politics. We
should approach electoral poli
tics from the vantage point of
building movements for social
justice. We need to enhance the
organizational capacity and
effectiveness of institutions
which are sites for democratic
resistance and grass roots mobi
lization.
There are four key compo
nents in this strategy for pro
gressive political change: build
ing institutions which empower
working class and poor people;
initiating protests involving civil
disobedience and direct action;
supporting independent political
activities and organizations;
and isolating and defeating the
right.
It is absolutely clear that the
Far Right deliberately manipu
lates racism as a tool to polarize
voters. Many of the issues which
will define the 1996 election -
affirmative action, minority
scholarships at universities,
majority minority legislative
districts. Proposition 187 - all
involve race. Yet black people
must become more active in
building movements that bring
people from many different
racial and ethnic backgrounds
to fight for common concerns.
Problems like poverty, inade
quate housing and health care
don’t have a solution that
applies solely to one race.
Especially in urban centers, we
need to support and strengthen
institutions which advocate the
interest of working and poor
people.
Two types of these institutions
are labor unions and communi
ty-based organizations. With
new national leadership the
AFL-CIO is attempting to
reverse decades of decline.
Throughout the country, unions
are making new efforts in orga
nizing low wage workers, who
are disproportionately Latino
and black. Community-based
organizations are active in a
whole range of activities, from
struggles around public trans
portation to environmental
racism. The most dynamic
forms of democratic resistance
occur when labor and communi
ty groups collaborate with each
other. In Chicago, ACORN and
SEIU local 880 have initiated a
“Chicago Jobs and Living Wage
Campaign,” which includes 60
union locals, community and
church groups. When ACORN
organized 200 home care work
ers in Chicago, that mobiliza
tion sparked the development of
an SEIU local that has over
11,000 members.
Second, we should revive
many of the protest tactics of
civil disobedience and nonvio
lence to confront our opponents.
We wiU recall that in the 1950s
and 1960s, Martin Luther King
Jr., and the Civil Rights organi
zations such as the Southern
Christian Leadership
Conference and the Congress of
Racial Equality used passive
resistance as an effective protest
technique to challenge segrega
tion. Today’s barrier of color and
class, however, is social inequal
ity, challenged by struggles for a
living wage, employment, uni
versal health care, education
and housing. The nation has
moved rapidly toward greater
socfoeconomic inequality, reduc
ing the wages of millions of fam
ilies, as social programs have
been slashed. Progressives and
activists can make the case that
the growing divisions of race,
class and gender, the decline of
real wages and the destruction
of social services create the con
ditions for a nonviolent resis
tance movement.
One model is provided by the
struggles surrounding a news
paper strike in Detroit. Weekly
blockades of the newspaper’s
headquarters have led to over
300 arrests, including public
officials, feminists, anti-racist
activists and religious leaders.
As the anti-apartheid struggle a
decade ago illustrated, people
from various classes and races
can be inspired and mobilized if
the cause is just and if the tar
get for active resistance ts clear.
, Third, progressives must
emphasize creative and inde
pendent activism inside the
electoral arena. This includes
support for independent move
ments like the New Party which
are running candidates in local
races. More importantly, an
innovative approach to elec-
toralism is represented by
acorn’s “living wage” referen
da campaigns. We must support
efforts to move our electoral sys
tem toward proportional repre
sentation.
MANNING MARABLE is
director of the Institute for
Research in African-American
Studies, Columbia University.
Newest U.S. business is prison industry complex
Bernice P.
Jackson
Twice within a few days I
heard a new term which sent
chills down my spine.
The term was “prison industri
al complex.” It signaled the
recognition of the fact that our
economy has gone through one
more dramatic change — from
the post-World War II military
industrial complex referred to
by President Eisenhower to the
present day when prisons are
the growth industry. We’ve gone
from a nation which builds mis
siles to one which builds pris-
The first time I heard the term
was in a National Public Radio
story about Dannemora, N.Y.
which houses a large prison. The
prison is the town’s largest
employer and it is the only place
many of the guards have ever
encountered black or Hispanic
men and their racism is evident.
Many of the businesses in the
town are dependent on the
guards and prison employees and
the wives and mothers who come
to visit the prisoners. Without the
prison, many people in
Dannemora would be out of work.
Prison business is big business
in America and not just in
Dannemora. Millions of dollars
are spent each year in building
more prisons. Millions of dollars
are spent in purchasing uniforms,
linens, beds, paper and other
products. Tens of millions are
spent on salaries of guards,
counselors, doctors and nurses
and prison administrators.
The prison industry is a
growth industry, so much so
that private corporations have
entered the business.
One of the most frightening
aspects of the prison industry is
that the majority of those incar
cerated are people of color. The
majority of those working in the
industry are not.
And then there is death row.
As of fall, 1995 there were 3,045
inmates sitting on death rows in
the United States. Over half of
them are people of color. Just
about all of them are poor.
Most death row inmates are
represented by court-appointed
attorneys. In many jurisdictions
there are no requirements of
proficiency and experience for
such attorneys even though cap
ital cases are extremely com
plex. The court-appointed attor
ney must ask for funds from the
court each time experts in
pathology, ballistics, substance
abuse and mental health are
used. There are very limited
funds available for private
investigation.
A recent study by the
American Friends Service
Committee on Native
Americans on death row found
that in over 70 percent of the
cases, native Americans on
death row had been substance
abusers and that this substance
abuse was a controlling part of
the inmates life before he com
mitted the crime. Too often such
factors are not taken into
account by prosecutors or juries.
What does it mean that we
have chosen to invest in prisons
rather than in education and
prevention for tens of thousands
of our young people? What does
it mean for a democracy that
one of its fastest growing indus
tries is one which imprisons
over a million citizens? What
does it mean that people of color
are overrepresented in the
prison population and especial
ly, on death row? What does it
mean for us all when we have
coined a new phrase - the
prison industrial complex?
BERNICE JACKSON is exec
utive director of the Commission
for Racial Justice in Cleveland,
Ohio.
The genocide coverup and crack cocaine in America
By Conrad Worrill
SPECIAL TO THE POST
I’he San Jose Mercury News
series on the CIA involvement
in cov-uine distribution to the
Crips and Bloods in Los
Angeles, in which the profits
were used to finance the CIA
backed contra army in
Nicaragua, has caused quite a
stir in the African community in
America.
This series appeared in mid-
August and was authored by
.Mercury News staff writer Gary
Webb. Through the Final Call
newspaper, the series was
revealed in its Sept. 3 issue.
Reps. Maxine Waters, the Rev
Jesse Jackson and a host of
African leaders in America have
demanded the CIA be investi
gated. The response by the CIA,
through its director, John
Deutch, have attempted, thus
far, to cover up and deny any
knowledge of CIA involvement
in this affair. The Justice
Department, through Attorney
General Janet Reno, has taken
the same position.
Most of the major white news
papers, radio and television sta
tions have refused to address
the revelations of the Mercury
News series. However, the
African oriented and owned
media outlets have taken the
lead in presenting the facts of
this series to the public. Gary
Webb, Congresswoman Maxine
Waters, Rev Jesse Jackson and
others have appeared on several
TV and radio shows discussing
the impact of this issue.
Just like the response from
the verdict rendered in the O.J.
Simpson trial where most
Africans in America agreed with
the not guilty verdict and most
white people were angered, and
outraged, we can observe a simi
lar response to the Mercury
News series.
African people in America
believe the facts of this case and
most white people don’t. White
people don’t want to believe that
their government, through the
CIA, “sold tons of cocaine to the
Crips and Bloods street gangs of
Los Angeles and funneled mil
lions in drug profits to a Latin
American guerrilla army ran by
the U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency.” African people ~
America witness on a daily
basis the impact of negative
government policies on our
lives.
Therefore, the Mercury News
series only reinforced what most
African people in this country
have been discussing for years
in terms of the government’s
role in the drug epidemic and its
impact on African people.
Clearly, throughout African
peoples sojourn in America, evi
dences of government practices
of genocide being practiced
against us has been revealed
time and time again. Most
notably, the practice of genocide
was uncovered when Paul
Robeson led a delegation to the
United Nations in 1951 to pre
sent the historic Petition for
relief from the crime of genocide
by the United States govern
ment.
Of course the United States
government denied this charge,
just as they are denying their
involvement in the CIA, contra
and street organizations distrib
ution and selling of drugs to
African communities through
out the country as revealed in
the San Jose Mercury News
series.
CONRAD WORRILL is chair
man of the National Black
United Front in Chicago.
Letters to The Post
Learn about us
When are we, as black peo
ple going to learn “it’s OK” for
our children to learn about
their African culture? 1
applaud Anne Jenkins, a
Winston-Salem teacher for
her Afrocentric kindergarten
class. Sad to say, her class is
considered the first of its kind
in North Carolina. To teach
anything else to a classroom
comprised of black children
shouldn’t be the norm.
As far as any whites who
would be concerned with this
type of class breeding anti
white behavior, are we to sur
mise that European history
being taught throughout our
lives has bred anti-black
results. I would think intelli
gent well-informed whites
would realize once a culture
as rich as ours has been
taught and understood, these
children will always be “on
top and not on the bottom.” Is
that the fear?
The student body at the
school in Winston-Salem is 95
percent black per your report
ing. This particular class was
open to everyone and the
teacher is following the
state’s guidelines, yet there
are people who are sitting
back watching to see if the
class is going to work.
Perhaps if those same people
got off their chairs and invest
ed time in this effort they
could aid in the success. This
program is already successful
by the mere fact of these
youth (at their age) probably
having a better handle early
on of their history than most
of their parents. If this effort
fails, (and I don’t see how that
could happen) those who-
could do, but didn’t for fear of
“rockin’ the boat” have caused
it to fail, not Ms. Jenkins’
effort. On the other hand I
would think the Black leaders
alone in the Winston-Salem
community have by now
flooded Ms. Jenkins class
room ’to give her any support
she needs. '
We scarcely, if we do it at
all, teach our children their
heritage from their early
years, yet spend our weekend
time trying to educate them
through African art, dance,
etc. This sends them a mixed
message of our historical
importance, especially when
we try to de-program them in
February of being so knowl
edgeable of the European his
tory they have been daily
taught in class. Weekend
programs are better than
nothing at all, but wouldn't
children fare better “growing
up” with history.
According to the principal,
Bobby Robinson, this class is
an “experiment” for children
to leain about their culture
and who they are. By now we
should be accustomed to
experiments — remember the
Tuskeegee syphillis study —
this one won't be such a bitter
pill, hopefully! One of the dis
cussion topics at 'The African
American Male National
Council Conference will be
“Are separate school the solu
tion for African American
males? If you have read any
current statistics about black
youth (alone) or visited any
management schools lately
you would know we have
nothing to lose at this point.
On any given day, the black
males who are school age and
not in school would fill sever
al classrooms. We would be
wise to “experiment” turning
a management school into
one whereby they could learn
a trade while learning their
culture.
On Nov. 8, “A Slave Ship
Speaks” will be on exhibition
at Spirit Square. This may be
the closest some of us will get,
to an unearthed “reality
check.” The human cargo
transported on that slave
ship never had a choice after
being transported here.
NORA CHAMBERS
Charlotte
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