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Volume 3 Issue 36… Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race… September 15, 2000

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) 244-6023 or email us at icim@bellsouth.net. The DISH © 2000

We Smell RATS!

Fox News reported that the Republican National Committee (RNC) ran 30 second ads for George W. Bush, Jr. for President containing the subliminal message: "RATS." The Bush campaign claims it is an accident. The vast majority of Americans with average intelligence find it hard to believe Dubya's well-paid media savvy organization accidentally placed any word in an expensive message aimed at the American electorate.

This ad has been in the can for some time. Predictably, paid pundits pretend they do not get it. They know Sen. John McCain and VP Al Gore were born in the year of the RAT. Even those challenged with dyslexia can connect the dots to complete the negative subliminal message. Obviously, RATS say McCain and Gore! Bush knows the subliminal message is character assassination. Ironically, his lack of character will not allow him to admit it.

Men of Steel

The Steelworkers Union grew out of iron mills and foundries in the South. Over 2000 slaves were craftsmen, according to Raymond Henderson and Tony Buba's Struggles in Steel. This Public Broadcasting Studios (PBS) documentary about unsung heroes battling racism and discrimination is a graphic illustration of black exploitation by steel companies beginning just after the Civil War. Chronicling their desperate struggles, this film shows how the color line forced black men to choose between demanding their rights or feeding their families. A powerful testimonial to their resolve, it gives voice to and put faces on their valiant efforts to maintain dignity and a sense of worth while in the iron grip of discrimination and segregation.

First hand accounts reveal the ugly truth, white Americans running the companies and the union worked in tandem to relegate blacks to the dirtiest, most hazardous, unhealthy and lowest paid jobs. Many white union leaders today were a part of maintaining the color line, even after the "Consent Decree of 1974" ending segregation and discrimination. These men of steel said even then, "We're surviving people, and have survived in spite of what's been done to us or in spite of what's been held against us."

About Us: Co-director and co-producer, Raymond Henderson, a steelworker for 18 years was a mill "grievance man." After the Dusquesne Mill closed and the sight of no black faces in the story of steel, Henderson began taking oral histories from steelworkers in 1987. However, when he proposed making "a documentary about black steelworkers, the comment from whites "where is the story?" fueled his furnace. A long time civil rights organizer and community activist, Ray sought help from his friend Tony Buba, the film's co-director and co-producer. An independent filmmaker since 1974, Tony brought experience and expertise to this very worthy project. His 16mm production Lightning over Braddock: A Rustbowl Fantasy took the Birmingham International Film Festival in England by storm. For more information about Struggles in Steel: A Story of African-American Steelworkers, check out http://www.braddockfilms.com

by John Burl Smith

Out on bond from charges related to the Memphis sanitation strike and incognito to escape Co-InTel-Pro after the FBI's crackdown, which jailed or killed most black power advocates in the summer of 1969, I ended up working at Inland Steel in East Chicago, IN. Watching Struggles in Steel and seeing those men of steel break down, sobbing while relaying outrages that happened forty or fifty years ago, I remembered my pain.

Racism and discrimination are the most devastating forms of violence in America's hostile work environment. Hired at Slab Mill #5, when I became a pipe-fitter apprentice, I crossed the color line on which blacks balanced their economic survival. One of only five blacks out of a crew of eighty, whites reacted as though we were freedom riders or civil rights workers.

Unlike most of Inland's black men of steel, who fought to get the apprenticeship program to open up mill crafts to blacks, tests were not a bar for me. Prior to this, whites walked in off the streets, and in a few days, they were millwrights, carpenters, crane-drivers, masons and so forth. Now that jobs were opened to blacks, one had to qualify by passing a test to get into the pipe shop, and then survive being graded by the same white union brothers that fought to keep them out in the first place.

Young blacks do not understand it was not simply a matter of fighting pitched battles for every job gained but how to keep supporting your family. Their ultimate goal was to keep their wives out of white folks kitchens, cleaning and scrubbing floors, while keeping their children in school, so they would have better choices. Today, young blacks have the choices. The question is, do they have the same measure of strength and courage their fathers and grandfathers possessed?

John 2000

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro, a concerned older brother, does not have a dime, but he lobbied hard for birthday toys for his younger brother. According to the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro, " He (Ty-Chi) needs his own things so he won't bother mine!"

On BATT by Dot

Following are messages posted to the Tom Joyner message board http://www.tomjoyner.com. The main message is not your usual "Sex in the City" kind of stuff found on this bulletin board, it speaks to where we should be going to make changes in this society. Everyone claims to be looking for solutions to issues in the dialogue on race. Here is the take on the problem we recommend. "Let us not continue to be obtuse! Black Agenda Two-Thousand (BATT) must incorporate an African American Equal Rights Amendment (AAERA). If we are not about changing the law, we are not talking about doing anything, save support the status quo. For BATT to be a realistic solution for change, we must go beyond our tired base of ideas, which do not even recognize the problem.

Everyone knows the economic gap exists, but no one, except The DISH, is talking about why it exists. It is the law, stupid! Law and its economic consequences determine our status. Black folks must change the law to make a difference! AAERA calls for the repeal of Article 1 Section 2 and provides for reparations for those adversely affected. Unless these things are done, the economic gap will continue to exist. Changing the Constitution will require a social revolution, the catharsis this nation never experienced to move it beyond a system based on racial discrimination - slavery. America never dismantled its segregationist institutions. This institutionalized racism, which is the hostile environment experienced on a daily by black people, is founded on the law; it permeates every sector of American society. Black people even cooperate; we discriminate against each other. If BATT is about changing the black condition, then changing the law (AAERA) is the 2000 Agenda. If you have questions, contact The DISH at icim@bellsouth.net."

The second posting a day later, "As of this morning not one brother or sister responded. Black women on this board are more concerned with the size of a guy's penis, while the black men are salivating over dating white women. This is sick people! Genocide is on our doorsteps and we are talking trash!" After listening to Tom Joyner's show on BATT, which aired on Wednesday, I should add giggling and telling sick jokes are not a part of the recipe for positive change for the black community.

By John Burl Smith

Clarity at any point in one's life comes as a blessing. Exercising good judgement as a result of cleared vision is a matter of character. Recently, Allison Davis, a white female, provided an excellent example at the University of Georgia (UGA). In a letter to Dr. Richard M. Rose II, assistant vice president for student affairs, she addressed racism and discrimination among UGA's Panhellenic Societies (Greeks). Her letter published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution (9-8-00) expressed deep disappointment with her Alpha Gamma Delta sisters who revealed themselves to be very petty and vicious southern bells trapped in a Scarlet O'Hara mind frame in 2000. Having been recruited based on the highest ideals, Allison was outraged her sorority sisters disparaged and discriminated against a lone black female during rush - the annual recruitment exercise.

This incident supports The DISH's theory, "Lynching has social mechanisms which preserve its practices." Panhellenic Societies preserve the southern plantation style of management on college and university campuses. These societies are the intellectual Ku Klux Klan. They dominate campus life and enforce white superiority. School administrators seek their advice and use their support to justify their actions. Greek societies serve the goals of institutionalized racism. The gentlemen agreement is to discriminate; it is so accepted no one ever notices, except when someone of character like Allison is present and is brave enough to speak out.

Educated versions of John Rocker, these white sorority sisters felt just as comfortable as he did in expressing biases against slave descendants that are held by the vast majority of white Americans. The ugliness thriving at UGA emanates from the state capital. Georgians must realize, as long as the Confederate flag flies over this state, a slave master's mindset guides its institutions. UGA was white only for 176 years. Gov. Roy Barnes supports doing nothing to make up for the state barring blacks from getting an education at UGA. Even though, black tax dollars help finance UGA, blacks were barred from attending solely on the basis of skin color. If blacks had not been kept out of UGA all those years, there would be more qualified teachers in Georgia's classrooms today. Instead, white sorority sisters like these teach in black schools.

Performing such a noble human act, Georgia extends its deepest gratitude to a courageous woman. Unlike John Rocker, Allison is already paying the price for her stand. "Greeks" see her as a "traitor," and like the KKK, they always get revenge. She has had to withdraw from school. She has been blackballed. Reminiscent of Charles White, III at Emory University when he exposed the Confederate flag flying at the Kappa house, the whole system has recoiled to isolate her and everyone is going along. John Rocker, who most said did not represent the community's sentiment, was defended. Does Allison represent Georgia's sentiments? John 2000

Blah! Blah!

McKinney's About-Face

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC - "McKinney disavows harsh words on Gore" 9/9/00), U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) flip-flopped on derogatory comments she made about Vice President Al Gore in a press release and on her official Website. Members of the predominantly African American community she represents are not surprised McKinney did an about-face, an act that demonstrates a lack of character and commitment to supporting those she claims to represent.

When residents of majority black South DeKalb County asked McKinney to weigh in on and provide some assistance to assure the area received its promised MARTA train, which our tax dollars have more than paid for, she saw it as a waste of political capital. McKinney supported Gov. Barnes' GRTA takeover of MARTA. She went from being our duly elected representative to Congressperson concerned about sprawl, which means providing economic development for majority white areas using our sales tax dollars.

McKinney's latest display of political expediency again questions her character; she retracted her statement that VP Al Gore has a "low Negro tolerance level," because his Secret Service detail is mainly white men, and no more than one black at a time is seen accompanying him. Since the statement is true on its face, why retract it? Clearly, McKinney's retraction show a lack of character and a dubious degree of support for the black Secret Service agents she is supposed to be helping. Black agents have filed lawsuits against the U.S. Treasury Department for racial discrimination. Like federal employees in the USDA, IRS and US Postal Service, black agents are victims of a hostile work environment that mirrors the private sector employment.

Mailbox: Letters, Calls and Faxes

Lordstrik@hotmail.com: "First off, let me say thank you to all who contribute to The DISH. Now, let's take a look at the bigger picture. History has shown us that neither party gives a damn about us. One example is that of Abraham Lincoln, a Republican. As with Lincoln and many other so called "Good White Folk" politicians, it's political, which is to say financial. The stronger will always feed off the weaker. America has never wanted a level playing field and never will opt for one regardless of political parties or laws. Read this country's history without rose colored glasses. You want better schools? Build black owned and operated ones, rather than more Morehouse and Spelman Colleges, which are government-funded white organizations. You want a political voice? Own land, land, land, and develop your own technology and mass media. We need to stop looking for water in a rock. I don't want to shorten the divide between whites and blacks I didn't make it. I want to strengthen the ties between black and black. Then I can survive. People respect power not pleas.

HCHAPS2@aol.com: The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness. Proverbs 16:31

Lje333@hotmail.com: Here is an interesting tidbit you might want to mention in one of your newsletters. In the last month the USDA has approved the sale and consumption of cancerous carcasses. Chicken, pigs and cows that have tumors and growths are now passing meat inspections (which are slack anyway). They say as long as you cut off the diseased part then the animal is safe for consumption. YUCK!!!!!!!

CBell88006@aol.com: Re: All-Star Boycott: I am disturbed at Black's attitude toward racism. Oh! I am Black. In my opinion, Black's must stop discriminating against each other. The "Nigga" must stop in Blacks. We must patronize each other's businesses, instead of saying, "I have to go to the White man to get what I want." We must stop empowering the White man by spending and depending on them for ALL our needs and achieve Black unity, stop expecting what we get from a Black business to be practically free. When Blacks learn that the lighter color or darker color of their skin does not merit worth based on skin color and looks, then I can help you boycott "white folks discrimination". Symbols and defeating racism in America cannot work with Black Folks until they "defeat racism" among themselves with themselves. Thanks

Disgruntled Says: GRTA, the acronym for Governor Roy Barnes' Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, really means Georgia's Racist Tactics Administration, because Barnes is using it to milk tax dollars from predominantly black Fulton and DeKalb Counties to fund infrastructure and foster economic development in predominantly white areas.

Disgruntled wants to know: If Bush is really committed to assuring no child is left behind, why isn't the Republican presidential candidate talking about improving public schools where the vast majority of our children receive their education?

Disgruntled feels: Government funding renders the notion of competition moot. It never applied to America as a theory anyway, since fat cats have always called the shots. Politicians that talk about competition in education via tax-supported private school vouchers, which aid white flight from the public school system, are hypocrites and there is no saving them!

Yin Yang Music Café

For the past two years, every spoken word venue in Atlanta that showed promise as an incubator for black art in this area has been bought out and changed, closed down for no apparent reason, evicted from the building or burned out outright, like Level II. From the Patti Hut to the latest casualty Yin Yang Music Café, Atlanta's spoken word scene has undergone some hard times during its relatively short existence.

On last Wednesday the final night for spoken word that made Yin Yang Music Café famous, tears filled most eyes in the house. In an atmosphere thick with emotion, poets and patrons said good-bye to the place where they gathered to experience the Vibe. But, like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, the Atlanta Vibe will survive to find a new venue for the conscious masses.

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