"Though many people of color have been critical of affirmative action because in many cases it has not benefited the poor as much as it has helped the middle class, affirmative action must be defended. To date, affirmative action constitutes the most meaningful and effective means devised by government for delivering the promise of equal opportunity. Without a policy that holds universities and employers accountable for who they admit the pledge to not discriminate is meaningless, and there is little doubt that most organizations would drift back to being mostly white. As a consequence of affirmative action, white women and people of color have gained access to higher education and professional jobs in such significant numbers that over the last twenty years there has been a dramatic rise in income for a growing number of individuals from these groups. Unfortunately, too many of those who have benefited most from affirmative action fail to recognize its connection to the struggle against racism in the United States." "Clearly, a mass movement will be necessary to counter not only the attacks on affirmative action, but the broader offensive directed at poor and working class people generally. Since the 1994 elections, right-wing Republicans have been moving with great speed to enact their reactionary contract on America. The shut down of the federal government is just an indication of how determined they are to see their vision for this country realized. So far, Clinton and his allies in the Democratic party have proven to be no match for Newt Gingrich and his gang, both because they agree with parts of that agenda (as demonstrated by Clinton's support for NAFTA and his administration's unwillingness to raise the minimum wage) and because they lack the conviction to meet the challenge forcefully." -- Dr. Pedro Noguera (Published in In Motion Magazine February 10, 1996) Click on the picture for a larger view This fall Matthew Heimback, a student at Towson State University in Maryland, proposed starting a white student union. Maybe we should allow these groups to organize. We should not be naïve and believe they will not organize just because a college or institution does not allow them to. These individuals will just go underground and do it anyway. I think that we should see them in the light of day and expose them for who they are. They should be tagged and tracked. They should be on watch lists. Considering the threat of mass executions like what happened in Colorado it may be better for us to know who they are. Heimbach, who prefers being associated with southern nationalists over white nationalists, said a photo of him holding a Confederate flag this summer in front of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King, Jr. pastored in Montgomery, Alabama, ought not to be misconstrued. “[The Confederate flag] has never been a symbol of race,” Heimbach said. “Someone who has no connection to Dixie, no connection to the confederacy just doesn’t understand it.” “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”—Dr. Martin Luther King, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Today marks the 49th anniversary of the March on Washington. On August 28, 1963, over 250,000 people assembled in Washington, DC to take a stand against civil injustice. This was notably one of the most important events in the civil rights movement. A friend of mine, I'll call him XX, posed a question to me. What happens if George Zimmerman is acquitted? Although that is something that I really don't want to consider, it is worthy of discussion. We've been down this road before and have seen what can happen. The conversation went as follows: XX: I wonder what would happen if the justice system lets Zimmerman go? Hmm EH: You don't want to think about that. It could get a little ugly. XX: Watts riots among others? XX: I mean brother we have seen it happen before so you know it can happen again. EH: Brother I am 54 years old. I've seen this happen many times in my life. The issue I have is when things don't play out as they should we trash our own neighborhoods. What good does that do? XX: Yes that's true. We do a lot of reacting and less acting. We need to act more. Reactions only last a little bit. I hope with all of my heart that George Zimmerman gets what he deserves but what will we do if he's acquitted? Will we react by rioting and destroying our own neighborhoods or will we rise above the emotional urge to lash out? I spent my early childhood years growing up in Harlem. On July 16, 1964, 15-year-old James Powell from Harlem, was shot and killed by NYPD Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan. The teenage summer student from Robert Wagner Junior High school had been engaged in horseplay with other boys and a building superintendent in front of an apartment building at 215 East 76th Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side. When the man sprayed the boys with a hose, Powell chased him back into his building. At this point Lt Gilligan, who said the boy lunged at him with a knife, intervened firing his service revolver twice at the boy. On July 18, 1964, the riots started. Six days later it was over and the property damage was estimated to be between $500,000 and $1 million. Is this a case of the right message by the wrong person? Last Wednesday CBS News reported that New York City Commissioner Ray Kelly asks "Why leaders upset with ‘Stop And Frisk’ aren’t protesting violence instead". He further went on to say “The fact of the matter is that 96 percent of shooting victims are people of color, yet the community leaders are not speaking out about this. We’d like to hear from them,” Being an African American man living in New York, I for one am not a proponent of the current 'Stop and Frisk' tactics in the Big Apple. When interviewed by Democracy Now Benjamin Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP stated "This stop-and-frisk program in New York City is the worst racial profiling program in the country, in any city". |
EditorErnest R. Heyward is the Founder and President of the Marketplace for Social Awareness and Social Responsibility Inc. Categories
All
Archives
June 2020
|