|
U S Justice Clarence Thomas and
Local Commissioner Andrea P Brooks: National and Local Traitors
of the Black Community
Black Americans are not surprised to see that U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Clarence Thomas, Black Americans most destructive "Uncle
Tom", voted with the conservative majority on the court to
strike down diversity in the nation's school systems recently.
Judge Thomas joined, as expected, his voting twin Judge Antonin
Scalia, another consistent anti-Affirmative Action justice and
three other Republican-conservative justices to defeat the
inclusion of Blacks in the schools. At least Judge Thomas has
been consistent in his opinions to dismantle Black progress in
Affirmative Actions.
Although he benefitted from Affirmative Action programs, Thomas
is notorious for voting against Affirmative Action. Of course,
Thomas vehemently denies that he benefitted from Affirmative
Action programs, a sore point for him to this day. But his path
to where he is today suggests otherwise. Take for example his
degrees from Holy Cross, Yale Law School, and his first
meaningful job with Attorney General's Office of Missouri; all
were "set aside slots" at these institutions for minorities when
he applied.
What is left to say about a Black man from Savannah, GA who is
mentally in denial about his color or ashamed of his "Negro"
large lips, his nappy hair, his Geechee dialect or his distaste
for "light-skinned Blacks," whom he feels have always been
perceived to be smarter. But Thomas' actions speak louder than
his words. For example, Judge Thomas surrounds himself with
people mostly of lighter hue than himself; namely, his majority
White law clerks, conservative White friends of the Heritage
Society. Any reasonable observer can conclude that this judge is
confused. In the meantime, we cannot continue to let this
dangerous judge with an identity problem have peace while he
dismantles the little gains that we Blacks already have.
In two recent books on Judge Thomas, both books imply that Judge
Thomas is deeply troubled by the overwhelming dislike and
outright hatred of him by a majority of Black Americans. Blacks
have ostracized Thomas and rightfully so; even his immediate
family in Savannah feels the deep chill that Blacks have for
Thomas up close. They have witnessed how Blacks in Savannah
rejected a proposal to have a small Black library named after
him. Thomas had to settle for a room in the library named in his
honor.
Judge Thomas' response to the negative attitudes of "his people"
has been arrogant, and he has implied that he will remain on the
court for 40 years. "For those who don't like it, get over it, I
plan to step down from the Court in 2034. They can say what they
want to say, but I'm going to be making law for a long time."
(These quotes were taken from a biography written by A.P. Thomas
(no relation). Our collective response to him will be to torment
him with demonstrations around his home and at the Court and see
if he can maintain his sanity for 40 years.
As predictable as Judge Thomas is in his voting and confusion
about his identity, so is County Commissioner Andrea P Brooks.
Any time a Black person in today's society vote to establish a
"Confederate Month" has an identity problem, or worst, mentally
challenged. Like Thomas, Brooks has consistently cast her vote
against the advancement of Blacks in this community. Or, Brooks'
last inaction on the County Commission resulted in a set back
for Blacks and minorities in this community.
The local NAACP has tried for months to select strong,
knowledgeable individuals to sit on the Hospital Authority,
individuals that will vote in the interest of the people in the
community as well as for the well being of the hospital. The
three Blacks now on the Authority: Rev Michael Coley, Willie
Paschal, and Fred McLaughlin are merely "yes" men for David
Seagraves, CEO of Sumter Regional Hospital. Their votes are
given in support of Seagraves regardless of the consequences to
the public or what is in the best interest of the hospital. For
more than 15 years, these three have not shown any leadership
skills or true caring. We doubt if the community knows that
these three even serve on the Authority because of their
ineffectiveness.
Neither of the three men was of any help when Dr. John Marshall,
past president of the local NAACP, was denied hospital
privileges in 2001 which resulted in a $25 million lawsuit
against the hospital. Dr Marshall said that he tried to discuss
his issues with Rev. Coley, but felt the reverend's
indifference. He didn't entertain seeking Willie Paschal's or
Fred McLaughlin's help because Dr. Marshall views these two,
then and now, as weak men for David Seagraves.
How can the NAACP and the general public gain "membership" on
the Hospital Authority? The selection process is
straightforward: the county commissioners and the city council
members appoint individuals. Commissioners Brooks and Al Hurley
sit on the Commission to represent the general public's and the
hospital's interest. After the Hospital Authority rejected the
NAACP's first slate of names that were submitted by Hurley in
2006, NAACP asked Brooks to submit the second slate of names
that would represent Blacks and others who will bring healthcare
expertise and managerial skills. She refused to submit the
second slate of names, stating her reason to support hospital
CEO Seagraves' slate of names. Authority members submitted by
Seagraves gives him an unfair advantage of ensuring him the
selection of his boss.
Judge Clarence Thomas and Commissioner Andrea P Brooks represent
positions whose outcomes directly affect Blacks, Thomas more so
than Brooks. Both are consistent in taking actions (or no
action) that have an adverse affect for Blacks and other
minorities. Both appear to have an identity problem with who
they are. And both appear coping with a desire to belong to
where they are not welcomed except to be used by enemies of the
Black community.
It is almost impossible to remove Justice Thomas, as he serves a
lifetime appointment. But ridding ourselves of Commissioner
Brooks holds hope. Our vote can remove her from the County
Commissioners to show our local "uncle tom" that her
responsibility is to the people who elected her and to the
progress of the hospital and not to CEO Seagraves.
Top of Page |
|
Something Rotten In Sumter County
It
often takes catastrophic events to turn up the underbelly of the
beast. While there's been quite a bit of praise for the
Americus-Sumter County community coming together in the
aftermath of the March 1 tornado, I want to raise some serious
questions about what is going on with the hospital. I've got
many other questions, too. Why did the folk out on Highway 49
North recover so quickly, while poor folk on Hill Street still
struggle with blue tarps? (Mennonite Disaster Service, ready to
volunteer equipment, funds, materials, and assistance, couldn't
get cooperation from the Sumter Disaster Assistance group, and
finally left frustrated. If you have insurance and money, you
get help. If not, well, the blue tarps tell the story. What's
happening with all the money that's been donated? Who is
accounting for it?
However, I only have space to explore my concerns and questions
about Sumter Regional Hospital.
The Americus-Sumter Observer has long been critical of Sumter
Regional Hospital because of its racist hiring and treatment
practices. A successful protest in 2001, spearheaded by the
Sumter County Branch of the NAACP, led to a settlement for Dr.
John D. Marshall, whose right to practice at Sumter Regional
Hospital was illegally and wrongfully removed.
On March 1, 2007, the hospital was severely damaged, perhaps
destroyed. I've been reading the Americus Times-Recorder
carefully, even trying to read between the lines, and I have
still not seen a clear damage assessment, even though we are now
four months past the date of the storm.
What we do know, is that one month after the storm, FEMA
delivered semi-permanent, high-tech modular units to be
assembled in the lot where the HealthPlex stood. FEMA will cover
75% of the cost! This hospital will have 70 inpatient beds; a
labor and delivery unit; four operating suites; a critical care
unit; and a full emergency room. FEMA also noted that a nursery
for newborns will be included.
This modular system can withstand winds of up to 140 mph, so
it's a pretty secure temporary building, and FEMA will even take
care of the electricity, plumbing, air conditioning, and some of
the much-needed medical equipment.
So WHAT are we waiting for? These units can be constructed very
quickly. And yet they sit in a parking lot, useless, for more
than three months. Meanwhile, David Seagraves, CEO of Sumter
Regional continuing to reap the salary of a CEO, seems unable to
make any good decisions for this community, and steadily accepts
donations from all across the nation. Here's a sample: $1,000
from Georgia Association of Nursing Students; $25,000 from
Columbus Regional; $7,800 from Americus residents; $50,000 from
Blue Cross/Blue Shield; $20,000 from Cotton States; $50,000 from
Sumter County residents; $25,000 from Sumter Regional Hospital
Auxiliary; $23,000 from Colquitt Regional Medical Center;
$13,500 from Memorial Hospital of Gulfport, MS; $50,000 from
Citizen's Bank; $50,000 from Wachovia Bank.
The Sumter County Commissioners are not blameless in this
situation, either. When the Hospital Authority requested
financial assistance from the Commissioners in the form of the
SPLOST, at first the County Commissioners refused them
completely. Now they have relented and promised $3 million in
2009, $5 million short of the $8 million request from the
Hospital Authority.
Americus-Sumter County, and the surrounding region, desperately
needs a hospital NOW. Seagraves, get that FEMA high-tech modular
hospital constructed immediately! It should have been finished
months ago.
Sumter County Commissioners, this community will never flourish
without a permanent, fully funded, and completely updated
hospital. Stop acting like 19th Century Plantation owners and
enter the 21st Century. SPLOST funds belong to the hospital and
the schools and not to your other pet projects.
(Statistics and information for this column are available at
http://sumter.fastcommand.com )
Top of Page
|
|
Water, the Essence of Life
In
our previous articles on gardens we stressed the importance of
ample sunlight, good soil and fertile seeds. However, none of
these ingredients can serve plants and thereby raise food
without the life essential element of water. Water is the
essence of life as knowledge is the essence of our human
development. Therefore you must plant your garden near enough to
a source of water in case of a lack of rain water. For normal
growth a garden needs about an inch of water per square foot per
week. However, all water is not the same.
Water (H2O, HOH) is the most abundant molecule on Earth's
surface, composing 70-75% of the Earth's surface as liquid and
solid state in addition to being found in the atmosphere as a
vapor. Many substances dissolve in water and it is commonly
referred to as the universal . Because of this, water in nature
and in use is rarely clean, and may have some properties
different than those in the laboratory.
Only 2.5% of the Earth’s water supply is considered fresh water.
The rest is found in the form of salt water in the oceans. Of
the fresh water that exists, most is locked up in glaciers and
ice caps. Water can also be found in the form of clouds and
humidity in the soil. That leaves us 3/10 of 1 percent found in
the form of lakes, rivers and streams.
There is a major difference between rain water and municipally
treated water. Rainwater is naturally "soft" (unlike well
water), neutral in pH, contains almost no dissolved minerals or
salts, is free of chemical treatment such as chlorine, free from
disinfectant by-products, free from other chemicals found in
city water as well as natural and man-made contaminants that
cause staining, pipe corrosion or smell.
Rainwater produced in a lightning storm has an added benefit.
Lightning storms are one of nature's ways of fertilizing the
earth. Lightning forces nitrogen and oxygen to combine with the
water of the rain and carries the nitrogen down into the soil.
This causes natural nitrogen fertilizer which is used by plants.
That is why after a good lightning storm the grass in your lawn
seems to have grown overnight.
Therefore other than fresh rainwater, water collected during a
rain and stored for later use would be the best source of
irrigation water. The next best source would be from a stream,
river or lake that has not been contaminated by chemical
runoffs. Well water is good, but could contain dissolved salts
or other minerals. A water softener added to hard well water
would be advised, if you know that the water is hard.
However, in many cases city dwellers may have to rely on tap
water that has been treated by chlorine. High levels of chlorine
in the water can stunt plant growth. The easiest way to take the
chlorine out of your water is to set it out in an open vessel
for a day or two before applying it to your plants.
Many of us take the availability of fresh water as a given,
however water may be as valuable as gold as population growth
and increased industrialization consumes more of the available
water supply. Add to increased demand the effects of climate
change including decreasing snow packs and rainfall.
Even now your water is becoming more of a commodity to be
traded. The Bush administration is helping multinationals buy
U.S. municipal water systems, putting our most important
resource in the hands of corporations with no public
accountability.
The road to privatization is being paved by the government. The
Bush administration is actively working to loosen the hold that
cities and towns have over public water, enabling corporations
to own the very thing we depend on for survival.
Currently, water systems are controlled publicly in 90 percent
of communities across the world and 85 percent in the United
States, but that number is changing rapidly. It is estimated
that in 1990, 50 million people worldwide got their water
services from private companies, but by 2002 it was 300 million
and growing.
For those considering buying land in the countryside, you must
consider the availability of water. In particular you should
check as to whether there is an active well on the property and
if not, can you put in a well and how much it will cost. Land in
areas where you can drill a well may be a good investment for
the future. Well drilling along with other essential services
are businesses that black people are overlooking or losing
ground in. Here in Southwest Georgia all of the well diggers are
white, while more and more homes are being built in the
countryside, each requiring a well for water.
It is fascinating to discover that there are almost no black
well diggers, while in Africa in ancient times there were whole
tribes that were the well drillers for civilizations. You may be
shocked to know that the pyramids of Egypt were not built to be
tombs, but were the excretion of wells dug 200 feet beneath the
rock plateaus bordering the Nile River. You can learn more about
Ancient Egyptian agriculture and the irrigation uses of the
pyramids by reading two of my books, "Amen: The Secret Waters of
the Great Pyramid" and "I Will not Apologize: The Resurrection
of the Master Architect."
The significance of irrigation water in terms of geopolitics is
exposed in how the US government views the danger of Colonel
Moammar Gaddafi’s "Great Man-Made River Project". Libya has
rediscovered and tapped into the same underground aquifer more
than 200 feet beneath the Sahara Desert that the Ancient
Egyptians used to turn a desert into a garden or "paradise".
However, the US government through articles placed in newspapers
is trying to spin this humanitarian and economic "wonder of the
world" into some type of covert military scheme where the 13
foot wide underground pipes may be used as "… a conduit for
troops". However, from America’s point of view what Gaddafi is
doing has "military" significance, if we understand the
importance of water in blocking the West’s scheme in
depopulating Africa.
If the West is trying to starve Africa to steal her mineral
resources, then any scheme that may help feed Africans becomes
of military significance and subject to a military strike. Of
course city people in America may never understand the
importance of water until the tap runs dry or the water bill
runs sky high. In the meantime, for those of you who plant your
gardens, every time you water your plants think of Libya and its
"Great Man-Made River Project".
Top of Page
|
|
They'll follow us here? We Guarantee
it
One
of the things both we and our political leaders must do is
seriously examine the various myths that have under-girded the
Bush administration's pursuit of the Iraq War.
Like the fallacious "domino theory" that was hatched in the
Pentagon during the Vietnam war, the myth that "if we don't
fight them there, they will follow us here" is one that sustains
supporters of the Iraq war today.
To begin with, I think those who believe that we must fight
radical Islamists in the Middle East or they will follow us here
are a little late.
They have followed us here and 9/11 is the proof of it; the
bombing of the USS Cole is proof of it, the 1998 bombing of
American embassies in East Africa was proof of it and the
bombing of the New York Trade Center is proof of it.
In short, the opposition of various factions in the Middle East
to the U. S. government has been expressed time and again - and
the impetus was not direct U.S. involvement in war in that
region, it was the treatment of the Palestinians through the
proxy support of Israel.
In 1978, when Andrew Young was fired from his job as the U. S.
Ambassador to the United Nations, I accompanied a delegation of
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to Lebanon on a
mission of peace. The point of the mission was to establish that
African Americans, as tax-paying citizens of the United States,
had a voice in Middle East foreign policy. On that mission, we
went into the refugee camps of Shatila and Sabre and visited
with people who had been bombed out of their homes. At one stop,
I was asked a heart-wrenching question by an old woman, sitting
on the floor, of whether, as an American, I had come to bomb
them too.
The next day, we were taken out to the battle fields in Southern
Lebanon to see the deployment of troops by the Palestine
Liberation Organization along a route that we were told could be
bombed at any minute. When we stopped, after a great deal of
travel on foot, I found exploded cluster bombs with U. S.
military markings. In the talks with all sides, whether Lebanese
officials, the PLO, Maranite Christian Amine Gemael, and other
clerics, they were sensitive to the U.S. Israeli tie and deeply
felt U.S. complicity in bombing.
We wanted to discuss these issues with Israeli officials, but
were refused entry into the country.
Today, the American military operation in Iraq - whatever its
purpose - has created a second generation of resentment with a
cause to continue to take revenge for various actions we have
taken there against their people.
What are we to do about those who have been detained and
tortured at Guantanamo, many of whom are proven non-combatants;
about the serious violations of human rights of prisoners under
the Geneva Convention for dehumanizing actions in Abu Ghareb;
about American troops, bursting into the homes of Iraqis in the
middle of the night, frightening families, interrogating men,
made to assume the embarrassing position faced down on the floor
in front of their families?
Have we created in them the motivation to "follow us here?"
The collateral myth of sanitizing Iraq of Islamic militants in
the center of the Middle East in an area of unlimited Islamic
man and woman-power has proven to be an illusive goal.
Nevertheless, even if it were possible, there are serious
questions with respect to how long it would hold, what the
nature of American pressure would be to retain it and how many
more thousands of dedicated enemies we would make in the
process.
The mantra that if we don't defeat them there they will follow
here, raises many questions about the nature of the American
campaign in Iraq and the unimaginable belief that the way we
engage opposing forces there will have no effect on their
attempts to defeat us in the future. Does it mean that we can
cripple their will? Does it mean that we can disorganize their
forces and destroy their infrastructure? Does it mean that we
can establish sufficient barriers somehow to prevent them from
reaching strategic U. S. targets elsewhere? I am not sure what
is meant exactly. I do know there is a human thing operating in
the hearts of people which causes them not to forget what they
consider to be grave injustices of the past. So, the U. S.
operation may also mean that by our presence and actions we are
stimulating our opponents to "follow us here" rather than
reducing that prospect. I believe this to be a more reasonable
proposition, supported by historical cases, than the persistent
mouthing of a myth, like we're making friends everyday.
Top of Page
|
|
Bigotry and bully tactics: Who is the
real hater?
In a recent lecture
before the national conference of the Theatre Communications
Group, Nigerian Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka praised the
Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan as an exemplary human being.
We agree.
Mr. Soyinka went on to say on June 8 at the Guthrie Theatre in
Minneapolis-St. Paul, that others should follow in Minister
Farrakhan’s footsteps. Well said!
Sadly, however, there are “haters” in this country who are not
content to see well deserved respect paid to Minister Farrakhan
by such a distinguished scholar based on his keen intellectual
insights and perceptions of objective reality in this world.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of B’Nai B’rith in turn, called
on Mr. Soyinka to “repudiate” his praise of Minister Farrakhan.
We have been forewarned of such hate. Allah says in the Holy
Quran, Surah 3, verse 117:
“O you who believe, take not for intimate friends others than
your own people: they spare no pains to cause you loss. They
love that which distresses you. Vehement hatred has already
appeared from out of their mouths, and that which their hearts
conceal is greater still. Indeed We have made the messages clear
to you, if you understand.”
We understand. The messages from the ADL to Black people are
unmistakable.
Mr. Soyinka is only the most recent in a long line of Blacks and
others who have become objects of attempted intimidation and
coercion by the ADL. Blacks in America are well aware of the
manipulation of the lives of freedom fighters such as the Rev.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and many others by the
FBI’s infamous Counter-Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), with
its illegal surveillance, harassment, sabotage and even the
murder of many Black leaders. Private organizations also
participated in and carried out these same acts of infiltration
and intrigue for their own purposes—some while posing as friends
of Black people.
The ADL is one of those private agencies that has targeted Black
leaders and organizations while at the same time claiming—and
often with great success—that they are allies in the Black
struggle. Their motive is to keep Blacks “in their place” and to
stifle criticism of the state of Israel at any cost. Their
strategy—as Mr. Soyinka has now come to know—involves
intimidation and character assassination.
“It is sad and disturbing that a man of Soyinka’s stature and
respectability in the arts world would lionize a man like
Farrakhan,” said Abraham Foxman, ADL’s National Director. What
the ADL is really telling Mr. Soyinka and any other Africans or
Blacks in the Diaspora, is that they dare not “lionize” Minister
Farrakhan, no matter how worthy of praise he may be, without
incurring the wrath of Jewish leaders. Plain and simple.
But we have seen the ADL’s repertoire of underhanded techniques.
Then, as now, it has always included free-wheeling
misinformation targeting Black leaders. Their weapon is the
label “anti-Semite,” and the charge of anti-Semitism against
anyone who criticizes the policies of the state of Israel. But
the ADL’s dirty tricks are not unknown to Blacks in the freedom
struggle. Here is a brief summary of the ADL’s underhanded
résumé:
• In 1979, the ADL pressured Pres. Jimmy Carter to fire United
Nations Ambassador Andrew Young after he attended a diplomatic
event also attended by the Palestinian UN Ambassador.
• In 1993, the ADL was indicted for spying on 12,000 individuals
and organizations and sharing their illegally obtained
information with the apartheid South African and Israeli
intelligence agencies. The groups which were spied on by the ADL
included the NAACP, the Rainbow Coalition, and anti-apartheid
South African groups, as well as prominent Blacks like Rep. Ron
Dellums, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and the Honorable Minister
Louis Farrakhan.
• In 1995, the ADL tried to disrupt and destroy the Million Man
March. They insinuated that Black men were too ignorant to
choose their own leadership without the ADL’s assistance.
• The ADL accused movie director Spike Lee and entertainer
Michael Jackson of being “anti-Semites,” claiming that they
portrayed Jews in unfavorable ways.
Mr. Soyinka is in good company, to be scolded in such a way by
the ADL.
While there is no comfort to be found in being the victim of
unjust accusations of hatred, Mr. Soyinka might find a little
solace in knowing that the Jewish animus he’s feeling because of
his kind, and true words about Min. Farrakhan should come as no
surprise. This year, Jewish critics persecuted the son of a
Holocaust Survivor—DePaul University Prof-essor Norman
Finkelstein. They successfully campaigned to deny him tenure,
because Prof. Finkelstein’s writings and his criticism expose
the biases, distortions, and falsifications in what Americans
are fed about Israel and the Middle East.
Prof. Finkelstein, who is Jewish, is criticized by other Jews
for being a “bigot,” and he has also been labeled “an
anti-Semite.”
The knee-jerk condemnations of Minister Farrakhan—who is a good
man, doing good work among a people who need him—undermine
whatever moral authority the real bigots like those leading the
ADL might have once thought they had. Rather than isolating
Minister Farrakhan, the bigoted, narrow-minded, bully tactics of
groups like the ADL only isolates them and their xenophobic
views to their rightful place in the dustbin of 21st Century
thought.
Top of Page
|
|
The Death of Integration
The cover of Time magazine says it all, “Back to Segregation:
After four decades of struggle, America has now given up on
integration. Why?” The article states, “In fact, the high
court’s action has accelerated the pace at which cities across
the country are moving to undo mandatory desegregation. And the
federal judiciary, which long staked its authority on the
enforcement of desegregation orders, appears eager to depart the
field.”
Chris Hansen of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York
City is quoted: “The courts are saying, ‘We still agree with the
goal of school desegregation, but it’s too hard, and we’re tired
of it, and we give up.”
The article observes, “The combination of legal revisionism and
residential segregation is effectively ending America’s bold
attempt to integrate the public schools.”
Kevin Brown, a law professor at the University of Indiana and an
expert on race and education, stated: “We have already seen the
maximum amount of racial mixing in public schools that will
exist in our lifetime.”
Were these fresh reactions to last week’s Supreme Court setback
severely restricting the use of race in the assignment of
students to public schools in Seattle and Louisville? No. The
above quotes were taken from the April 29, 1996 issue of Time
magazine –more than 11 years ago. In essence, desegregation of
public elementary and high schools was abandoned long before the
Roberts court ruling put yet another nail in the coffin of
integration.
The cruel irony is that at a time when the U.S. is rapidly
becoming more racially and ethnically diverse – in less than 50
years, Whites will become a minority in this country -- the
judicial system is mandating a more segregated society.
Conservatives will no doubt hail desegregation has another
failed American experiment. That’s far from the truth. Like the
War on Poverty, it has been a half-hearted experiment lacking
courageous or consistent national leadership.
Although few people are willing to admit it, desegregation was
never truly a national experiment. Most of the efforts to tear
down the walls of segregation were aimed at the South while the
rest of the nation, practicing more subtle forms of racism,
looked on.
Because of the 1954 and 1955 Brown v. Board of Education
decisions, the South shifted from being the most segregated
region in the nation to the most desegregated. The Harvard Civil
Rights Project, using figures compiled by the Southern Education
Reporting Service, had published a chart to captures the
dramatic changes.
In 1954, 0.001 percent of Blacks attended majority White schools
in the South. In 1960, the figure was only 0.1 percent. In 1964,
a decade after the original Brown ruling, the figure stood at
2.3 percent. There was a tremendous spurt from 1968 to 1988 when
the percentage of African-Americans attending majority White
schools in the South jumped from 23.4 percent to 43.5 percent.
After peaking in 1988, things started going downhill.
“One of the most consistent trends of the last decade is a
reversal of gains in desegregation for black students made in
the South in the late 1960s and 1970s as a result of judicial
and executive enforcement of desegregation orders,” says a
Harvard report. “In fact, court-ordered desegregation of black
students in Southern states resulted in the South becoming the
most integrated region in the country, with 43.5 percent of
black students in majority white schools in 1988.
“In the 1990s, as the desegregation plans have been dismantled
across the South, however, the proportion of black students in
majority white schools has decreased by 13 percentage points. In
2000, black segregation rates in the South continue to increase
steadily as they have for over a decade. Today, only 31 percent
of Southern black students are in majority white schools, a rate
lower than any year since 1968.”
A study by the Harvard Civil Rights Project titled “Racial
Transformation and the Changing Nature of Segregation” observes,
“For the first nineteen years following Brown, the Supreme Court
simply ignored segregation outside the seventeen Southern and
Border states and Washington, D.C., those with a history of
state-imposed segregation.”
“Since 1980, the Northeast remains the region with the highest
share of blacks attending predominantly minority schools, with
almost four out of every five blacks in these schools,” the
Harvard report states.
That Time magazine article carried an interesting quote 11 years
ago by Harvard sociologist Gary Orfield: The whole discussion of
desegregation is corrupted by the fact that we mix up race and
class. You don’t gain anything from sitting next to somebody
with a different skin color. But you gain a lot from moving from
an isolated poverty setting into a middle-class setting.”
The latest Supreme Court ruling makes it more difficult to
travel that route.
Top of Page |
