Posted on 06/20/2003 2:05:06 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Jackson calls on neighboring St. Joseph to lend a hand to Benton Harbor
By JAMES PRICHARD
The Associated Press
6/20/2003, 2:55 p.m. ET
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (AP) The Rev. Jesse Jackson says St. Joseph should take more responsibility in helping this neighboring community whose residents' outrage led to nighttime rioting this week.
"Biblically, it is the strongest of us who must bear the burden of the weakest of us," the civil rights activist told an audience of about 200 at a Benton Harbor community center on Friday.
Boarded-up buildings line many of the streets in economically strapped Benton Harbor. Less than a mile away, across a river, St. Joseph features trendy restaurants, boutiques, offices and a picturesque beach front.
Most of Benton Harbor's 12,000 residents are black. Most of the 8,200 people in St. Joseph are white.
Jackson said St. Joseph and Benton Harbor must "reconcile."
"The bridge between the two communities must be a two-way bridge and not a one-way bridge," he said.
St. Joseph Mayor Mary Goff did not attend Jackson's speech, but on Friday defended her community's relationship with Benton Harbor and cited several existing cooperative programs between the neighbors.
Goff mentioned a recent Battle of the Bands music competition that attracted young people from throughout the county as well as ongoing student exchange, tutorial and reading programs.
Habitat for Humanity builds homes in both communities, and a pickup basketball event scheduled for Saturday is expected to attract Benton Harbor teams, she said.
"All kinds of wonderful things are going on," said Goff, a lifelong St. Joseph resident who has been mayor for five years and a member of the city commission for 17 years. "Unfortunately, it's not being talked about right now."
Children and adults who live in Benton Harbor should have the same educational and job opportunities as the residents of St. Joseph, Jackson said.
"Oh how glorious this community would be if St. Joe and Benton Harbor can find that common ground," he said.
Lee Gill, dean of the Institute for Diversity and Leadership at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, agreed with Jackson's call for St. Joseph to lend a hand to its neighbor.
"It's surrounded by affluent people, so somehow there has to be an equalization of what's going on around Benton Harbor to come into Benton Harbor," he said after Jackson's 30-minute speech.
Gill said he hoped Gov. Jennifer Granholm and other elected officials now will pay more attention to Benton Harbor's struggles.
Granholm vowed to do just that during a visit to the city on Thursday.
Mamie Yarbrough, whose husband, Charles, is the mayor of Benton Harbor, said she was pleased to see that Jackson invited several young people from the city to stand near him during his address.
She believed many young people would benefit from hearing Jackson's message from peers, rather than from adult community leaders.
"If they are young men with a voice for what's going on here, they can go back and encourage friends and themselves to take advantage of any programs that result from this," she said.
Jackson's visit came after a relatively peaceful night in Benton Harbor, which sits in southwestern Michigan about 100 miles northeast of Chicago.
With the exception of apparent arson fires in five vacant buildings, peace reigned for a second straight night following two nights of riots that erupted after a motorcyclist was killed in a crash while fleeing police.
The motorcyclist's death early Monday sparked the rioting late Monday and Tuesday nights. The first state troopers arrived Tuesday, and more came Wednesday, bringing the total to about 150.
The beefed-up and better organized police presence brought a near-halt to the unrest Wednesday night, when only one related arrest was reported. Police arrested nine riot suspects the previous two nights. One suspect was accused of shooting at officers Tuesday night.
Police Chief Samuel Harris said fewer officers would patrol Friday night, but the same number of personnel would be available if needed.
Since the rioting, many residents have said they distrust police officers, particularly white officers.
The motorcyclist who died, Terrance Shurn, 28, of Benton Harbor, was black. The police officers from neighboring Benton Township who pursued him into Benton Harbor, where he lost control of his bike and crashed, are white.
One much better solution to the Benton Harbor problems would be to integrate the government. Put some affirmative action white guys on the payroll. Make it look like the power structure in Benton Harbor is open to folks of good will of all ethnic/ratial persuasions.
Jesse is just shifting the focus. If he simply said to Benton Harbor what he has said to the NFL and in his shake downs of a 100 others outfits who needed to be more racially balanced, the Benton Harbor problems would be over.
Nothing was greater than coming home from work, eating a quick dinner, and then diving into soldering until 1 AM. Now they're gone just like my eyesight.
Maybe the people of St. Joe can develop a culture that shuns those who excel at scholastic endeavors, and they can put down anyone who aspires to function in a business environment. They can resort to criminality and show support for those who break the law. They can destroy their own community in senseless riots, and adopt the mantle of 'victims', where everything is about the color of their skin and not the content of their character ... that way, in a few years, both cities will be equal. Equally bad.
Translation--We're fixin to score some major jack race pimpin' dem white hoes in St Joe. Tell all the outta work brothers you know that Jesse's hirin'.
God help those I catch helping themselves......
Acccording to this PC cr@p, a "reign of peace" is when we only torch five buildings in a single night. Sounds more to me like "the riots are winding down", but it is still dangerous to be on the streets.
Now, what part of this doesn't Jesse understand? If any of the Benton Harbor residents show up for a job in St. Joe with a "willing to work" attitude, instead of a sense of entitlement they will get considered for jobs. Why do I have a feeling that the guys in Benton Harbor want the jobs to come to them?
that made me think of how Blacks are really missing out.....who would ever want to go for a day up to Harlem?....lets face it.....lets be truthful.....its not safe to be in inner city black areas....not safe at all....
so while the Vietnamese and the Koreans and the Russkies and the Mexicans etc etc strive to make a living by being hospitable, our native black populations seem to drive prosperity away...
not all.....but if only we heard a few more voices decrying black violence...standing up for the cops....perhaps that would signal the rest of America to become more involved with the black community...
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