Head of Black Caucus Rep. Mel Watt Discusses Economic Racial Inequality

• Originally published in the Winston-Salem Journal (Winston Salem, NC) April 9, 2005 Copyright 2005 Winston-Salem Journal

By Dan Galindo JOURNAL REPORTER


Rep. Mel Watt, D-12th, said last night that he hopes the Congressional Black Caucus will meet with President Bush again - but not too soon.

The president and the caucus met Jan. 26. It was their second meeting since Bush was first elected in 2000.

Watt, the caucus leader, said he wants the group to finish its work on health care, education and housing.

"I'm not going to ask him how he's going to solve these problems," Watt said, "I'm going to tell him how we believe these problems are going to be solved."

Watt spoke yesterday to the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at the group's annual Freedom Fund Gala.

The $30-a-person dinner, attended by more than 350 people, raises money for the local chapter's programs and honors community leaders.

In the keynote speech, Watt talked about closing the gap between blacks and the rest of society in terms of health care, education and jobs.

Watt cited a National Urban League study released this week that says that the overall equality gap between blacks and whites stayed constant in the past year. The report said that the unemployment rate for blacks - almost 11 percent- is twice that of whites.

The largest gap between blacks and whites is economic - blacks have 57 percent of the economic status of whites, the report said. The report takes into account such factors as unemployment, salary levels and home ownership.

By computing an overall "equality index," the report said that blacks enjoy 73 percent of the status that whites do.

That, Watt said, means that there's plenty of work to do.

"It may be more dramatic when we describe (the problems) on a national basis, (or) it may be more removed and palatable to describe it on a national basis, but this is something that we've got to do on a local level," he said. "Don't we have to achieve the rest of that 27 (percent) so that America can be America?" Watt said.

In an interview before his speech, Watt talked about how the caucus can work toward its goals despite the minority status of the Democratic Party in Congress. Though the caucus is a bipartisan group, its 43 members are all Democrats - and Democrats are outnumbered in the House and Senate.

The caucus is trying to get its message across to Democrats, not just Republicans, Watt said. "When we get back in the majority, I'm going to demand they (Democrats) produce just like I've been begging, pleading and insisting that the Republican majority produce," he said.

Among the community leaders honored at the dinner were Sylvia Oberle, Doris Herrell, state Rep. Earline Parmon, D-Forsyth, and, posthumously, Clarence Sawyer Sr.

Oberle is the director of Winston-Salem State University's Center for Community Safety.

Herrell, a retired teacher, is active in many community groups, such as the Delta Fine Arts Center and the Sickle Cell Disease Association of the Piedmont.

Parmon, a former Forsyth County commissioner and educational consultant, is in her second term in the N.C. House. A large part of her work has been focused on education and children.

Sawyer taught machine shop and math for 31 years in the Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County Schools. He died in 1995.