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JULY 8, 1999
CHILDWATCH By Marian Wright Edelman
We shall overcome
' - bout a month ago, a hero of mine
-died. Mrs. Mac Bertha Carter was
one of the great unsung heroines
of the civil rights movement. She
digd of cancer at the age of 76, but the
leggacy of her spirit and courage will have
a lsting effect on our society for genera
tions to come.
# daughter of sharecroppers, Mrs.
Carter started picking cotton when she
was six yearsold. She got what education
slte could, but school then for Black chil
dren lasted only four months a year in
ofder to accommodate cotton-picking
semson. As an adult, she resolved, with
hér husband Matthew Carter, that their
children would receive a good education.
A-door seemed to open for them when
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
ordered desegregation of all public
schools. But Mississippi had its own
id¢as. In response to the new law, the
sthte sent out “freedom of choice” papers,
alfowing parents to decide what schools
their children would attend, but heaven
hdlp them if their “choice” was to send
thpir children to the “white” schools.
The Carter family’s struggle is told in
thp book Silver Rightsby Constance Curry.
Eight of the Carter’s 13 children were
stjll in school when the Carters, alone of
al] the Black families in Sunflower
Cdunty, Mississippi, made their choice
for a decent education for them. The only
Black children in the “white” schools,
thky were forbidden the use of the library
tljzy needed to do their work and en
dyred name-calling, threats, and ostra
(V:alm by other children and teachers.
en the family stood together, refusing
tolgive up, their home was shot into,
thpir crops were destroyed, and they
were forced toleave the plantation where
théy worked and lived as sharecroppers.
DSughter Ruth remembers those diffi
m;lt times, and recalls how her mother
wes always there tolisten to and remind
h¢r children of what was important.
“bz'ama wouldn’t let us say we hated
white people, or that we wished we had
n¢ver been born,” Ruth teld Curry.
fn 1967 when I was an attorney for the
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational
Fund, Irepresented the Cartersinaclass
adlion suit against the Drew Schoo: Dis
trict. Asaresult ofthat suit, Mississippi’s
“fgeedom of choice” plans were ruled
ilfpgal and real desegregation began in
the state. Seven of the eight children
ulfimately graduated from the Univer
sify of Mississippi, and Mrs. Carter went
tdwork for Head Start, continuing her
nygssion to provide poor Black children
h a quality education.
Mrs. Carter’s death came shortly after
the shootings at Columbine High School
ind Littleton, Colorado. I was struck then
by the malignant thread of hatred run
nihg through history — thehatred at the
ropt of all violence, prejudice, and un
equal treatment of children born equalin
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the eyes of God. And I thought about
Mrs. Carter’s response to that hatred all
those years ago: her courage to stand for
whatis right, and her confidence that the
right would triumph, that the civil rights
anthem “We Shall Overcome” was true.
Then I found myself thinking about
what has happened in response not only
to the shootings in Colorado and in Geor
gia in the past few weeks, but to the
shooting and killing of nearly 13 and the
wounding of approximately 50 children
every day in our country. We've seen the
lack of political courage as elected offi
cials fear to take on the gun lobby. We've
seen endless hand-wringing and analysis
on our news and talk shows, and in our
P.T.A. and community meetings, too, all
of which so often seems to come down to
a feeling of hopelessness, that “there’s
nothing we can do.”
Well, there are a lot of things we can
do. Here’s a start: Make sure asa parent,
teacher, religious or civic leader that you
do not engage in violence or teach chil
dren by word or deed that violence is a
way to resolve conflicts. Urge the Presi
dent, Congress, and state and local offi
cials to ensure children’s security by
working for legislation and regulation to
control the manufacture, sale and pos
session of non-sporting firearms. Imple
ment a range of effective safety plans to
protect our children — safe houses, safe
corridors, peace zones, and after-school
opportunities must be established and
monitored. Every community must pro
vide children and youths safe and posi
tive alternatives to the streets through
summer, weekend and after-school pro
grams to keep children safe and con
nected to caring adults and role models.
Monitor television shows, movies, video
games, the Internet, and the music and
toys children buy and listen to. Turn off
violent programs and explain that vio
lence is deadly and harmful and not en
tertaining. Create youth jobs and train
ing opportunities to provide legitimate
routes to success. Creating a job is a lot
cheaper than building a new prison cell.
Work with your friends, neighbors,
and others in your community to find
solutions. Let all good hearts come to
gether, stand against hatred and the
tragedies engendered by hatred, whether
the horror is killing a child with a gun or
killing a child’s spirit with injustice, in
equality, and neglect. Let us all resolve
today to stand for children with the cour
age Mrs. Carter demonstrated, with the
courage and confidencc that the right
will triumph, that “We Shall Overcome!”
Marian Wright Edelman is president of
the Children’s Defense Fund and a work
ing committee member of the Black Com
munity Crusade for Children (BCCC). In
1998, CDF celebrated 25 years of advo
cacy, service and leadership to build a
movement to Leave No Child Behind.
Opinion
ALONG THE COLOR LINE By Dr. Manning Marable N{
The power of nonviolent protest:
n a small Indian village in the high
lands of Chiapas state, Mexico, an in
credible event occurred recently that
was reminiscent of Dr. Martin Luther
KingdJr., and the desegregation campaigns
across the south during the 1960’5.
For five years, Mexican government
troops have battled against the Zapatista
rebels in Chiapas. Since December 1995,
theZapatistashave controlled the mayor’s
office and town hall of San Andre’s
Larrainzar,arural village. In April, 1999,
the Mexican government decided to seize
the town hall by force. Three hundred
state police officers, fully armed, invaded
the town hall, overpowering only two
Zapatistas who had been guarding the
building.
The Next day, over one thousand
Zapatistas and their supporters. All un
armed, gathered into three long columns
and marched into the center of town.
There they confronted about 150 armed
police in riot gear. The protestors had no
weapons, not even rocks or sticks. But
together, they shouted and marched for
ward, pushing the police out from the town
hall. Government officials later claimed
that the police had retreated “to avoid a
confrontation with furiousdemonstrators.”
Noinjuries, or arrests had been reported.
And the Zapatistas had made their point:
the village was back under their control.
Both Dr. King and Mohandas Gandhi
believed in the power of nonviolent pro
test. They saw that it was a practical and
effective method of protest, especiallywhen
confronted by an opponent possessingmuch
greater firepower and resources. Civil
disobedience takes tremendous courage
and discipline. It endeavors to make the
agents of authority to question their or
ders, to recognize the inhumanity or ille
gitimacy of their actions. It seeks to
achieve justice without the loss of human
life on either side.
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL By Bernice Powell Jackson
Jubilee 2000 and no less
n December I attended the World
Council of Churches Assembly meet
ing in Harare, Zimbabwe, where
Christians from around the world
came together to pray and worship and to
talk about the issues of faith which con
front us in this world. The issue of the
enormous global debt which is threaten
ing the very survival of the world’s poor
est nations was at the heart of our delib
erations. Indeed, these leaders of Prot
estant and Orthodox churches around
the world joined the call for Jubilee 2000,
the cancellation of all the debts of the
world’s poorest nations, which had al
ready been endorsed by Pope John Paul
VI and the bishops and archbishops of the
worldwide Anglican communion. It'sbeen
a long time since the leaders of the
Christian faith all agree on any issue, but
they all agree that it is sinful for the rich
to take from the poor.
What has brought them to this position
istherealization that the world’s poorest
nations now owe somewhere between
$127-$250 billion, depending on how one
counts. Thus, Zimbabwe, where our
meeting was taking place and which has
the world’s highest death rate from HIV/
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Several days ago, on the other side ofthe
world, a similar protest was organized in
Palestine, called the “Day of Rage.” Pales
tinian activist wanted to send a clear mes
sage to newly elected Israeli Prime Minis
ter Ehud Barak that they would not toler
ate the expansion of Zionist settlementsin
the Palestinian territory, or West Bank.
Several thousand Palestinians took part
in coordinating demonstrations that were
designed not to provoke an armed military
confrontation with Israeli soldiers. In
Jerusalem, Palestinians organized a gen
eral strike. In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian
protestors blocked the main thordughfare i 1
near a Zionist settlement. knl Hebron, the
Palestinian protestors marched through
the Jewish section of town to denounce a
Zionist housing project.
Intheyearsofthe Intifada, from 1987 to
1994, thousand of Palestinian teenagers
and young adults were brutally killed,
wounded and imprisoned by Israeli au
thorities. Hopes for a meaningful settle
ment were delayed with the electoral vic
tory of Benjamin Netanyahu and his reac
tionary Likud party coalition government.
But with the victory of Labor last month,
there is the real possibility that the Israe
lismay finally begin toimplement to agree
mentsthey promised regarding autonomy
for the Palestinian people. Pressure is
necessary to push these negotiations pro
cess forward, and that is what nonviolent
demonstrations may help to accomplish.
Intheaftermath ofthemurderof Amadou
Diallo, over one thousand two hundred
people were arrested in civil disobedience
demonstrations in New York City. The
protests were not designed to destroy pub
lic property or to physically harass or
attack the police. The purpose was to
arouse the conscience of the larger com
munity to the immorality and injustices
represented by police brutality cases such
as Amadou Diallo’s. Although Mayor
AIDS, pays 37% of its Gross National
Product to the repayment of the interest
alone on the debt they owe. Precious
dollars which might go to AIDS preven
tion and treatment must be shuttled
instead to debt repayment and the same
is true for other services to the people,
including education and farm subsidies
and assistance. This is true despite the
high taxation rate of 40-45% which Zim
babweans now pay.
Indeed, some African nations spend
four times as much servicing debt each
year as they do on health care for their
citizens. And according to figures re
leased by Jubilee 2000, for every dollar
given in development aid to these poor
nations, three dollars goes back to rich
countries in debt-service payments. The
irony of all of this is that many of these
poor nations have provided free or very
low-cost resources to the developed world
and now are being forced to pay for the
goods and services it helped to create. At.
the World Council of Churches meeting,
for example, we were reminded by one
African church leader that millions of
people were stolen from Africa to provide
free labor for the world, and such natural
Rudolph Giuliani repeatedly attempted to &
denigrate the objectives of the nonviolent:
protestors, his contemptuous and arro-jz
gant behavior turned many ofhis politicalc|
allies against him. Hastily, the New Yorki4
Police Department (NYPD) transferredU
some black and Hispanic cops into the
Street Crimes Unit, which had been re
sponsible for Diallo’s death. Days ago, 14
even received a call from an NYPD lieu
tenant requesting my assistance in orga-{
nizing curricula and selecting textbooksw
that could train police officers to become;d
‘moreracially and culturally tolerapt. The
poli¢e harassments and stops-and-frisksiefig
young black teenagers seem ito-have.de-ni
clined in the past two months. The lesson:3
is clear: nonviolent protests around an
important moral cause that has broader
meaning for the majority of people can™
change public policies. J
People frequently define politics as “the
artofpossible.” Forthe opprwsed,politics*—
must be the struggle to achieve what'l
others perceive as “the impossible.” Ourd
primary criteria for successful politic?
should not be wether our candidates get
elected, wether we have lifted the political
discourse of this nation, in such a manner.
thatreal problems and viable solutionsare .
being addressed. If we confine our notions",f
of politics solely to voting, we may be ablej,i
to replace Tweedledum with Tweedledee, .
but we’ll never transform the systemasa ™
whole. ”
1
Nonviolent direct action protest tech-"
niques need to be taught to our young[ij
people in our churches, mosques, commu-"!
nity centers and at institutions across the!
country. We need to reproduce Diallo-like®”
civil disobedience demonstrations at hun->°
dreds of police stations and city halls
throughout this country. To paraphrase’d
the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass,
“Without struggle there is no progress.”
resources as gold, oil, diamonds, andg
many metals were stripped from African:,
countries for a small portion of thefr (]
value. “When you count all of that, we, g
don’t owe you anything,” he said point-;3
edly. > Iq
Now, at the latest so-called G 7 meeting,
oftheleadersoftheindustrialized nations,
there was a call for the forgiveness of some
of the debt burden of the world’s pooregt
countries. Their estimates of their ;:3—
posal would provide $65-S9O billion in debt
relief for some 33 countries, most of whiche
would be in Africa. Their rationale for thg
less-than total debt relief is that total
cancellation would requireenormous bud
getary outlays by the G 7 countries. But
some economists argue that the total debt
could be canceled at little budgetary cost to
the U.S. and other creditor countries and
would pose no fundamental risks to inter
national financial institutions or commer
cial banks. The reality is that the huge:
debt is unpayable and all the richest na
tions are doing is extracting interest pay-:
ments on loans they know cannot be re
paid. Moreover, according to Oxfam, one,
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