SAMUEL LOGAN

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A Real Times Newspaper

479 Ledyard – Detroit, MI 48201

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March 24-30, 2010

JACKIE BERG

Chief Marketing Officer

BANKOLE THOMPSON

Senior Editor

CORNELIUS A. FORTUNE

Associate Managing Editor

JOHN H. SENGSTACKE

Chairman-Emeritus 1912-1997

LONGWORTH M. QUINN

Publisher-Emeritus 1909-1989

Page A-6

Demolishing dilapidated buildings a step in the right direction

Mayor Dave Bing’s plan to demolish between

2,500 and 3,000 of the most dangerous aban- doned buildings each year is a step in the right direction. The mayor addressed this matter — among other topics — in his first State of the City address.

The administration has said that the demoli-

tion will serve as stage one of the mayor’s over- all neighborhood stabilization strategy. What’s more, Mayor Bing wants all the city’s danger- ous buildings — some 10,000 of them — razed by the end of his term.

We would hope that the city would opt for

renovation of any structures that can be saved, but for those that have crossed the point of no return, to allow them to continue standing would be both irresponsible and dangerous.

We agree with the mayor’s statement that

destroying these buildings would create jobs and improve public safety. Dilapidated build- ings not only can serve as places of criminal ac-

tivity, but can also be attractive to sometimes unwary explorers, who could be seriously hurt or even killed within them.

And, of course, they put Detroit in a bad light.

After all, no one would (or should) want visitors to their city to see, intermixed with its various attractions and points of interest, burned out, abandoned and otherwise dilapidated ghosts of other eras.

Better that these buildings be razed in favor

of new homes or businesses, which in turn would bring both people and tax revenues in to Detroit. Or, if particular plots of land are suit- able, tear down the buildings on them in favor of new city parks.

Back in the 19th century, Detroit was called

the City of Trees, and in some ways Detroit today can be compared with a tree, with these eyesore buildings representing dead branches. Prune those “branches” away, and you’re left with a healthier “tree.”

Justice served in Hamtramck

By Deborah Mathis

Something amazing hap-

pened in Michigan last week. Something that could be ap- plied, in some form or another, in practically every state in the union.

Under the guise of urban re-

newal, Black neighborhoods in Hamtramck, Michigan, were obliterated. People were abrupt- ly left homeless, but not wholly powerless. They filed a class action lawsuit against the city, and, in 1971, the 250 plaintiffs won in federal court. The judge demanded that Hamtramck make things right. The city prom- ised to build new homes for sale and rent.

This is what an exquisitely

named professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business has been extolling for years in lectures, speeches and books — that Black America is entitled to reparations from a country that systematically robbed them of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that the remuneration should be based on economic losses rather than on pain and suffer- ing, which are immeasurable.

Professor Richard America

Deborah Mathis

But nothing happened for the next 30-plus

years. Many former residents, long since relo- cated, grew old and died.

A few years ago, thanks to changed times

and new leadership with new attitude, Ham- tramck broke ground, though progress toward getting the homes built was sluggish. The re- cession, as hard on Michigan as any place in the country, brought the work to a standstill.

— and yes, that’s really his name — brought this message to my church recently, where he urged the congregants to

“tighten up — organize, sacrifice, work and invest.” The lack of organization and consoli- dation of resources and talents continues to hold us back, he said.

But make no mistake, the professor is no

Pollyanna. He advocates that America, the country, make restitution for past wrongs and has put a number on what he says the country owes: $20 trillion.

“Under the guise of urban renewal, Black neigh-

borhoods in Hamtramck were obliterated. People were abruptly left homeless, but not wholly power- less. They filed a class action lawsuit against the city, and, in 1971, the 250 plaintiffs won in federal court. The judge demanded that Hamtramck make things right. The city promised to build new homes for sale and rent. But nothing happened for the next 30-plus years.”

Then came the stimulus money — you

know, those funds that Republicans claim were poured down a rathole. Tell that to the families with long overdue justice in the offing. It came through for them, reigniting the home building project in Hamtramck.

And, a few weeks ago, Michigan Gov. Jenni-

fer Granholm handed 60-year-old Sallie Sand- ers the keys to a new home on the same street that she had been forced to abandon as a little girl.

I am hesitant to call this “justice,” consider-

ing that Ms. Sanders’ parents, whose home was pulled out from under them, did not live to see their dream restored. Further, no one knows what fortunes and opportunities might have conveyed to little Sallie and her family had they been able to keep their home and maximize the advantages that offered.

So, let me restate my earlier statement:

Reparations came knocking for a group of Black families that got shafted in the 1950s and 1960s.

Oil is a diminishing and expensive source of

energy, and coal is dirty. Alternative energy sources, including solar

and wind power, can only provide 10% to 20% of our energy requirements.

President Obama has increased government

loan guaranties for new nuclear power plants from $18.5 billion to $54.5 billion, which should give impetus to the nuclear power industry.

There are 20 nuclear plants undergoing de-

commissioning, and we could construct new 2,000 megawatt units at these sites for a re- duced investment by using the existing infra- structure. Nuclear plants have provided clean, cheap and safe power from 104 units. The only accident was at Three Mile Island, where almost all of the radiation was contained in the containment building. Subsequently, the NRC made changes in how it regulates nuclear power plants, and this has significantly reduced any

perous middle class by underpaying and under- employing and undereducating the “others.” The professor politely calls this “unjust en- richment.”

Was that enrichment “based on honorable,

fair and just dealings?” Professor America asked. “Was the economic activity that pro- duced the wealth moral?”

Another victim of the urban renewal atrocity

said she is happy to be returning “home” after so many years, although she has come back as a renter. She was a homeowner in the 1960s, but her house was condemned in the wave of destruction and clearance.

Where would she have been now economi-

cally, had she been acquiring equity for the last 50 years?

Which explains, despite Hamtramck’s admi-

rable response, why justice delayed is justice denied.

Deborah Mathis writes for BlackAmeri- caWeb.com, owned by Tom Joyner

Energize with nuclear power

risk to public safety. We have to address the problem of leak-

ing radioactive wastewater from underground pipes. The solution might be using higher quality pipes or moving the pipes above ground where they can be easily monitored.

Another problem is the disposal of nucle-

ar waste, which has been collecting on plant sites. The solution is to neutralize and recycle the waste. France has perfected a process to recycle nuclear waste, and it is able to generate 80% of its energy requirements from nuclear power.

We need more nuclear power plants to coun-

ter the effects of global warming, eliminate for- eign oil purchases, and reduce the use of fossil

fuels. — Donald A. Moskowitz, Londonderry, NH

While Black America suffered and lost, White America was able to nourish a large and pros-

Reducing the Black male dropout rate

By George Curry

An observation is made early

by Jawanza Kunjufu, a noted educator, public speaker and publisher, in his new book, “Reducing the Black Male Drop- out Rate” (African American Images, Chicago,

most likely to get into trouble. Poor parents should not

expect their children’s perfor- mance levels to be lower than those from rich families.

“Wealthy parents don’t have 708/672-

4909) He issues this challenge to readers: “Visit a kindergarten class and observe Black boys in action. They’re eager, they sit in the front, they’re on task. They love learning.”

But something happens by

the time they reach the ninth grade.

Kunjufu says approximate-

ly 100,000 African-American males drop out of high school each year; in some urban areas the Black male rate approaches 70 percent. Even a high school dropout can calculate that rate amounts to 1 million Black males over 10 years. That 10- year figure is larger than the total population of Detroit, Atlanta, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boston, Charlotte, Denver, Baltimore, Memphis or New Orleans.

George Curry

In his book, Kunjufu provides a lesson plan

for reducing the horrendous Black dropout rate. The turnaround must begin in the home. He notes that schools have students only 9 percent of the time from infancy to 18 years of age. Parents, on the other hand, have students far more longer and must do a far better job of creating the right intellectual atmosphere at home.

“Parents, I’d like for you to do an invento-

ry of your home,” Kunjufu writes. “Count the number of books you have vs. the number of CDs and DVDs. That will, in part, explain your child’s academic performance.”

He adds, “What you have in your house de-

termines the kind of student that comes out of your house.”

Parents should also take firm control of

their homes. The author scoffs at the idea of a child telling parents paying rent or a mortgage, “You have no right to go into my room.” Par- ents not only have the right to go anywhere in their house, they should also exercise the right to inspect their child’s room at any time.

They should also listen to their children’s

music and check out their friends. “Parents, if you don’t do anything else, you

need to know your children’s friends. You can tell an awful lot about your child by his selection of friends. Many parents believe their sons are angels. You need to observe your son’s friends in action. Invite them over to your house. Meet the parents of your son’s friends. Why is this so important? Because the peer group is the number one influence on African-American males.”

Because of that influence, parents should

know where their children are during the cru- cial hours of 3 to 7 p.m., when children are

smarter kids than the poor and working poor, than Blacks or La- tinos, but what they perhaps do better is insist that the school do its job better no matter what it takes,” Kunjufu believes.

He notes that because African

Americans suffer from PTSD — Post Traumatic Slavery Dis- order — it is crucial that Black males be exposed to culturally- relevant learning materials.

Another suggestion is better

recognition of academic achievement. “If you have an assembly program of 500 stu-

dents but are giving out two awards, there’s a very good chance that African-American males will call those two students nerds,” Kunjufu explains. “A more effective assembly program would honor many students. If a student moves from a D to a C, he should receive an award. If he moves from a C to an A, he receives two awards. In this way, it is very possible that all 500 stu- dents will receive an award and just maybe the students will buy into academic achievement.”

Educators should not buy into the notion of

social promotions, the act of promoting non- achieving students to the next grade.

“I acknowledge the pain students must

endure when they are held back,” Kunjufu says. “But the pain is even greater when, in the ninth grade, they are trying to get through the school day with a fourth-grade reading level.”

Churches and community groups also have

a role to play in reducing the dropout rate. “The most important institution in the Af-

rican-American community is the church, and there are 85,000 African-American church- es,” the author writes. “The One Church, One School program created the concept that churches should sponsor or adopt schools in their community. Can you imagine if each of the 85,000 churches adopted a school? There are some 15,000 elementary and high schools in Black America, which means there would be five to six churches for one school! That’s a winning combination for our children.”

In his book, Kunjufu Jawanza has given

us the winning formula for halting the Black male dropout rate. The sooner his book is read and his ideas are implemented, the sooner we change the destination of thousands of Black males from prison to educated and productive lives.

George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of

Emerge magazine and the NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. He can be reached through his website, www.georgecurry.com. You can also follow him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge.

Beck, Coulter and Limbaugh: ‘Avatars of Julius Streicher’

By Davidson Loehr

Making fun of demagogues like Glenn Beck,

Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh has become a kind of parlor game, an escape valve to let out some of the frustration of impotent rage. This was brought home again when I read “Defying Hitler” by Sebastian Haffner. Writing between 1933 and 1939, he came of age during Hitler’s rise to power. His observations are so searing it’s still hard to believe that someone could see this clearly while the spirit of his times was morphing into a broad and deep spirit of evil. Once the Zeitgeist had changed, all kinds of murderous and insane actions became logical means toward transforming German culture into its Nazi metastasis.

“Avatars of Julius Streicher” doesn’t sound

quite sober - hardly anyone recognizes his name today, but Streicher’s spirit is alive and well in Beck, Coulter and Limbaugh. Streich- er was one of the 11 Nazis sentenced to hang by the Nuremberg Trials on October 16, 1946. Only ten were hanged because Hermann Goer- ing committed suicide with some cyanide cap- sules the night before. Of the 11, Streicher was the only one who was not in the military, not in any significant position to command anything regarding the treatment and execution of mil- lions of people who didn’t fit the Nazi mold. But Streicher may have been the person most responsible for implanting the spirit of anti- Semitism that let Germans dehumanize and slaughter millions of people.

Between 1923 and 1945, Streicher published

“Der Stuermer” (“The Stormtrooper”), and spoke wherever he could to instill this deadly spirit into everyone he could reach. Streicher was hanged with the Nazi leaders for publish-

ing this fact-free newspaper that did more than anything else to prepare the way for the Nazi death machines.

At his trial in Nuremberg, the prosecution

said that while Streicher was not directly in- volved in the physical commission of these deadly crimes against humanity, “his crime is no less worse for that reason.... It was to the task of educating and poisoning the people with hate, and of producing murderers, that Streicher set himself. For 25 years, he contin- ued unrelentingly the perversion of the people and youth of Germany. He went on and on as he saw the results of his work bearing fruit. In the early days, he was preaching persecution. As persecution took place, he preached exter- mination and annihilation and, as millions of Jews were exterminated and annihilated in the Ghettos of the East, he cried out for more and more.

“The crime of Streicher is that he made these

crimes possible, which they would never have been had it not been for him and for those like him. In its extent Streicher’s crime is probably greater and more far-reaching than that of any of the other defendants. The misery which they caused ceased with their capture. The effects of this man’s crime, of the poison that he has put into the minds of millions of young boys and girls goes on, for he concentrated upon the youth and childhood of Germany. He leaves behind him a legacy of almost a whole people poisoned with hate, sadism, and murder, and perverted by him. That people will remain a problem and perhaps a menace to the rest of civilization for generations to come.” Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36