THE NEW YORK TIMES
April 3, 2008
Unsold Homes Tie Down Would-Be Transplants
By LOUIS UCHITELLE
Unsold Homes Tie Down Would-Be Movers
Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times
Unable to sell his Detroit home, Sam Kirkland has been kept apart from his wife in Phoenix.
Sam Kirkland expected the home in Detroit owned by him and his wife, Dr. Michele Morgan, a psychiatrist working in Phoenix, to bring $200,000. A similar home nearby sold for $90,000.
Dr. Michele Morgan migrated last fall from Detroit to Phoenix, taking a job as a psychiatrist. She expected her husband, Sam Kirkland, to soon join her, since he was accepting an early retirement package from his employer, General Motors. But he cannot move, he says, because he has not been able to sell the four-bedroom family home.
“As things now stand,” said Mr. Kirkland, who is 51 and intends to seek work in Phoenix, if he ever gets there, “my wife might decide to give up her job in Phoenix and come back to Detroit for a while, until we can sell the house.”
The rapid decline in housing prices is distorting the normal workings of the American labor market. Mobility opens up job opportunities, allowing workers to go where they are most needed. When housing is not an obstacle, more than five million men and women, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s work force, move annually from one place to another — to a new job after a layoff, or to higher-paying work, or to the next rung in a career, often the goal of a corporate transfer. Or people seek, as in Dr. Morgan’s case, an escape from harsh northern winters.
Now that mobility is increasingly restricted. Unable to sell their homes easily and move on, tens of thousands of people like Mr. Kirkland and Dr. Morgan are making the labor force less flexible just as a weakening economy puts pressure on workers to move to wherever companies are still hiring.
Signaling an incipient recession, nearly 85,000 jobs disappeared in the United States from December through February, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to announce on Friday that March failed to produce a turnaround in hiring.
“You hear a lot about foreclosure and the thousands of families who are being forced out,” said Joseph S. Tracy, director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. “But that is swamped by the number of people who want to sell their homes and can’t.”
No government agency counts those who move for a job, either across state lines or just from one town to another in the same state. The Census Bureau, however, calculates how many people move across state lines for all reasons, and that number fell by a startling 27 percent last year, after climbing by almost that percentage for each of the previous three years.
With homes changing hands easily in a booming market, interstate migration reached 2.2 million people in 2006, excluding the effects of Hurricane Katrina. As the economy and home prices began to unravel in 2007, however, interstate migration plunged to 1.6 million people.
“That is still a historically high number,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “It reflects the relatively strong economy until midyear. But given what’s happening now, I would be surprised if domestic migration isn’t at a record low in 2008.”
Worker mobility — or rather immobility — is making a big contribution to this decline, Mr. Zandi and other economists say. Retirees are similarly stuck in their homes. In normal times, they frequently sell so they can move to condos in Florida or assisted-living facilities or smaller quarters near adult children.
“These older people spent all of their lives earning the money to buy their homes,” said Robert J. Shiller, a Yale economist who is an expert on housing, “and now they resist selling for less than they believe their homes are worth.”
Corporate transfers contribute significantly to worker mobility, and employers often cover at least some of the cost of selling a home in the old location and buying one in the new. That practice can backfire, says Richard Shaw, a vice president of Applied Industrial Technologies, which sells gears, motors, bearings and other industrial parts from 337 centers around the country.
Out of 3,500 employees in the United States, Applied normally transfers 25 to 30 each year from one center to another, or to the headquarters in Cleveland. Almost all are career people rising in the ranks. Despite the opportunity, transfers have fallen by half, Mr. Shaw said. That is mainly because transferred employees too often find themselves owning two homes — one in the old location and one in the new — and paying two mortgages.
Applied tries to minimize the problem by paying one of the two mortgages for up to six months, the expectation being that the old home will sell by then. Increasingly, that does not happen, not with inventories of homes across the country at an 18-year high, according to the National Association of Realtors. That makes employees reluctant to move, even for a raise and a promotion, Mr. Shaw said.
He tells of one transferred executive “who ended up owning two homes for more than six months and, finding himself paying two mortgages, opted to move back to his original city, surrendering his new house to the bank.”
Mr. Kirkland is determined to sell before he moves. But that might take months, he acknowledges. A house that he thought would bring $200,000 — its appraised price three years ago — in fact might bring only $90,000 if he were to sell it today. That was the selling price for a similar 2,500-square-foot home on the next block, and Mr. Kirkland wants more than the $125,000 in debt that he and his wife still have on their house.
“When I stop working at G.M., I am going to devote myself to the house, making it look as pristine as possible,” Mr. Kirkland said.
He is also trying to make a major career transition. After 30 years as a G.M. employee — most recently at a parts warehouse in Pontiac, Mich., serving as a full-time union official of his United Automobile Workers local — he accepted one of the early retirement packages that the company is offering to shrink its work force. Taking courses by mail, he is studying for a master’s degree in organization and development. His goal is to get work in that field in Phoenix, perhaps with a community organization. His wife, who is 47, relocated in October, in time to escape the Michigan winter, and his two daughters are away at college.
But getting to Phoenix is now problematic. He will not leave the house, afraid that if it sits empty, it will be a target for vandals. “I might have to spend so much time living at the house and working on it,” Mr. Kirkland said, “that my wife will say, ‘I can always have a job as a psychiatrist here in Phoenix, but I might have to go back to Detroit for a while.’ ”
Gayle Newton, in a somewhat similar fashion, delayed her departure from Taylorsville, N.C., for two years while she tried to sell her two-bedroom home, on a large parcel of land, for $89,000. She finally gave up, rented the house last September and moved in with her daughter and son-in-law in Baltimore, quickly landing a job there for $15 an hour in the accounts payable department of a granite quarry. Until she left Taylorsville, Ms. Newton, who is 53, did similar work for a furniture company at $9 an hour.
She had put her home on the market in 2006, not long after her husband died and she found herself alone in Taylorsville in a job that did not pay enough to keep her there. She decided to live near her daughter, to find higher-paying work and to apply the proceeds from selling her home toward another one in Baltimore.
“That seemed like a good year, 2006,” Ms. Newton said, “but the downturn in housing had already started in our area. I didn’t realize it. I never imagined that a house on seven acres would not sell. I thought at $89,000 it would be a steal and I could move on to Baltimore much sooner than I did. My daughter finally came and insisted. She could not stand my whining any longer.”
The house in Taylorsville is still unsold.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
US Muslims and Mormons share deepening ties
LA TIMES
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-morlims2apr02,0,1545287.story
From the Los Angeles Times
U.S. Muslims and Mormons share deepening ties
The connection is based not on theology but on shared values and a sense of isolation from mainstream America.
By David Haldane
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 2, 2008
Friends
Email Picture
Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times
Steve Gilliland, a Mormon, left, listens as Maher Hathout, a Muslim, talks about the Koran in Hathout's home. Although of different religions, the two are close friends.
The Mormon Church has to be among the most outgoing on earth; in recent years its leaders have reached out to, among others, Latinos, Koreans, Catholics and Jews.
One of the most enthusiastic responses, however, has come from what some might consider a surprising source: U.S. Muslims.
"We are very aware of the history of Mormons as a group that was chastised in America," says Maher Hathout, a senior advisor to the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles. "They can be a good model for any group that feels alienated."
Which perhaps explains an open-mosque day held last fall at the Islamic Center of Irvine. More than half the guests were Mormons.
"A Mormon living in an Islamic society would be very comfortable," said Steve Young, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attending the event.
The sentiment is echoed by Muslims. "When I go to a Mormon church I feel at ease," said Haitham Bundakji, former chairman of the Islamic Society of Orange County. "When I heard the president [of LDS] speak a few years ago, if I'd closed my eyes I'd have thought he was an imam."
Though the relationship has raised eyebrows and provided ammunition for critics of both religions, Mormons and Muslims have deepening ties in the United States.
What binds them has little to do with theology: Mormons venerate Jesus as interpreted by founder Joseph Smith, while Muslims view Muhammad as god's prophet. Based on shared values and a sense of isolation from mainstream America, the connection was intensified by 9/11 and cemented by the Southeast Asia tsunami. It is especially evident in Southern California, with large Mormons and Muslim populations.
The Mormon Church has become the biggest contributor to Buena Park-based Islamic Relief, touted by its administrators as the West's largest Muslim-based charity. Relief officials say the church has donated $20 million in goods and services since the 2004 tsunami, equal to about 20% of the charity's annual budget.
Brigham Young University in Utah, the church's major institution of higher learning, features what is thought to be one of the world's best programs for translating classic Islamic works from Arabic to English. Though created primarily for academic purposes, the results have impressed Muslims flattered by the close attention.
"It shows they have a keen interest in the Muslim world," said Levent Akbarut, a member of the Islamic Congregation of La Cañada-Flintridge.
And Mormons and Muslims say they often are co-hosts of educational and social programs at which, though some may be angling for long-term doctrinal influence, very little open proselytizing of each other seems to take place. "We have a very close and friendly relationship," said Keith Atkinson, West Coast LDS spokesman.Mormons "explain our faith to anyone who will listen" and "treat Muslims like anybody else," said Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, one of the church's top governing bodies in Salt Lake City. But Oaks added that "we don't preach to people who would be disenfranchised" or likely offended by the effort.
Arnold H. Green, a history professor at BYU, has traced how early Mormons in the 19th century were hounded by accusations that church founder Smith was the American Muhammad. The first Mormons angrily denied any connection to the Muslim prophet but gradually accepted some comparisons, particularly that both religions were founded by post-Christian prophets with strong sectarian views. "As the church grew into a global faith," Green wrote in a 2001 essay, "its posture toward Islam became . . . more positive" until, today, "the two faiths have become associated in several ways, including Mormonism's being called the Islam of America."
Both religions strongly emphasize family. They tend toward patriarchy, believing in feminine modesty, chastity and virtue. And although Islam discourages dancing involving both sexes, Mormons report that church-sponsored "modesty proms" commonly draw Islamic youths.
Both faiths adhere to religion-based health codes, including prohibitions against alcohol, but Mormons and Muslims share something more: membership in quickly growing minority religions that many other Americans have sometimes viewed with suspicion and scorn.
"We both come from traditions where there has been persecution in the past and continues to be prejudice," said Steve Gilliland, LDS director of Muslim relations for Southern California. "That helps us Mormons identify with Muslims."
A recent national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that although a thin majority of those polled expressed positive opinions of Muslims and Mormons, the number was significantly less than those favoring Roman Catholics or Jews.
More than half the respondents said they had little or no awareness of the precepts and practices of either faith. But 45% saw Islam as more likely than other religions to encourage violence, and 31% said that Mormons weren't Christian.
Armand L. Mauss, a Mormon and professor emeritus of sociology at Washington State University specializing in religious movements, said that unlike mainstream Christians and Jews, Muslims and Mormons "tend to make fairly stringent demands for religious conformity on their members." These practices, he said, include discouraging marriage outside the religion and observing dietary laws, such as the Mormon prohibition against tobacco, alcohol and caffeine.
But the clincher, according to Mauss, is that both communities "have been stung in recent years by the recurrence of scandals over which they have no control." For Muslims, the obvious example is 9/11.
For Mormons, Mauss says, the problem is polygamy, which, though rejected by the mainstream church more than a century ago, is still the first thing that occurs to many Americans when they think about the religion.
The relationship between the two religions has sometimes drawn ire.
Scattered throughout the Internet are numerous tracts, many by evangelical Christians, comparing the two religions in less-than-complimentary terms. "Modern Mohammedanism has its Mecca in Salt Lake," reads one. "Clearly the Koran was Joseph Smith's model, so closely followed as to exclude even the poor pretension of originality in his foul 'revelations.' "
In Southern California, the relationship between the two religions became closer after the Los Angeles riots in 1992, when the Mormon Church, hoping to promote diversity, invited several ethnic and religious groups to attend the opening of its new temple in San Diego. Muslims responded in higher numbers and with greater enthusiasm than most others.
The church later feted prominent Muslims in Salt Lake City.
"We were treated as dignitaries," said Shabbir Mansuri, founding director of the Muslim-based Institute on Religion and Civic Values in Fountain Valley, which encourages tolerance through research and education. "I met with the president of LDS and the governor of Utah. We were sitting in the front row of the Tabernacle. Mormons would give their right arms to be there."
The relationship deepened on Sept. 11, 2001. The first call Mansuri received that day came from Elder Oaks. "He was concerned and wanted to send us a very clear message that we were in their prayers," Mansuri recalls. "It was like having someone who loves and cares for you; not so much a Mormon reaching out to me as a fellow believer reaching out."
Oaks said he was primarily motivated by friendship. "I consider Shabbir Mansuri a brother," he said. "He's a good man who's doing good work. We try to be friendly to all people, and in the days after 9/11, lots of Muslims felt rejected."
In the months that followed, Mormons nationwide opened their churches to Islamic worshipers fearful of reprisals in their mosques. When Muslims needed a cannery to process the Bosnia-bound beef slaughtered for the annual Eid al-Adha observance, the Mormons offered theirs in Utah.
Following the tsunami that devastated many Islamic communities, the Mormon church, which has a history of contributing to a wide range of charities, began working closely with Islamic Relief. Though LDS had helped Muslims before -- providing 195 tons of powdered milk, hygiene kits, medical supplies and other provisions -- it had never previously worked with this major Islamic agency, or on such a scale.
And though the church continues to aid non-Muslim causes, only two of the six major disaster assistance efforts listed on its website since 2004 -- Hurricane Katrina and Africa measles vaccination campaigns -- did not primarily affect Islamic nations.
Locally, LDS helped the Islamic Society of Orange County's Al-Rahman Mosque in Garden Grove develop its library with a $15,000 donation. "Their beliefs are similar to ours," Robert Bremmer, a Mormon bishop, said at that facility's open-mosque day in 2005. "They have modest dress, and so do we. They believe in all the [Old Testament] prophets, as do we."
During Al-Rahman's most recent open house in August, attended by many Mormon elders and dignitaries, a tribute was paid to a deceased LDS official supportive of the mosque.
The effects of Muslim-Mormon interaction are showing in subtle ways too. Spending time with Mormons, Bundakji says, has inspired him to stop drinking coffee. "I thought they had a good idea," he says. "Now I don't drink caffeine and I don't have headaches anymore."
david.haldane@latimes.com
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http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-esposito2apr02,0,5220274.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Muslim true/false
What you think you know about them is likely wrong -- and that's dangerous.
By John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed
April 2, 2008
Winning hearts and minds -- the Bush administration, foreign policy wonks, even the U.S. military agree that this is the key to any victory over global terrorism. Yet our public diplomacy program has made little progress on improving America's image. Few seem to recognize that American ignorance of Islam and Muslims has been the fatal flaw.
How much do Americans know about the views and beliefs of Muslims around the world? According to polls, not much. Perhaps not surprising, the majority of Americans (66%) admit to having at least some prejudice against Muslims; one in five say they have "a great deal" of prejudice. Almost half do not believe American Muslims are "loyal" to this country, and one in four do not want a Muslim as a neighbor.
Why should such anti-Muslim bias concern us? First, it undermines the war on terrorism: Situations are misdiagnosed, root causes are misidentified and bad prescriptions do more harm than good. Second, it makes our public diplomacy sound like double-talk. U.S. diplomats are trying to convince Muslims around the world that the United States respects them and that the war on terrorism is not out to destroy Islam. Their task is made infinitely more difficult by the frequent airing of anti-Muslim sentiment on right-wing call-in radio, which is then heard around the world on the Internet.
Finally, public ignorance weakens our democracy at election time. Instead of a well-informed citizenry choosing our representatives, we are rendered vulnerable to manipulative fear tactics. We need look no further than the political attacks on Barack Obama. Any implied connection to Islam -- attending a Muslim school in Indonesia, the middle name Hussein -- is wielded to suggest that he is unfit for the presidency and used as fuel for baseless rumors.
Anti-Muslim sentiment fuels misinformation, and is fueled by it -- misinformation that is squarely contradicted by evidence.
Starting in 2001, the research firm Gallup embarked on the largest, most comprehensive survey of its kind, spending more than six years polling a population that represented more than 90% of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims. The results showed plainly that much of the conventional wisdom about Muslims -- views touted by U.S. policymakers and pundits and accepted by voters -- is simply false.
For instance, Gallup found that 72% of Americans disagreed with this statement: "The majority of those living in Muslim countries thought men and women should have equal rights." In fact, majorities in even some of the most conservative Muslim societies directly refute this assessment: 73% of Saudis, 89% of Iranians and 94% of Indonesians say that men and women should have equal legal rights. Majorities of Muslim men and women in dozens of countries around the world also believe that a woman should have the right to work outside the home at any job for which she is qualified (88% in Indonesia, 72% in Egypt and even 78% in Saudi Arabia), and to vote without interference from family members (87% in Indonesia, 91% in Egypt, 98% in Lebanon).
What about Muslim sympathy for terrorism? Many charge that Islam encourages violence more than other faiths, but studies show that Muslims around the world are at least as likely as Americans to condemn attacks on civilians. Polls show that 6% of the American public thinks attacks in which civilians are targets are "completely justified." In Saudi Arabia, this figure is 4%. In Lebanon and Iran, it's 2%.
Moreover, it's politics, not piety, that drives the small minority -- just 7% -- of Muslims to anti-Americanism at the level of condoning the attacks of 9/11. Looking across majority-Muslim countries, Gallup found no statistical difference in self-reported religiosity between those who sympathized with the attackers and those who did not. When respondents in select countries were asked in an open-ended question to explain their views of 9/11, those who condemned it cited humanitarian as well as religious reasons. For example, 20% of Kuwaitis who called the attacks "completely unjustified" explained this position by saying that terrorism was against the teachings of Islam. A respondent in Indonesia went so far as to quote a direct verse from the Koran prohibiting killing innocents. On the other hand, not a single respondent who condoned the attacks used the Koran as justification. Instead, they relied on political rationalizations, calling the U.S. an imperialist power or accusing it of wanting to control the world.
If most Muslims truly reject terrorism, why does it continue to flourish in Muslim lands? What these results indicate is that terrorism is much like other violent crime. Violent crimes occur throughout U.S. cities, but that is no indication of Americans' general acceptance of murder or assault. Likewise, continued terrorist violence is not proof that Muslims tolerate it. Indeed, they are its primary victims.
Still, the typical American cannot be blamed for these misperceptions. Media-content analyses show that the majority of U.S. TV news coverage of Islam is sharply negative. Americans are bombarded every day with news stories about Muslims and majority-Muslim countries in which vocal extremists, not evidence, drive perceptions.
Rather than allow extremists on either side to dictate how we discuss Islam and the West, we need to listen carefully to the voices of ordinary people. Our victory in the war on terrorism depends on it.
John L. Esposito is an Islamic studies professor at Georgetown University. Dalia Mogahed is executive director of the Center for Muslim Studies at Gallup. They co-wrote "Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think."
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Hamtramck, Michigan
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Hamtramck, Michigan
Location in Wayne County and the state of Michigan
Location in Wayne County and the state of Michigan
Coordinates: [show location on an interactive map] 42°23′52″N 83°3′26″W / 42.39778, -83.05722
Country
United States
State
Michigan
County
Wayne
Organized (township)
1798
Incorporated (village)
1901
Incorporated (city)
1922
Government
- Type
Council-Manager
- Mayor
Karen Majewski
- City Manager
Donald Crawford
Area
- Total
2.1 sq mi (5.4 km²)
- Land
2.1 sq mi (5.5 km²)
- Water
0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²)
Elevation
623 ft (192 m)
Population (2000)
- Total
22,976
- Density
10,900.5/sq mi (4,208.7/km²)
Time zone
EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)
EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes
48211-48212
Area code(s)
313
FIPS code
26-36280[1]
GNIS feature ID
0627707[2]
Website: http://www.hamtramck.us/
Hamtramck (pronounced /hæmˈtɹæmɪk/) is a city in Wayne County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 22,976. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion of the western border that touches the similarly surrounded city of Highland Park. Hamtramck is named for the soldier Jean François Hamtramck who was the first American commander of Fort Shelby, the fortification at Detroit.
Hamtramck was originally settled by German farmers, but Polish immigrants flooded into the area when the Dodge Brothers plant opened in 1914. Poles still make up a large proportion of the population. It is sometimes confused with Poletown, a traditional Polish neighborhood, which lies mostly in the city of Detroit and includes a small part of Hamtramck. As of the 2000 census, over 22% of Hamtramck's population is of Polish origin; in 1970, it was 90% Polish.
Over the past thirty years, a large number of immigrants from the Middle East (especially Yemen) and South Asia (especially Bangladesh) have moved to the city. As of the 2000 census, the city's foreign born population stood at 41.1%[1], making it Michigan's most internationally diverse city (see more at Demographics below).
Contents
[hide]
* 1 History
* 2 Government
* 3 Geography
* 4 Demographics
* 5 Culture
* 6 Economy
* 7 Education
* 8 Hamtramck Festivals
* 8.1 Pączki Day
* 8.2 Hamtramck Blowout
* 8.3 St. Florian Strawberry Festival
* 8.4 Hamtramck Labor Day Festival
* 8.5 Planet Ant Film & Video Festival in Hamtramck
* 9 Famous People From Hamtramck
* 10 See also
* 11 External links
* 12 References
[edit] History
Historical populations
Census
Pop.
%±
1910
3,559
—
1920
48,615
1266.0%
1930
56,268
15.7%
1940
49,839
-11.4%
1950
43,555
-12.6%
1960
34,137
-21.6%
1970
26,783
-21.5%
1980
21,300
-20.5%
1990
18,372
-13.7%
2000
22,976
25.1%
Est. 2006
21,615
-5.9%
* 1796 - Colonel Jean Francois Hamtramck took possession of Detroit after British troops evacuated.
* 1798 - The Township of Hamtramck was established.
* 1901 - Hamtramck was established as a village.
* 1908 - Saint Florian's parish is the first Catholic church in Hamtramck
* 1910 - Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company break ground for an automotive plant in Hamtramck; rapid influx of European immigrants begins.
* 1914 - Dodge Brothers plant begins operations.
* 1922 - Hamtramck is incorporated as a city to protect itself from annexation by Detroit; Peter C. Jezewski is the first mayor.
* 1926 - St. Florian's present church edifice is built.
* 1959 - Won Little League World Series of Baseball.
* 1960 - Phillip Kwik was born
* 1996 - Ordinanace to Preserve Park Land passed by voters.
* 2000 - Hamtramck goes into state receivership after running million dollar deficits and political in-fighting.
* 2006 - Hamtramck is out of state receivership after the resignation of state-appointed Emergency Financial Manager Louis Schimmel
[edit] Government
Hamtramck is governed under a council-manager form of government in which the elected mayor of the city is the chief executive officer. The city council hires a city manager, who becomes the city's chief administrative officer. The city manager has the vested powers and responsibility to appoint and remove all city employees and department heads, prepare the city's budget, and other city functions.[3]
The city council consists of six seats. The mayor is elected separately, and votes only in the case of a tie and on ordinances and contracts. The council elects its own mayor pro tem, who serves in the mayor's absence.
As of the November 2007 city elections, the current mayor of the city is Karen Majewski, Hamtramck's first female mayor[4]. The current City Council members are mayor pro tem Scott Klein, Shahab Ahmed, Abdul Al-Ghazali, Cathy Gordon, Alan Shulgon, and Catrina Stackpoole.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.1 sq mi(5.5 km² ), all land.
Hamtramck is mostly surrounded by Detroit except a small common border with the city of Highland Park. Hamtramck lies about five miles (8 km) from the center of Detroit. The I-75 Freeway roughly runs along this city's western border and I-94 runs near its southern border.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census² of 2000, there were 22,976 people, 8,033 households, and 4,851 families residing in the city. The population density was 10,900.5 per square mile (4,204.3/km²). There were 8,894 housing units at an average density of 4,219.6/sq mi (1,627.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 60.96% white (which includes people of Middle Eastern ancestry), 15.12% African American, 0.43% Native American, 10.37% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 1.14% from other races, and 11.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.31% of the population.
As of the 2000 Census, major ancestry groups reported by Hamtramck residents include:
· Polish - 22.9% · Black or African American - 15.1% · Yugoslavian - Albanians 10.5% · Arab (Excluding Iraqi and Lebanese) - 8.2% · Asian Indian - 5.4% · Ukrainian - 3.2% · German - 2.9% · Albanian - 2.8% · Bangladeshi - 2.7% · Irish - 2.2% · Italian - 1.8% · Russian - 1.4% · English - 1.1% · French (except Basque) - 0.8% · Lebanese - 0.7% · Scottish - 0.7% · Mexican - 0.6% · Pakistani - 0.6% · Macedonian - 0.5% · Iraqi - 0.5%
3.1% of Hamtramck's population reported Albanian ancestry. This made it the second most Albanian place in the United States by percentage of the population, second only to Fairview, North Carolina.[5]
There were 8,033 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.3% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.6% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.59.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.8% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 31.9% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 110.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,616, and the median income for a family was $30,496. Males had a median income of $29,368 versus $22,346 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,691. About 24.1% of families and 27.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.9% of those under age 18 and 18.1% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Culture
Hamtramck flourished from 1910 to 1920 as thousands of European immigrants, particularly Polish, were attracted by the growing automobile industry. The city has grown increasingly ethnically diverse but still bears many reminders of its Polish ancestry in family names, street names and businesses. A recent survey found 26 native languages spoken by Hamtramck schoolchildren. The city's motto was "A League of Nations".
At the time of the 2000 census, Hamtramck was again experiencing considerable growth, with over 8,000 households and a population of almost 23,000.
In 1997, the Utne Reader named Hamtramck one of "the 15 hippest neighborhoods in the U.S. and Canada" in part for its punk and alternative music scene, its Buddhist temple, its cultural diversity, and its laid back blue-collar neighborhoods. And in May of 2003, Maxim Blender selected Hamtramck as the second "Most Rock N' Roll City" in the U.S., behind Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York City. Hamtramck is home of several of Michigan's most distinguished music venues.
In January 2004, members of the Al-Islah Islamic Center requested permission to use loudspeakers for the purpose of broadcasting the Islamic call to prayer. This request set off a contentious debate in the city, ostensibly about the noise that would be caused by the call to prayer, eventually garnering national attention. Ultimately, Hamtramck amended its noise ordinance in July 2004 regulating the volume level of all religious sounds.
[edit] Economy
General Motors' Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly plant, one of the automaker's premiere facilities, produces the Cadillac DTS and the Buick Lucerne. GM will begin manufacturing the new plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt in 2010.
The Polish Art Center, at 9539 Jos. Campau, is a local institution in Hamtramck. There, one can find many Polish art objects, books, foods, and art from other areas of Europe. The center's selection of Communist-era Polish theatrical and operatic posters is extremely unusual.
Kowalski Sausage Co. manufactures meat products at 2270 Holbrook Avenue.
[edit] Education
Hamtramck is served by Hamtramck Public Schools. [2].
[edit] Hamtramck Festivals
[edit] Pączki Day
Polish immigrants, residents of Hamtramck, and southeastern Michigan celebrate "Fat Tuesday" (known locally as Pączki Day) by lining up at the city's numerous Polish bakeries to purchase pączki. On Pączki Day, several local bars host parties with live entertainment, some starting as early as 7 A.M..
[edit] Hamtramck Blowout
The Hamtramck Blowout is an annual music festival in Hamtramck. It is said to be the largest festival of its sort in the world. There's usually over 200 bands there and the festival lasts for 4 days all over bars in the neighborhood.
[edit] St. Florian Strawberry Festival
Held annually in the first weekend in May at grounds at St. Florian Church.
[edit] Hamtramck Labor Day Festival
Held Labor Day weekend, ending with the Polish Day Parade on Labor Day. Live music on three stages, carnival area, beer, and food tents line a half mile stretch of Jos. Campau from Caniff to Carpenter.
[edit] Planet Ant Film & Video Festival in Hamtramck
The festival celebrates independent movies and the people who make them, featuring comedies, dramas, documentaries, animation and music videos.
[edit] Famous People From Hamtramck
* Jane "Peaches" Bartkowicz
* Rocky Fisher (USAC driver)
* John Hodiak
* Ed Klewicki
* Gail Kobe
* James Marcinkowski
* Warith Deen Muhammad
* Mitch Ryder, musician known for his "blue-eyed soul" stylings and creative medleys
* Rudy Tomjanovich - Former player and coach for The Houston Rockets. He was born and raised in Hamtramck and is a 1966 graduate of Hamtramck High School.
* Tom Tyler
[edit] See also
* Detroit
* Polish American
[edit] External links
* City of Hamtramck
* Hamtramck Firefighters
* Hamtramck Chamber of Commerce
* Hamtramck Labor Day Festival
* http://www.waynecounty.com/commun/hamtramck.html
* www.rootsweb.com/~miwayne/tour.html
* Preserve Our Parks in Hamtramck website
* Blowout Schedule and band info
* Hamtramck.org
* Hamtramck Star *
[edit] References
1. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
2. ^ US Board on Geographic Names. United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
3. ^ Hamtramck City Manager Description, Accessed April 17, 2007
4. ^ City of Hamtramck, Department Descriptions, Accessed April 17, 2007
5. ^ http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Albanian.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-morlims2apr02,0,1545287.story
From the Los Angeles Times
U.S. Muslims and Mormons share deepening ties
The connection is based not on theology but on shared values and a sense of isolation from mainstream America.
By David Haldane
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 2, 2008
Friends
Email Picture
Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times
Steve Gilliland, a Mormon, left, listens as Maher Hathout, a Muslim, talks about the Koran in Hathout's home. Although of different religions, the two are close friends.
The Mormon Church has to be among the most outgoing on earth; in recent years its leaders have reached out to, among others, Latinos, Koreans, Catholics and Jews.
One of the most enthusiastic responses, however, has come from what some might consider a surprising source: U.S. Muslims.
"We are very aware of the history of Mormons as a group that was chastised in America," says Maher Hathout, a senior advisor to the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles. "They can be a good model for any group that feels alienated."
Which perhaps explains an open-mosque day held last fall at the Islamic Center of Irvine. More than half the guests were Mormons.
"A Mormon living in an Islamic society would be very comfortable," said Steve Young, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attending the event.
The sentiment is echoed by Muslims. "When I go to a Mormon church I feel at ease," said Haitham Bundakji, former chairman of the Islamic Society of Orange County. "When I heard the president [of LDS] speak a few years ago, if I'd closed my eyes I'd have thought he was an imam."
Though the relationship has raised eyebrows and provided ammunition for critics of both religions, Mormons and Muslims have deepening ties in the United States.
What binds them has little to do with theology: Mormons venerate Jesus as interpreted by founder Joseph Smith, while Muslims view Muhammad as god's prophet. Based on shared values and a sense of isolation from mainstream America, the connection was intensified by 9/11 and cemented by the Southeast Asia tsunami. It is especially evident in Southern California, with large Mormons and Muslim populations.
The Mormon Church has become the biggest contributor to Buena Park-based Islamic Relief, touted by its administrators as the West's largest Muslim-based charity. Relief officials say the church has donated $20 million in goods and services since the 2004 tsunami, equal to about 20% of the charity's annual budget.
Brigham Young University in Utah, the church's major institution of higher learning, features what is thought to be one of the world's best programs for translating classic Islamic works from Arabic to English. Though created primarily for academic purposes, the results have impressed Muslims flattered by the close attention.
"It shows they have a keen interest in the Muslim world," said Levent Akbarut, a member of the Islamic Congregation of La Cañada-Flintridge.
And Mormons and Muslims say they often are co-hosts of educational and social programs at which, though some may be angling for long-term doctrinal influence, very little open proselytizing of each other seems to take place. "We have a very close and friendly relationship," said Keith Atkinson, West Coast LDS spokesman.Mormons "explain our faith to anyone who will listen" and "treat Muslims like anybody else," said Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, one of the church's top governing bodies in Salt Lake City. But Oaks added that "we don't preach to people who would be disenfranchised" or likely offended by the effort.
Arnold H. Green, a history professor at BYU, has traced how early Mormons in the 19th century were hounded by accusations that church founder Smith was the American Muhammad. The first Mormons angrily denied any connection to the Muslim prophet but gradually accepted some comparisons, particularly that both religions were founded by post-Christian prophets with strong sectarian views. "As the church grew into a global faith," Green wrote in a 2001 essay, "its posture toward Islam became . . . more positive" until, today, "the two faiths have become associated in several ways, including Mormonism's being called the Islam of America."
Both religions strongly emphasize family. They tend toward patriarchy, believing in feminine modesty, chastity and virtue. And although Islam discourages dancing involving both sexes, Mormons report that church-sponsored "modesty proms" commonly draw Islamic youths.
Both faiths adhere to religion-based health codes, including prohibitions against alcohol, but Mormons and Muslims share something more: membership in quickly growing minority religions that many other Americans have sometimes viewed with suspicion and scorn.
"We both come from traditions where there has been persecution in the past and continues to be prejudice," said Steve Gilliland, LDS director of Muslim relations for Southern California. "That helps us Mormons identify with Muslims."
A recent national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that although a thin majority of those polled expressed positive opinions of Muslims and Mormons, the number was significantly less than those favoring Roman Catholics or Jews.
More than half the respondents said they had little or no awareness of the precepts and practices of either faith. But 45% saw Islam as more likely than other religions to encourage violence, and 31% said that Mormons weren't Christian.
Armand L. Mauss, a Mormon and professor emeritus of sociology at Washington State University specializing in religious movements, said that unlike mainstream Christians and Jews, Muslims and Mormons "tend to make fairly stringent demands for religious conformity on their members." These practices, he said, include discouraging marriage outside the religion and observing dietary laws, such as the Mormon prohibition against tobacco, alcohol and caffeine.
But the clincher, according to Mauss, is that both communities "have been stung in recent years by the recurrence of scandals over which they have no control." For Muslims, the obvious example is 9/11.
For Mormons, Mauss says, the problem is polygamy, which, though rejected by the mainstream church more than a century ago, is still the first thing that occurs to many Americans when they think about the religion.
The relationship between the two religions has sometimes drawn ire.
Scattered throughout the Internet are numerous tracts, many by evangelical Christians, comparing the two religions in less-than-complimentary terms. "Modern Mohammedanism has its Mecca in Salt Lake," reads one. "Clearly the Koran was Joseph Smith's model, so closely followed as to exclude even the poor pretension of originality in his foul 'revelations.' "
In Southern California, the relationship between the two religions became closer after the Los Angeles riots in 1992, when the Mormon Church, hoping to promote diversity, invited several ethnic and religious groups to attend the opening of its new temple in San Diego. Muslims responded in higher numbers and with greater enthusiasm than most others.
The church later feted prominent Muslims in Salt Lake City.
"We were treated as dignitaries," said Shabbir Mansuri, founding director of the Muslim-based Institute on Religion and Civic Values in Fountain Valley, which encourages tolerance through research and education. "I met with the president of LDS and the governor of Utah. We were sitting in the front row of the Tabernacle. Mormons would give their right arms to be there."
The relationship deepened on Sept. 11, 2001. The first call Mansuri received that day came from Elder Oaks. "He was concerned and wanted to send us a very clear message that we were in their prayers," Mansuri recalls. "It was like having someone who loves and cares for you; not so much a Mormon reaching out to me as a fellow believer reaching out."
Oaks said he was primarily motivated by friendship. "I consider Shabbir Mansuri a brother," he said. "He's a good man who's doing good work. We try to be friendly to all people, and in the days after 9/11, lots of Muslims felt rejected."
In the months that followed, Mormons nationwide opened their churches to Islamic worshipers fearful of reprisals in their mosques. When Muslims needed a cannery to process the Bosnia-bound beef slaughtered for the annual Eid al-Adha observance, the Mormons offered theirs in Utah.
Following the tsunami that devastated many Islamic communities, the Mormon church, which has a history of contributing to a wide range of charities, began working closely with Islamic Relief. Though LDS had helped Muslims before -- providing 195 tons of powdered milk, hygiene kits, medical supplies and other provisions -- it had never previously worked with this major Islamic agency, or on such a scale.
And though the church continues to aid non-Muslim causes, only two of the six major disaster assistance efforts listed on its website since 2004 -- Hurricane Katrina and Africa measles vaccination campaigns -- did not primarily affect Islamic nations.
Locally, LDS helped the Islamic Society of Orange County's Al-Rahman Mosque in Garden Grove develop its library with a $15,000 donation. "Their beliefs are similar to ours," Robert Bremmer, a Mormon bishop, said at that facility's open-mosque day in 2005. "They have modest dress, and so do we. They believe in all the [Old Testament] prophets, as do we."
During Al-Rahman's most recent open house in August, attended by many Mormon elders and dignitaries, a tribute was paid to a deceased LDS official supportive of the mosque.
The effects of Muslim-Mormon interaction are showing in subtle ways too. Spending time with Mormons, Bundakji says, has inspired him to stop drinking coffee. "I thought they had a good idea," he says. "Now I don't drink caffeine and I don't have headaches anymore."
david.haldane@latimes.com
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http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-esposito2apr02,0,5220274.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Muslim true/false
What you think you know about them is likely wrong -- and that's dangerous.
By John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed
April 2, 2008
Winning hearts and minds -- the Bush administration, foreign policy wonks, even the U.S. military agree that this is the key to any victory over global terrorism. Yet our public diplomacy program has made little progress on improving America's image. Few seem to recognize that American ignorance of Islam and Muslims has been the fatal flaw.
How much do Americans know about the views and beliefs of Muslims around the world? According to polls, not much. Perhaps not surprising, the majority of Americans (66%) admit to having at least some prejudice against Muslims; one in five say they have "a great deal" of prejudice. Almost half do not believe American Muslims are "loyal" to this country, and one in four do not want a Muslim as a neighbor.
Why should such anti-Muslim bias concern us? First, it undermines the war on terrorism: Situations are misdiagnosed, root causes are misidentified and bad prescriptions do more harm than good. Second, it makes our public diplomacy sound like double-talk. U.S. diplomats are trying to convince Muslims around the world that the United States respects them and that the war on terrorism is not out to destroy Islam. Their task is made infinitely more difficult by the frequent airing of anti-Muslim sentiment on right-wing call-in radio, which is then heard around the world on the Internet.
Finally, public ignorance weakens our democracy at election time. Instead of a well-informed citizenry choosing our representatives, we are rendered vulnerable to manipulative fear tactics. We need look no further than the political attacks on Barack Obama. Any implied connection to Islam -- attending a Muslim school in Indonesia, the middle name Hussein -- is wielded to suggest that he is unfit for the presidency and used as fuel for baseless rumors.
Anti-Muslim sentiment fuels misinformation, and is fueled by it -- misinformation that is squarely contradicted by evidence.
Starting in 2001, the research firm Gallup embarked on the largest, most comprehensive survey of its kind, spending more than six years polling a population that represented more than 90% of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims. The results showed plainly that much of the conventional wisdom about Muslims -- views touted by U.S. policymakers and pundits and accepted by voters -- is simply false.
For instance, Gallup found that 72% of Americans disagreed with this statement: "The majority of those living in Muslim countries thought men and women should have equal rights." In fact, majorities in even some of the most conservative Muslim societies directly refute this assessment: 73% of Saudis, 89% of Iranians and 94% of Indonesians say that men and women should have equal legal rights. Majorities of Muslim men and women in dozens of countries around the world also believe that a woman should have the right to work outside the home at any job for which she is qualified (88% in Indonesia, 72% in Egypt and even 78% in Saudi Arabia), and to vote without interference from family members (87% in Indonesia, 91% in Egypt, 98% in Lebanon).
What about Muslim sympathy for terrorism? Many charge that Islam encourages violence more than other faiths, but studies show that Muslims around the world are at least as likely as Americans to condemn attacks on civilians. Polls show that 6% of the American public thinks attacks in which civilians are targets are "completely justified." In Saudi Arabia, this figure is 4%. In Lebanon and Iran, it's 2%.
Moreover, it's politics, not piety, that drives the small minority -- just 7% -- of Muslims to anti-Americanism at the level of condoning the attacks of 9/11. Looking across majority-Muslim countries, Gallup found no statistical difference in self-reported religiosity between those who sympathized with the attackers and those who did not. When respondents in select countries were asked in an open-ended question to explain their views of 9/11, those who condemned it cited humanitarian as well as religious reasons. For example, 20% of Kuwaitis who called the attacks "completely unjustified" explained this position by saying that terrorism was against the teachings of Islam. A respondent in Indonesia went so far as to quote a direct verse from the Koran prohibiting killing innocents. On the other hand, not a single respondent who condoned the attacks used the Koran as justification. Instead, they relied on political rationalizations, calling the U.S. an imperialist power or accusing it of wanting to control the world.
If most Muslims truly reject terrorism, why does it continue to flourish in Muslim lands? What these results indicate is that terrorism is much like other violent crime. Violent crimes occur throughout U.S. cities, but that is no indication of Americans' general acceptance of murder or assault. Likewise, continued terrorist violence is not proof that Muslims tolerate it. Indeed, they are its primary victims.
Still, the typical American cannot be blamed for these misperceptions. Media-content analyses show that the majority of U.S. TV news coverage of Islam is sharply negative. Americans are bombarded every day with news stories about Muslims and majority-Muslim countries in which vocal extremists, not evidence, drive perceptions.
Rather than allow extremists on either side to dictate how we discuss Islam and the West, we need to listen carefully to the voices of ordinary people. Our victory in the war on terrorism depends on it.
John L. Esposito is an Islamic studies professor at Georgetown University. Dalia Mogahed is executive director of the Center for Muslim Studies at Gallup. They co-wrote "Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think."
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WIKIPEDIA
Hamtramck, Michigan
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Hamtramck, Michigan
Location in Wayne County and the state of Michigan
Location in Wayne County and the state of Michigan
Coordinates: [show location on an interactive map] 42°23′52″N 83°3′26″W / 42.39778, -83.05722
Country
United States
State
Michigan
County
Wayne
Organized (township)
1798
Incorporated (village)
1901
Incorporated (city)
1922
Government
- Type
Council-Manager
- Mayor
Karen Majewski
- City Manager
Donald Crawford
Area
- Total
2.1 sq mi (5.4 km²)
- Land
2.1 sq mi (5.5 km²)
- Water
0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²)
Elevation
623 ft (192 m)
Population (2000)
- Total
22,976
- Density
10,900.5/sq mi (4,208.7/km²)
Time zone
EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)
EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes
48211-48212
Area code(s)
313
FIPS code
26-36280[1]
GNIS feature ID
0627707[2]
Website: http://www.hamtramck.us/
Hamtramck (pronounced /hæmˈtɹæmɪk/) is a city in Wayne County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 22,976. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion of the western border that touches the similarly surrounded city of Highland Park. Hamtramck is named for the soldier Jean François Hamtramck who was the first American commander of Fort Shelby, the fortification at Detroit.
Hamtramck was originally settled by German farmers, but Polish immigrants flooded into the area when the Dodge Brothers plant opened in 1914. Poles still make up a large proportion of the population. It is sometimes confused with Poletown, a traditional Polish neighborhood, which lies mostly in the city of Detroit and includes a small part of Hamtramck. As of the 2000 census, over 22% of Hamtramck's population is of Polish origin; in 1970, it was 90% Polish.
Over the past thirty years, a large number of immigrants from the Middle East (especially Yemen) and South Asia (especially Bangladesh) have moved to the city. As of the 2000 census, the city's foreign born population stood at 41.1%[1], making it Michigan's most internationally diverse city (see more at Demographics below).
Contents
[hide]
* 1 History
* 2 Government
* 3 Geography
* 4 Demographics
* 5 Culture
* 6 Economy
* 7 Education
* 8 Hamtramck Festivals
* 8.1 Pączki Day
* 8.2 Hamtramck Blowout
* 8.3 St. Florian Strawberry Festival
* 8.4 Hamtramck Labor Day Festival
* 8.5 Planet Ant Film & Video Festival in Hamtramck
* 9 Famous People From Hamtramck
* 10 See also
* 11 External links
* 12 References
[edit] History
Historical populations
Census
Pop.
%±
1910
3,559
—
1920
48,615
1266.0%
1930
56,268
15.7%
1940
49,839
-11.4%
1950
43,555
-12.6%
1960
34,137
-21.6%
1970
26,783
-21.5%
1980
21,300
-20.5%
1990
18,372
-13.7%
2000
22,976
25.1%
Est. 2006
21,615
-5.9%
* 1796 - Colonel Jean Francois Hamtramck took possession of Detroit after British troops evacuated.
* 1798 - The Township of Hamtramck was established.
* 1901 - Hamtramck was established as a village.
* 1908 - Saint Florian's parish is the first Catholic church in Hamtramck
* 1910 - Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company break ground for an automotive plant in Hamtramck; rapid influx of European immigrants begins.
* 1914 - Dodge Brothers plant begins operations.
* 1922 - Hamtramck is incorporated as a city to protect itself from annexation by Detroit; Peter C. Jezewski is the first mayor.
* 1926 - St. Florian's present church edifice is built.
* 1959 - Won Little League World Series of Baseball.
* 1960 - Phillip Kwik was born
* 1996 - Ordinanace to Preserve Park Land passed by voters.
* 2000 - Hamtramck goes into state receivership after running million dollar deficits and political in-fighting.
* 2006 - Hamtramck is out of state receivership after the resignation of state-appointed Emergency Financial Manager Louis Schimmel
[edit] Government
Hamtramck is governed under a council-manager form of government in which the elected mayor of the city is the chief executive officer. The city council hires a city manager, who becomes the city's chief administrative officer. The city manager has the vested powers and responsibility to appoint and remove all city employees and department heads, prepare the city's budget, and other city functions.[3]
The city council consists of six seats. The mayor is elected separately, and votes only in the case of a tie and on ordinances and contracts. The council elects its own mayor pro tem, who serves in the mayor's absence.
As of the November 2007 city elections, the current mayor of the city is Karen Majewski, Hamtramck's first female mayor[4]. The current City Council members are mayor pro tem Scott Klein, Shahab Ahmed, Abdul Al-Ghazali, Cathy Gordon, Alan Shulgon, and Catrina Stackpoole.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.1 sq mi(5.5 km² ), all land.
Hamtramck is mostly surrounded by Detroit except a small common border with the city of Highland Park. Hamtramck lies about five miles (8 km) from the center of Detroit. The I-75 Freeway roughly runs along this city's western border and I-94 runs near its southern border.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census² of 2000, there were 22,976 people, 8,033 households, and 4,851 families residing in the city. The population density was 10,900.5 per square mile (4,204.3/km²). There were 8,894 housing units at an average density of 4,219.6/sq mi (1,627.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 60.96% white (which includes people of Middle Eastern ancestry), 15.12% African American, 0.43% Native American, 10.37% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 1.14% from other races, and 11.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.31% of the population.
As of the 2000 Census, major ancestry groups reported by Hamtramck residents include:
· Polish - 22.9% · Black or African American - 15.1% · Yugoslavian - Albanians 10.5% · Arab (Excluding Iraqi and Lebanese) - 8.2% · Asian Indian - 5.4% · Ukrainian - 3.2% · German - 2.9% · Albanian - 2.8% · Bangladeshi - 2.7% · Irish - 2.2% · Italian - 1.8% · Russian - 1.4% · English - 1.1% · French (except Basque) - 0.8% · Lebanese - 0.7% · Scottish - 0.7% · Mexican - 0.6% · Pakistani - 0.6% · Macedonian - 0.5% · Iraqi - 0.5%
3.1% of Hamtramck's population reported Albanian ancestry. This made it the second most Albanian place in the United States by percentage of the population, second only to Fairview, North Carolina.[5]
There were 8,033 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.3% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.6% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.59.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.8% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 31.9% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 110.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,616, and the median income for a family was $30,496. Males had a median income of $29,368 versus $22,346 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,691. About 24.1% of families and 27.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.9% of those under age 18 and 18.1% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Culture
Hamtramck flourished from 1910 to 1920 as thousands of European immigrants, particularly Polish, were attracted by the growing automobile industry. The city has grown increasingly ethnically diverse but still bears many reminders of its Polish ancestry in family names, street names and businesses. A recent survey found 26 native languages spoken by Hamtramck schoolchildren. The city's motto was "A League of Nations".
At the time of the 2000 census, Hamtramck was again experiencing considerable growth, with over 8,000 households and a population of almost 23,000.
In 1997, the Utne Reader named Hamtramck one of "the 15 hippest neighborhoods in the U.S. and Canada" in part for its punk and alternative music scene, its Buddhist temple, its cultural diversity, and its laid back blue-collar neighborhoods. And in May of 2003, Maxim Blender selected Hamtramck as the second "Most Rock N' Roll City" in the U.S., behind Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York City. Hamtramck is home of several of Michigan's most distinguished music venues.
In January 2004, members of the Al-Islah Islamic Center requested permission to use loudspeakers for the purpose of broadcasting the Islamic call to prayer. This request set off a contentious debate in the city, ostensibly about the noise that would be caused by the call to prayer, eventually garnering national attention. Ultimately, Hamtramck amended its noise ordinance in July 2004 regulating the volume level of all religious sounds.
[edit] Economy
General Motors' Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly plant, one of the automaker's premiere facilities, produces the Cadillac DTS and the Buick Lucerne. GM will begin manufacturing the new plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt in 2010.
The Polish Art Center, at 9539 Jos. Campau, is a local institution in Hamtramck. There, one can find many Polish art objects, books, foods, and art from other areas of Europe. The center's selection of Communist-era Polish theatrical and operatic posters is extremely unusual.
Kowalski Sausage Co. manufactures meat products at 2270 Holbrook Avenue.
[edit] Education
Hamtramck is served by Hamtramck Public Schools. [2].
[edit] Hamtramck Festivals
[edit] Pączki Day
Polish immigrants, residents of Hamtramck, and southeastern Michigan celebrate "Fat Tuesday" (known locally as Pączki Day) by lining up at the city's numerous Polish bakeries to purchase pączki. On Pączki Day, several local bars host parties with live entertainment, some starting as early as 7 A.M..
[edit] Hamtramck Blowout
The Hamtramck Blowout is an annual music festival in Hamtramck. It is said to be the largest festival of its sort in the world. There's usually over 200 bands there and the festival lasts for 4 days all over bars in the neighborhood.
[edit] St. Florian Strawberry Festival
Held annually in the first weekend in May at grounds at St. Florian Church.
[edit] Hamtramck Labor Day Festival
Held Labor Day weekend, ending with the Polish Day Parade on Labor Day. Live music on three stages, carnival area, beer, and food tents line a half mile stretch of Jos. Campau from Caniff to Carpenter.
[edit] Planet Ant Film & Video Festival in Hamtramck
The festival celebrates independent movies and the people who make them, featuring comedies, dramas, documentaries, animation and music videos.
[edit] Famous People From Hamtramck
* Jane "Peaches" Bartkowicz
* Rocky Fisher (USAC driver)
* John Hodiak
* Ed Klewicki
* Gail Kobe
* James Marcinkowski
* Warith Deen Muhammad
* Mitch Ryder, musician known for his "blue-eyed soul" stylings and creative medleys
* Rudy Tomjanovich - Former player and coach for The Houston Rockets. He was born and raised in Hamtramck and is a 1966 graduate of Hamtramck High School.
* Tom Tyler
[edit] See also
* Detroit
* Polish American
[edit] External links
* City of Hamtramck
* Hamtramck Firefighters
* Hamtramck Chamber of Commerce
* Hamtramck Labor Day Festival
* http://www.waynecounty.com/commun/hamtramck.html
* www.rootsweb.com/~miwayne/tour.html
* Preserve Our Parks in Hamtramck website
* Blowout Schedule and band info
* Hamtramck.org
* Hamtramck Star *
[edit] References
1. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
2. ^ US Board on Geographic Names. United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
3. ^ Hamtramck City Manager Description, Accessed April 17, 2007
4. ^ City of Hamtramck, Department Descriptions, Accessed April 17, 2007
5. ^ http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Albanian.html
Friday, March 28, 2008
Uprooting the New Racism - Patrick J. Buchanan
Uprooting the New Racism
Patrick J. Buchanan
In his Philadelphia address on race, Sen. Obama identified as a root cause of white resentment affirmative action -- the punishing of white working- and middle-class folks for sins they did not commit:
"Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race," said Barack. "As far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything. ... So when they ... hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed ... resentment builds over time."
On this issue, Barack seemed to have nailed it.
But then he revealed the distorting lens through which he and his fellow liberals see the world. To them, black rage is grounded in real grievances, while white resentments are exaggerated and exploited.
White resentments, said Barack, "have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. ... Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism."
What Barack is saying here is that the resentment of black America is justified, but the resentment of white America is a myth manufactured and manipulated by the conservative commentariat. Barack is attempting to de-legitimize the other side of the argument.
Yet, who is he to claim the moral high ground?
Where does this child of privilege who went to two Ivy League schools, then spent 20 years in a church where racist rants were routine, come off preaching to anyone? What are Barack's moral credentials to instruct white folks on what they must do, when he failed to do what any decent father should have done: Take his wife and daughters out of a church where hate had a home in the pulpit?
Barack needs to reread the Lord's admonition in the Sermon on the Mount: "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"
Longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer once wrote that all great movements eventually become a business, then degenerate into a racket.
That is certainly true of the civil rights movement. Begun with just demands for an end to state-mandated discrimination based on race, it ends with unjust demands for state-mandated preferences, based on race.
Under affirmative action, white men are passed over for jobs and promotions in business and government, and denied admission to colleges and universities to which their grades and merits entitle them, because of their gender and race.
Paradoxically, America's greatest warrior for equal justice under law and an end to reverse racism is, like Barack, a man of mixed ancestry. He is Ward Connerly. And his life's mission is to drive through reverse discrimination the same stake America drove through segregation.
And when one considers that the GOP establishment has often fled Connerly's cause and campaigns, his record of achievement is remarkable.
Connerly was chief engineer of CCRI, the 1996 California Civil Rights Initiative, Proposition 209, which outlawed affirmative action based on ethnicity, race or gender in all public institutions of America's most populous state. Two years later, Connerly racked up a second victory in Washington.
In 2006, Connerly went to Michigan to overturn an affirmative action policy that kept Jennifer Gratz out of the University of Michigan, though she had superior grades and performance records than many minority students admitted. The Michigan proposition also carried and has been upheld by the courts.
One U.S. senator, however, taped an ad denouncing Connerly's Proposition 2 in Michigan and endorsed affirmative action for minorities and women. That senator was Barack Obama.
Comes now the big test. Connerly is gathering signatures to place on the ballots in Nebraska, Arizona, Oklahoma, Colorado and Missouri -- the latter two crucial swing states -- propositions to outlaw all racial, gender and ethnic preferences. Voting would be the same day as the presidential election.
"Race preferences are on the way out," declares Connerly.
Now that our national conversation is underway, Barack should be asked to explain why discrimination against whites is good public policy, while discrimination against blacks explains the rants of the Rev. Wright.
America is headed for a day, a few decades off, when there will be no racial majority, only a collection of minorities. When that day arrives, if some races and ethnic groups may be preferred because of where their ancestors came from, while others can be held back because their ancestors came from Europe, America will become the Balkans writ large.
Folks need to be able to separate the true friends of racial justice from the phonies who believe with the pigs on Orwell's Animal Farm -- that "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
To find out more about Patrick Buchanan, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
WIKIPEDIA
Ward Connerly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Ward Connerly
Ward Connerly
Wardell Connerly (born June 15, 1939) is an American political activist, businessman, and former University of California Regent. He is also the founder and the chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, a national non-profit organization in opposition to racial and gender preferences.[1]. He is considered to be the man behind California's Proposition 209 outlawing race and gender-based preferences in state hiring and state university admissions, widely known as affirmative action. His twelve-year tenure on the Board of Regents ended on March 1, 2005.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Early life
* 2 Support of political campaigns against racial preferences
* 3 Political views
* 4 Controversy
* 5 External links
* 6 References
* 7 Notes
// if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } // [edit] Early life
Wardell Anthony Connerly was born June 15, 1939, in Leesville, Louisiana. Connerly has stated he is one-fourth black, with the rest a mix of Irish, French, and Choctaw.[2] His father, Roy Connerly, left the household when Ward was 2, and his mother died when Ward was 4. The young Connerly went to live first with an aunt and uncle and then a grandmother. He attended Sacramento State College, eventually receiving a bachelor of arts with honors in political science in 1962 . While in college, Connerly was student body president and actively involved with Delta Phi Omega, later becoming an honorary member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. During his college years, Connerly was active in campaigning against housing discrimination and helped to get a bill passed by the state legislature banning the practice. After college, he worked for a number of state agencies and Assembly committees, including the Sacramento re-development agency, the state department of housing and urban development, and State Assembly committee on urban affairs. It was during the late 1960s that he became friends with then-legislator Pete Wilson, who would later become governor in 1991 . At the suggestion of Wilson, in 1973 he stepped away from his government job and started his own consultation and land-use planning company. In 1993 he was appointed to the University of California board of regents. Connerly is married to Ilene Connerly who is his equal partner in the firm of Connerly & Associates and they have two children.[3]
Connerly is a member of the Rotary Club of Sacramento, California, and has been inducted as a lifetime member into the California Building Industry Hall of Fame.[4]
[edit] Support of political campaigns against racial preferences
After his appointment to the University of California board of regents in 1993, Connerly began to discuss his views on affirmative action. In 1994, after listening to Jerry and Ellan Cook, whose son had been rejected at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School, Connerly became convinced that affirmative action, as practiced in the University of California, was tantamount to racial discrimination. Jerry Cook, a statistician, presented data showing that whites and especially Asians were being systematically denied admission despite having better grades and test scores than other students who were being admitted.[5] This was never denied by the administrators of the UC system, and led Connerly to propose abolishing these controversial programs, though his proposal would still allow consideration of social or economic factors. The regents passed the proposal in January, 1996 despite protests from activist Jesse Jackson and other supporters of affirmative action. Some believe that the UC system had been discriminating against Asian applicants, in light of the fact that the year after affirmative action was abolished, their numbers showed a dramatic increase.[6] UC regents developed a new system, including essay requirements that served to reveal the applicant's race and ethnicity.[7] The new measures, titled "comprehensive review" have not yet been challenged to the California Supreme Court or the Supreme Court of the United States.
In 1995, he became the chairman of the California Civil Rights Initiative Campaign[2] and helped get the initiative on the California ballot as Proposition 209. The Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller Foundations, the ACLU, and the California Teachers Association opposed the measure. It passed by a 54% majority.[8] Connerly, in 1997, formed the American Civil Rights Institute. Connerly and the ACRI supported a similar ballot measure in Washington which would later pass by 58%.[9] Connerly and his group worked to get a measure on the ballot in the 2000 Florida election. The Florida Supreme Court put restrictions on the petition language, and Governor Jeb Bush later implemented, through a program called "One Florida," key portions of Connerly's proposal, helping to keep it off the ballot by accomplishing some of its key objectives through legislation. During this time, Connerly also became a supporter of an initiative to provide health benefits for domestic partners employed by the UC system which was barely passed by the regents.[10]
In 2003, Connerly helped place on the California ballot a measure that would prohibit the state government from classifying any person by race, ethnicity, color, or national origin, with some exceptions.[11] Critics were concerned that such a measure would make it difficult to track housing discrimination and racial profiling activities. The measure was also criticized by newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, that claimed it would hamper legitimate medical and scientific purposes. The measure was not passed by the voters.
Following the 2003 Supreme Court rulings in Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger, Connerly was invited to Michigan by Jennifer Gratz to support a measure similar to the 1996 California amendment. The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative appeared on the November 2006 Michigan ballot and passed.[12]
[edit] Political views
Ward Connerly sees himself as a Republican with a libertarian philosophy.[2] Despite his close political relationship with former California Governor Pete Wilson and their agreement on the question of Affirmative Action, Connerly spearheaded efforts to grant domestic partner benefits to gay and lesbian couples in all state universities against Wilson's objection. He says his views on gay rights stem from his libertarian viewpoint that governments, including government-run universities, should not discriminate, whether it's favoring some students because of their race, or limiting spousal benefits to others based on their sexual orientation.[2]
Further, Connerly's support for domestic partner benefits earned him the ire of the conservative advocacy groups Family Research Council and Traditional Values Coalition.[13]. In reference to Connerly, Robert Knight, Director of Cultural Studies at the Family Research Council, stated, "no true conservative would equate homosexual households with marriages, because we believe that without marriage and family as paramount values, hell will break loose."
In January, 2008, Mr. Connerly officially endorsed Republican Presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani[citation needed].
[edit] Controversy
On May 8, 1995, two years after he went public with his anti-affirmative action views, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Connerly had taken advantage of a minority preference program on multiple occasions in the 1990s. The article was based on the paper's review of the records of California's State Energy Commission which showed that Connerly had listed his firm, Connerly & Associates, as a minority-owned firm, and that Connerly's firm received more than $1 million in state government contracts. The article included excerpts of an interview with Connerly in which he admitted that he only participated in the minority preference program to comply with state law.[14] However, the Chronicle published a correction on May 18, 1995, stating that their original source had erred and that Connerly's firm had not been registered as minority-owned at the time the State Energy Commission contract was awarded.[15]
As Connerly pointed out in a story published by the Associated Press on May 9, 1995, due to the state's requirement that 15 percent of state contracts be given to minority-owned firms, he would have been placed in the position of having "to find a minority to turn over 15 percent of a contract which has an 8 percent profit at best."[16]
On July 9, 1997, Connerly's advocacy organization, the American Civil Rights Institute, expressed disappointment with the federal government's decision to reject the addition of a multiracial category on the Census and other government forms that collect racial data.[17] This press release was the beginning of Connerly's alliance with prominent members of what has become known as the multiracial movement. Prior to spearheading the Racial Privacy Initiative in California, Connerly forged ties with the publishers of Interracial Voice and The Multiracial Activist, prominent publications for the multiracial movement. Eventually, Connerly enlisted the help of several outspoken members of the multiracial movement to assist with the execution of the Racial Privacy Initiative.
Connerly's opposition to affirmative action has generated controversy. Connerly believes affirmative action is a form of racism and that people can achieve success without preferential treatment in college enrollment or in employment. His critics contend that he fails to recognize the problems resulting from past racism, and that he fails to recognize that affirmative action programs can overcome the residual effects of past discrimination on people of minorities.[18]
The Detroit-based pro-affirmative action group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) claimed that Connerly, as CEO of Connerly & Associates, Inc., his Sacramento based consulting firm, benefitted financially from affirmative action programs in contracting,[19] a claim that was supported by the May 8, 1995 article in the San Francisco Chronicle.[14] What BAMN failed to disclose was that the State of California required state agencies to award 15 percent of all contracts to minority classified firms.[20] Minority owned firms that were not classified as such were not eligible for the set-asides. This created an incentive for organizations to register their ownership by race, in order to compete with similarly owned firms. State agencies may have been reluctant to do business with minority-owned firms that were not registered as such, since they would not get full credit for those contracts. Some claim this created a form of state-sanctioned discrimination against non-registered minority-owned firms. While BAMN's charge is accurate, proper context and background are absent.
BAMN also claims that as a spokesman for the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) and the American Civil Rights Coalition (ACRC), Connerly earned as much as $400,000, by which BAMN questions Connerly's true motives. BAMN seeks a repeal of Proposition 209 and a return to affirmative action programs, especially in campus admissions. BAMN has recently opposed Connerly's efforts to put the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI)on the 2006 Michigan Ballot, and recently disrupted a Michigan Board of Canvassers meeting by loudly protesting and overturning a table.[21]
Connerly's multiracial identity and views on affirmative action have led to him being labeled a "self-hating black" by some of his critics. In 1995, former State Senator Diane Watson said about him, "He's married to a white woman. He wants to be white. He wants a colorless society. He has no ethnic pride. He doesn't want to be black."[22][23]
Connerly has also been accused of hypocrisy for supporting domestic partner benefits for gay couples while opposing affirmative action. Connerly's supporters point out that this is not contradictory: he opposes discrimination, whether it is against gays, or any racial, religious, or ethnic group. In this regard, Connerly disparages the term "reverse" discrimination. To Connerly and supporters, racial discrimination is indistinguishable, regardless of which racial or ethnic group is the target.[24]
Another controversy arose after publication of Connerly's autobiography. Relatives have claimed his accounts of an impoverished childhood were exaggerated or simply false. Connerly's aunt claims his account is accurate.[25] Pooley claims that relatives who contradicted Connerly’s anecdotes about his poor childhood are lying because they disagree with his politics.[26][27]
Connerly has made controversial remarks regarding racial segregation on several occasions including the following:
* On a CNN interview in December 2002 he said "Supporting segregation need not be racist. One can believe in segregation and believe in equality of the races," in response to a question regarding former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
* He told the San Francisco Chronicle in September of 2003 "I don't care whether they are segregated or not . . . kids need to be learning, and I place more value on these kids getting educated than I do on whether we have some racial balancing or not." regarding whether his Proposition 54 could derail school integration efforts in California public schools.[28]
* Firelight Media interviewed Connerly for their documentary video "Arise: The Battle Over Affirmative Action" in which he comments; "If the Ku Klux Klan thinks that equality is right, God bless them," Connerly says. "Thank them for finally reaching the point where logic and reason are being applied, instead of hate."
Connerly issued a written statement clarifying remarks, which some of his critics pointed to as showing a favorable tone towards the Ku Klux Klan's support for his Michigan campaign to outlaw affirmative action quotas and set-asides. Connerly's statement read, "Throughout my life I have made absolutely clear my disdain for the KKK. However, like all Americans, I hope that this group will move beyond its ugly history and agree that equality before the law is the ideal. If they or any group accepts equality for all people, I will be the first to welcome them."[29]
Patrick J. Buchanan
In his Philadelphia address on race, Sen. Obama identified as a root cause of white resentment affirmative action -- the punishing of white working- and middle-class folks for sins they did not commit:
"Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race," said Barack. "As far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything. ... So when they ... hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed ... resentment builds over time."
On this issue, Barack seemed to have nailed it.
But then he revealed the distorting lens through which he and his fellow liberals see the world. To them, black rage is grounded in real grievances, while white resentments are exaggerated and exploited.
White resentments, said Barack, "have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. ... Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism."
What Barack is saying here is that the resentment of black America is justified, but the resentment of white America is a myth manufactured and manipulated by the conservative commentariat. Barack is attempting to de-legitimize the other side of the argument.
Yet, who is he to claim the moral high ground?
Where does this child of privilege who went to two Ivy League schools, then spent 20 years in a church where racist rants were routine, come off preaching to anyone? What are Barack's moral credentials to instruct white folks on what they must do, when he failed to do what any decent father should have done: Take his wife and daughters out of a church where hate had a home in the pulpit?
Barack needs to reread the Lord's admonition in the Sermon on the Mount: "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"
Longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer once wrote that all great movements eventually become a business, then degenerate into a racket.
That is certainly true of the civil rights movement. Begun with just demands for an end to state-mandated discrimination based on race, it ends with unjust demands for state-mandated preferences, based on race.
Under affirmative action, white men are passed over for jobs and promotions in business and government, and denied admission to colleges and universities to which their grades and merits entitle them, because of their gender and race.
Paradoxically, America's greatest warrior for equal justice under law and an end to reverse racism is, like Barack, a man of mixed ancestry. He is Ward Connerly. And his life's mission is to drive through reverse discrimination the same stake America drove through segregation.
And when one considers that the GOP establishment has often fled Connerly's cause and campaigns, his record of achievement is remarkable.
Connerly was chief engineer of CCRI, the 1996 California Civil Rights Initiative, Proposition 209, which outlawed affirmative action based on ethnicity, race or gender in all public institutions of America's most populous state. Two years later, Connerly racked up a second victory in Washington.
In 2006, Connerly went to Michigan to overturn an affirmative action policy that kept Jennifer Gratz out of the University of Michigan, though she had superior grades and performance records than many minority students admitted. The Michigan proposition also carried and has been upheld by the courts.
One U.S. senator, however, taped an ad denouncing Connerly's Proposition 2 in Michigan and endorsed affirmative action for minorities and women. That senator was Barack Obama.
Comes now the big test. Connerly is gathering signatures to place on the ballots in Nebraska, Arizona, Oklahoma, Colorado and Missouri -- the latter two crucial swing states -- propositions to outlaw all racial, gender and ethnic preferences. Voting would be the same day as the presidential election.
"Race preferences are on the way out," declares Connerly.
Now that our national conversation is underway, Barack should be asked to explain why discrimination against whites is good public policy, while discrimination against blacks explains the rants of the Rev. Wright.
America is headed for a day, a few decades off, when there will be no racial majority, only a collection of minorities. When that day arrives, if some races and ethnic groups may be preferred because of where their ancestors came from, while others can be held back because their ancestors came from Europe, America will become the Balkans writ large.
Folks need to be able to separate the true friends of racial justice from the phonies who believe with the pigs on Orwell's Animal Farm -- that "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
To find out more about Patrick Buchanan, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
WIKIPEDIA
Ward Connerly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Ward Connerly
Ward Connerly
Wardell Connerly (born June 15, 1939) is an American political activist, businessman, and former University of California Regent. He is also the founder and the chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, a national non-profit organization in opposition to racial and gender preferences.[1]. He is considered to be the man behind California's Proposition 209 outlawing race and gender-based preferences in state hiring and state university admissions, widely known as affirmative action. His twelve-year tenure on the Board of Regents ended on March 1, 2005.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Early life
* 2 Support of political campaigns against racial preferences
* 3 Political views
* 4 Controversy
* 5 External links
* 6 References
* 7 Notes
// if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } // [edit] Early life
Wardell Anthony Connerly was born June 15, 1939, in Leesville, Louisiana. Connerly has stated he is one-fourth black, with the rest a mix of Irish, French, and Choctaw.[2] His father, Roy Connerly, left the household when Ward was 2, and his mother died when Ward was 4. The young Connerly went to live first with an aunt and uncle and then a grandmother. He attended Sacramento State College, eventually receiving a bachelor of arts with honors in political science in 1962 . While in college, Connerly was student body president and actively involved with Delta Phi Omega, later becoming an honorary member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. During his college years, Connerly was active in campaigning against housing discrimination and helped to get a bill passed by the state legislature banning the practice. After college, he worked for a number of state agencies and Assembly committees, including the Sacramento re-development agency, the state department of housing and urban development, and State Assembly committee on urban affairs. It was during the late 1960s that he became friends with then-legislator Pete Wilson, who would later become governor in 1991 . At the suggestion of Wilson, in 1973 he stepped away from his government job and started his own consultation and land-use planning company. In 1993 he was appointed to the University of California board of regents. Connerly is married to Ilene Connerly who is his equal partner in the firm of Connerly & Associates and they have two children.[3]
Connerly is a member of the Rotary Club of Sacramento, California, and has been inducted as a lifetime member into the California Building Industry Hall of Fame.[4]
[edit] Support of political campaigns against racial preferences
After his appointment to the University of California board of regents in 1993, Connerly began to discuss his views on affirmative action. In 1994, after listening to Jerry and Ellan Cook, whose son had been rejected at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School, Connerly became convinced that affirmative action, as practiced in the University of California, was tantamount to racial discrimination. Jerry Cook, a statistician, presented data showing that whites and especially Asians were being systematically denied admission despite having better grades and test scores than other students who were being admitted.[5] This was never denied by the administrators of the UC system, and led Connerly to propose abolishing these controversial programs, though his proposal would still allow consideration of social or economic factors. The regents passed the proposal in January, 1996 despite protests from activist Jesse Jackson and other supporters of affirmative action. Some believe that the UC system had been discriminating against Asian applicants, in light of the fact that the year after affirmative action was abolished, their numbers showed a dramatic increase.[6] UC regents developed a new system, including essay requirements that served to reveal the applicant's race and ethnicity.[7] The new measures, titled "comprehensive review" have not yet been challenged to the California Supreme Court or the Supreme Court of the United States.
In 1995, he became the chairman of the California Civil Rights Initiative Campaign[2] and helped get the initiative on the California ballot as Proposition 209. The Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller Foundations, the ACLU, and the California Teachers Association opposed the measure. It passed by a 54% majority.[8] Connerly, in 1997, formed the American Civil Rights Institute. Connerly and the ACRI supported a similar ballot measure in Washington which would later pass by 58%.[9] Connerly and his group worked to get a measure on the ballot in the 2000 Florida election. The Florida Supreme Court put restrictions on the petition language, and Governor Jeb Bush later implemented, through a program called "One Florida," key portions of Connerly's proposal, helping to keep it off the ballot by accomplishing some of its key objectives through legislation. During this time, Connerly also became a supporter of an initiative to provide health benefits for domestic partners employed by the UC system which was barely passed by the regents.[10]
In 2003, Connerly helped place on the California ballot a measure that would prohibit the state government from classifying any person by race, ethnicity, color, or national origin, with some exceptions.[11] Critics were concerned that such a measure would make it difficult to track housing discrimination and racial profiling activities. The measure was also criticized by newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, that claimed it would hamper legitimate medical and scientific purposes. The measure was not passed by the voters.
Following the 2003 Supreme Court rulings in Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger, Connerly was invited to Michigan by Jennifer Gratz to support a measure similar to the 1996 California amendment. The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative appeared on the November 2006 Michigan ballot and passed.[12]
[edit] Political views
Ward Connerly sees himself as a Republican with a libertarian philosophy.[2] Despite his close political relationship with former California Governor Pete Wilson and their agreement on the question of Affirmative Action, Connerly spearheaded efforts to grant domestic partner benefits to gay and lesbian couples in all state universities against Wilson's objection. He says his views on gay rights stem from his libertarian viewpoint that governments, including government-run universities, should not discriminate, whether it's favoring some students because of their race, or limiting spousal benefits to others based on their sexual orientation.[2]
Further, Connerly's support for domestic partner benefits earned him the ire of the conservative advocacy groups Family Research Council and Traditional Values Coalition.[13]. In reference to Connerly, Robert Knight, Director of Cultural Studies at the Family Research Council, stated, "no true conservative would equate homosexual households with marriages, because we believe that without marriage and family as paramount values, hell will break loose."
In January, 2008, Mr. Connerly officially endorsed Republican Presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani[citation needed].
[edit] Controversy
On May 8, 1995, two years after he went public with his anti-affirmative action views, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Connerly had taken advantage of a minority preference program on multiple occasions in the 1990s. The article was based on the paper's review of the records of California's State Energy Commission which showed that Connerly had listed his firm, Connerly & Associates, as a minority-owned firm, and that Connerly's firm received more than $1 million in state government contracts. The article included excerpts of an interview with Connerly in which he admitted that he only participated in the minority preference program to comply with state law.[14] However, the Chronicle published a correction on May 18, 1995, stating that their original source had erred and that Connerly's firm had not been registered as minority-owned at the time the State Energy Commission contract was awarded.[15]
As Connerly pointed out in a story published by the Associated Press on May 9, 1995, due to the state's requirement that 15 percent of state contracts be given to minority-owned firms, he would have been placed in the position of having "to find a minority to turn over 15 percent of a contract which has an 8 percent profit at best."[16]
On July 9, 1997, Connerly's advocacy organization, the American Civil Rights Institute, expressed disappointment with the federal government's decision to reject the addition of a multiracial category on the Census and other government forms that collect racial data.[17] This press release was the beginning of Connerly's alliance with prominent members of what has become known as the multiracial movement. Prior to spearheading the Racial Privacy Initiative in California, Connerly forged ties with the publishers of Interracial Voice and The Multiracial Activist, prominent publications for the multiracial movement. Eventually, Connerly enlisted the help of several outspoken members of the multiracial movement to assist with the execution of the Racial Privacy Initiative.
Connerly's opposition to affirmative action has generated controversy. Connerly believes affirmative action is a form of racism and that people can achieve success without preferential treatment in college enrollment or in employment. His critics contend that he fails to recognize the problems resulting from past racism, and that he fails to recognize that affirmative action programs can overcome the residual effects of past discrimination on people of minorities.[18]
The Detroit-based pro-affirmative action group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) claimed that Connerly, as CEO of Connerly & Associates, Inc., his Sacramento based consulting firm, benefitted financially from affirmative action programs in contracting,[19] a claim that was supported by the May 8, 1995 article in the San Francisco Chronicle.[14] What BAMN failed to disclose was that the State of California required state agencies to award 15 percent of all contracts to minority classified firms.[20] Minority owned firms that were not classified as such were not eligible for the set-asides. This created an incentive for organizations to register their ownership by race, in order to compete with similarly owned firms. State agencies may have been reluctant to do business with minority-owned firms that were not registered as such, since they would not get full credit for those contracts. Some claim this created a form of state-sanctioned discrimination against non-registered minority-owned firms. While BAMN's charge is accurate, proper context and background are absent.
BAMN also claims that as a spokesman for the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) and the American Civil Rights Coalition (ACRC), Connerly earned as much as $400,000, by which BAMN questions Connerly's true motives. BAMN seeks a repeal of Proposition 209 and a return to affirmative action programs, especially in campus admissions. BAMN has recently opposed Connerly's efforts to put the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI)on the 2006 Michigan Ballot, and recently disrupted a Michigan Board of Canvassers meeting by loudly protesting and overturning a table.[21]
Connerly's multiracial identity and views on affirmative action have led to him being labeled a "self-hating black" by some of his critics. In 1995, former State Senator Diane Watson said about him, "He's married to a white woman. He wants to be white. He wants a colorless society. He has no ethnic pride. He doesn't want to be black."[22][23]
Connerly has also been accused of hypocrisy for supporting domestic partner benefits for gay couples while opposing affirmative action. Connerly's supporters point out that this is not contradictory: he opposes discrimination, whether it is against gays, or any racial, religious, or ethnic group. In this regard, Connerly disparages the term "reverse" discrimination. To Connerly and supporters, racial discrimination is indistinguishable, regardless of which racial or ethnic group is the target.[24]
Another controversy arose after publication of Connerly's autobiography. Relatives have claimed his accounts of an impoverished childhood were exaggerated or simply false. Connerly's aunt claims his account is accurate.[25] Pooley claims that relatives who contradicted Connerly’s anecdotes about his poor childhood are lying because they disagree with his politics.[26][27]
Connerly has made controversial remarks regarding racial segregation on several occasions including the following:
* On a CNN interview in December 2002 he said "Supporting segregation need not be racist. One can believe in segregation and believe in equality of the races," in response to a question regarding former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
* He told the San Francisco Chronicle in September of 2003 "I don't care whether they are segregated or not . . . kids need to be learning, and I place more value on these kids getting educated than I do on whether we have some racial balancing or not." regarding whether his Proposition 54 could derail school integration efforts in California public schools.[28]
* Firelight Media interviewed Connerly for their documentary video "Arise: The Battle Over Affirmative Action" in which he comments; "If the Ku Klux Klan thinks that equality is right, God bless them," Connerly says. "Thank them for finally reaching the point where logic and reason are being applied, instead of hate."
Connerly issued a written statement clarifying remarks, which some of his critics pointed to as showing a favorable tone towards the Ku Klux Klan's support for his Michigan campaign to outlaw affirmative action quotas and set-asides. Connerly's statement read, "Throughout my life I have made absolutely clear my disdain for the KKK. However, like all Americans, I hope that this group will move beyond its ugly history and agree that equality before the law is the ideal. If they or any group accepts equality for all people, I will be the first to welcome them."[29]
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