Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 3 October 2003 — Page 9

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2003

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

PAGE A9

By BILL FLETCHER JR. For NNPA

Powell grasps at straws as he sinks into Bush's quicksand ons of mass desmiction yetlound; desperate, and thoir whole drama ments have evannraterl :md with To nut it another wav. Serre-

With the Bush administrations half-truths, falsehoods and misinformation regarding Iraq unraveling more and more each day, the situation would be comical if it were not so serious. It is impossible to laugh. A country destroyed and now occupied; Iraqi civilians facing malnutrition and starvation; U.S. soldiers under constant assault from Iraqi guerrillas; growing dissatisfaction with the U.S. occupation from even some of Bush’s Iraqi allies.. .and no weap-

ons of mass destruction ye

all of these circumstances raise some very fundamental questions about how the people of the U.S. were, forgive the expression, “chumped” into supporting a war

of aggression.

Into this surreal scenario steps the most venerable Secretary of State Colin Powell. I was particularly struck by his recent comments from Iraq where he offered as justification for the U.S. aggression the fact that Saddam Hussein had used poison gas and nerve agents against the Kurds in 1988. When I read this I had to stop for a moment. Was it possible that I had misunderstood? Was it possible that I was reading satire? No, this was actually what the gen-

eral stated.

At that point I knew that Bush, Powell and the whole gang are

desperate, and their whole drama is unraveling. How in the world can the actions taken in 1988 be justification for a war in 2003? How is it possible that actions taken by one Saddam Hussein when he was an ally of the U.S. and had been provided weapons of mass destruction and the capability to develop others by that same U.S. can now be used as justification for a 2003 war

against Iraq?

And, by the way, what happened to all those allegations against Saddam Hussein presented at the United Nations in February 2003 that riveted so

many people?

The short answer is that no reasonable person could use a justification based on actions from more than 15 years ago. The problem for Gen. Powell and the Bush administration is that their argu-

ments have evaporated and with them the myth of a peaceful, postSaddam Iraq with U.S. troops being greeted with flowers and

boxes of candy.

As President Bush discovered at the United Nations on Sept. 23, the vast majority of the world’s nations remain deeply suspicious of the intentions and actions of his administration, regardless of his claims of acting in the interest of peace and security. This should not surprise anyone. The allegations that Secretary Powell offered in February at the United Nations have, one by one, been either disproved entirely or called into serious question. Despite the impressive dramatic performance at the U.N., very little has come of the charges, except the deaths of all too many people, including Iraqis, British and U.S. troops and civilians.

To put it another way, Secretary of State Powell is grasping at straws as he sinks deeper into the quicksand, created by an arrogant and reckless administration. The administration, and with it Powell, has had tochange its lines of argument so many times that any viewer becomes d izzy observ-

ing the performance.

First weapons of mass destruction, then no weapons of mass destruction. First an Iraqi connection to al-Qaeda, then no connection; then a connection is raised once again - in the absence of any facts. First no mention of human rights, then suddenly human rights becomes the entire reason for violating international

law...

It is sad to say but this administration, and with it the secretary of state, refuses to let the facts get in the way of their already devel-

>ped conclusions and theories. When one deals in the realm of factual relativity as practiced by this administration, one is actually confronting - whether in white face or black face - demagoguery. Therein is to be found the tragedy of the secretary and

his remarks.

Bill Fletcher Jr. is president of TrnnsAfriea 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 peoples of Africa, the Caribbean and iMin America. He also is co-chair of the anti-war coalition, United for Peace and Justice (www.unitedforpeace.org). He can be reached at bf1ctcher((7> transafricaforum.org.

READERS RESPOND

Women and heart disease Thank you for printing the story about the Red Dress Campaign, and letting your readers know about women and heart disease. There is also a newer coalition in Indianapolis that is promoting awareness about this very issue. It is a local chapter of a national organization called WomenHeart The National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease. They have been closely connected with the Red Dress project. Two women from Indianapolis attended asymposium lastyear at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. On Oct. 11-15 three more women from Indianapolis will attend with 60 women heart patients. The women have been selected from over 100 applicants from around the country. There are Native Americans, Black women, women in their 30s and women in their 60s included in this group. It shows that heart disease has no boundaries. Thank you for taking the time to inform others.

Marie Warshauer Centra] Indiana WomenHeart A Hoosier soldier comes home It was so nice to see the hu-man-interest stories of the soldiers returning home from Iraq, so I would like to help in the process by asking you to share in welcoming home a resident of Indianapolis. The soldier’s name is Sgt. 1 st Class Jerrold Brittain Sr. He is assigned to HHC1-6 Infantry 2 nd Brigade. His company left from Germany in April. Brittain graduated from Arlington High School in 1978. He attended Butler University and Ball State University on a basketball scholarship. He joined the U.S. Army in 1984. Brittain is g husband, father and grandfather. His family is very proud of him. It is times like these when America needs to pull together and recognize the true allegiance we have as American citizens.

his loving family we want the world to know that they have courageous, strong and intelligent soldiers like him on their

side.

He arrived home Sept. 12 to meet his family at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Lisa Brittain A sincere thank you I would like to thank Amos Brown for his fine article about Gov. Frank O’Bannon. There are not enough words to describe the greatness of this man in the way he moved the African-American community forward here in Indiana. Although there are too many to list here, I will give one example of this. Some 30 years ago, it took the threat of a lawsuit to get then Gov. Otis Bowen to hire an African American on the State Police force. O’Bannon appointed the first African-American State Police superintendent. I will always love this family

Brittain is not looking for a thank . and they will always be I ndiana’s you for his time spent in Iraq serv- “First Family” to me. May God ing his country and laying his life bless Judy and her children, on the line for our freedom, but as John D. Washington

California ballot initiative could count us out

By GEORGE E. CURRY __ To understai >d the ini portance of Proposition - Ward L’ o n n r 1 y - s p o n s o r e d ''" PIT’ q| California ballot initiative that would prohibit state, local and other public bodies, includingcollegesand universities, from collecting information on individuals by race, ethnicity, color or national origin - we need only to consider whether it’s valuable to know any of the following information: •As of2000, the life expectancy for white men was 74.8 years, for Black men it was 68.2 years. For white women, it was 80 years and Black women, it was 74.9 years. • Also in 2000, white voter registration reached 65.7percent, down from 71.7 percent in 1966. Over that same period, Black voter registration increased slightly from 60.2 percent to 63.6 percent. • Approximately 50 percent of Blacks and 60 percent of 11 ispanics live in a county where levels of two or more pollutants exceed government standards. • In 2001, African-American men accounted for 43 percent of all HIV eases reported among men. Black women represented 64 percent of the HIV eases reported among women. • Asthma is 26 percent more prevalent in Black children than whites. • The leading causes of death for African Americans between 1.980 and 1998 were heart discase, cancer and stroke. • Approximately one of every three Black males horn in 2001 will go to prison at some point in his lifetime. • Approximately 47 percent of all Blacks who receive Social Security benefits of any kind receive

either disability or survivor benefits. By contrast, only 28 percent of whites receive this category of benefits. • Atotal of1,063,732 individuals legally migrated to the United States in fiscal 2002. Of those, 65 percent settled in five states: California, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey and Illinois. • Among children 3 to 17 years old, 77 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 72 percent of Asians and Pacific Islanders live in households with computers. Only 43 percent of Black children and 37 percent of Hispanics live in homes that have computers. • The high school graduation rates for African Americans increased from 24.8 percent in 1962 to 79.2 percent in 2002. During that same period, the white graduation rate grew from 48.7 percent to 88.7 percent. The aforementioned statistics are included in the National Urban League Institute for Opportunity fact book, which traces Black progress from the 1963 March on Washington to today. If Ward Connerly’s ballot initiative passes on Tuesday and if it is extended to other states and the federal government, there would be no way for us to know any of the information cited above because such collection would be illegal. And that’s the fallacy in Connerly’s approach. He wrongfully argues that in order tocreate his version of a colorblind utopia, we should simply stop collecting any information that identifies a person by race or national origin. What Connerly fails to see is that statistics, however unpleasant, allow us to identify problems that need to be addressed. For example, the only reason we know that there is a problem of racial profiling is because racespecific data has been collected and analyzed by law enforcement agencies. On a stretch of Interstate 95 just north of Baltimore,

17-5 percent of the traffic violators were African Americans, yet 70 percent of those searched by Maryland State Police were Black. A similar problem existed in Florida. The Orlando Sentinel videotaped traffic stops and discovered that although Black motorists made up less than 10 percent of the traffic, they were 70 percent of people stopped on 195. Without being able to look at racial differences, the National Criminal Justice Commission would not have been able to report in 1995 that while AfricanAmericans made up 12 percent of the U.S. population and 13 percent of all monthly drug users, they represented 74 percent of those sentenced to prison fording possession. Even more important, we would not be able to investigate racially-based hate crimes because law enforcement officials would be prohibited from collecting race-specific information. In short, Connerly’s ballot proposal is counterproductive. And that’s why groups that represent police officers, educators, publichealth and civil rights oppose Proposition 54. Ward Connerly wits chiefsponsor of Proposition 209, the antiaffirmative action initiative that was passed in 1996 by California voters. Now, even a conservative U.S. Supreme Court disagrees, ruling that affirmative action is legally permissible. When Connerly attempted to spread his Proposition 209 fever to other states, he was unsuccessful and sent packing. This measure should be defeated Tuesday so that Connerly will not he able to pack his bags for yet another ill-suited road show. George E. Curn is editor-in-chief of the NNPA News Sen ice and BlackPrcssUSA.com. Hccan be reached through his Website, georgecuny.com.

Unity 2004: Remember Florida

By RON WALTERS For NNPA It’s too early to begin the campaign, you say. Well, ready or not, it has already begun and Black organizations and voters should begin to turn their attention to the political scene. The reason is that the stakes arthigher this coming year than I have seen them in quite some time. Prior to the past several elections, the United States was not bleeding in a foreign and illegitimate war, going bankrupt and accumulating trillions of dollars in debt, standing alone without significant allies - embarrassed before the global Community - and sliding off the moral end of the universe. This situation is so severe that unless it is corrected, the government for some time to come will be all but useless in contributing to the well being of Blacks and other peoples of color, poor people and even the middle class. In other words, you might as well hang it up. This means two things. First, it means starting early to organize the Black community to participate in the quadrennial event of selecting a president, his administration and the Congress. We are often a “last-minute” people and we let others treat us on a “last-minute” basis. This characterization extends to the Democratic Party, which has generally waited until the last minute to supply the financial resources that allowed the Black community to mobilize the vote in support of a presidential candidate. Increasingly, elections are technical affairs, costing significant sums of money to do outreach effectively through the media and by mounting door-to-door contacts. The Black community has seldom had the financial resources to do this right. Ironically, white organizations have had such resources and have attempted to play the major role in affecting the turnout of Black voters, but they have not been as effective as Black groups with far fewer resources. Part of the problem is that we have fallen into the trap of not demanding that the resources available for the big push be shared equitably with the Black community. Hispanics, however, have been accorded a favored place in this election cycle, with a substantial war chest under Bill Richardson, a sinning star in the Democratic Party who is gov, •• nor of New Mexico and a former Clinton cabinet official. The grant to Hispanics is predicated

on the fact that they are a critical swing vote that has increased substantially in population and may make the difference in the coming election. This may be true; however, it also marginalizes the Black vote, which was 13 million in 2000, while the Hispanic vote was 6 million. Also Black turnout was 54 percent, while Hispanic turnout was 28 percent. At this writing, however, the party has not established a significant war chest under the control of Blacks. Our real strength is a coalition between Blacks and Hispanics, but the part)' appears to be playing one group against the other. Second, the stakes suggest that as never before, this should be a unified and well-coordinated effort among Black organizations and between Blacks and their natural coalition allies. The National Coalition on Black Civil Participation, headquartered in Washington, D.C., under the leadership of Melanie Campbell, has developed a “Unity Campaign” as an umbrella for a number of nonprofit organizations to join in nonpartisan voter registration and turnout drives. In an effort to develop a more effective get-out-the-vote operation, however, the coalition will establish a national program that will be based on state-level turnout. This program, however, should feature a vigorous outreach that must be put in place and tested far in advance of voting next fall; early preparation is the key to institutionalizing the goal. And although political parties cannot be members of the Unity' campaign effort, there is ample room for other organizations that want to participate. The issue with respect to Blacks and funding in this mobilization, however, is that they are both predictable allies of the Democratic Party and they exist predominantly in states where there are no “battleground” elections. On this logic, the South was all but written off in the 2000 election. This is folly because the gap between Black voters and white voters has closed to the point that there is now no significant difference between them. Th is has happened because of the fall ing turnout of whites and the increasing turnout of Blacks. Who knows w hen this dynamic will make possible some unexpected victories in places where Blacks are strong. Democrats are rolling the dice to their disadvantage by, once again, taking the Black vote for granted. Ron Walters is the Distinguished Leadership Scholar, director of the African American Leadership Institute in the Academy of Leadership and professor ofgovernment and politics at the University of Mankind-College Park. His latest book is"WhiteNationalism, Black Interests (WayneState University Press).

iwe fpDao aowH