Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 August 1999 — Page 11

^FRIDAY, AUGUST 6,1999

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

PAGE All

Let's get the Navy out of Vieques

_ Most of us have never heard of .Vieques, a little island about twice .the size of Manhattan and seven ..miles off the coast of Puerto Rico. , Its 10,000 residents are squeezed between an ammunition storage .. area of the U.S. Federal govemment and the live ammunition firing range that the U.S. Navy uses ^ about half the year for' military ; graining exercises. The people of ^Vieques, who also experience (^higher unemployment fates and higher rates of cancer and other illnesses than their Puerto Rican ..brothers and sisters, truly under- " stand the old saying about being caught between a rock and a hard , place. The Navy’s use of Vieques ^dates back to the 1940s when the I , t U.S.government paid $1.6 million f, ( to the government of Puerto Rico ..for 26 r 000 acres of land, before ^autonomous commonwealth status f 'was established and when goverv nors still were appointed by Washv ( ington. For many years the Navy’s . training program has engendered protests by residents of Vieques > ( and in the late 1970s the governor , of Puerto Rico sifed the Federal ^government, asserting that the . shells and bombs were endangering the residents as well as the . coral reefs and wildlife. That suit resulted in an memorandum of understanding between Puerto Rico and the U.S. government in which v .the Navy agreed to promote eco-

nomic development and begin conservation measures to protect endangered species. According to a special commission appoi nted by the current Puerto Rico governor, little of that memorandum of agreement has occurred. It concluded that the military training had disastrous economic and environmental impact and that it violated the human and constitutional rights of the residents of Vieques. Incredibly, the Navy now has admitted that even as late as 1993, 25 years after the Viet Nam war, it exploded napalm on Vieques. Napalm is the sticky substance similar to gasoline which was used in Viet Nam and which caused untold human and environmental damage. Moreover, in February Navy pilots accidentally fired 263 shells with depleted uranium tips, near people who already have a 27 percent higher rate of cancer than other Puerto Ricans. Two months later one civilian was killed and four others were injured when a plane dropped two bombs a mile and a half from its intended target. Both Puerto Rican government officials and private citizens have joined in a vehement call for the Navy to leave Vieques. Its plight has brought together the three political parties of Puerto Rico as well as religious and environmental groups. For more than two

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months a group of people has oc-’ cupied the eastern tip of the island, setting up tents and a chapel and promising that they will not leave until the military exercises stop. But the Navy contends that it cannot conduct its military training exercises elsewhere. And while it has suspended its maneuvers pending its investigation of the April incident, it continues its exercises in the Caribbean 50 miles away. In the words of one Vieques man, “Nobody would allow this in the United States.” The treatment of Vieques adversely impacting its employment, its economy and its wildlife while not allowing its citizens to be a part of the decision is classic environmental racism. The Navy presence in Vieques is classic colonialism. As we enter the new millennium we must end the last vestiges of the worst of the old one. Let’s get the Navy out of Vieques. Now.

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LETTERS

A candidate who is listening to everybody

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lot's start Mag a real 'Bla<k market'

(NNPA) - I never thought I would see the day when the Black Market would be referenced, in a -j positive vein. Did you? Well that ' day has come. Everyone, it seems, is discovering the Black Market o'i,these days and the President of the u i.United States is leading the way. mi Clinton is touring the country, ^/•visiting places like East St..Louis, Watts, and even Appalachia, (al-•-.^though the media would make you zrnthink there were no Black people IWliving in those hills and hollows) -^suggesting that marketers rethink -qi>the the concept of the Black Mar--J*ket. ' I have heard corporate execulives refer to the Black Market as v<c the “new emerging market" or the !;■ c “new urban market.” They are rap{•i.idly positioning themselves icri (again?) to take full advantage of aoi this new phenomenon, ilif Two questions: Since when has - the Black Market been a new mar- - ket? How can a market that ranks t ’i>c somewhere between the eighth and r<< tenth largest economy in the world be an emerging market? It seems to coi me that this “new emerging” marr.(> ket has been here for quite some •n 1 .' time. ii.i So what’s all the fuss about? ,v! Why are so many folks suggesting ” j that now is the time to take a look ^ at the Black Market? Hut I believe, this notion of “discovoHiering” Black people and their «£> spending capacity is yet another >i!' foray into the world of economic ->i.i trickery. It is based on diversion?iL ary tactics by those businesspersons who have exploited the Black Maraxib ket for years and want even more -m> from it now. It is insulting for some to suggest that we, Black people, with our $50Q billion, comprise an emerging market.

ECONOMIC

ENP0WEMNINT Corporate marketers have known for many years what our spending habits are, what we prefer to buy, when we buy the most and how we make our purchases. They have known for quite some time that the Black Market is the prime market for their products and services. They are well aware that they can create advertising and marketing campaigns that will garner billions of dollars from our pockets... with minimal reciproc- , ity on their parts. Believe me, corporate America knows. And, to suggest otherwise is a mere sham. The problem is that we do not have a full awareness of these facts. The other problem is that those of us who do have the facts do little to change the situation. So now we see another marketing and public relations campaign being rolled out that makes us think someone in corporate America is listening to the people in Watts and East St. Loui§. The Watts riots were in 1965 folks. Why has it taken so long? Don’t be hoodwinked into believing these people are now interested in or economic well-being. They are interested in what they have always been interested in ... MONEY - OUR MONEY. You may see a new store (owned by someone other than a Black person) or a new insurance company in your neighborhood, but don’t be fooled. Don’t.be lulled to sleep in economic never-never landby win-dow-dressing. As a matter of fact, pay no anention to it.

Being routinely ignored by the press and city leaders has given me a new appreciation of how many other everyday people must feel who go unheeded. Even though I’m a candidate for Mayor, my opinion on significant city issues is seldom asked. My attendance at city events such as the Black Expo Ecumenical Service goes .unreported. Often I am omitted from mayoral candi-

date debates. I’m sure “no offense intended” but offense IS taken, not only for myself, but also for the thousands of citizens who have something to say, but nobody is listening. Any organization or city that aspires to excellence must be willing to listen to those whose experience is different: poor people, minorities, youth, seniors, unconventional thinkers, women at home.

Is it not more important

Is it not far more important to give them to people that can really

givebigcorporations.makinghugh appreciate them... at 50 cents an

profits, a tax break rather than pro- hour? ,

And why should we spend money on education, when the kids mature, they will only want more money and we know that will cause

presciptionsandpeople living with inflation, right? Oh, and who reAIDS die without life saving pre- ally is afraid of another Reagan scriptions? Those poor drug com- inspired tax cut that led to a trillion panics are due a tax break and just dollardebtthat Jimmy Carterwould maybe they will find a drug that no not promise the rich? While we are one can afford. at it, why not do another deregulaAnd is it not more important to tion, like the Savings & Loans’ give,BIG business tax breaks so, fiasco? The cost to us was only they can take American jobs and about 300-500 billion dollars.

vide the working class poor access

to heath care?

Why should America care if the elderly cannot afford their

and men without work. As a candidate who is listening to everybody,.! realize more and more that the people who are most invisible to the public have important ideas we all need to hear. John Gibson OUR PARTY Candidate for Mayor of Indianapolis

••• • And who needs food stamps? The Republicans, no doubt, will feed the poor, maggot infested food (didn’t someone lose their head for that?) Don’t the silly little people see that it will trickle down? And the trickle is all the silly little people will get. But the Republicans will be able to brag to their big contributors that the Republicans are ones that can bring home the bacon and fry it in the pan. Earl Burnell Curtis Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

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Here’s a better idea. Form local investment clubs to purchase your own stores and franchises. Now that really would be an emerging market. If new businesses do move in and show some level of altruism, let their generosity result in something being owned by a Black person or group. Don’t let them off the hook by allowing them to' merely give you another outlet through which your money will flow out of your neighborhood. The economic upliftment of our people will not come because corporations bring “loss-leaders” to our neighborhoods. True economic empowerment will come to the Black Market when we understand that we are a potential economic force in this country, when we practice - everyday - some form of cooperative economics, and when we say once and for all, “Our dollars will not be taken for granted.” Let’s start being a real Black Market - not a Free Market, which means no one has to pay for it, we just give it away. Let’s stop falling for the hype, the public relations, the photo shoots, and all the other things that are done to pacify us. Let’s take charge of our Black Market, and if someone wants buy from it, make them pay! James Clingman is the former editor of the Cincinnati Herald newspaper. He is the founder and President of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce and author of the book, “Economic Empowerment or Economic Enslavement-We have a choice.” (www.enterzone.com/ power). Contact him at P.O. Box 6722, Cincinnati, Ohio 45206; 513 4894132 orjjcling @fuse. net.

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