Volume 5 Issue 14…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…April 12, 2002

U. S. Supreme Court selected, President George Bush began by turning back the clock on or eliminating all programs that sought to reduce disparities between black and white Americans, close gaps between haves and have-nots and reduce poverty and injustice experienced by slave descendants in the Diaspora. On Wednesday (4-3-02), he continued his relentless assault by announcing sweeping changes in Head Start, a 37-year-old anti-poverty program. Offering absolutely no research to support his claims or plans, Bush attacked Head Start's effectiveness in teaching basic skills as justification for overhauling it. He claimed, "Over the past decade federal funding for early-childhood programs has nearly tripled. Yet many children are still showing up in kindergarten not ready to learn."

Childcare advocates, including US Sen. Edward Kennedy blasted Bush's one-size-fits-all approach, his lack of knowledge about learning theory and his unwillingness to provide funding to expand Head Start to increase access and upgrade services. While welcoming Bush's emphasis on literacy, Dee Bertozzi, director Childcare/Head Start Policy, Massachusetts' Department of Health and Human Services feared, "Student evaluations might be used to deny children entrance to school." Complaining, "Bush did not consult local Head Start providers," Sarah Green, President of the National Head Start Assoc. said, "It is totally unfair for Bush to create national standards and evaluations for diverse programs, which were designed to serve a wide variety of children with emotional needs, health problems and language barriers."

The Children Defense Fund (CDF) provided a very conservative picture of Head Start's $6.4 billion budget and the 923,000 children it serves. "Just getting to 80% enrollment of eligible children and improving teaching quality would cost an additional $2.1 billion, less than 5% of Bush's Defense Department budget request. Adding insults to injury, Bush is demanding the hours worked by women on welfare with dependent children increase from 30 to 40 hours, but he is not providing any increase in federal childcare subsidies. Based on a survey of 38 Republican Governors, 21 felt Bush's whole "accountability" plan to test 3, 4, and 5-year-olds three times a year is "ridiculous, especially when he is not providing states any additional money."

Bush's simplistic and fallacious approach ignores several obvious facts. First, Head Start currently serves only a fraction of children who could benefit from such services. Secondly, Bush's reliance on testing goes against the grain of most respected theories of learning and child development. Next, like his plan to privatize Social Security, Bush takes money away from serving children to pay testing companies and to train people to teach the test. Finally, from its inception, Republicans tried to kill Head Start, failing that they are restructuring the poor out of it. Under the guise of upgrading Head Start teacher training, like airport scanners, Bush is gentrifying job opportunities and making Head Start a middle class program that will eventually push poor children out. Hypocritically, Bush talks of "leaving no child behind," while creating restrictions, raising requirements and limiting access to poor families. John 2002

Disgruntled wants to know: George W. Bush's litmus test for judicial nominations is strict construction of the U.S. Constitution, which leaves white supremacy intact. After the Senate Judiciary Committee defeated the Charles Pickering nomination, Bush reaffirmed his commitment and vowed to continue nominating judges that share his judicial philosophy. He wants to fill the courts with judges just like those who selected him president, i.e., Clarence Thomas, William Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia. With US courts filled with such conservatives, can the US still claim to be a democracy?

Disgruntled feels: A double standard! Americans love their freedom. Since its war to gain independence from Great Britain, the country claimed to fight for freedom and support democracy, yet it acted like King George III in supporting apartheid South Africa and now as it sides with Israel in its illegal West Bank occupation. One of our greatest revolutionary heroes, Patrick Henry, exclaimed, "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" Today, rather than calling Palestinians holding similar views freedom fighters, the US labels them terrorists.

Disgruntled says: The US is using nuclear bunker busters to carpet-bomb the mountains of Afghanistan; the earth is bound to respond. According to Sir Isaac Newton's third law of motion, "For every force action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." The powerful quakes rocking Central Asia prove Newton's equation.

by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore - and then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over -- like syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

by Langston Hughes

That Justice is a blind goddess

Is a thing to which we blacks are wise:

Her bandage hides two festering sores

That once perhaps were eyes.

The Dark One-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is on spring break. As flowers bloom, he learns to groom his rapidly growing Afro. A cock, he loves to look good for the ladies. When asked for his comments, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro stated, "I need my hair braided!"

Psychologists and other cognitive scientists recognize three basic types of learning: classical conditioning (stimulus response), instrumental (reward and punishment) and observational learning (watching others behave). Regardless of the type, the most important result of learning is the ability to generalize (transfer what is learned in one situation to different situations) and discrimination (behave differently to the same stimulus as conditions change).

Swiss scientist Jean Piaget showed that through adaptation, assimilation and accommodation, young learners apply such techniques or theories as they develop their individual learning strategy. His major contribution was 'varying maturational stages', i.e., children learn at different rates. Piaget found that children do not think like adults; children's thought processes have their own kind of order and special logic.

Piaget's insight opened a new window into the inner workings of the mind. By the end of his prolific career, which spanned 75 years, Piaget had developed several new fields of science: developmental psychology, cognitive theory and genetic epistemology. Though not an education reformer, his way of thinking about children is the foundation for today's reform movements. Working with Parisian children, Piaget noticed children of the same age made similar errors on true-false intelligence tests. As Piaget put it, "Children have real understanding only of that which they invent themselves, and each time that we try to teach them something too quickly, we keep them from reinventing it themselves."

Teacher trainees memorize Piaget's childhood development stages--sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, formal operational, but his work in epistemology--theory of knowledge, is less well known. Since Piaget, this area is rife with writings on women, Afrocentric, and the computer's ways of knowing. Artificial intelligence and information-processing model of the mind owe much to Piaget. (Sources: Developmental Psychology, Liebert, Poulos & Marmor, www.time.com/time100/scientist/profile/piaget03.html)

Bit of History

On March 2, 1833, Congress authorized President Andrew Jackson to use the military to collect duties. Called the "Bloody Bill," it answered South Carolina's nullification ordinance (1832), which challenged federal sovereignty.

In May 1870, Congress authorized courts, marshals and district attorneys to enforce penalties and empowered the president to use the military to ensure the civil and political rights of emancipated slaves under the 14^th and 15^th Amendments that were challenged by the "white supremacy" principle held by most whites.

The February 28, 1871 force act, promoted by Republicans, reversed in the national elections of 1870, provided for federally appointed election supervisors.

Aimed at the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups that prevented blacks from registering, voting, and holding office, the April 20, 1871 force act was passed to enforce the 14^th Amendment. It extended and strengthened prior acts and was cited in placing nine SC counties under martial law in October 1871. More than 5,000 indictments and some 1,250 convictions resulted from this and earlier force acts throughout the South.

The Supplementary Civil Rights Act (March 1, 1875) was passed to give blacks social equality in theaters, public conveyances, hotels and amusement places just before Republicans lost control of Congress.

Between 1876 and 1886, the Supreme Court ruled the severest of these measures unconstitutional, declared the 14^th and 15^th amendments permitted federal protection against discrimination only by states, that such protection did not include defense against social discrimination, and that the 15^th amendment contained no positive grant of the franchise. Prelude to Jim Crow segregation, most of the force acts’ provisions were repealed in 1894.

(Source: Encyclopedia Americana)

by Lovern Hayes

Hair is a four-letter word loaded with meaning. Black women spend countless hours and millions of dollars on their hair. It is one of the many symbols used to give our lives meaning. Blacks have long struggled to achieve long, silky Caucasian hair. The lengths many go to achieve it can be quite depressing. Many use chemicals or add extensions; numerous black women are left with burns, thinning hair or other telltale signs of the struggle to look Caucasian.

Black women's dissatisfaction with their skin color and hair dates back to slavery and colonialism, systems underpinned with theories of superiority and inferiority. Taught to hate everything about themselves, blacks rejected anything that spelled 'blackness' and embraced characteristics that made them acceptable by white society. This accounts for the great propensity of blacks to straighten their hair and/or wear hairpieces.

Sometimes society forces blacks to conform. Employers place restrictions on hairstyles by outlawing braids, locks and other natural hairstyles. Schools, too, make hair stipulations. The 90s saw the rediscovery of Afrocentric styles. In the last five years, there has been a movement away from straight to natural hair fashions.

Many factors contributed to this shift, primary chemicals have wreaked havoc on black hair. Naturally curly, black hair is weakened where straightened hair meets the kinky. Natural hairstyles are now worn in reaction to what chemicals have done. For example, the chemicals used to maintain the 'jherri curl' hairstyle, which ruled the hair fashion industry in the 80s, sat on the scalp and clogged the pores. Over a period of time, the hair fell out and left bald spots, causing a condition called alopecia. (See the complete 'Good Hair & Bad Hair' article at http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com.)

Email catherine@solari.com In Congressional Testimony (02-07-02), Herbert S. Winokur, Chairman of the Enron Finance Committee, gave an opening statement that he had been "misled" by management, auditor Arthur Andersen and Enron's counsel Vinson & Elkins. Every trucker and teacher in my West Tennessee hometown knows that his whining is yah-yah. We pay Congressman and Senators $150,000 a year to help Winokur and his pals steal from us. Congress is stalling for time. While Winokur and his pals dish out "yah-yah" their colleagues shred documents, transfer assets and stolen cash gets tucked away. Did Congress and the Attorney General press for seizures of records and cash while the money was getting away? No siree! While Winokur's whining distracted us through C-Span, Wall Street got safely away with the family jewels and dirty laundry. See www.solari.com for more on Enron.

Email mmbrown@patriot.net It was almost 150 years ago that President Lincoln found it necessary to hire private investigator Alan Pinkerton for protection. That was the beginning of the Secret Service. Since that time, federal police authority has grown to a large number of agencies such as: FBI, CIA, INS, IRS, DEA, BATF, ATF, etc. Now we have the "Federal Air Transportation Airport Security Service." Can't you see them now, these highly trained men and women in their black outfits and boots with jackets saying across the backs: "FATASS". "I feel safer already, don't you?"

Email: my_bidness@yahoo.com America circles the globe ridding the world of 'terrorism.' Yet, it allows white supremacist groups to flourish. KKK-type groups continue to commit acts of violence, but disbanding them has never been a law enforcement priority. Civil Rights groups have to vigorously fight to win minor victories. In Texas, then Gov. G.W. Bush would not support a minor hate crimes law. U.S. apathy allows these groups to terrorize blacks and other communities, giving life to new generations of white supremacists.

Before the 9-11 bombing, Timothy McVeigh and his terrorist network were responsible for one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. soil. He was executed, but his network flourishes. Groups like the Christian Identity, National Alliance, American Knights of the KKK and Neo-Nazis continue to fuel anti-black terror with impunity. It begs the question: will this nation be as vigilant about expunging white supremacist terrorists as it is about eliminating Osama bin Laden? Until it makes serious efforts to end American hate group violence, blacks have little reason to be comforted by Bush's war on terrorism. No one should assume the "new spirit of patriotism" silenced the old spirit of racism.

Email www.washingtonpost.com Sunday, April 7, 2002, thousands marched through the streets of downtown Cincinnati to mark the anniversary of the worst civil unrest in this city since Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1968 assassination. The fatal shooting by a white policeman of unarmed black teenager Timothy Thomas sparked the riot, which led to more than 800 arrests. A judge cleared the officer of criminal wrongdoing. A group of Cincinnati citizens decided to call a boycott of downtown businesses. The boycott is getting the city's attention as entertainers and conventioneers cancel appearances. Cincinnati is more than 40% black; the boycotters are demanding more economic development in depressed black areas and an end to racial profiling.

DISHing It Up Hot!

by Dot

Some white guy is making the rounds on television peddling a book about Jesse Jackson called Shakedown. I neither recommend nor plan to read it. Personally, what some white guy says about the idiosyncrasies of so-called black leaders is irrelevant.

What does matter is how we see them. Many of us know Jesse is a businessman. Like any other good capitalist, his goal is to make a personal fortune. Having lived all my life in America, a bastion of capitalism, I probably know more about Jesse's capitalist tendencies from first hand experience than this white person. Had I written a book about blacks of Jackson's ilk, Sellout would be the title. It would probably be a lot less flattering given the kind of misrepresentation the black community gets from so-called leaders of Jesse's stature.

A case in point is provided by black bishops spearheading an advertising campaign for Denny's, the restaurant blacks are supposed to be boycotting for its long and colorful history of blatantly discriminating against its black customers and employees. For Black History Month, they mailed out a flyer urging blacks to go to Denny's and buy an 'All-American Slam,' a meal deal, to keep the dream alive, as in Dr. King's dream.

In return for our patronage, Denny’s will make a generous donation to the National Civil Rights Museum. Black bishops supporting this sham are part of Bush's faith-based initiative. Like priests preying on children, these morally bankrupt preachers sell out the black community for a few dollars. Black bishops bought by Denny's are: Harold Calvin Ray, Charles E. Black, J. Delano Ellis, II, Floyd Flake, T. D. Jakes, Eddie L. Long, Andrew Merritt, Paul S. Morton, Gilbert E. Patterson, Carlton D. Pearson and Mack Timberlake.

Showing they are out of touch, the Denny's flyer begins, "Without question, embers of the Civil Rights Movement still glow in the hearts of many Americans. While we cherish the sacrifices of those who secured our freedom, we, too, must resolve to help ensure an even greater tomorrow." We have not secured our freedom! King's dream died with him and money-grubbing sellouts, like these, did little to support him while he lived. Jesse played the aide role, but some believe he worked for Co-Intel-Pro, which explains why he can shakedown corporations and sell us out so effectively.

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