person. regardlessm belief that all are burt as long as anyone is beld back,community for sever_ It's an issue we at The Carolin-ian have covered before. Masses- of Latino immigrants move into. the area, ready to work for whatis next to nothing in American. Culture but which seems like a_ fortune compared to what they~ are used to in Latin America.-- Overnight, the lowest-rung jobs_. which had gone to blacks, and_.. which had seen wages and ben-efits increase, if only slightly,_ how suddenly are being filled by~ blacks. | African-Americans are angry.- They blame racism. They blame_ the system. But most of all, theyblame the new immigrants. Theyare ruining it for blacks, who arejust now starting to get paid, theyIn doing that, though, many in-. the community are missing thepoint and falling into an old trapthat has worked once before.It was just after the turn of the_ century. The labor movement wasburgeoning, and poor whites andblacks had discovered that theyhad quite a bit in common.They banded together, mostprominently in the Grange move-ment, to try to improve the lot ofthe working class: better pay,higher wages and improvedsafety. .American industry had been. getting a free ride from its laborfor a long time. The captains of|. industry got together and came_ wp-with-a:solution. _The résult was .the White Su- _premacy movement. It was stun-ningly successful, not only in theSouth, but in the heavily union-ized North and Midwest.Racial hatred, fear and: the un-certainty of the times was used to opit one group against the other | ?and drive wages back down.~~ Workers in the North were told,~ oTf you keep on demanding more.money and better conditions,we'll just bring in more Negroes.They just came up from the cot-ton fields down South, and they Tllwork. for half what you earn andnot complain about safety. ? TIn the South, speakers de-scendéd on- Nationa! Guard ar-mories and lodge halls to decrythe tumult T T that society hadbeen placed in since the forcedemancipation of the Civil War.Everywhere, the speakers said,there were black people runningbusinesses, holding elective of-fices. Blacks were riding busesand trains, and even workingalongside whites. __ oWhat will be next? Will Ne-groes want to go to school withyour children? ?The result was a mass ejectionof black union members in theNorth and a slew of Jim Crowlaws in the South.Poor white and black workershad successfully been turnedagainst each other, to the extentthat they remain almost uni-formly hostile to this day.Now we see the same dynamicworking. The economy is boom-ing, and wages will have to goup "that Ts the way a freeeconomy works.In an effort to short-circuit thisand keep the windfall from theboom where it belongs T T "themiddle and upper class "the samething is being done.Will it work again, or willblacks and Latinos band togetherto make sure that everybody getsa share of the pie?We happen to think there Tsenough to go around for every-body.Whether it does, will be seen.A Whole New RaceAs is noted in our front-pagestory, the much-watched NewYork Senate race has turned intoa completely new ball game.When the idea was first floated,it seemed like a very tight con-test, with First Lady Hillary Clin-ton getting the benefit of sympa-thy for her stalwart performancein the wake of the Monica| Lewinsky affair and the impeach-ment that followed.Then, after that wore off, itlooked like a cake walk for New_ York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani,_ with his tough, I-cleaned-up-Timés-Square image counterbal-_ ancing her bleeding-heart liberal-ism among the conservative up-_. State crowd._. Then came the series of policekillings "and Giuliani Ts bellicose,_ @frogant reaction to them "that_- turned the numbers around éver-_Ms. Clinton was sure to be able,_ at the very end, to count on just- about every single black vote in- the state "and certainly in New_. York City proper,Even some of the more conser-vative Democrats and Republi-ans were starting to think thatperhaps Mayor Julie wasn Tt ex-actly the man they wanted repre-senting their state on C-SPAN.bay al had a lot of laughs pok-ing fun at North Carolina for theJ v it be-Alte aegan to4At the very least, it looked likea lot of folks might stay homeand refrain for voting for him.But then came his final blunderwith the announcement of hisseparation, and the discoverythat he had prostate cancer.Suddenly, the man everybodywas just itching to vote out of of-fice was gone, replaced with acomplete nobody.In this case, though, that mayturn out to be a blessing in dis-.guise. Having no record meansnothing that opponents can seizeon to point a finger at. |And the First Lady has nothing,if not a record. Whitewater, theseveral mini-scandals that con-servatives continually harangueover but which seem not to botheranybody else, and even hubbyBill Ts antics will surely dog her inher attempt to barge into NewYork politics.The o carpetbagger T ? T label may .also hurt, though it is somethingNew Yorkers should be used to bynow. People love to move to NewYork to run for office.The outcome of the race will largely hingé on the new candi-date.Will he present a sane, moder-ate alternative to Mayor Mad-man?Or, pressed to take stances onhard issues, will he be unable toresist the urge to go ideologicaland self-destruct as well?_ Stay tuned.ons or concernscreed. full buman rights. Hating no person. fearing no person aeVANTAGEPOINT &Articles and Essays by Ron Daniels . iTHE ASSASSINATION OF MALCOLM X FARRAKHANTAKES ANOTHER STEP TO HEAL THE WOUNDSOn Sunday May 14 millions of people watched as theHonorable Minister Louis Farrakhan sat across fromAttillah Shabazz, the oldest daughter of Malcolm X and Dr.Betty Shabazz, on 60 Minutes ? in an interview with MikeWallace. Apparently Minister Farrakhan called for themeeting and interview with Attillah to clear the air aboutwhat role, if any, he played in the assassination of MalcolmX on that fateful day at the Audubon Ballroom.in Harlem in1965 "a horrible event made more tragic by the fact thatDr. Shabazz and her children witnessed the: murder ofMalcolm. Recovering from prostate cancer and apparentlyintent on moving the Nation of Islam (NOI) closer to ortho-doxy and more widespread acceptability, the highly publi-cized meeting/interview seemed designed to take yet an-other step to heal the painful wounds opened within theblack community over the calculated demise of our oBlackShining Prince. ?Much of the pain and anguish associated with the assas-sination of Brother Malcolm centers around allegations andsuspicions that the up and coming Haleem Abdul Farra-khan, a young, charismatic and ambitious minister, turnedon and betrayed Malcolm, his mentor and friend, to curryfavor with. the Honorable Elijah Muhammadtakin, Piao piace in T the hierarchySome have even accused Farrakhan of giving thkill Malcolm. Certainly the words he uttered in variousspeeches and public appearances prior to Malcolm's deathwere damaging and deadly. In one such speech, the fieryFarrakhan proclaimed that Malcolm was oworthy ofdeath, ? Given what we know about the command structureand discipline of the NOI, such words could easily be con-strued as encouragement and sanction to kill Malcolm.Concerns about Farrakhan Ts role in the assassination ofMalcolm X have also been fueled by negative and disparag-ing statements the Minister has made over the years. Inanother speech to the NOI a few years ago. Farrakhanangrily said something to the effect that if we.(NOI) dealtwith Malcolm like a nation deals with a traitor whose busi-ness is it. In 1990 a number of nationalists and activists(Sonia Sanchez, Haki Madhubuti, Preston Wilcox, DickGregory, Jill Sofflyah Elijah, Dr. Conrad Worrill, Rick Ad-ams, Dr. Charshee McIntyre, Damu Smith and RonDaniels) under the auspices of the National. Malcolm XCommemoration Commission, headed by oDr. JamesTurner, launched a nationwide campaign to proclaim May19, Malcolm Ts birthday, a National African-American Dayof Commemoration. The initiative was highly successful.But Farrakhan Ts response to the campaign was to accusethe organizers of trying to oresurrect a dead man. ?Many activists and nationalists havet been ambivalentabout Minister Farrakhan because they genuinely love andrespect the minister and feel that for whatever his flaws,he is a gifted and anointed leader with much to offer Afri-can people in the United States and the world. Hislongstanding, steadfast, militant and jpeg egace de-nunciation of racism and white supremacy rightfullyearned him tremendous respect among the masses of blackpeople. It is for this reason that most of the members of theMalcolm X Commemoration Commission cited above stoodwith Minister Farrakhan when he undertook the difficultbut essential task of rebuilding the NOI. It is also for. thatreason that many of us have consistently urged the Minis-ter to take responsibility for any role he may have playedin the assassination of Malcolm X and cease and desistmaking disparaging remarks about one of the most ad-mired leaders in the history of Africans in America.In that spirit, in January of 1995, 1 wrote a series of Vantage Point ? articles entitled, The Assassination ofMalcolm X: Time to Heal the Wounds." T This series waswritten in the wake of the government's plan to exploit thedivisions in the black community over the assasMalcolm X by. atiaaaphing to implicate QubilaMalcolm and Dr. Shabazz Ts daughter, in a plotnate Minister Farrakhan, Rather than fallinghowever, Minister Farrakhan stepped forward to expressthe view that Qubilah was not involved in any plot to takehis life. The Minister mously offered to raise mon-ies to pay ves yr ae h oe defense. This Ttant gesture by ter Farrakhan, particular Tthe fact Tthat the mobilization for the Millionwas about to go into high gear. This gesture also set thestage for a historic reconciliation meeting between Minis-ter Farrakhan and Dr. Betty Shabazz at the Apollo Theater in Harlem in May of 1995 "a ig which was skillfullybrokered prgeay Heme ! r. James Turner.As an result of the Apollo , Dr. 4 Sh gra-ae ee illion Man March in Octo-r of 1995,Now Minister Farrakhan has gone further than ever be-fore in ackni and acceptifact that his | |ONE MASTOPINIONBy Oscar Smith, Jr.YOU MAY BE IN FOR A RUDE AWAKENING INNOVEMBERIt all came to light this past weekend; however I guar-antee that planning has been under way a lot longer. I'mtalking about the new marketing ploy by the National RifleAssociation (NRA). You know what the NRA is, I Tm sure. That is the predominantly white, male, ultra-conservative-ruled organization headed by the movie actor, CharltonHeston.Well, the NRA has gone on the offensive with OleMoses ? T leading the charge. I assume they felt that becauseof the recent Million Mom March, and the concerted effortby President Bill Clinton to push for stronger gun regula-tion and enforcement in America, they saw this as theiropportunity to do more than just fight for that cause.That offensive posture is couched in saving the SecondAmendment rights of all Americans. ? That is the amend-ment that makes it lawful for Americans to bear arms. But.do not be fooled. That is not the real intent of this presenta-tion, my friends. If your mindset is tuned to what is goingon in this country today, you will immediately recognizethe true intent. That is to use this as a rallying point toelect other ultra-conservatives in November, . | |NRA-sponsored half-hour show anchored by He meon television. blasting the president T of the United Statesand others in Congress seeking to pass stronger gun-controllaws. oeBut that in itself was not the shocker. What made me sitstraight up in bed was that of all things the message wasaimed at "now get this "the poor and working poor, livingin public housing and in poorer sections of America Ts urbanareas. Heston was telling them that they were in for it ifthey let President Clinton and a liberal Congress get awaywith taking their right away from them to bear arms. oIfyou are required to register your guns, T T he said, the nextthing you know they will come knocking down your door totake them away from on... T Are you getting the picturep To BeEQUALBy Hugh B. PricePresident, National Urban LeagueSOCIAL SECURITY HELPS REDUCE CHILD POVERTYBy Valerie A. Rawiston and William E. SpriggsNational Urban LeagueValerie A. Rawlston is Research Analyst, and WilliamE. Spriggs, is Director, of the Research and Public PolicyDepartment of the National Urban League.Ask anyone you pass on the street what comes to mindwhen they hear the term oSocial Security ? and more oftenthan not they'll refer to the program's old age or retire-ment benefits.But Social Security provides a great deal more than joid Age benefits. It provides for disabled workers, and hiln, too.In fact, a study released this month by the NationalUrban League shows that Social Security benefits given topoor families with children form a safety net that keepsone million children from poverty, and prevents anothermillion children from extreme poverty "that is, it preventstheir families from having annual incomes below half thatof o poverty line. Ts important to realize that Social Securit 's formalname is the Old Age, Survivors and Disability InsuranceProgram. (The tax collected to support the am comesfrom the Federal Insurance Contribution ner popularly&~- known simply as FICA. )Social Security provides over 55 per-cent of the income for low-income fami-lies with children that. receive Social Se-- curity benefits, .In other words, Social Security is not merely a retire.as well,ment program. It Ts an insurance prSocial Security insures familiee T 4 on ae things:oe aha ari hse day Te wenbreadwinner: The third is drop in earnings because of oldBi a..eee Oe ees(4.8 2 OBS* 5-eLdLde«aar)ae-Eee*4~ cosas 831"