Volume 5 Issue 28…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…July 19, 2002

At its inception, the United States established a dual system for its inhabitants. Whites were citizens with all the rights and privileges afforded them under the Constitution. Blacks were slaves with no rights. Reduced to chattel, they could not own property, testify in court, congregate with other blacks except at church, carry firearms, strike a white person in self defense or learn to read and write. Thus, in the 18^th and the early part of the 19^th centuries, few blacks attended school.

After the Civil War (1865), black education was still restricted; there were few schools for black children. Following the election of Rutherford B. Hayes (1876), federal troops were removed from the South. A payoff for southern support of his candidacy, his act signaled a return to white supremacy and a diminution of black rights briefly afforded by the presence of federal troops.

This retreat to pre-Civil War conditions and a series of Supreme Court decisions had a chilling impact on black rights. Black school enrollment, already low, fell further. In the Civil Rights Cases (1883), the court ruled the 14^th Amendment outlawed state discrimination; individuals and organizations could practice segregation. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), involving railroad seats by race, the Court held separate but equal accommodations were legal. In Cummings v. County Board of Education (1899), the Court validated laws establishing separate schools for whites and blacks, if the facilities were equal. Under the "separate but equal" rule, public schools for black children were far inferior to white schools.

In 1954, the Supreme Court reversed Plessy in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Outraged, southern legislatures in Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, etc. forbade school desegregation even under court orders. Southern resistance to school desegregation ranged from litigation to tie up integration efforts for decades in court to white flight, as white families fled to suburbs to avoid sending their children to schools with blacks. (Source: American History: A Survey, 4^th Ed.)

I know I am

The Negro Problem

Being wined and dined,

Answering the usual questions

That come to white mind

Which seeks demurely

To Probe in polite way

The why and wherewithal

Of darkness U.S.A.--

Wondering how things got this way

In current democratic night,

Murmuring gently

Over fraises du bois,

"I'm so ashamed of being white."

The lobster is delicious,

The wine divine,

And center of attention

At the damask table, mine.

To be a Problem on

Park Avenue at eight is not so bad.

Solutions to the Problem,

Of course, wait.

About Me: Langston Hughes (1902-1967). Born in Missouri, Hughes settled in New York, where he became known as "Shakespeare in Harlem." One of the most prolific writers of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance, Hughes' prose and poetry illustrated with pathos and ethos the duality of black and white U.S. citizenship.

DeKalb County School Superintendent Johnny Brown is the new hire charged with solving DeKalb County, Georgia's long running school desegregation dilemma. "I won't shy away from difficult discussions about perceived inequities between schools in the county's north and south ends" was his first promise. However, his first assignment was to reassure whites "nothing will change." Without consultation, he left DeKalb's magnet schools selection regime intact. Highly sought-after slots in schools in north DeKalb, such as top-ranked Kittredge Magnet and Chamblee middle and high schools, were allowed to continue historic segregation patterns. Brought in from outside DeKalb, Brown is ignorant of DeKalb's racist history.

Led by the likes of Hosea Williams and John Evans of the NAACP, a court order desegregating DeKalb County schools was finally issued in 1969. Dragged kicking and screaming to the bar of justice, DeKalb's school board fought desegregation every step of the way. While they agreed to busing, the same people who fought desegregation were now in charge of implementing what they vowed never to accept. As a result, only poorer communities on the south side were desegregated and they quickly became predominantly black as whites fled to better schools in north DeKalb.

Redistricting allowed whites to keep control of the school board and its budget. Whites built bigger and better equipped and staffed schools in north DeKalb, while passing rules that restricted black students' access to schools in north DeKalb. Schools on the south end were systematically deprived of needed resources, facilities and staffing. South DeKalb schools fell further behind in academic standings. Ordered as the only means of providing black kids access to better schools in north DeKalb, busing created worse schools for the black children left behind. By 1993, opposition to desegregation gained a majority on the US Supreme Court and rulings against affirmative action were used to end desegregation efforts, even though black students never gained educational access equal to white students.

Still controlled by whites today, the DeKalb County School Board is re-segregating our schools and as a Booker T. face man, Brown's job is to make it acceptable. Not to dwell on the past, if Superintendent Brown wants to know the facts, he needs only look at what happened when busing ended. First student teacher ratios exploded on the south side. Overcrowding, as indicated by trailers and modular classrooms, increased. The most desirable schools, special training, artistic courses, as well as, science and math classes are located in north DeKalb. Accepting the status quo, as Brown apparently has, DeKalb's black students are back in the back of the bus within the lifetime of Mrs. Rosa Parks. John 2002

Members of Congress neither pay into nor collect benefits from the Social Security retirement system, which was deemed unsuitable for persons of their stature. Congress created its own retirement program.

When members of Congress retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die, without change except cost of living adjustments. Based on average life spans, retirees can expect to draw $7,800,000.00 (seven million, eight hundred thousand) from this program, while spouses can expect to draw $275,000.00. Their cost for this plan is zero, zilch, i.e., NOTHING!

While free to them, you and I pick up its tab. These retirement funds come directly from General Revenues, our tax dollars at work! Under Social Security, which we pay (or have paid) into every payday until retirement (an amount matched by our employers), we get an average $1,000 per month after retirement.

We can improve Social Security by making one small change. End the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan for Congresspersons. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us and watch how fast they fit it.

Send this article to your friends and family members; maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and some good changes will evolve. Ask your elected federal officials about this inequity, then find and vote for candidates that support congressional retirement reform. After all, they were elected to serve us, right?

Disgruntled says: Nothing is more unseemly than the stampede of politicians as they distance themselves from bankrupt policies. A prime example is Republicans disavowing tenets of the Contract with America and the GOP Revolution, which created the current climate of "infectious greed" devouring 401Ks on Wall Street.

Disgruntled wants to know: In every videotaping of a police beating, the cop is white and the victim is black. While we are urged to assume racial hatred or profiling plays no role in these incidences, the telling question is, if the races of victims and cops were reversed, would white America see these as routine instances of policemen protecting and serving citizens?

Disgruntled feels: Double standards! The historic experiences of black and white Americans contradict the notion of "liberty and justice for all." Even the white Taliban caught in Afghanistan and nonwhites suspected terrorists are treated differently. The same double standard is seen in the media's Middle East coverage. Palestinians killed by Israelis may get mentioned in ticker tapes across the bottom of the television screen. Israeli deaths are breaking news with live coverage. Only the dumb and blind miss these double standards!

Funky Hood

Born in 1943, my generation was steeped in Booker T. Washington's prescription for slave descendants to gain white acceptance. After the Civil War and 250 years of slavery, most blacks lacked education and resources, which were the new fault lines in the battle for survival. Powerless, slave descendants were completely dependent on the goodwill of their enslavers to give them Bill of Rights protection. Hypocritically, in drafting the Constitution, the founding fathers discarded the Declaration of Independence. Denying blacks the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they legalized slavery in establishing the inequality (white = 1 and blacks =3/5) in Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution, which was not repealed after the Civil War. Consequently, the 3/5 Compromise became the color line for legally segregating blacks.

Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Compromise accepted this separate-but-equal logic. He advised slave descendants' to accept a second class status. Blacks unwilling to accept less than equal rights became targets of lynchings and other acts of terrorism. A system designed to siphon resources from blacks segregation codified black inferiority and kept whites in power. To the detriment of slave descendants, Washington's knavish efforts to curry favor and wealth shackled blacks to conditions only physically different from slavery.

DeKalb County, Georgia elections reenact this drama each season. Today, CEO Vernon Jones plays the role of Booker T. Even though his name is not on the ballot, his presence weighs heavily on the outcome. Promising, "I will make sure South DeKalb gets it fair share," Jones was elected with overwhelming black support. Not up for reelection, Jones says he was elected to represent the economic interests of DeKalb. Like Booker T., he justifies the flow of resources from black South DeKalb to white communities on the north end. Voters this election must decide between Jones' handpicked DeKalb County Commission candidates and those supporting "fairness for South DeKalb."

Voters this election must choose between supporting Jones' economic plans for North DeKalb and candidates who support building up South DeKalb. Although, the South end voted for Jones' tax increases, no property improvements or new projects are planned for economically deprived South DeKalb. Voters should ask, what are our taxes buying? Jones refuses to press Gov. Roy Barnes for an I-20 MARTA train that could aid South DeKalb's economic development. Voters should demand candidates that state clearly where they stand on economic and environmental racism in the funky hood. Electing another generation of Booker T.s guarantees our neighborhoods and schools will continue to be neglected, while our taxes go to improve white communities in North DeKalb. Get registered by July 22 and vote in the August 20^th primary for change. John 2002

On September 27, 1994, Republicans gathered on the steps of the US Capitol to unveil the "Contract with America." Led by Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey, the GOP vowed to restore American confidence in the political process. Within the first 100 days of taking control of the House of Representatives, they promised a revolution in Washington. Bashing Democrats and Bill Clinton, they promised to pass a balanced budget amendment, fund police and prisons over social programs, reform welfare, cut taxes, strengthen the national defense, limit congressional terms, end regulations that stifle business, implement tort reforms to curtail 'frivolous' lawsuits and increase the Social Security earnings limit that penalize working seniors. Current economic conditions attest to their success.

Kudos! Kudos!

On July 8, 2002, about 200 women from the Arutan and Igborodo communities forced their way into the Escravos pipeline terminal demanding jobs for their sons and electricity for their villages. Though unarmed, the women barricaded the facilities, preventing the roughly 700 employees from performing their normal jobs, according to Chevron-Texaco. A company statement described the demonstration as an occupation. Workers are unable to leave the facility, because the women are blocking docks, helicopter pads and an airstrip that provide the only entry points to the facility, which is surrounded by swamps and the Niger Delta.

A spokesperson claimed the women are tired of living in poverty in the shadow of the oil terminal. Everyone in the area lives without electricity except for those in one village where Chevron-Texaco's Nigerian unit has an office. According to Anunu Uwawah, "We will no longer take this nonsense and this is the beginning of the trouble they have been looking for." A catalyst for change, we applaud their bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. Kudos to the Nigerian women!

Email ddhawkins@hotmail.com: Americans have short memories. They seem to have forgotten that Bush jawboned down the economy to justify tax cuts for the wealthy. Confidence collapsed, Bush got his recession and tax cuts. With stocks tanking and the dollar declining, they may recall Bush's voodoo-economics!

Email clydem@att.net A week after the US leaked plans to stage preemptive strikes against Iraq to change the regime, the plan is on hold until the US gets more evidence that Iraq poses a threat. The attack plans were leaked to the New York Times, while the hold scenario appeared in the Los Angeles Times. The Clinton gang was called spinmeisters. No such charge has been launched against the Bush White House. But for my money, it is a thousand times better at feeding us propaganda and spinning public opinion than Clinton.

Email uga749d@tninet.se After much protest, the UN Security Council approved a revised resolution by a unanimous vote. The revision tells the new International Criminal Court (ICC) to allow a 12-month grace period before investigating or prosecuting UN peacekeepers from certain countries.

The ICC was established to try individuals for the world's most heinous atrocities: genocide, war crimes and gross human rights abuses. It is a belated effort to fulfill the promise of the Nuremberg trials 56 years ago in which Nazi leaders were prosecuted for human rights and war crimes. Opposed to the court as an affront to US sovereignty, the United States threatened to veto far-flung UN peacekeeping missions, if they were not given an exemption. Washington feared 'frivolous' complaints against US soldiers and officials. Following fierce objections from the European Union, Canada, Mexico and others, the US backed away from seeking permanent immunity for its soldiers and civilians.

Email GhanaUnion@aol.com No sooner had the Bush administration grudgingly reported for the first time that manmade sources of greenhouse gases are major contributors to global warming than President Bush dismissed the report by his own Environmental Protection Agency. The report made it clear that the administration will take no serious steps to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the main source of global warming, Bush's reference to "the report put out by the bureaucracy" shows how isolated the administration's environment specialists are from its policymakers.

Email www.globeandmail.com The relentless US drift toward isolationism is by now familiar. Eighteen months after President George W. Bush moved into the White House, a lengthy array of complex multilateral issues is bedeviled by a narrow, me-first US foreign policy that seems to neither understand nor much care what the rest of the world thinks. Even against that backdrop, however, the US' willingness to torpedo the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia over misplaced concern about the just born International Criminal Court sets a new benchmark in global selfishness.

Email ambeche@yahoo.com The report that defense-funded scientists in the US have constructed a live polio virus lends credence to the theory that HIV/AIDS is a manmade nightmare. A growing number of researchers looking into the origins of the epidemic that is crippling Africa claims that AIDS began in the 1950s when thousands of Africans were given a live polio vaccine derived from chimp kidneys. Like the unintended consequences of giving an equine-derived estrogen to women, using chimp kidneys to develop a polio vaccine could be the missing link in the AIDS pandemic. The polio vaccine was also developed in the US and administered by US Catholic missionaries.

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