The DISH

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Vol. 9 No. 34…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…August 25, 2006

Intuit’s Vibe

Childhood

By Margaret Abigail Walker

When I was a child, I knew red miners

dressed raggedly and wearing carbide lamps.

I saw them come down red hills to their camps

dyed with red dust from old Ishkooda mines.

Night after night I met them on the roads,

or on the streets in town I caught their glance;

the swing of dinner buckets in their hands,

and grumbling undermining all their words.

I also lived in low cotton country

where moonlight hovered over ripe haystacks,

or stumps of trees, and croppers’ rotting shacks

with famine, terror, flood, and plague near by;

where sentiment and hatred still held sway

and only bitter land was washed away.

Bit of History

World Conference Against Racism (WCAR)

Since its creation (1945), nondiscrimination on the grounds of race has been a United Nations' guiding principle. In 1948, it held the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide following WWII atrocities and adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

South African apartheid and the black civil rights struggle in the United States spurred the UN's adoption of the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1963). The UN held the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1965. In 1969, members of the United Nations (UN), including the United States of America (USA), passed the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The signatories pledged to end racial discrimination and make restitution to its victims.

The UN designated three decades for action to combat racism. During the first (1973-1982), the UN held its first World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) in Geneva in 1978. Programs for the first decade concerned worldwide education and measures the UN should take to eliminate racism. In its second decade (1983-1992), the UN held WCAR2 (1983), which focused on recourse procedures for the victims of racial discrimination. In addition to a public information campaign, the UN drafted model legislation to guide its members in the enactment of national legislation against racial discrimination.

For the third decade (1994-2003), the UN pledged to tackle the roots of racism. Faced with growing international concern for the increasing incidents of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, the UN passed a resolution in 1997 calling for its third conference against racism. At the end of 2000, the USA submitted its Initial Report to document its progress on ending racial discrimination. Acknowledging historic human rights abuses against natives, slaves and their descendants, the document cited access to US courts to justify not paying reparations.

WCAR3 was held in Durban, South Africa August 31 - September 7, 2001. It identified seven goals: (1) Review progress in the fight against racism. (2) Consider ways to ensure better application of existing standards. (3) Increase the level of global racism awareness. (4) Formulate concrete recommendations on ways to increase the effectiveness of UN programs to combat racism. (5) Review political, historical, economic, social, cultural and other factors leading to racism. (6) Formulate concrete recommendations to further action-oriented national, regional and international measures aimed at combating all forms of racism. (7) Draw up concrete recommendations to ensure that the UN has the necessary resources for its activities to combat racism. (Source: www.un.org/WCAR)

Three Fifths Compromised Again

By John Burl Smith

Closing out the millennium, the United Nations World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) gave slave descendants hope that member nations would establish mechanisms to deal with the two hundred plus years of forced bondage and ongoing racial discrimination. Claiming to be the world's greatest democracy, but actually the country with the most gruesome slave history, the United States (US) opposed the proposed confab in 1965 and tried to derail it so as not to face its legacy of racism.

Adopted by the UN in 1969, the US Senate did not ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racism until 1994, and only then with exceptions. It justified its behavior by claiming blacks are not discriminated against in the US and then offered, "The US Constitution gives African Americans redress of grievances in courts."

Established by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) has taken issue with this assertion. After the dismissal by a US federal court of its class action lawsuit against the Department of the Army for discrimination, it charged the US government uses the courts, Justice Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to maintain a secret civil rights policy that targets blacks and blocks access to civil rights, justice and equality.

Buttressing its claim, the SCLC pointed to reservations the US Senate placed on its ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racism. SCLC maintains that these reservations prevent blacks from having their cases heard by the International Court of Justice when US Federal courts use technicalities to dismiss lawsuits or simply refuse to hear complaints filed by blacks.

Unfortunately, SCLC, like most blacks, does not understand the nature of ongoing discrimination and racism in the US. Article I Section 2 of the US Constitution (the 3/5 Compromise) is still the law of the land; it makes discrimination against blacks legal. SCLC is right, when it says that "the US government maintains a secret civil rights policy." However, SCLC refuses to consider the fact that the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th Amendments did not specifically repeal the 3/5 Compromise. That is the secret.

Illiterate slaves, glad to be out of forced bondage, did not understand the significance of the 3/5 Compromise; they did not insist it be repealed and its institutions dismantled. Thus, the constitutionally established value of slaves as "three fifths of all other persons" remained the law of the land. Article I Section 2 legalized slavery and is the basis of discrimination in the US today. It legally justifies attitudes held by whites that blacks should get less. Unless we are as ignorant as slaves in 1863, blacks must understand that as long as the 3/5 Compromise remains a part of the Constitution, white supremacy is the law of the land.

Dot M. Smith's chasm of inequality analysis (1982) examined the disparity or residual when comparing black and white medium family income and unemployment data. Using regression analysis, Smith controlled for the usual socioeconomic and political variables that impact income and employment. The unexplained difference or residual equals the 2/5 black loss mandated by the 3/5 Compromise. Smith's analysis shows blacks have not gained, rather they remain mired at the bottom of every positive or the top of every negative socioeconomic and political indicator of welfare. If blacks could challenge the 3/5 Compromise in an international court, the US would be condemned as a racist society, like South Africa's apartheid.

Consequently, if one applied the results of studies, like the Brookings Institute's From Poverty, Opportunity: Putting the Market to Work for Lower Income Families or any of the host of studies that looked at Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, using Smith's chasm analysis, the unexplained residual would scream institutionalized racism. According to the Brookings study, "blacks pay more for everything." They estimate that if the extra cost blacks pay was reduced by just one percent, $6.5 billion would be saved or generate new spending in the black community.

The current approach by blacks to attaining equality is tantamount to attacking segregation with lunch counter "sit-ins," when the real problem is the law. Segregation was the practice, like the Senate's secret actions. Until laws are changed and institutions dismantled, nothing changes. Today, it is the 3/5 Compromise. Do we "sit-in" at the Senate or attack the 3/5 Compromise, which is the law?

Comments from the Bat Cave

The new school year has begun and the Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is fully engaged. He plans to tryout for sports, counting on the popularity athletics bring. When queried for comments, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro wondered, "Will girls think I am handsome in a helmet?"

Politics Y2K6

John Edwards' Two Americas

In his address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Senator John Edwards (D-NC), the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, spoke passionately about his parents, their hard work, the values they instilled in him and their love for America. His father worked in a mill; his mother worked at the post office and refinished furniture so the family could afford health care and his tuition. He was the first in his family to go to college.

A Southerner, Edwards has seen firsthand the ugly face of segregation and racial discrimination. He acknowledged continuing disparities between blacks and whites, rich and poor, haves and have-nots. He spent no time identifying the causes of these degrees of separation that give America two faces. Instead, he pledged to work to ensure all Americans have the same kind of opportunities, regardless of skin color.

With that assertion, he spoke about the work ahead and what a Kerry-Edwards administration would do to make the "two Americas" one, stronger, cherished at home and respected abroad. The Convention crowded cheered wildly and applauded his proposed ideas to make this dream come true.

When the Kerry-Edwards ticket lost in Ohio and Kerry chose not to challenge the vote count, Edwards began his "One America" campaign. He runs the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at UNC, Chapel Hill's law school. The think tank is charged with creating new ways to address economic and racial inequities. Its ideas include College for Everyone, a tuition program that helps high school graduates pay for the first year of college.

In speeches across the US, Edwards is getting people energized about making "One America" a reality that begins with ending poverty. With his moral message resonating, he is fast becoming the Democratic Party favorite for 2008.

A lawyer, famous for winning big bucks for his clients against major corporations, Edwards oddly avoids things like the ghetto tax and institutionalized racism in his stump speeches on eradicating poverty. With Election 2008 more than a year away, he has time to hone his skills. He can even add some history and address the root cause of two Americas so vividly displayed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Edwards has acknowledged, "the face of poverty in America is the face of color," making his two Americas - one black, the other white- separate and unequal. Legally ending this is the challenge for Edwards' two Americas.

News You Use

Must See TV: Lee's Levees

On August 29, HBO will air When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. A Spike Lee film, it gives voice to the faces seen on television during the coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Using the voices of dozens of New Orleans residents, media coverage, amateur video and footage he shot during his trips to New Orleans, Lee skillfully strings together events and images to poignantly capture the personal tragedies, tremendous physical devastation and emotional roller coaster ride of those displaced by the massive flooding when the levees broke.

The film revisits the unanswered questions raised by the government's slow response to the cries for assistant from the "other America," the poor and black masses, so reminiscent of refugees and the poor in Third World Countries. Daring to raise the question, Lee's documentary looks at the suspicion held by many that the levees were blown intentionally to flood the poor areas of New Orleans, much like the flood of 1927. Certainly, with so many poor blacks displaced, spread across the nation, the flood has changed the New Orleans' demographics.

Watching Lee's Levees is an excellent way to commemorate the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It is a timely reminder that much has been promised and much more remains to be done to restore New Orleans and other communities damaged by this storm. Expect criticism of Lee for letting the people talk. This documentary is a must see.

Disgruntled says: The housing market should serve as a barometer of the overall economy. When economic times are good, young families buy first-time homes, appliances, furniture, etc. The stock of unsold new and existing homes has grown over the last six months. Moreover, foreclosures are historically high. Even building suppliers are feeling the pinch of pennies. For some time, economists have warned the housing bubble will burst. Given obscene levels of public and private debt, they warned of serious economic shocks when the bills come due, and there is no money. While people continue to take equity out of their homes to support consumption, which makes the economy appear strong in the short run, the practice cannot continue. The housing market is getting soft, a good indicator that these are not "good economic times."

Disgruntled feels: Ironic! In the immediate aftermath of 9-11, first responders flocked to the area, hoping to save someone. Then, the clean up crews and others came to help. Some workers were turned away, mostly blacks. At the time, they complained of discrimination. Now, we learn that many of those allowed to work at the Twin Towers site have health problems from breathing the air and exposure to chemicals at ground zero. Ironically, this time discrimination saved those turned away.

Disgruntled wants to know: In the lead up to the war against Iraq, the Bush administration painted a rosy scenario of the reception US troops would receive on deposing Saddam Hussein. Iraqis have yet to shower these young men and women with flowers. Instead, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are more frequently thrown and planted than kisses. The US has achieved its stated objective to remove the threat posed by Hussein. Clearly, he is toast, so mission accomplished! Why is removing US troops "cut and run?" Where are the flowers?

Hood Notes

Katrina: A Year Later

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina left a legacy that is certain to live in infamy. She uprooted ancient trees, caused massive flooding and left thousands displaced and dead. Tracking Katrina on television, scenes of people screaming for help, stranded on rooftops, facing certain death, were reminiscent of what we see in Third World countries. We could not believe this was the United States of America. Alas, it was the USA!

The US response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster had second class written all over it. By all accounts, recovery, like the initial response to the cries for help from New Orleans' poor black people, is slow. More than 1.3 million people remain displaced. A critical shortage of housing hampers recovery efforts; workers and returning residents need housing. Problems with insurance claims also slow debris removal and the rebuilding process. And, unfortunately, there are fraud and corruption playing their roles in impeding progress.

A year later, Katrina has been a bitter pill to swallow. Beyond those immediately impacted by Katrina's devastation, this whole episode hurts in ways that go to the heart of what it means to be on the wrong side of the two Americas. Rather than an overdue dialogue on the two Americas and a Marshall Plan to rebuild the Gulf region, George W. Bush is spending US treasure destroying Iraq and Afghanistan and killing foreign second class citizens. No wonder Katrina's bitter taste lingers a year later.

Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and Telephone Calls

Email www.msnbc.msn.com Spend Cycle...By Jessica Bennett…Newsweek...For the first time ever recorded, Americans owe more money than they make. Household debt levels have now surpassed household income by more than eight percent, reaching 108.4 percent in 2005, according to a May 2006 study by the Center for American Progress. Consumer debt is now at a record $2.17 trillion, reports the Federal Reserve Board and consumers cashed out a whopping $431 billion in home equity last year.

Email johnb@ga.net Judge Nixes Warrantless Surveillance...By Sarah Karush...DETROIT (AP) - A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it. U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy.

Email www.latimes.com Bush Fulfills Few Promises to Gulf Coast...By Matt Crenson...Nearly half of New Orleans was still under water when President Bush stood in the Crescent City's historic Jackson Square and swore he would "Do what it takes" to rebuild the communities and lives that had been laid to waste two weeks before by Hurricane Katrina...A year after the storm, the federal government has proven slow and unreliable in keeping the president's promise. The job of clearing debris left by the storm remains unfinished, and has been plagued by accusations of fraud and price gouging. Thousands of families still live in trailers or mobile homes, with no indication of when or how they will be able to obtain permanent housing. And, little if anything has been done to ensure the welfare of the poor in a rebuilt New Orleans.

Email www.legitgov.org Bush Administration Scheming to Avoid War Crimes Charges...Seeking to protect its policymakers from possible criminal charges stemming from humiliating and degrading treatments of persons detained in its "war on terror." The Bush administration has proposed amendments to the War Crimes Act of 1996. If enacted, the amendments would retroactively exempt administration officials from prosecution.

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