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SAMUEL LOGAN
Publisher
JACKIE BERG
A Real Times Newspaper
Chief Marketing Officer
BANKOLE THOMPSON
479 Ledyard – Detroit, MI 48201
Senior Editor
CORNELIUS A. fORTUNE
(313) 963-5522
Associate Managing Editor
Fax 963-8788
JOHN H. SENGSTACKE
Chairman-Emeritus 1912-1997
LONGWORTH M. QUINN
e-mail:chronicle4@aol.com
Publisher-Emeritus 1909-1989
March 3-9, 2010
Page A-6
The city needs to get its
priorities straight
Given the nature of our economy, did the Will the religious leaders who pushed for the
Detroit City Council really need to spend time new regulations affecting the strip clubs make
focusing on new regulations for strip clubs as much of an effort to embrace whatever busi-
— businesses, which are open only to adults— nesses might eventually replace those clubs?
rather than making sure businesses in gen- Will they — and the city — do what they can to
eral are able to open and establish themselves help build up some of the neighborhoods where
within the city? these clubs are located, so that more “accept-
While a strip club might not be the most wel-
able” businesses can both survive and thrive?
come business in a community, the fact is that If they don’t, then not only will the tax base Detroit’s teen pregnancy epidemic
as businesses in Detroit, these clubs pay taxes. shrink even more, but these religious leaders
And Detroit has a small enough tax base as it will come across as hypocrites. And Detroit is
By James Tate All children
is. not a theocracy.
deserve stability
Detroit teen pregnancies are increasing after
in order to have
If the tighter regulations result in some of The city needs to let businesses grow, not
years of decline. According to alarming facts
a greater chance
them closing — as their opponents no doubt push laws that could drive some out of Detroit.
set forth in the Data Driven Detroit (D3) study
of succeeding in
would prefer — will some other business easily Not in this economy, and not when there are
released this month, as many as one in four
life. My fear is
be able to open up at those locations? Without bigger issues to tackle.
births were to teen mothers residing in various
that if they are not
having to jump through hurdles of red tape, will
Detroit neighborhoods. Additionally, areas with
properly informed
they be able to either remodel the building or
Now that the City Council has made its
high levels of teenage pregnancy were found to
or equipped to
tear it down and build something else, depend-
ruling about strip clubs, let’s hope it turns its
have inadequate prenatal care. Not only is the
make responsible
ing on the type of incoming business?
attention to making it easier for businesses in
infant affected but research also demonstrates
general to get a foothold in the city.
choices, they will
that teen mothers have diminished chances of
follow the same
graduating from high school, therefore making
pattern, hence,
Internet service crucial to
success more difficult to obtain.
the cycle will con-
The problem of teenage pregnancy does not
tinue. If we prop-
stand alone as it is a petal on a flower of social
erly inform and
Black advancement
issues in our community. We must start at
equip our youth,
the root of this problem in order to effectively
they will succeed
create change. With the assistance of Detroit
and in turn help
By Benjamin L. Hooks work skills. These
area schools, community organizations and
James Tate
move our city for-
lines give stu-
social service providers, I want to focus on the
ward. We need to
The nation’s top officials at the Federal Com- dents the chance
teen pregnancy issue by establishing a strong
act with a sense of urgency.
munications Commission came to Memphis to to take classes
support system for our youth. As a result of To join us in our efforts, please contact my
learn about the state of our high-speed Internet in subjects not
this collaboration, we will raise the level of Better Detroit Youth Focus outreach coordina-
service and how it affects our city. available at their
awareness on this issue and create action that tor, Staci Williams, at (313) 224-9508 or by e-
will induce change. mail at williamsst@detroitmi.gov.
These officials wanted to find out whether
local schools
high-speed services are being deployed in a way
and offer one-
that allows all Americans to benefit.
click access to a
wealth of infor- Obama’s stimulus averted a
This meeting brought back important memo- mation. They give
ries for me. For nearly five years in the 1970s, I small or home-
served as one of five FCC commissioners. While based businesses
there was no Internet back then, the issues my the chance to
second Great Depression
colleagues and I confronted were every bit as succeed against
important. We looked at the lack of minority larger, better-
By George Curry ment rate was ex-
ownership of television and radio stations and funded rivals.
pected to rise no
Although President Obama’s $787 bil-
investigated minority employment in broad-
higher than 8 per-
lion economic stimulus plan created or saved
casting. There were 9,000 radio stations, only
But here’s cent as a result of
enough jobs over the past year to prevent the
13 owned by African Americans, and 900 tele- Benjamin Hooks
the problem the the stimulus plan.
United States from plunging into the second
vision stations, none owned by African Ameri-
FCC must ad-
Great Depression, most Americans grossly
In an effort
cans.
dress: Millions of Americans cannot afford
high-speed service, or worse, cannot even
underestimate what the package has accom-
to be more trans-
Perhaps more important, we spoke out access it. It is as if 30 years ago, TV and radio
plished.
parent, the admin-
about the negative image of African Americans signals suddenly stopped at certain neighbor-
istration posted
“One year later, it is largely thanks to the
in the media. I was not alone in this. Great Af- hoods. People living there would have been at
stimulus-created
Recovery Act that a second depression is no
rican-American leaders like Dr. James Cheek, a terrible disadvantage, just as people without
jobs on a special
longer a possibility,” Obama said at an event
the president of Howard University, joined me high-speed access today are at a disadvantage.
website. How-
marking the bill’s anniversary. He said the
in this effort.
ever, some of the
In the 1970s, the federal government had a
stimulus package has saved or helped create
jobs were posted
“We need to build a real-world laboratory,’’ moral obligation to speak out about improv-
two million jobs.
in congressional
he would say, speaking about his university. ing African Americans’ access to broadcasting.
Not surprisingly, Republicans disagree. districts and zip
“A place where students learn in the classroom Today it must look at speeding up deployment codes that do not
and then get practical experience in commer- of the Internet to African-American homes
“In the year since the Democrats’ stimulus
exist.
cial media vehicles.’’ today. At a minimum, this means adopting
program was enacted, over three million jobs
have been lost, billions of dollars have been A d m i n i s -
Only with great effort did we create change.
policies that make it easier for companies to
wasted and an unprecedented debt has been
George E. Curry
tration officials
With the cooperation of FCC commissioners,
deploy these high-speed systems.
passed on to our children,” said House Minor- weren’t the only
Dr. Cheek founded WHMM, at the time the na- More than $100 billion has already been
ity Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) ones embarrassed.
tion’s only Black-owned public broadcasting spent to deploy high-speed systems across
station. America. But tens of billions more are neces-
Who’s telling the truth? The Wall Street Journal reported that more
than a dozen Republicans in Congress voted
Slowly, the hard efforts of many people inside
sary for every American to benefit. The FCC’s An analysis by nonpartisan Congressional
against President Obama’s stimulus plan, yet
and outside of government brought about real
focus should be on how it can speed this pro- Budget Office supports the president, saying
wrote to federal agencies on behalf of business-
change.
cess, either through federal programs or by the stimulus package helped to end the reces-
helping persuade private companies to commit sion and created or saved at least two million
es in their districts seeking stimulus funds.
While the image of African Americans in the the resources necessary to make this happen.
jobs. That would put Obama on track to reach Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) called the stim-
media is still not what I’d like, things did im- ulus plan “the socialist way.” Yet, he was part
prove.
Above all, the FCC should obey the first rule
his goal of 3.5 million jobs over two years.
of medicine: It should do no harm. The com- But try explaining that to your fellow citi-
of an Alabama delegation contacting the U.S.
Our success back then held an important missioners should turn away any efforts to
zens. According to a New York Times/CBS
Forest Service with a $15 million request for
lesson for today, and it is a lesson that I hope increase undue regulation that could stifle in-
News poll conducted earlier this month, only 6
a state program that ended up receiving a $6.3
the FCC heard clearly at the meeting. Televi- vestment. Increased regulation would lead to
percent of those questioned believe the stimu-
million grant.
sion and radio may not be as influential today court battles, delays in deployment and greater
lus package has created any jobs. Another Republican, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wis-
as they were back then. Today’s important expense, and for no good purpose. consin, said the stimulus program amounted to
medium is the Internet — specifically, high-
Why such a large disconnect?
“a wasteful spending spree.” Later, he worked
speed Internet service that allows access to
Unfortunately, far too many Tennesseans
to be part of that spending spree, supporting a
videos, music, entertainment and a range of
are still waiting for their first option for high-
Only about 30 percent of the funds have
grant application to the Department of Labor.
other video options. This is as important today
speed access. Meanwhile, America lags behind
been spent so far, with that figure expected to
as television and radio were 30 years ago.
nations in Asia and Europe that are using high-
rise to 70 percent before the end of the year.
There is no doubt that stimulus pack-
speed networks to build an educated work
Another factor is that much of the money has
For underprivileged communities, high- force and economic growth at our expense.
gone directly to the states to preserve jobs that
age improved the American economy.
speed Internet service is crucial for their ad-
would have otherwise been eliminated or used
The American Chronicle rounded up and posted
vancement, socially and economically. Fiber-
Rev. Benjamin L. Hooks of Memphis is a to extend unemployment and insurance cover-
the following quotes on its website:
optic wires deployed into homes can help
former executive director of the NAACP and age. “Cut through all the numbers, though,
unemployed or underemployed people learn new
a former member of the Federal Communica-
tions Commission.
According to the White House, 95 percent of
and this is what you find: The American Re-
American families received a tax cut of approxi-
covery and Reinvestment Act saved us from
mately $800 for both 2009 and 2010 as a result
plunging into a second Great Depression.”
Our problematic public schools
of the stimulus package. However, because the
— Stephen Herzenberg, economist and execu-
money was left in the employee’s paycheck in
tive director of the Keystone Research Center
the form of reduced taxes rather than mailed “We were looking over the precipice, pos-
By Harry C. Alford wants to get involved, should deal directly with
as a separate check, most Americans did not sibly into a Great Depression…I think it was
the family not a public school. Stop feeding these
notice the cut. In fact, only 12 percent of those appropriate to enact a very aggressive stimulus
polled by the New York Times/CBS said they bill. I think it is fair to say that, without the
One of America’s biggest challenges is pro-
students free breakfast. School is for education
had received a tax cut. stimulus bill, state and local government bud-
viding an adequate educate for our children. A
only. Students should pay for their lunch or bag
solid education was a given when I was grow-
it. There should be no federal program dipping Until recent weeks, the White House did a
gets would be in even worse shape than they
ing up and why isn’t it a simple thing now? It
into the time for education. The same goes for poor job of touting the success of the program,
are now.” — Robert Dye, senior economist for
appears that we complicated a simple process
daycare. Let’s concentrate on education only! failing to put a face on those directly benefiting
PNC Financial Services Group
to the point of making public education more
from what is formally known as the American A year after it began flowing, the stimulus
of a “cash cow” than a vehicle to ensure our
Perhaps the worst thing to happen to Recovery and Reinvestment Act. As the one- money has not yet reached many small Black
freedom and economic standing in this com-
inner city schools was the busing programs. year anniversary approached, however, various businesses. Still, it is far from being the fail-
petitive world. Our corporate leaders con-
This was an attack on our communities. It federal departments and agencies were rushing ure that Republicans claim. Given the relative
sider it a very serious crisis and rightly so.
disrupted local community pride and alien- to paint a different picture. success of the program, perhaps the Obama ad-
Let’s look at some of the obvious reasons.
ated potentially great students. It gave them
Obama has not been helped by high unem-
ministration will be stimulated to do more for

a feeling of inferiority. it was the bus man-
ployment rates. When the bill was signed into
African-American businesses.
The grades kindergarten through sixth
ufacturers and unions, who wanted the
law, the unemployment rate stood at 7.7 per- George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief the
grade are the most important years. This is
driver jobs. They saw big bucks in this and
cent. Since then, it jumped to 10 percent before NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, mod-
where the mold is set. You drill, drill and drill
therefore ordered the NAACP to push for it.
falling last month to 9.7 percent. erator, and media coach. He can be reached
into the heads of our little angels the funda-
mentals of reading, writing and arithmetic.
The procurement process of many school
Republicans gleefully circulated earlier ad-
at www.georgecurry.com. You can also follow

districts involves serious money. With that
ministration projections that the unemploy-
him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge.
In the early years, this was known as
comes much corruption. The books, learning
“the 3 R’s.” If a child can master these three
tools and equipment are many times decided
areas they will be ready to journey into other
via kickbacks, etc. instead of what is best for
areas such as science, history, health, etc.
the student.
How To Write Us:
Bad behavior must not be tolerated. These
children must learn immediately to respect
There should be major cleansing at all
The Michigan Chronicle encourages letters from readers. Ex-
authority. Fighting for whatever reason is
inner city school systems. They are all cor-
automatic suspension requiring a paren-
rupt. Also, there should be intern and train- pressed opinions must bear the writer’s signature, address
tal visit and a pledge to never do it again.
ing programs demanded of corporations
and phone number (only the names will published with the
Talking back to a teacher is also a very bad
who do business with a particular school.
thing and should be treated accordingly.

letters). Write: Reader’s Speak, Michigan Chronicle, 479 Led-

They should recruit new applicants or train
Dress codes must be in place, and why
the students they are making money from. This
yard, Detroit, MI 48201 or email the editor at chronicle4@aol.
are we providing free breakfasts at schools?
creates a visible future for the students and in-
This is a family matter and the government, if it
spires them to study hard and perform well.
com
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