Ch 17 Reports

Were putting a little money with me. I think we're going to get there. And again to go back to Martin Luther King's words for every Good Friday the bad times there's always an Easter in the good times. The eternal hope. I think the day will come will see it. I am dismayed frankly by the direction the nicer the ministration appears to be taking this country. It appears to be determined to roll back the clock in every

area of civil rights either. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. born Atlanta one thousand twenty nine dead in Memphis in the early spring of 1968. Influenced by India's Mohandas Gandhi he set the goals and tone of the civil rights movement in this country. One of resistance but nonviolence 1955 at the age of 24 you first led a boycott of buses in Montgomery which lasted three hundred eighty one days. Then the Supreme Court declared the segregation laws of Alabama unconstitutional.

At 35 you became the youngest reception of the Nobel Peace Prize honors journey from Atlanta to Memphis his footsteps and those of his followers led the way to legislation aimed at ending discrimination in this country. Dr. King's life seems to be the benchmark against which integration efforts in this country still are measured. Across the nation. This is Black History Month and I'm Channel 17 reports tonight. We'll explore it with the local black leaders how far the area and the nation have traveled on the course set by Dr. King. I think there's been some very significant achievements and the field of education and I think that. If you want to point to a single thing you point to the advances made in integration it's very seldom that you can find any institution where you can see evidence of increased integration. That's at every level that's secondary at the college and university level. I was working there and I'm very much encouraged by it.

We have very few schools with a term that's used in this area racially identifiable. Our integration program I think has been an overwhelming success. It's been well received by the public. The children are getting along very well and the programs that are possible as a result of our desegregation activities. Results in a much improved school system. I honestly can't say that there have been achievements. I think that since the death of Dr. King we've retrogress considerably because what Dr. King was trying to achieve the freedom justice and equality I think there were quite a long ways from that. You come a little way not even the way I think we've retrogress because even when Dr. King was alive he would demonstrate if nothing else when there were things happening that shouldn't have been happening in any demonstrations since his death. Now the demonstrations were the answer. I think Dr. King worked a lot of

doors. One of the achievements I would point out would be the desegregation of schools. I think we can attribute that to the 60s this period and I think you awaken the American consciousness about their employment. I have seen most. It is too bad we come to a time when there seems to be turning back of some of the progress. I think it was different. What achievements do you feel have been made and civil rights since the death of Dr. King. All I would say that since his death we probably have made some progress in terms of wiping out the trappings of Jim Crow petty segregation and so forth but beyond that I cannot

honestly speak of much in the way of progress. When you look at a situation today where unemployment among blacks is more than 15 percent more than double the white unemployment rate. When you look at a situation where almost half the black teenagers in America looking for work can't find a job. When I look at a situation where I know that a tremendous number of young blacks who would have gone to college this fall our next fall will not be able to go. I know that there's no way I can call that progress. And it's the kind of situation we're all going to have to pay a heavy price for somewhere down the road. Well there's been a number of things that are more or less precipitated by the Civil Rights Act. This causes more to be hired in the industry. Therefore they have a better chance to become a part of the labor movement a part of the organized labor movement and offices likeable and I'm a product of that along with me I can think

of at least three or four other blacks from this what's new with every New York area were also a part of it. I just didn't expand into the area of labor we have to win in federal mediation and who are top federal mediators and the others are within the labor movement. One is our administrative assistant to form Bieber ahead of the General Motors Department. UAW and the others a service rep in Syracuse and myself here in Buffalo. I think in the criminal justice system it's kind of hard to name any specific accomplishments other than the fact that I would say you have more blacks more blacks on the bench as judges sense the death of Dr. King. Maybe I could say that juries today would probably be frag more blacks on juries than you did say before Dr. King's death. I can't say that you don't have as many blacks being arrested

today then you had before his death. I don't. See any changes as far as that goes because I think that arrest are usually based upon the economic situation of people and minorities or races of people as to whether or not they have access to the job market or those that don't have access to the job market usually find themselves running into the war. Certainly very little has been accomplished. There's room for improvement in every field of endeavor. I think you should understand I have no solutions no easy solutions. I know that in the field of law enforcement through federal mandate we are getting more minorities and more women in the department every year. We hear criticism from people stating that we had a

dual criminal justice system one black and one for whites. Well I don't really see it that way. I think there is one system and it's a just system for everyone I think that a lot of times people are going to look for a better legal representation than others and this certainly makes a lot of difference in the court which is very important to have people that can represent you properly point especially when your freedom is a state we don't have a dual dual justice system. We have one justice system. I think what the public is they see if you will come into court more blacks being charged with crimes. And if you would go to the prisons you'd see more black or minority members that are in maids in the prisons. And again I would have to go back to the economics of it rather than the justice system itself. Now I'm not going to sit here and say that there is no bias in the justice system.

I think there's bias in everything that we do in every walk of life you want to find a certain amount of bias. But as far as having two justice systems I would just have to say no because as a lawyer I represented a lot of criminal defendants in this justice system and I always felt that I got a fair shake in the justice system. And most of my clients that I represent felt that they had a fair shake in the system and that was what I represented a black cloud or white cloud but I don't know why. But everyone seems interested in police brutality and will tell you personally I believe that the city of Buffalo witnesses very little police brutality and I say that because I really actually believe that so now I will. I understand there are bad apples in every bureau. I'm sure that there are some police officers who may be described as brutal but the majority of police officers operate within the lawful parameters legal parameters an ability especially brutal.

I think that they try to impartially enforce the law. You see a lot of people understand is that. The public sometimes you know for the New York state record is calling on Congress to extend the Voting Rights Act. Is there a need for the sixth time I think without a doubt. Unfortunately there is you know because there are those people who look at the congressmen who are lobbying against it and say let's do it to extend the Voting Rights Act there are still cities and towns and villages in an age where individuals in private and you know plain view in it and there are a lot of people

particularly in the southern states who would not be able to vote if we did not have voting rights extension until Without it you know we have a lot of problems. We would go back to some times that were not present for this country. The black elected you know. But just the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. We have more than three dozen black elected officials in that building. Each state would come up with its own version of the Voting Rights Act and that takes us back when they had a grandfather clause. When black people will read a passage from a log book

and interpret it the people could not do that themselves. They have all kinds of gimmicks to keep black people from getting ready for voting and the manner in which the or the tenor of our entire society were relaxing things or were going back to the good old days. Yes I know that means my father told me there was never any good old days. There was a song or MISSED IT WAS NEVER every day that you can make it. You get something that's better for us today. That's a good day. But the good old days you forget. In the works for the better. We also have people in the political industry who are in the policymaking positions who are resisting certain changes.

Perhaps black women in constant resist going to begin to implement the legislation on the books. I think we will continue to have hard times some people don't believe we need leaders quote unquote. But one who believes that we need direction and that direction has to come from a personal body of persons What's lacking is leadership of sorts either from one person or a group of people because the masses basically are complacent and that very well and I think that for the most part our leaders our media is I think too many of whom are Camera me and a lot of things that could be done in the community very quietly are not being done. Very few leaders are talking about self help people help. Most of them a program paint the words the media is exploiting certain certain to be exploited.

Look leaders allow themselves to be exploited they probably really want to be. One thing we do know is that the media has a very influential role in identifying who leaders are and that observation has been made often times that the media has created the leaders. Well I'm not sure how much but there is not observation but certainly in the media by its inherent nature. So an in-depth discussion of important issues. You can only devote enough time to it to introduce and hope that the people are interested in other ways of getting better informed and fully informed of these important public issues where you trigger problems in the labor market. Well there's a number of problems along what's New York is a blue collar area and it responds directly to the economy from the industrial

side we have having the diversity of many other areas service industries and other things like that are minimal number in this area. Those service industries like welfare and other social service aspects are being cut by the president. So there's going to be another tremendously Allbright cutback in this area and the cyclist can become more and more like a whirlpool. Well the first thing is a policy the country has to change and of course for that to change the leadership is going to be the changes. Thank you for the leadership and stop it changed. There is room for improvement in a lot of areas. Martin King did not set out to do a lot of things people give him credit for doing. First of Martin King never tried to revolutionize the world. That was not his original intent. The original intent was to free black folk in the south

to to to make the life better for a large segment of God's children that were being subjected to inhumane and godly treatment. Then as we know in nineteen six to seven he made the great break and went out against the Vietnam War. Then we all saw something happening within him. I was a little different from just fighting for black folk in the south. He now saw that he had to speak on a global scene that the stage had enlarged for him. Now the part of his dream as far as the South was concerned has been realize Assad will never be the same again a black person today is treated better in the South than they are in Buffalo a black person is treated better in Mississippi than they are in Chicago today.

Not only has the white man had to comply because of the law. I've been able to see a certain change in his heart in his spirit. I've seen his nature revolutionize. I have. You can feel a person. Scripture says try the spirit by the Spirit and you can feel a change in the spirit of Southern white people now. There's a little bit of difficulty here subtle discrimination and segregation is so rampant. And this part of the country. School integration has not worked here. We've had white flight server neighborhoods have been left a lot of dated. We've had to go to bus in which opponents call the bus and that part of Martin's Dream has not been fulfilled by this present administration to dismantle affirmative action

to dismantle to dismantle those laws that were put in place by the Great Society to return to the states. What billboard calls states rights back years ago. We see that as part of a nightmare. Of Martin's Dream he made a very simple quotation in one of his sermons that for every Good Friday there is always an Easter Good Friday to him represented the bad times the trouble sometimes and we're falling back into those now we're losing ground because of Reaganomics says it's probably cause cutbacks ignoring that these were his goals to have the poor get a better slice of that.

Certainly we're not getting that in this day. I was encouraged recently by the progress our nation was making and working toward the goals of Dr. King set forth for this country. But I have to be very very candid with you in saying that I've never been more discouraged in my life that I have been and over the past several months I am dismayed frankly by the direction the national administration appears to be taking this country. It appears to be determined to roll back the clock in every area of civil rights that were so visible so recognizable wherever we go that we can't we can't change our names. You know I can't become part of the general of our society. I will always be of this particular color in people still you have the history of US imbedded in them

that if their school systems are white and here comes my child he's there from a particular point he killed by a bus. If congregation Irish-Catholic in Here Comes with a Y really. So it's kind of a continual process as we move into various parts of our world society people will have to learn some of those prejudices. So that commitment. Begin as we are do somewhat meet the old school mission civil rights organization but again you feel our community has more or less joined together since the turmoil of the late 1980s early 1981. I think what you're talking about says the 22 caliber killer. And no I don't not know nor I don't I think that there were many commitments that

were made by various church officials business and representative of the Chamber of Commerce in the sexual that they did not keep that after that rally was over and there was no destruction and so forth. We went back to business as usual certainly during the 22 caliber killer demonstrate concern about a lot of good folk and that it was not really a political rally as we've seen demonstrated just recently in the efforts. It was something that we were concerned about white people and black people were concerned. And we came together. I mean everybody went home and we haven't heard anything since. Using other words it was a nice circus. We get public national public relations all over the United States. What we would be doing on that beautiful day.

That's true. One day I was at the rally in Lafayette Square on the day that we had the turmoil and the good success that turned out in Lafayette Square over against what happened in front of City Hall. I remember seeing a national news camera man folding up his equipment and leaving. And this was long before we got far into the program and I asked him what was the matter. And he says there's nothing newsworthy here. It's an indictment I think that there's nothing newsworthy unless they're clawing at each other and hitting each other and stomping and kicking and fighting and I think that's a turbaned indictment for this man who said that he couldn't see the thousands of people out there in front arms who are singing together. We shall overcome.

Why I was disheartened when I grew up in Buffalo buffalo or blacks could hardly go into restaurants on Main Street. I was involved for one things loosen up a great deal of 60s in the 60s 70s and I was in Buffalo when when they started tearing up again and race relations in Peru becomes worse depending on the economy. It's all right to help your brother give him something when you've got plenty when there's plenty of difference between you and I and our brother can come to your house or brother can do certain things but you're going to take the best for yourself and your family. Blacks and Whites have to realize that they have more there's more which unites us than separates them. After all all of us in our community are affected by the economic downturn and we all have an interest and working together to see if we can revitalize our city. Because this community.

Where are the losers and I think that when we attempt to revitalize a city we need to come together and pool all of our resources our physical our financial and actual actual resources and working for a better buffer. Everybody's gotta sort of do some soul searching. We have to do some soul searching and when you see an injustice being committed try to correct it. Respect is the key. People don't respect people as people first. I think that the religious community comes together. The Jewish community follows their rabbi. And when that rabbi and rabbis come together when the TV cameras are turned off. And stand up and lead the Jewish community hand in hand with their black brothers and sisters it will happen. The Catholic community have great respect for their priests

their bishops Monsignor. And when these people come forward with the social gospel of social ministry the type of ministry that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for it's a marketplace ministry. When that happens and when the black clergyman who leads a floundering flock. From. Here to there. When we can come together and when they see us. The religious leaders of this community standing tall together then I think there is going to be a little different attitude about racial harmony in this community. I believe in downtown Buffalo. And the mayor we have now is probably the first mayor we've had in the last 40 years that believed in downtown Buffalo. I don't think the neighborhood should suffer. But I do know until that downtown becomes the number one quiet aid downtown we never. Want to become a first rate city.

But I think Buffalo has a good climate. If there is any place in this country for brotherhood to prevail we find it in the religious circles. And I think we will find it coming out strongly in other circles too politically Buffalo's a good climate for them to racial relations we do have our racial strife and the City of the neighbors that we claim to be but we're a good city and we are neighbors in that city was he. Was was. Was. Was was. I am.

And. Have. Been. And. You. Know you. Have.