The DISH

Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use

Vol. 12 Issue 23…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…June 7, 2009

Venue for an Artist

Slow Dance

By A Cancer Patient

Have you ever watched kids

On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain

Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Do you run through each day

On the fly?

When you ask How are you?

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done

Do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

Running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Ever told your child,

We'll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,

Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time

To call and say,'Hi'

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift....

Thrown away.

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower

Hear the music before the song is over.

About Me: According to the email accompanying this lovely poem, the poet is a 16-year-old terminally ill cancer patient. She has requested that this poem be sent to as many people as possible. The email indicated that the American Cancer Society will donate 3 cents per name to her treatment and recovery plan.

Bit of History

Black Wall Street: Race Riot of 1921

By early 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma was a modern city with a population of more than one hundred thousand. It was also a deeply troubled and divided city. Crime rates were high and vigilantism rampant. Like several other states and territories in the early twentieth century, lynchings were not uncommon in Oklahoma. Between 1907 and 1921, thirty-two individuals -- twenty-six of whom were black -- were lynched in Oklahoma. In August 1920, a white mob lynched a Jewish teenager accused of murder. According to newspaper reports, the Tulsa police did little to protect the lynching victim, who was taken from his jail cell at the county courthouse.

Most of Tulsa's ten thousand black residents lived in Greenwood, a commercial district so prosperous it was known as "the Negro Wall Street" (now commonly referred to as "the Black Wall Street"). Greenwood was home to two newspapers, several churches, a library branch, and scores of black-owned businesses; many of the residents owned homes in this vibrant black community. There was a great deal of anti-black sentiment and resentment as a result of this commercial success.

Around 4 PM on May 31, 1921, Dick Rowland, a nineteen-year old black shoeshiner employed at a Main Street shine parlor, entered the elevator at the rear of the nearby Drexel Building at 319 South Main Street en route to the 'colored' washroom on the top floor. He encountered Sarah Page, the seventeen-year old white elevator operator. It is unclear precisely what transpired between the two young people, but Page screamed and Rowland, no doubt fearing for his life, fled to his mother's house in the Greenwood District.

On June 1, Rowland was arrested and detained at the county courthouse. Sensational media reports, claiming Rowland had tried to rape Page, inflamed white sentiment. Offers by armed black men to protect Rowland from vigilantes were turned down. By midnight, a lynch mob had formed. When vigilantes failed to lynch Rowland, the mob turned its anger on blacks, in general, and Greenwood, in particular.

Blacks tried to defend their homes and businesses, but they were no match for the air and ground assault that devastated Greenwood. The vast majority of Tulsa's black population was made homeless. Many were rounded up and placed in detention centers. Despite efforts by the white establishment to force the relocation of the black community, within days of the riot, black Tulsans began rebuilding Greenwood. Thousands were forced to spend the winter of 1921-22 living in tents. Once quiet was restored, a brief investigation concluded no assault occurred. In fact, Rowland was later exonerated by an all-white jury that blamed the riot on black Tulsans.

The Tulsa riot left an estimated 10,000 homeless, 35 city blocks composed of 1,256 residences were destroyed by fire, and $1.8 million (nearly $21 million in 2007 dollars) in property damage. While a mere thirty-nine people were officially reported killed in the riot, ten of whom were white, a Red Cross report estimated 300 perished. Other estimates range as high as 3,000, based on the number of grave diggers and other circumstances. No archaeological and forensic work needed to confirm the number of dead has been performed.

In 1997, the Tulsa Race Riot Commission was created to study and develop an "historical account" of the riot. On February 21, 2001, the Commission delivered its report, which included recommendations for direct payment of reparations to survivors and descendants of the Tulsa race riot, a scholarship fund, establishment of an economic development enterprise zone in the historic area of the Greenwood District and a memorial for the reburial of the remains of the victims of the Tulsa race riot. Falling short of the Commission's recommendations, in June 2001, the Oklahoma state legislature passed the "1921 Tulsa Race Riot Reconciliation Act," which provided 300+ college scholarships for descendants of Greenwood residents, mandated the creation of a memorial to those who died in the riot, and called for new efforts to promote economic development in Greenwood.

Five elderly survivors of the riot, led by a legal team including Johnnie Cochran and Charles Ogletree, filed suit against the city of Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma (Alexander, et al., v. Oklahoma, et al.) in February 2003, based on the findings of the 2001 report. The federal district and appellate courts dismissed the suit citing the statute of limitations on the 80-year-old case; the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal. In April 2007, Ogletree appealed to the U.S. Congress to pass a bill extending the statute of limitations for the case. (Sources: www.montgomerycollege.edu, http://en.wikipedia.org and http://digital.library.okstate.edu)

News You Use

Fighting High Tax Appraisals

By John Burl Smith

On May 19, 2009, five DeKalb County Property owners filed suit challenging 2009 property appraisals by the DeKalb Board of Tax Assessors and the collections by its Tax Commissioner. These plaintiffs are seeking a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction to compel the Tax Assessor and Chief Appraiser to immediately comply with Section 1 of SB 55, a newly passed state law.

SB 55 became affective January 1, 2009; it mandated that "Foreclosure sales, bank sales and other financial institutional owned sales, or distressed sales, or any combination there of; or comparable real property" be considered in determining assessed tax values. Also, assessed values must abide by HB 233, which was signed into law on May 5, 2009; it placed a moratorium on all assessments of "the value on all classes of all subjects of property which are subject to ad valorem taxes." In other words, not only is it possible that the DeKalb County Tax Assessor and Chief Appraiser violated the law in the way they made assessments, but they were barred from increasing property taxes for 2009 as well.

Without the diligence of the watchful eye of the DeKalb County Taxpayers Association (DCTA), taxpayers in DeKalb County would be at the mercy of these villains. Organized by Stan Sugarman, a DeKalb resident, DCTA is dedicated to supporting legal action to insure the just enactment and enforcement of laws affecting the citizens and taxpayers of DeKalb County. The DCTA retained Buckhead Attorney John Woodham to represent the interest of DeKalb taxpayers in this suit, but individual property owners must take up the fight against any unjust and illegal effort to use the tax code to bleed DeKalb County property owners to cover revenue shortfalls.

As DeKalb County residents and taxpayers, Dot and I have battled the county assessors office almost yearly as the appraised value of our home for tax purposes our taxes has risen from a low of $69,000 in 1998 to a whooping $120,000 for 2008, up from $114,000 in 2006. After being the victim of serial increased assessments on our dwelling for the last decade, this year our appraised land value jumped from $16,000 in 2006 to $27,500 for 2008. We appealed this assessment based on the high number of foreclosures and rental properties in our land lot. However, the Board of Equalization, in denying our appeal, said, "We do not consider foreclosures or bank sales, and your property was considered against comparable properties in other parts of the county, not property in your land lot."

The fact that our property sits in the middle of a neighborhood surrounded by foreclosed and rental properties and has had no major improvement in facilities and services over the past decade can be ignored and appraisers can travel to areas where the neighborhoods are better to find similar dwellings and base our assessment on those houses as equal is not only unfair and underhanded but deceptive to buyers. Buyers look at the neighborhood in which a house is located and judge its value based on its surroundings, rather than homes in other land lots.

Many DeKalb homeowners find themselves in similar circumstances and tell similar stories, but did not appeal their assessment for 2008 or 2009. But, thanks to the lawsuit initiated by the DCTA, they have the opportunity to address their unfair assessment by joining the DCTA effort. DCTA needs the support of all DeKalb homeowners who received tax increases for 2009. The Tax Assessors' office claimed in the media it was sending out 95,000 notices to residents eligible for reassessments and appeals. I am convinced that the lawsuit is the only way taxpayers can force officials who knowingly break the law to obey it.

If you received a tax increase for 2009, you should join the lawsuit. That is the only way you can be sure you get a just hearing and a chance for a reassessment. Just as important, if one hundred residents join the suit, we can demand that the court dismiss the current tax assessor and a new one can be chosen. To join the lawsuit, contact Stan Sugarman at 404-643-1982 or email stansugar@gmail.com.

Politics Y2K9

SEC Slaps Subprime King on Wrist

On Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Los Angeles filed a civil lawsuit in federal court charging Angelo Mozilo, former CEO of the nation's top home lender- Countrywide Financial - of securities fraud and insider trading. According to federal regulators, Mozilo made more than $139 million in profits in 2006 and 2007 from exercising 5.1 million in stock options and selling the underlying shares. The lawsuit alleges the four prearranged stock trading plans were prepared during the time period in which the sales were executed. That would be about the time the housing market was imploding.

Mozilo, who is known for his deep bronze tan, flamboyant attire and aggressive business style, built Countrywide Financial into the nation's top home lender during the housing bubble. At the height of its success in 2006, Countrywide originated $461 billion in home loans. More than $40 billion or nearly 9 percent of the total was in subprime mortgages.

In 2007, even as the housing bubble began to deflate with rising home foreclosures and mortgage defaults, Mozilo made millions. Awarded $22.1 million in compensation that year, he also exercised stock options valued at $121.5 million.

Mozilo continued to get rich, even though Countrywide was on the verge of collapse. By the end of 2007, with curtailed credit from its lenders, Countrywide was forced to draw down an $11.5 billion credit line that proved insufficient to stem the bleeding as its subprime loans grew more toxic. As the housing market deteriorated, Mozilo maintained the company would survive.

In 2008, Bank of America acquired Countrywide for $2.5 billion, less than 10 percent of what the company was worth in early 2007. Earlier this year, Bank of America scrapped the Countrywide name.

Mozilo, who is now considered the poster boy of subprime lending, urged mortgage banking executives at a 2008 conference to be careful in blaming themselves for the housing debacle. Instead, Mozilo faults the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates for too long, crooked real estate speculators, falling home prices and regulators' attacks on subprime mortgages.

Still rich and tan, Mozilo contends the stock trades were legal. At age 70, Mozilo will more than likely not spend time in jail. He may have to pay a fine, if found guilty. Any penalty he pays for fraud and insider trading will do nothing for the millions of former and current homeowners that lost equity and more as a result of his mortgage lending practices. At this stage in the housing debacle, the SEC's slap on the subprime king's wrist for insider trading and securities fraud are merely window dressing.

Hood Notes

EEOC Sues Wieland Homes

On April 30, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit against Atlanta-based John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, Inc., a homebuilder that has developed numerous subdivisions in majority black south DeKalb County. The EEOC lawsuit alleges the homebuilder intentionally assigned sales agents to housing communities based on race, a practice that led to black agents earning significantly less than their white counterparts, who were assigned to housing communities where they sold higher-priced homes. According to the EEOC, Wieland Homes' practice of assigning sales agents to housing communities based on race violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Ironically, EEOC began its investigation of Wieland Homes when Michelle Mouser, a white human resources representative, filed a discrimination charge with the agency. Mouser, who was responsible for recruiting sales agents to work onsite at Wieland's new housing communities under construction, said that the company's management expressly stated that the goal was to hire and assign employees whose race corresponded with the predominant population of each community.

"Therefore, Mouser was told that she could not hire qualified African-American sales agents for communities with predominantly Caucasian populations. When Mouser complained about the company's discriminatory practices to management officials, no action was taken. Because management failed to act and Mouser could not participate in the illegal hiring practices, she felt forced to resign," according to the EEOC lawsuit.

The EEOC is seeking back pay, compensatory and punitive damages for Mouser and the affected African-American sales agents for the period beginning in 2003. The lawsuit is also seeking injunctive relief to prevent discrimination from recurring in the future.

According to Bernice Williams-Kimbrough, EEOC's Atlanta district office director, who acknowledges race discrimination is still an insidious, but prevalent form of discrimination, "All employees, regardless of their racial heritage, are entitled to a workplace free of racial discrimination."

DISHing It Up Hot!

On PEW Report!

By Dot

The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center in Washington, DC, used demographic and homeownership data provided by the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) and Current Population Survey (CPS), foreclosure data from RealtyTrac^®, loan data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), labor market data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and home prices from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in compiling its report Through Boom and Bust: Minorities, Immigrants and Homeownership. Published in early May, the report found that the nation's minorities and immigrants experienced greater gains and losses in homeownership over the past decade and a half (1995-2004) than whites.

Specifically, the report found that homeownership for all Americans declined from its 2004 peak of 69 percent to 67.8 percent in 2008. The decline in homeownership rates, much like the national pattern of unemployment, fell disproportionately on minority groups, especially black American households. For example, change in the homeownership rate for whites mimicked the decline in the national rate, which fell 1.2 percent. The white homeownership rated peaked in 2004 at 76.1 percent before declining in 2008 to 74.9 percent.

On the other hand, while Latinos experienced a longer period of growth in homeownership, peaking in 2006 at 49.8 percent, their 2008 homeownership rate declined 0.9 percent to 48.9 percent. For black Americans, the homeownership rate fell from 49.4 percent in 2004 to 47.5 percent in 2008, by far the largest percentage decline (1.9 percent) of the three demographic groups examined.

As a result of the gains and losses over the course of the boom and bust of the housing market, the homeownership gap between white and minority households remains significant. The homeownership rates for Asians (59.1 percent), blacks (47.5 percent) and Latinos (48.9 percent) are well below the 74.9 percent among whites.

The Pew report suggests that the homeownership gains experienced by minority households from 1995 to 2004 were disproportionately tied to subprime lending. Blacks and Latinos were more than twice as likely as whites to have subprime loans, which were meant for borrowers with low credit scores and typically required no down payment. Subprime loans also carried higher interest rates than conventional loans. Based on other studies, we know that minorities, especially blacks, were steered into the subprime market, even when their credit scores and incomes were comparable to whites that received conventional loans at lower interest rates.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that, as the economy declined and jobs were lost, minorities, particularly blacks who experience unemployment rates historically twice that of whites, would lose their homes disproportionately in foreclosure as well. For more on the Pew report, visit www.pewhispanic.org/.

Mailbox: E-mails, Faxes and Telephone Calls

Email caseycom@gmail.com ...Job losses, housing market driving more bankruptcies...Lita Epstein...Bankruptcy filings rose to 6,000 per day and are expected to increase to 1.5 million this year, up from 1.1 million in 2008, according to a report from Automated Access to Court Electronic Records in USA Today. When the new bankruptcy law was passed in 2005, 2 million people rushed into bankruptcy before the law took effect, since bankruptcy filings dropped drastically. Now they're almost back to what they were because, as many consumer advocates expected, bankruptcy was not the purview of the wealthy deadbeats, but is truly the last refuge for those in serious financial trouble who need a way to get a fresh financial start. David Jones, president of the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies, blames the problem on job losses, the disastrous housing market and medical bills. These are the same three things that have driven people to bankruptcy for years.

Email www.cnn.com ...Foreclosure: Now an Upscale Blight...By Peter Coy ...With the U.S. economy and financial markets showing signs of life, optimistic analysts are looking for a recovery in the all-important housing sector. They got some ammunition on June 2 from the National Association of Realtors, which said that its Pending Home Sales Index jumped in April by the most in more than seven years. But housing can't revive as long as the market is being flooded with homes that are falling into foreclosure. And far from going away, the problem is broadening. It's not just about subprime anymore. Now, people with excellent credit who never dreamed of getting in financial trouble are being dragged down by a dangerous cycle of rising unemployment and falling home prices. That is going to prolong the foreclosure crisis and, inevitably, inhibit the recovery of the rest of the economy.

Email www.atlantavoice.com ...Hip Hop artists join campaign to end foreclosure in Atlanta...By Tianna Faulkner...Grammy award-winning artists Mary J. Blige and Antwon "Big Boi" Patton of the multi-platinum phenomenon OutKast, in conjunction with Neighbor Works America, Resources for Residents and Communities (RRC), and the Hope Now Alliance, came together on one accord for the "Bringing Hope Home" foreclosure prevention campaign, in an effort to help end metro Atlanta's current foreclosure crisis. Atlanta is the second city in the "Bringing Hope Home" national tour. Blige and Patton are among a list of entertainers who have committed to supporting this foreclosure prevention initiative.