Volume 2 Issue 31..….Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…… August 13, 1999

Note: The DISH is based on themes from T.H.I.N.C. (Teaching Humanity In New Consciousness): The Chrysalis of Evolution. According to the President's Initiative on Race, "The issues that this book brings to the forefront are important in our efforts to achieve the goals set forth by the President for the Initiative. This work will serve as a solid resource for us as we begin to examine these critical issues." For your copy of T.H.I.N.C., The DISH or to submit comments, contact ICIM, Inc. at (404) 241-5942. Fax us at (404) 244-6023 or e-mail us.

by Dot Smith

DeKalb's Majority-to-Minority program, which basically buses black children to majority white schools, was never a "good" idea for providing equal educational opportunities for black children. The Southeastern Legal Foundation (SELF) should be thanked for highlighting M-to-M's shortcomings. However, SELF's request to be paid, because it threatened to sue is another matter. If the county agrees to this bribery, it would add insult to injury.

DeKalb's M-to-M program owes its birth to a tradition of racial discrimination. Phi Delta Kappa's curriculum audit shows resource allocation still favors majority white schools. SELF's public antics do nothing to help black children caught in this cycle of less. Moreover, SELF did not file a lawsuit. Whether it would prevail in a court of law is undetermined.

Buckling under SELF's persuasion, DeKalb's school board agreed to end M-to-M and legitimized SELF as a force to be reckoned with. We thank SELF for pointing out M-to-M's failure in achieving educational equality. However, on behalf of the county's majority black residents, the school board must refuse SELF's shameless request for money.

Had SELF been concerned with bettering conditions for a majority of the school system's children, then the organization's altruism would have been reflected in proposals to replace M-to-M. Instead, it narrowly focused on dismantlement. Giving SELF a cent sends the wrong message to those who claim to operate in the public's interest. DeKalb needs a no-lawsuit-no-payment policy for selfish public pirates. More Hot Topics

Kudos to metro Atlanta black leaders for standing firm in their resolve to save affirmative action! Southeastern Legal Foundation (SELF), a conservative GOP affiliated organization, is in the forefront of efforts to turn back the clock on any advancements made by minorities in the last thirty years. On the heels of its success in ending DeKalb's M-to-M program, SELF threatened to sue the city of Atlanta over its affirmative action program. While the DeKalb school board capitulated, a coalition headed by Atlanta Major Bill Campbell and the Black Chamber of Commerce vowed to "fight to the death for affirmative action." The coalition intents to wage a war on all fronts, from the streets and boardrooms to the courts. Affirmative action will not be negotiated to death with SELF. United, Atlanta black men are a force to be reckoned with. Kudos to metro Atlanta's black leaders! More Kudos

On Saturday, August 21, 1999, Righteous Vibes presents Soul Confiscation live in concert with DJ Jamal (WCLK) at Soul Vegetarian Restaurant. Yohannes Sharriff Smith, Atlanta's own poet in residence, will host Spoken Word. The night promises to be an evening to remember with good food, music and spoken word to nourish the mind, body and soul.

Doors open at 8 PM. A cover charge of $5.00 before 10 PM is in effect. It is definitely worth it. Be a part of a night to remember. Soul Vegetarian Restaurant is located in the West End at 879 Ralph D. Abernathy Blvd. For more information call 404-386-9316. More Vibes

by John Burl Smith

Participants of Turnout 75%: The Richard L. Kirksey, Jr. Memorial Foundation is concerned about the impact of poverty on young African Americans, like fifteen year-old Bridgett Steward (Escaping Webster County AJC 6-27-99). Victims trapped at the bottom of the Chasm of Inequality, these young people reflect the grim face of poverty. For generations descendants of slaves have been frozen, like buildings along Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley. Tacit contributors to such poverty, high-tech companies have dismal minority employment records. Industry leaders say, "they hire the best and brightest, regardless of race," meanwhile hiring of blacks and Latinos has remained flat for 10 years. Blaming the victims, high-tech companies insist, "the shortage of minority professionals reflects the limited number of minority graduates in high-technology fields."

Complaining to the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance, the Coalition for Fair Employment in Silicon Valley said, "1,200 companies receiving federal contracts do not comply with reporting ethnic composition of their workforce." Further, statistics show "a pervasive pattern of employment discrimination in recruitment, hiring, retention, promotion, pay and privileges," which better explains the lack of minorities in Silicon Valley. For instance, blacks represent less than 4 percent and Hispanics less than 8 percent of the workforce in high-tech companies. Likewise, blacks are 3 and Hispanics 5 percent of professionals and managers for the industry as a whole.

Hellene Haase of the regional office of contract compliance confessed, "We are not in a position to investigate an entire industry." Physicist George Campbell Jr. representing the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering explained "their emphasis is on building a business, not on being a social philanthropist or corporate citizen." Ron Gonzales mayor of San Jose, home of Silicon Valley said, "Minority young people don't have brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles, mothers or fathers working in the industry." Such evidence supports Dot M. Smith's conclusion that income inequities between minorities and white families reflect institutionalized racism.

With such a dismal record, high-tech companies should invest directly in minority schools by setting up basic high-tech laboratories to teach applied mathematics and science. Rural schools in Webster County, Georgia and Quitman County, Mississippi, as well as urban schools like Carver High in Memphis, Tennessee and McNair High in DeKalb County, Georgia could incubate the next generation of employees. Black families victimized by slavery and segregation populate these destitute communities. Bringing temporary foreign workers to America to fill the void leaves untapped the dormant potential of black students, a wellspring of productive citizens. Other Essays by Mr. Smith

I read the AJC religiously, but it certainly does not support Atlanta's best interest. In particular, I refer to AJC articles about the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) and the Governor and legislator's efforts to change the formula for allocating transportation funds. At its passage, legislators insisted the formula was needed to insure equality and fairness for smaller counties. Problems with the formula surfaced once it was learned, Atlanta would receive its fair share of transportation revenue under the new scheme. The formula showed that smaller counties, not Atlanta, had been receiving more than their fair share of tax revenue.

Now, the Governor and legislators realize the formula favors Atlanta, and they are crying foul against themselves. They are saying it would be unfair to give Atlanta the tax revenue it deserves. Not only that, they are going to change the law to make it legal to discriminate against Atlanta's citizens by continuing to give part of Atlanta's tax revenue to other counties. But, what hurts most as a loyal reader and subscriber is that the AJC agrees with the Governor's plan to continue robbing Atlanta to subsidize counties like Cobb and Gwinnett. How does the AJC explain that? More Phantom Scribblings

ICIM Boycotted People, Places & Things:

Death penalty, churches with fences, Trent Lott, Bob Barr, the Bush babies, other lying politicians, hormone-treated meat, SELF and its financial supporters, the proliferation of guns used in American violence, white psychiatrists, psychologists and other legal drug pushers, the Marriott Hotel, Denney's, Tommy Hilfiger, DNKY and other designer ware some will kill to own, profiling of blacks by cops and other weapons of mass destruction.

News You Use 

by Dot Smith

"Home Owners' Sucker Tax (HOST) (The DISH Vol. 1 No 19), pretty much sums up The DISH's assessment of DeKalb's Homestead Option Sales Tax (HOST). HOST was never intended to lower the tax burden of property owners, though they agreed to the one-cent sales tax increase for precisely that reason. To the contrary, by the time most homeowners who did not appeal the higher appraisals received the 100% homestead exemption provided for under HOST, they paid roughly the same dollar amount in property taxes as before the sales tax increase. In one example, the homeowners paid $641.00 in taxes in 1995. For two of the next three years, their appraisals went up, so that in 1998, their tax bill totaled $941.00. Their HOST 100% homestead exemption, which became effective this year, is $300.00, bringing their tax bill for 1999 to $641.00.

Despite a tax increase, i.e., 1995 tax amount did not decline and now the sales tax is higher, few appeals of higher appraisals are filed, an ideal situation for DeKalb County, which has no difficulty raising taxes. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution (7/29/99) HOST: No windfall for taxpayer, "under an existing "truth in taxation" law, local governments and school boards cannot accept revenue that comes from an expanded tax digest, including higher assessments on existing properties, without admitting, in effect, that they are adopting a tax increase."

Placing an announcement in the county's legal organ, The Champion, county and school officials can absolve their conscience and act as if enough is done to inform the public of its intention to vote in a tax increase at a regularly scheduled meeting. It is a deceptive practice. According to a DeKalb school official quoted in the article, "we've done this for several years. No public shows up whatsoever, so obviously the public is happy with what we do." Based on responses in The DISH tax poll this assessment is simply not true.

In fact, homeowners in The DISH tax poll are angry. They want a rollback in the school millage; they expressed a general dissatisfaction with county government and the school system. News You Use

In its most recent informal poll, The DISH found the vast majority of DeKalb County, Georgia homeowners routinely accept higher property tax reassessments. Homeowners are unaware that the fair market value appraisals used in these reassessments are not carved in stone, or they do not want to take the time and/or hire an attorney to fight higher assessments. Most of the property owners The DISH spoke with were unaware of the process by which taxpayers can challenge reassessments. However, those who did challenge higher appraisals got lower reassessments. By following a simple appeals process, homeowners can save hundreds of dollars. Best of all, a lawyer is not needed to file an appeal. (For a sample petition, click on Tax Appeal. If you plan to file an appeal, look for important dates on your tax notice, and visit the county's web site for more information.)

Disgruntled says: Even the most casual observer of the American race experience will tell you, if blacks do not complain loud and in significant numbers, they will never receive anything approximating equality.

Disgruntled wants to know: How can Georgia Governor Roy Barnes claim to be for campaign finance reform when he is a poster boy for all that is unsavory about the current process?

Disgruntled feels: the heat wave! Disgruntled Again

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro recently ended a month-long day camp experience. When asked what he would do now, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro replied, "I'll just turn the bat cave into a campground." Back to the Bat Cave

"Protest is the only way blacks can hope to gain rights routinely exercised by whites. The bottom line is if we want it, we'll have to fight for it. As good a place as any to start is removing the rebel symbol flying over southern cities. The NAACP is considering a boycott of one of the most offensive of the southern capitals. But, why should we discriminate, let's boycott all of them, including Georgia!" Phantom

"I too read the AJC story on Bridgette Stewart and cried real tears. I am a South Georgia native (Albany, GA) and am familiar with Webster County, Stewart County, Quitman County and countless others where people feel hopelessly trapped. Get a job? Where? Not in those counties! Unless you count the pennies on day farm jobs that are seasonal and either disappearing or going to illegal immigrants who will work for even less or the 1 or 2 jobs that are available at the Quickie Food Mart and Fillin' station. And if you did get a job, how are you going to get there? Public transportation--what's that? Do you know someone with a car--a car that actually works? We as a country have to do better! Email: Sonji: bates_boston@email.msn.com

"I like your newsletter, but I keep wondering when will you look at the psychological problems for descendants of slaves. What are the complications for these individuals? The Jews were affected by the holocaust, as are their children. This is a topic we need to discuss. Don't you think so?" Email to Mental Health News from Dot at icim@bellsouth.net.

"I just finished reading a remarkable book by Alice Walker, Anything You Love Can Be Saved (a writer's activism). This book is really an autobiography of Ms. Walker's experience as a writer/activist and her personal growth. I started the book twice before I really sat down and read, no, "enjoyed" it. Please ask readers of The DISH to check this one out. Also, I don't know the title, but please read Ms. Ophelia. It is based in the 1940's and is about a little black girl growing up one summer. However, it is much, much deeper than that! Email: Sharise sharisenewday@mindspring.com. More Mail

There are blond Aborigines in Australia, i.e., people with very dark skin, whose hair color and texture differ from the browns and kink found in African hair. The Aborigine-look, if you will, has morphed onto the American scene and entered mainstream television. African Americans are sporting hair shades more unusual than those found among the Australian Aborigine. These unnatural hair shades radically alter the appearance; they do nothing to promote a positive black image. More important than trashing positive self-concept, the chemicals used in these hair alterations may be harmful to your health.

Who do we imitate when we mutilate ourselves in this fashion? Are we trying to look like Australian Aborigines or something else entirely? In these pivotal times, no black woman with a healthy self-concept would dye her hair platinum or some other funky yellow. Yet, there she sat for all the world to see - Monica Kaufman - reading the local news on Atlanta's WSB-TV Channel 2 and looking like a guest on the Jerry Springer Show.

I feel sorry for the young black women watching the news who see her as a role model. Monica's hairstyle places her squarely among the streetwalkers soliciting customers on Metropolitan, formerly known as Stewart Avenue, the Atlanta thoroughfare known for prostitution. Every nanosecond of television airspace is used to sell. One cannot help wondering what message Monica delivers with the lines of news, looking like an ad for the seamy-side of the oldest profession. Other Hoodnotes

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