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Volume 3 Issue 44… Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race… November 10, 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 WERE ROBBED! For blacks, the 2000 presidential election was like gambling in a crooked casino. Even when you win, you lose. Proclaiming George W. Bush, Jr. President mimics Slobodan Milosevic in Yugoslavia or Adolf Hitler in 1933. The question is are we going to do as the Serbs and reclaim our democracy, or do as the Germans and embrace Nazism? Blacks need to compare notes about what happened at the polls in their respective states. Yohannes and thousands of voters were still waiting in line to vote, when the media announced Georgia had chosen Bush. Did their votes count?

The DISH's theory is that the 3/5ths Compromise means black votes do not count as much as whites. Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.

For the record, it does not matter who is elected chief executive of the United States and which political party controls Congress. The DISH will continue teaching humanity in new consciousness (THINC). Specifically, its contributors pledge to work tirelessly to bring international pressure to bear on the plight of African slaves' descendants. This memorandum of understanding (MOU) embodies our commitment to educate the world about America's slave history and current socioeconomic conditions reflected in the dialogue on race. Specifically, we will, (1) amend the U.S. Constitution by repealing Article 1 Section 2 and (2) secure a meaningful reparation for African slave descendants. This is THINC MOU!

College professors and schoolteachers must do a better job educating our children in subjects such as history, economics, psychology and other disciplines that encompass reparations. Facing the challenges of an information age, our children need an honest historical perspective that addresses America's unfinished business of extending the blessings of freedom, justice and equality to all Americans.

In general, Americans practice denial about the holocaust blacks experienced during human bondage and its current institutionalized racism. Across the racial and ethnic spectrum, Americans must come to understand the chasm of inequality. An honest review of both past and present will compel our children to close the divide represented by institutionalized racism. It is a matter of education. Our fate and the future of reparations rest on what we teach our children.

Disgruntled wants to know: What is the difference between Palestinians being killed by Israeli military in the Middle East and black Americans killed by police?

Disgruntled says: Blacks paraded in mainstream media as leaders have sponsors! Check their derrieres or beneath their feet for the brand like the shield stamped on "USDA approved" meat.

Disgruntled feels: Gross discrimination, citizens in the majority black counties in the metro Atlanta area pay the only tax used to finance regional public transportation. This is the kind of situation one would expect in a region where race is the determining factor in the kind of services dispensed by every institution, including the foremost local charitable organization.

Frankly terroristic, the secret societies that appeared in many parts of the South - the Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the White Camellia, and others- attempted to frighten or physically prevent Negroes from voting. Although these societies were effective, their influence may have been exaggerated by writers intrigued with their romantic hooded and robed apparel and their elaborate ritual. Moving quickly to stamp out these societies, Congress passed two Force Acts (1870-1871) and the Ku Klux Klan Act (1871) which authorized the President to use military force and martial law in areas where the orders were active.

More potent than the secret orders were the open semi-military organizations that operated under such names as Rifle clubs, Red Shirts, and White Leagues. After the first such society was founded in Mississippi, the idea spread to other states, and the procedure employed by the clubs was called the Mississippi Plan. Briefly stated, the plan called for the whites in each community to organize and arm, and be prepared, if necessary, to resort to force to win elections. But the heart of the scheme was in the phrase "drawing the color line." By one method or another, legal or illegal, every white man was to be forced to join the Democratic Party or leave the community. By similar methods, every Negro male was to be excluded from political action; in a few states he was permitted to vote - if he voted Democratic.

Perhaps an even stronger influence than the techniques practiced by the armed bands was the simple and unromantic weapon of economic pressure. The war had freed the Negro, but he was still a laborer - a hired worker or a tenant - dependent upon the whites for his livelihood. The whites readily discovered that this dependence placed the Negro in their power. Planters refused to rent land to Republican Negroes, storekeepers refused to extend them credit, and employers refused to give them work. Economic pressure was a force that the Negro could not fight. If the Radicals, in bringing the Negro to political power, had accomplished a revolution, it was a superficial one. They failed to provide the Negro with economic power, as they might have done by giving him possession of confiscated land after the Civil War. Hence, his political rights had no lasting basis. (Source: American History: A Survey).

A.H.O.P. presents E. S. P. (Experimental Spoken-word Performance). In the tradition of open mics at Planet Earth, Mecca, Patti Hut and Yin Yang, AHOP presents ESP every Wednesday. Featuring some of ATL's hottest spoken word talent and a live DJ, ESP is a venue created for artists by artists. Hosted by Creative Loafing's Critics' Choice BEST SPOKEN WORD ARTIST of 1999, Yohannes Sharriff provides a forum for the audience and artists to express and explore their love of poetry.

Set in renovated Ausar Auset temple, AHOP is the perfect space for ATL spoken word to birth its next evolution. Please join us every Wednesday night. ESP is for the dreamers and believers in the potency of spoken word. So prepare yourself for a raw, powerful experience. General admissions are $5 and $3 for performers. Sign up begins @ 9:00. Located @ 840 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. Directions: From I-20 exit at Ashby St. Go south on Ashby St., left onto Ralph David Abernathy, and continue straight, AHOP is on the right. More info, call (404) 752-6030. Visit AHOP at www.a-hop.com For Yohannes: voice-mail (404) 896-4260 or email icim@bellsouth.net.

Three-fifths of Georgia's flag is the stars and bars of the Confederate battle emblem. The DISH called on Georgians to create a groundswell to force Gov. Barnes and the state legislature to change the flag.

Head of the SCLC, Marty King promised to spend the summer educating Georgia's young people on this subject. He promised to call for a boycott, if the legislature did not act responsibly and change the flag. Throughout the summer, there was little flag activity. With the legislature set to convene in January, changing the flag seems to be on the back burner.

Blah on Marty for not keeping his promise! No wonder some observers doubt he will lend his "moral authority" to the flag boycott. A sponsored spokesperson, Marty is like Yasser Arafat. He may be called the Palestinian leader, but his oppressed people are taking the hits and calling the shots. In Georgia, the people will boycott until that flag comes down!

by John Burl Smith

Seeking reparations for slave descendants, "a powerful group of civil rights and class-action lawyers" that includes Johnny Cochran, Alexander Pires, Richard Scruggs, Dennis Sweet, III and Willie Gary are considering a lawsuit. Harvard Law professor, Charles J. Ogletree pointed to "federal and state governments, a multiplicity of corporations and institutions as beneficiaries of slavery." Calling themselves the Reparation Assessment Group (RAG), Ogletree said, "We will seek more than monetary compensation. We want a change in America. We want full recognition and a remedy for how slavery stigmatized, raped, murdered and exploited millions of Africans."

However, my wife and I have spent the better part of fifty-seven years researching this intractable problem. Academicians and professionals, who have contributed no significant theories or concepts, RAG seems to be parachuting into a fight without securing a landing zone. Arguments for equality/reparations began with "forty acres and a mule," extended through Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X to today. Previously, no matter how strong or well-torqued the arguments, they suffered a fatal flaw. How to show contemporary expressions of slavery's effects? Absent such conclusive demonstrations, opponents carried the day.

In 1997, Dot M. Smith published in T.H.I.N.C. (Teaching Humanity In New Consciousness): The Chrysalis of Evolution by Yohannes Sharriff Smith, a theory that solved this problem. Smith traces the source of America's institutionalized racism back to Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution, which established black human capital as 3/5ths whites. Acknowledging the Declaration of Independence says "all men are created equal," this principle was not written into the Constitution. Slavery and its 3/5ths value became the law of the land. Smith's breakthrough shows that economic outcomes for blacks are tied directly to the law of the land.

Using data collected by the US Department of Labor, Smith found a stable relationship between disparities in median family income of blacks relative to whites. This interval falls at or about .5 to .65 quantifying the 3/5ths Compromise of Article 1 Section 2. This finding establishes a good fit connecting current economic outcomes to residual affects from their previous condition of servitude and segregation. Now, all one need do is apply the model to actual situations. Hence, the "landing zone" analogy."

Presently, there are several federal lawsuits against EPA, USDA, IRS and USPS moving through the courts in Washington, D C and Atlanta, Georgia. These cases allege "the once "segregated" federal government, especially at corporate headquarters, continues to discriminate against blacks in hiring, assignments, promotions and training." Further, "it uses its disciplinary process to intimidate and retaliate against those employees who complain about its hostile work environments." This pattern of disparate treatment is found throughout federal employment and Smith terms it "the southern plantation style of management." These test cases will lay groundwork for a frontal assault on institutionalized racism. If RAG's "jumping jacks" wish to join the fight, rather than opening up new fronts, their legal support is needed Pro Bono, where advance teams are already on the ground. John 2000

When the suspect is black, cops choose the most lethal option. Using a Glock, Magnum or whatever designer weapon, cops turn to deadly force when they "feel threatened." To the contrary, if the suspect is white, the police are trained to protect and serve by moving out of harms' way and calling for backup. This humane option saves the lives of white citizens.

For racial minorities, it is oops, when trigger-happy Robocops waste innocent persons. Remember the U.S. Marshall that shot Andre Burgess, a young black man because he thought he had a weapon, which turned out to be a candy wrapper? Any excuse to kill will do when police can shot first and ask questions later. In a black man's hand, a wallet is a weapon to which cops can respond with deadly force.

Like the terrorist orders of the 1800's, police in 2000 lynch black people. Any excuse will suffice, because the same mentality that massacred Native Americans, i.e., the "only good Indian is a dead one," rules the police. Like exterminators, cops treat blacks like mice in this techno-driven hostile environment.

A corruption cesspool, FBI agents are combing the sewers looking for leaks. Mayor Bill Campbell is tired of answering the question, "Where is the money?"

A prime FBI target, Atlanta's mayor used gems of wisdom written by city employees in paid speeches before companies doing business with the city. The mayor made a tidy sum, but failed to properly report the income. The IRS will ask questions. Understandably, last week, Campbell backed off his "fight to death to save affirmative action," a clear signal of capitulation. When former Fulton County Commissioner Michael Hightower pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from George Greene, a city contractor, and started to sing, he crooned every tune in his repertoire. He sang so well, Hightower got a light sentence to be served in a minimum-security jail for non-violent offenders.

Indications are Campbell will follow suit. How the "race card" gets played is uncertain. No spook, Campbell is in it for his nickels. But, he can still expose the affirmative action scam played on black people. He can bring down the gentlemen's agreement that Matt Glavin and SELF represent.

Though he resigned from the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SELF), Glavin's actions as head of the organization reflect the group's aspirations. As its representative, Glavin tried to undermine affirmative action through litigation and a scheme to minimize any favorable economic impact of an implemented program.

Adamantly opposed to affirmative action, SELF affiliates include Rep. Bob Barr, Josh Kenyon and Mitch Skandalakis. Like Hightower, Kenyon pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from George Greene. Pictured in the paper, Greene looks white, but he is referred to as African American. It could be a reversed Bob Barr-type situation. Folks in Atlanta think he is black and passing. Some say he is the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, a prospect that makes the conservative right wing representative extremely scary. If Campbell sings like a canary and blow SELF's cover, maybe the city can clean up its cesspool of corruption.

ICIM Boycotted People, Places & Things: CNN polls and projections, Bush babies, CIA scams, Christmas hams and other hormone-treated meat, milk, strict construction, white supremacy, trigger-happy cops, Trent Lott and other weapons of mass destruction.

by Dot

Foreshadowing the new millennium, a small-town Tennessee newspaper ran a series of articles that looked at city events in 1960 when blacks were protesting Jim Crow segregation. The newspaper had to fill the gaping holes in local history left by its biased coverage, especially of the civil rights movement.

Historically challenged, another generation is poised to fall victim to the doublethink made possible by the holes in American history. Our children should not be told we are a society that views all people as created equal, when it is simply not true. The first law- Article 1 Section 2- tells us people are not valued as equal. Confused, black children doublethink like Alan Keyes, the black presidential candidate who thinks the United States Constitution mirrors the Declaration of Independence.

All across America during the 1960's, the media downplayed or omitted coverage of the civil rights struggle. The revelation that a Tennessee newspaper wrote next to nothing about its experience is hardly surprising. This lack of coverage has spawned widespread ignorance and fostered denial among Americans who think this nation is a just society.

Fact is, there has always been an absence of or biased media coverage of black people. Like then, now little effort is made to highlight our plight. A sidebar, political candidates skirt around issues important to our struggle for equality. So, black and white children do not know their history. A sad example is found in Cobb County where school children wave Confederate flags. Claiming it represents their heritage, these children either do not know or know and do not care about the flag's history of terror. Men waving it lynched black people. Usually, these public killings were orchestrated to prevent black people from exercising some basic human right of self-determination, such as voting.

In Georgia schools, Confederate symbols are worn on clothing and painted on walls. With so many holes in the history they are taught, another generation will be guided by the same divisive ideas that ruled the last millennium, i.e., by law we value people differently. News that a Tennessee newspaper had to fill the holes in its accounts of local history is a fitting end to the last millennium...a millennium marked by the denial of the problem we all live with.

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