Augusta focus. ([Augusta, Ga.]) 198?-current, August 26, 2004, Page 9A, Image 9

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Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the Institute for Museum and Library Services through Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

Newspaper Page TextLommentary BLACKONOMICS By James Clingman Chasing the illusion of equality “Seemingly, our biggest objective is to be equal, but this is not the answer to our issues. The problem is that they want to keep us striving to be equal to take our minds off of the real problems, and if we never discover the real problem, they can keep the control and keep us right where they want us.” This quote was taken from an e-mail I received from Celeste Wakely, a member of the Blackonomics Million Dollar Club (BMDC), regarding knowing our history and act ing upon that knowledge. She stressed the importance of using what we know about economics to elevate ourselves rather than spending all of our money to elevate others. Her assessment of our continued quest for “equality” hits the mark. What does this “equality” thing mean to black folks any way? The National Urban League boasts of an “Equality Index” that shows us what we already know: That black folks are still behind whites in eco nomic terms as well as other areas. Well, that’s been in force GUEST COMMENTARY By Bill Fletcher Jr. Competing interests? I recently attended an event concerning HIV/ AIDS where a representa tive of the Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams mentioned in passing that $1 million from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been cut from contributions to the District of Columbia. He indicated that “compet ing interests” led to the loss of the funds. What immediately came to mind was the question of what could those com peting interests have been? The $1 million was to be used for HIV/AIDS prevention work target ing young people. What is more important than preventing the spread of the pandemic? “Competing interests” is a very nice way of say ing that funds that should be in the federal budget for social services are not there. They are not there because of political deci sions made by this administration. These political decisions demonstrate, once again, thet: the isye of HIV/AIDS is as much a political issue as it is a medical issue. One million dollars cut from the D.C HIV/AIDS budget, yet billions spent on the ille gal war in Iraq. One mil lion cut from the D.C. HIV/AIDS budget, yet the administration believed that it was fiscal ly sound to offer a tax cut to the wealthiest portions of the population. t, this situation fur mtes is that since we came to this country. Whites had an affirmative action program that entitled them to everything and enti tled blacks to nothing. For years the Urban e has also published a \];:% col umn from its president titled 1o Be Equal. 1 don't know what it means, but that’s the title; it sounds like an aspiration, a goal, or a petition of some kind. As Celeste says, we keep chasing “equality” with absolutely no chance whatso ever to attain such a lofty ideal, while other groups never even mention being “equal” with white folks. They just come to this country and get busy mak ing money by starting busi nesses and capturing segments of industry, especially in which black folks spend millions of dollars. White people go about their business, handing out tokens of appreciation for our loyalty every now and then, sponsor ing all the entertainment we can stand, with the ultimate goal of cutting off all rational communication among blacks the crisis in social services and assistance is not the result of the absence of funds, but rather that funds are not being allo cated in a manner that addresses the common interests. The fact that D.C. has to suffer under such cuts is illustrative of the decisions that have been taking place since the early days of the Rea gan administration to strangle the public sector, and so limit its funds that there exists no room to maneuver. Social pro grams to benefit the pub lic are cut in the name of putting funds into the pockets of the rich. This approach failed in the 1980 s, and it is failing again. Now, however, we are talking about cuts that are going to the bone. Not only are these cuts taking place, but further administrative restric tions are being placed on the usage of funds. Whether in the U.S.A. or overseas, .money to address HIV/AIDS is being hamstrung by restrictions on the ability to discuss sexuality and condom usage. Such straight-jacketing effec tively means that the bulk of HIV/AIDS education becomes irrelevant, par ticularly to sexually active youth. Thus, “competing interests” becomes a ques tion not so much about which programs will receive funding, but rather whether people will live, or whether they will die. In an atmosphere of on going tension over and by keeping our attention focused on anything that has do with singin,” rappin,” danc ing,’ and tellin’ jokes about one another. Oh yes, they want us to concentrate on playin’ games, jumpin’ real high in those new gym shoes, drivin’ shiny cars and trucks, and drinkin’ soda pop and liquor, too. They want us to keep stylin' and chillin' and dont forget about the killin, y all. All of this negative, mean ingless, and diversionary behavior, as black people go about the business we feel is really important: Gaining equality. Youd think we would know by now that equality is nothing more than a nirvana pipedream that will never be realized. Even more impor tandy, black people in America should put the quest for equal ity on the shelf, pernanently, and get busy on a quest for economic empowerment. Whites own and control the vast majority of the resources of this country. As the Urban League annual report points out — every year — there are widening gaps between blacks whether and/or when the next terrorist attack will/may transpire, the HIV/AIDS pandemic destroys more lives than Al Qaeda could ever dream of destroying. Yet, this fact is regularly obscured each time the terror alerts are raised and we are told that a new, potential terrorist has been identified, become the source of speculation, or apprehended. “Competing interests” means, as well, that while Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America should be receiv ing substantial aid to confront not oaly HIV/AIDS, along with other illnesses, poverty, lack of jobs, and environ mental degradation, this administration sees fit to plow more money into its illegal occupation of Iraq, the creation of more mili tary hardware, and the further militarization of Third World countries, all in the name of fight ing terrorism. Go figure. Bill Fletcher ]r. is presi dent of Trans Africa Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit educational and organizing center formed to raise awareness in the United States about issues facing the nations and peo ples of Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. He also is co chair of the anti-war coali tion, United for Peace and Justice (www.unitedfor peace.org). He can be reached at bfletcher@ transafricaforum.org. AUGUSTA FOCUS and whites when it comes to family net worth, wages and employment, home owner ship, criminal justice, bank loans, and the list goes on and on. Yet, we chase “equality.” Whites claim “reverse” dis crimination and graciously allow blacks to be “economi cally included” in taxpayer funded projects. Yet, we chase “equality.” Whites treat black life with irreverence and kill us for reaching for cell phones. (Is that why we kill one another so easily and in record numbers? Trying to be equal with them?) Yet, we chase “equality.” Whites run the political sys tem, the economic system, the social system, the educational, and the legal system. Do we really believe they are about to help black people To Be Equal with them? How naive are we? Or, maybe it's a question of how lazy we are. We should be doing the things that a nation within a nation does to devel op and maintain its own eco nomic foundation. You know, like the Vietnamese who went to what used to be called West minster, Calif, which is now GUEST COMMENTARY By Ron Walters Blackberrys but few blacks If someone shows up on your door step with a Palm Pilot or a Blaecpi(bcrry in hand and youre not registered to vote and they ask you to do so, by all means comply. But it should be of some note who or what organizations sent the canvasser to your door. In the purest sense, no one actually “controls” the black vote, but it has been the task of black leadership historically to ide, manage, cajole and per g:dc blacks to vo,tc, bascxrzrn our own history of s e for civil rights and soleuﬁticc, and our own knowledge of what we want from the politi cal system. What has happened in this political season is that there is a new kind of organization on the scene called a “527,”a ref erence to a particular section of the Internal Revenue Ser vice code. They fit a so-called loophole in the McCain-Fein gold campaign finance law that lets nonpartisan organiza tion raise money for voter mobilization in unlimited amounts. Most of them are oriented toward the Democra tic Party, and have raised hun dreds of millions of dollars from organized labor, the Internet, some corporations and from other sources like special events featuring enter tainers. The problem is that most of these organizations are not headed by blacks and litde of the money has found its way into blaz organizations. In fact, the empire that has been created is run by Steve Rosen thal, of America Coming Together (ACT). It influences a coalition of these organiza tions through its control of nearly $l5O million and the ability to convince funders that Rom“edd\al can identify unregist voters, ter them and turn them ov.:f?:otc effectively than black leader ship can. 'Fhis charge, as the basis upon Rosenthal has raised millions of dollars, is patentdy false. In the 2000 election cyde, black voters effectively called “Litde Saigon;” In case you Sistahs havent noticed, they control the nail industry now. But there is some good news on the black front. Have you heard about the project in Detroit? 1 am told the City Council voted 7-2 to bring in Claud Anderson and his Pow ernomics business develop ment program. Its a drop in the bucket at S3O million, but it is a start and could be the precursor for many other ini tiatives across this country for black people. It is also a great example of nation-building. After all, Detroits population is over whelmingly black, isnt i? (I also heard that the celebrated young black Mayor of Detroit made an unsuccessful attempt to stop the project. Is that true, Detroiters? Why?) All things not being equal, chasing the illusion of equality and trying “to be equal” with white folks is an exercise in futility and keeps our attention diverted from other much more important issues for black people in this country. mn:Eht up with white voters in both registration and turnout. Census data shows that the difference between blacks and whites in Voter Registration was only two percent, while the difference in turnout was only 2.3 percent. Moreover, if gou take the 1 to 2 million lack ballots that were thrown out in 2000, the black voting rate pmbabnz' exceeded white voting overall. The point here is that this was not accomplished by Palm Pilots and Blackberrys or Steve Rosenthal, but by the infra structure put together by such groups as the National Coali tion on Black Civic Participa tion, the black L&dersgiap Forum, The NAACP the National Rainbow/Push Coalition and other organiza tons. In addition, the mes sages and information on voter mobilization was trans mitted to the black communi ty by black television and radio, principally through people such as Bob Johnson, Tom Joyner and Tavis Smiley, but recendy by Russell Sim mons who has brought in an important Hip-Hop genera tion to voting. That infrastruc ture has been starved by the new set-up because the tradi tional funders have bought the yokey doke. A few months ago, Russell Simmons crashed a MoveOn meeting in New York to protest their ignoring his proposals. This is serious stuff. In one sense, whatever force is per ceived to be in control otPtic black vote has political influ ence with money people and policy makers, so the inter vention of the Rosenthal crowd is not just about vot but about WLO is pcrcciv:int% control black political power - mdwh%mmﬂdowMﬁmm. Aware of this, it is surprisi to me that he has becurrxpass::tl§ ed by some members of the Co ional Black Caucus who m used histhmo:ixr‘sos to register voters in their districts - without demanding that black organizations should be August 26, 2004 Since we will continue to measure everything when it comes to €CONOMICs among various demographic groups and consumer segments, when we compare blacks to whites, or even when we compare blacks to the progress we should have made by now, maybe “parity” is a better word. James E. Clingman, an adjunct professor at the Universi ty of Cincinnatis African Amer ican Studies department, is for mer editor of the Cincinnati Herald Newspaper and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce. He hosts the radio program, “Blackonomics,” and has written several books, includ ing: Economic Empowerment or Economic Enslavement - We have a Choice; Blackonomics; and the recently published Black-o-Knowledge-Stuff we need to know. Clingman's books are available at his website, www.blackonomics.com. - He can be contacted theve or by tele phone at (513) 489-4132. funded to do the work. You might even be able to make the case that it doesn' matter who is in control of the black vote because the agenda is the same. It isn't. Look at any survey and there are strik ing differences in the strength of black and white opinions on most issues and in their priorities given to certain issues. So, f the MoveOn.org, ACT crowd has the money, they also control the message. This new bid for control of the black vote by those out side of the black community - whether it is up front or not, challenges the black commu nity t:iavc its own plan. But working it requires that we have our own money. Blacks who have money -the Cosby, Oprah crowd - not only don't give enough and don' give it to other black organizations, some, such as Baby Face Edmonds are raising money for ACT rather than for black organizations. Maybe Baby Face hasn't been asked. Well, that has to change. The black political infrastructure has to raise its own money. The bottom line serious point in this is that if the black polit ical infrastructure continues to be starved, John Kerry could loose this election. So far, less than $lO million has come into the black commu nity, when blacks constitute nearly 20 percet of the voting base of the Democratic Party and 50 percent in some key states. Democratic victory in this election, like all others, is dependent upon black voter turnout and it cant be done by Palm Pilots and Blackber rys, but by the cultural leader ship of our community. Ron Walsers is the Distin guished Leadership Scholar, director ”Z;‘dx African Ameri can Leadership Institute in the Academy of Leadership and professor of government and pol itics at the University of Mary landrCoﬂ%’:ark. His latest book is te Nationalism, Black Interests” (Wayne State University Press). 9A

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Augusta focus. ([Augusta, Ga.]) 198?-current, August 26, 2004, Page 9A, Image 9