"Minorities, disadvantaged must demand change, work together to achieve it."
People of all races and ethnicities who are disadvantaged and
discriminated against need to demand change as the gap between rich and
poor in the United States grows, the former head of the NAACP said
Wednesday. "People will try to tell you to be silent, to look the other
way," said Kweisi Mfume. "Challenge them." Mfume, past president and
chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, spoke in a packed auditorium at 2,100-seat Clowes
Memorial Hall at Butler University. The 40-minute speech, sprinkled
with personal anecdotes and gospel-fueled humor, was part of the
university's Black History Month observance. Mfume said lawmakers in
Washington have been advancing a "reverse Robin Hood" agenda. "Economic
disparities have grown; gaps between the haves and have-nots have
grown," said Mfume, who served as a congressman from Maryland for 10
years. "Blacks, Latinos and poor whites are falling further behind. "We
have a problem." Mfume said the war in Iraq and the trillions of
dollars the United States is adding to the national debt are making
matters worse. "War and recession historically have collaborated with
diminished civil rights," he said. "With our collective voice, we need
to say we should be less concerned with rebuilding the economy of Iraq
and more concerned with rebuilding our own economy." Mfume urged
minorities not to give up on one another. [more]
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