Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 7 May 2009 — Page 35

The Muncie Times • May 7, 2009 • Page 35

continued from page 34 gies that criminalize racism,' Angela Davis said. “When we think of 2.3 million Americans being in prison on any given day, and all the resources required to sustain the system, why do we not mobilize to change this?” she asked. It is because of the fear of confronting persistent racism and its history in the U.S., she said. “We are all infected.” Davis pointed out there are no great disparities in drug use among the range of people and communities. Recently, law officers have shifted their surveillance to rural white people and, oddly enough, that has subjected them to the same form of racism to which Black men are subjected. Law enforcement surveillance determines who gets caught and who goes to prison, Davis explained. Many people commit acts that, if discovered, would result in prison sentences, but they are safe because the police don't target their communities for surveillance. Americans must develop and negotiate social relations to be able to talk about racism without it being so uncomfortable, she said, adding that a justice system must be created

News Briefs

that is not based on revenge, but rather is more restorative. The political climate seems to be more hopeful, she said, lauding Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Webb's recent call for prison reform. N.C. NAACP seeks fair share of stimulus funds Gov. Beverly Perdue has been urged by the state NAACP to enforce federally mandated protections of North Carolina's $6.1 billion federal stimulus allotment in accordance with the mandates of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and do more to ensure that African American and other communities of color have equal access. Translation: make sure every dollar, contract and job emanating from the recovery package to jumpstart the sagging economy is distributed fairly and legally...or else. The "or else" is the promise of a federal lawsuit against the state by the North Carolina NAACP if state agency vigilance goes lacking. What's happening with the stimulus package was just one of several issues discussed during a unique NAACP "civil rights roundtable" with Perdue on Monday at the governor's mansion.

"Today, we have come to talk and advocate for fundamental equity in education, economic, health care, labor rights, criminal justice, and political action which are a part of any civil rights agenda," NC NAACP Rev. William Barber II reportedly said in prepared remarks to open the session, which was closed to the press. The Rev. Barber later told The Carolinian/Wilmington Journal in a statement, "These were direct talks on the positions and perspective we bring to the public policy arena." By the design, the roundtable was more information session than mutual discourse, Barber said, with black leaders asking Perdue to listen to their concerns first for clear understanding, before she commented. "The purpose of this first roundtable was to ensure that the governor was not informed about our agenda just through the press or her advisers, but directly from the NAACP and our connected progressive civil rights partners," he said. "The governor was very open to this roundtable and indicated that there would be a continuous mechanism where we could raise issues," Barber continued. "We all agreed these are extraordinary times ecoj . t ) 11., *\ i, < , i ,t : l f.'f I nomically but that we

must not cower from meeting these times with hope, courage and bold ideas." Among the issues of concern presented to Perdue was the diversity of her administration thus far; the crisis in North Carolina's public school system; the dearth of black district attorneys in the state (there's only one); and the need for public employees to have the right of collective bargaining. highlight of the roundtable was the North Carolina NAACP's 14-point recommendations to the North Carolina Office of Economic Recovery and Investment, the state agency the governor created to oversee the stimulus package. On April 8, Barber and other black leaders met with Dempsey Benton, the head of the state Recovery Office, to discuss an earlier version of their recommendations. The North Carolina NAACP wanted Perdue's assurances that the high standard of fiscal and legal accountability and transparency at all official levels, mandated by President Obama when he signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law Feb. 17, will indeed be carried out. "We spent a considerable amount of time lay-

ing out a 14-point plan for the North Carolina Office of Economic Recovery and Investment, to ensure that the stimulus money coming to North Carolina meets the mandates of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to which all of the funds are subject," Barber said, adding that there is a critical need for "awareness, answers, access and action." Title VI says, "No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance," Barber said. The Title VI protection is seen as key in guaranteeing fair access to stimulus package opportunities. "Procurement laws as it relates to affirmative action and diversity in the business operations of the federal government were abandoned during the second Clinton administration, [Bush administration] and with silence by the Congressional Black Caucus," wrote Harry C. Alford, cofounder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, recently. continued on page 36