Newspaper Page Text
8A
December 5, 1996 AUGUSTA FOCUS
Marshall, FBI dialog
no huge revelation
Revelationsthat thelate Supreme Court
Justice Thurgood Marshall had concerns
about Communistinfluence inthe NAACP
shouldn’t surprise anyone knowledgeable
of the history of the black liberation
struggles in the United States.
There has always been an ideological
tension among African Americans striv
ingforself-determination.
Although, not mentioned in most of the
stories this week about the Marshall-FBI
dialogue, the communistinfluence of con
cernto Marshall was, most likely, Robert
Williams, head ofthe Monroe, N.C. branch
ofthe NAACP.
Williams went against the grain of the
NAACP by advocating self defense in the
face of brutality on the part of racist white
segregationists. He fled to Cuba in 1960
TO BE EQUAL By Hugh B. Price
The true state of
Black America
n Monday, Nov. 18, the New York
OTimes published a front-page
article with a headline that de
clared, “Quality of Life Is Up for Many
Blacks, Data Say.” The major point of
the story was that “signs of improve
ment abound” for African-Americans,
indicating that in recent years a signif
icant advance had occurred on the ra
cial front.
On Nov. 22 we at the National Urban
League held a news conference in Wash
ington to announce our annual book
length report on the current status and
condition of African Americans, The
State of Black America. The eight schol
ars who penned essays for the volume
on such matters as health and housing,
the economic outlook for black Ameri
cans and their wary relationship with
the criminal justice system were, at
best, much more cautious in their as
sessments of how far African Ameri
cans as a group had advanced. Instead,
they focused on the barriers still to be
overcome in the search for equality.
That approach was exemplified by
Dr. June Jackson Christmas’ compre
hensive examination of “The Health of
African Americans.”
Usingthe landmark federal document
Healthy People 2000 as the point of
comparison, Dr. Christmas presented
statistics on topics from infant mortali
ty to the impact of AIDS to cancer and
diabetes. She summarized her findings
at our news conference by saying that,
in group terms, the health of African
Americans was “a little better in some
respects ... but in many respects not so
good.”
What is one to make of these seeming
ly different assessments?
The first one is that no simplistic
characterization of the state of Black
America will suffice. The issues and the
challenges facing Black America, and
all of America, as we head into the 21st
century are too complex for an “either
or” description.
Indeed, both the Times and our au
thors recognized that complexity. The
apparent contrast between the story in
the Times and the judgment of the State’s
authors is just apparent, not real.
For example, our authors are quick to
note the substantial progress African
Americans have forged in many areas,
from expanding the size of the black
middle class and the number of black
homeowners to reducing the incidence
of crime in some inner-city neighbor
hoods.
And the Times’ story itself declared
that “wide gulfs in opportunity, incomes
and education still exist between blacks
and whites,” and devoted considerable
space to exploring where those gaps are
and what some experts and ordinary
citizens think can be done to reduce
Mg eSS
Since 1981
A Walker Group Publication
1143 Laney Walker Blvd.
afterlearning of a plot by racists to frame
him forkidnapping.
It must be remembered, by 1960 the
black activist movement had various fac
tions often seeking different goals.
The NAACP was on the far right spec
trum of the black movement. Its leading
spokespersonat thetime Roy Wilkins was
derided by Malcolm X and others as an
“uncle Tom.”
Thecivilrightsorganizations that spear
headed the movement were the left-lean
ing direct action groups. Among them
were Martin Luther King’s Southern Chris
tian Leadership Conference (SCLC), The
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and
the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Com
mittee (SNCC - pronounced “snick”). The
NAACP served in other ways. )
them.
In fact, the Times quoted two experts
with significant ties to the Urban
League. One was Evelyn Moore, execu
tive director of the National Black Child
Development Institute, a Washington
based nonprofit organization, whose
essay appears in The State of Black
America 1996. The other is the distin
guished sociologist and Harvard profes
sor William Julius Wilson -- a trustee of
the Urban League.
Given that we must attack the prob
lems afflicting African Americans and
the entire nation in an era of significant
social change and an often wrenching
transformation of the American econo
my, both strongly cautioned against an
unwarranted optimism.
, Yet, the Times’ article and the essays
in The State of Black America 1996 also
both show that the success achieved
most often stems from the concerted
efforts of individuals and local commu
nity and private organizations and gov
ernment agencies.
That is what one of our contributors -
- Christopher E. Stone, director of the
Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit
advocacy organizationin New York City
-- found in researching why crime has
declined markedly in some inner-city
neighborhoods for his essay “Crime and
Justice in Black America.”
The reason, he writes, is that particu
lar, newly devised “government pro
grams and police strategies provide a
framework within which people in a
community can work together to make
a difference. Without good people -- or
ganizers, local police, adults and chil
dren from the community -- no pre
packaged strategy is worth much. With
out supportive government policies and
programs providing a framework, the
most creative people cannot sustain
these kinds of efforts.”
The Times described how just such a
comprehensive effort involving the
Marion (Ind.) County Health Depart
ment, the Indianapolis-area public
schools, and such private agencies as
Girls, Inc., and Planned Parenthood
have significantly reduced the high rate
of births to unmarried women there.
“People’s perception is that we've
solved the problem and we don’t have to
put as many resources into it,” said
Virginia Caine, director of the health
‘agency, in warning against complacen
cy. “Let’s focus our attention on some
thing else. People have no idea of the
amount of effort it requires to get people
to receive services and to change their
lives.”
Being thankful for the success
achieved, but keeping our focus on the
problems before us, is the perspective
we all should have. That is the State of
Black America in 1996.
Charles W. Walker
Publisher
Frederick Benjamin
Managing Editor
Dot T. Ealy
Marketing Director
Rhonda Jones
Copy Editor
Derick Wells
Art Director
Sheila Jones
Office Manager
Lillian Wan
Layout Artist
Editorial
! \
(i, Wi fi@i m(A
DR ] i Sl ko
2Qo.- .-4 l i i \ ’ ’_l ‘(Q“ :
!}o?:‘.“' ‘ :
' Sy /"‘_ '—/,; i
= TKENO | .
W) PRONERS! || =
= g SnO‘\\‘- Al L 8 & ‘ jlv /‘-“ i’%
S NS>, © ‘ e T
y/l/ I’/" T /,; ,c S . // "»;J “\ : -
P2e kY A | I\ . Aaiy
PSS / Z b =N
g f/"/?.'t:/;’,“ (2 e;, " G\‘\ x f‘\‘?\\‘\\'\\}
Rk ol PR B SENEREN
. «-j m/fif/@%fi‘id b AT R
S B TR\ : BRI\
"/ - 7-/ Y \’\«\ L ! SR ‘ e {
,r/’:: ? 4, - o \' R ... . A!K p b - :\\‘_\‘\\;‘}.‘ ‘\
W e NS | | CSEEECREERRNY ||
Y AR W Y ISR SR e
b //ffl’/@‘/’%/’d"/é i W jds TSR EG ST IS
Wi AR L s’3"’ O\ WA . :“/// W
I eg2 il ary 55 %o 2 ¥ ke NTERSAcRUN\ N| B
OB AL \ L| St \
ke ORSOO RN G : ; ;
/’/I":’ . G v :‘n:"l}\ N E\\\‘ . “
g 4 Gingrich Khan 0® ) Gingrich Calm &=
7 : : —— e
- Ul —
CGIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL By Bernice Powell Jackson
Justice and Jonny Gammage
have often said that Rodney King
Iwas not the only victim of police
brutality, just the most famous. And,
if an onlooker had not videotaped the
brutal beating, the rest of the world
would have never known and those po
lice officers would still be on the street.
Last week I wrote about Kwame Can
non, a young African-American man
who received an overly harsh prison
sentence and who has been rehabilitat
ed while in prison. Still, the governor of
North Carolina has refused to give him
clemency or to release him to a group of
pastors who want to help him.
This week I write about the case of
Jonny Gammage, a 31-year-old African
American in business with his cousin,
Pittsburgh Steeler Ray Seales. While
drivinga Jaguar, Gammage was judged
by police ofticers tobe tapping his brakes
too often and was stopped by these offic
ers outside Pittsburgh. In less than 10
minutes, Jonny Gammage was dead.
The five officers who held Gammage
down claim he was resisting arrest.
Conflicting accounts say they were fear
ful he was carrying a gun and that they
saw he was really carrying a cell phone.
Indeed, the phone was swatted out of
his hand and the five officers hit him
with flashlights and batons. With the
ALONG THE COLOR LINE By Dr. Manning Marable
Election: Beyond liberalism
he 1996 electoral campaign which
I reelected both incumbent presi
dent Bill Clinton and the Repub
lican-controlled Congress was, by all
estimates, the most boring contest in
recent memory. Millions of voters stayed
home on election day. Public opinion
polls indicated a deep distrust of both
Clinton and Dole, and a strong desire
for a real alternative in politics. Televi
sion ratings for the two presidential
debates were the lowest ever recorded.
Clinton’s reelection was greatly as
sisted by a relatively strong domestic
economy. Since January 1993, 10.7 mil
lion new jobs were created inthe U.S. —
although millions of them were located
in the service sector or at low to mini
mum wages. Corporate profits and the
stock market soared under Clinton, so
business was not dissatisfied with the
political stalemate between a Demo
cratic president and a Republican Con
gress.
The failure of the Democrats to win
majorities in the Senate and House was
alsonot surprising. In most of the major
presidential landslides since World War
11, usually the winning candidate’s par
ty achieves modest legislative gains, if
at all.
The major reason that the Republi
cans performed below expectations was
the reality of the gender and racial gap
between the two major parties. White
males generally split their votes evenly
between Dole and Clinton. White wom
en, by contrast, voted for Clinton by at
least a 15-percent margin. Dole’s rejec
tion of reproductive rights, family leave,
affirmative action and other conserva
tive policies alienated millions of work
ing women. African Americansin record
numbers also rejected the Dole-Kemp
ticket. At the beginning of the cam
weight of five men on top of him,
Gammage was quickly squeezed to
death, killed by the compression on his
neck and chest.
Gammage was characterized as easy
going, mild and professional in his de
meanor. There were no drugs or alcohol
found in his system. Ray Seales and
those who knew and loved him find it
impossible to believe he would have
charged and attacked five police offic
ers.
Sadly, the criminal justice system did
not protect Jonny Gammage that night
on the side of the highway and it is not
working on his behalfnow. The primary
police 'officer involved in this incident
was not charged with murder, but with
involuntary manslaughter. Claiming
that he would not be able to receive a
fair trial in Pittsburgh, the system
brought in an all-white jury from
Scranton, 200 miles away and in a coun
ty with less than 1 percent [of its popu
lation] people of color. Not surprisingly,
the jury found the police officer not
guilty.
Reminiscent of the Simi Valley jury,
which found the police officers innocent
who beat Rodney King, these jurors
believed Jonny Gammage was the ag
gressor in this incident. This was de
paign, Republican officials believed they
might winatleast 15 percent of the total
black vote. Colin Powell remains a pop
ular figure among many African Amer
icans, and his decision to become a Re
publican was viewed as a hopeful sign.
Jack Kemp’s selection as the vice pres
idential candidate was also widely
praised, due to his reputation as a de
fender of affirmative action and his ad
vocacy of a more racially inclusive Re
publican Party. Back in 1992, even
George Bush was able to take 10 per
cent of the national black vote: There
seemed nowhere to go but up.
There were several problems with the
GOP’s black strategy. First, Dole and
Kemp opportunistically repudiated their
own moderate records on civil rights
and affirmative action in the campaign.
The Republicans’ “Contract for Ameri
ca,” the ultra right blueprint of Con
gressional conservatives led by Newt
Gingrich, was widely opposed by Afri
can Americans, Latinos, labor and oth
er liberal constituencies. The Dole-
Gingrich philosophy of smaller govern
ment, reductions in education and
health care, and no support for urban
policy and employment initiatives, di
rectly contradicted blacks’ interests. Al
though Kemp scheduled public appear
ances in Harlem and other black com
munities, the Republican ticket placed
virtually no advertisements in black
media, such as Black Entertainment
Television.
Conversely, Clinton was able to em
phasize his close and cordial relation
ships with African-American voters. His
roots in Arkansas were readily appar
ent whenever he visited a black church,
or when he addressed the Congression
al Black Caucus weekend in Septem
ber. Clinton understands the language
BY MacNELLY FOR THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
spite the testimony of a passing tow
truck driver who said the police were
clearly the aggressors. This was despite
the conflicting testimony of the police
officers themselves about whether they
knew Gammage washolding a cell phone
instead of a gun.
The trial of the two other police offic
ers charged in Gammage’s death ended
in mistrials because of the testimony of
one witness. They could be retried, but
so far that has not been decided.
A major contributor to the gulf be
tween white Americans and people of
color is the differing perceptions about
the criminal justice system. As long as
people of color can die while in police
custody and the police can go unpun
ished, the gulf will continue to widen.
The tragedy is that the most punish
ment Jonny Gammage should have re
ceived was a ticket for his driving. The
reality is that Jonny Gammage could
have been any African-American man
in an expensive car in the wrong place
and confronted by police at the wrong
time. The irony is that only because of
his relationship to a professional ath
lete do the rest of us even know his
story.
and culture of African Americans, and
appears personally comfortable around
black people. Despite their disappoint
ment with many of his policies, African
Americans made the realistc judgment
that Clinton and the Democrats were
clearly the best of the available alterna
tives.
Finally, Clinton won the overwhelm
ing support of the black economic and
political establishment: The Congres
sional Black Caucus, NAACP, black
elected officials, executives and public
administrators, and the growing Afri
can-American professional and mana
gerial class. Ideologically, much of this
group interpreted Clinton’s policies as
being in harmony with its own moder
ately liberal agenda: working for re
forms within the political system, liber
alizing capitalism by increasing black
business subcontracts and by expand
ing the percentages of blacks in man
agement, cultural integration into the
mainstream of white America. The es
sential contradiction for the black elite
is that neither Clinton nor the Republi
cans really favor a change in the racial
status quo. Under Clinton’s adminis
tration, blacks will undoubtedly have
representatives at the table. But on a
range of substantive issues affecting
the lives of millions of working-class
and impoverished African ‘Americans
—onwelfare, health care, urban renew
al, etc. — Clinton’s victory changes little
to nothing.
Dr. Manning Marable is professor of
history and the director of the Institute
for Research in African-American Stud
ies, Columbia University, New York City.
Along the Color Line appears in over
280 publications throughout the U.S.
and internationally. .