1655-2 African American/Black Boycott MANDELA'S VISIT PROMPTS 07/01/1990
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1990, The Miami Herald
DATE: Sunday, July 1, 1990 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 1B LENGTH: 162 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: Nelson MANDELA
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: CARL GOLDFARB Herald Staff Writer
MEMO: NEWS ANALYSIS
MANDELA'S VISIT PROMPTS
RERUN OF OLD ETHNIC BATTLES
When Nelson Mandela came to town, Miami's politicians and activists
replayed their parts from past ethnic controversies, like wooden horses on a
merry-go-round, unable to escape their ideological harnesses.
Again, it was blacks against Hispanics, with precious little middle
ground.
As Miami lurched toward Mandela 's arrival Wednesday, the voices of
moderation were few, political leaders mostly silent or divided along racial
and ethnic lines, community activists increasingly vocal.
To blacks, Mandela is a symbol of the fight against racism in South
Africa and their own struggle for equality in this country. To Cubans, all
else pales beside Mandela's embrace of Cuban President Fidel Castro, who has
sundered so many families, jailed so many dissidents.
Each side felt righteously indignant -- one because its hero was
attacked, the other because its devil was praised. Both sides felt
misunderstood.
it was last year's William Lozano case revisited, when the city split
along ethnic lines as a Colombian-born policeman stood trial, accused of
killing two black men.
It was the 1983 mayoral race in Miami, when Cubans were urged to vote
Cuban while blacks were warned of a Cuban takeover if Xavier Suarez won.
Maurice Ferre was re-elected with a stunning 96 percent of the black vote.
"If this happened again next year for some reason, I see the whole thing
playing out again, " said Lisandro Perez, chairman of the Department of
Sociology and Anthropology at Florida International University.
"The main lesson, " said Luis Aguilar Leon, a history professor at
Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., who lived in Miami and follows
Cuban affairs, "is to establish a dialogue before there is an issue. "
"As soon as Mr. Mandela announced his trip, there should have been some
kind of commission or board to explain to black leaders why Cubans were
angry, " he said.
Instead, most Miami leaders appeared to be overtaken by events.
They acted surprised when Mandela appeared on national television on June
21 and repeated his long-standing support for Castro, Palestine Liberation
Organization leader Yasser Arafat and Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi -- all
of whom had supported Mandela years before his cause was popular in the United
States.
Mandela's remarks -- a week before he was to arrive in Miami to address
members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees --
prompted an outcry by many Miami Cubans and Jews. Many politicians responded
to the
pressure like horses to a tug on their traces. In the crucial first days of
the controversy, no one spoke up publicly to try to bridge the Cuban and black
communities.
"Everything a politician does or is asked to do is viewed as a litmus
test for survival, " said Arthur Teitelbaum, southern area director for the
Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. "The result is a paralysis of
political leadership. "
Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez and Commissioner Victor De Yurre rescinded
their support for a city proclamation honoring Mandela. Suarez joined four
other Cuban American Dade mayors in chastising Mandela, deputy president of
the African National Congress.
As the controversy began, neither Miller Dawkins, the only black
commissioner from Miami, nor Barbara Carey, the only black on the County
Commission, stepped forward to defend Mandela. Nor did any of Dade's black
state legislators.
Black activists grew increasingly angry with the Cuban politicians who
spoke up and the black politicians who didn't. They lashed out at Cubans in
general. The rhetoric on both sides turned ugly and stayed that way.
"These people are cowards, not real heroes like Mandela," Irby McKnight,
an Overtown activist, said the day after Mandela spoke. "Mandela didn't run
away from South Africa. He didn't become a British citizen and try to change
things from there. He knew he would never change anything from abroad, just
like we know the Cubans in Miami will never change things. "
Tempers on Thursday, the day of Mandela's appearance, were equally
strained: "Revolutions tend to be polarizing experiences, " said Max Castro,
executive director of Greater Miami United, a group that promotes good
relations among Dade's ethnic communities. "They tend to make people see the
world in terms of absolutes."
Outside the Miami Beach Convention Center where Mandela spoke,
demonstrators for and against Mandela made obscene gestures to each other.
One wore a T-shirt that read: "Racism is an illness and Miami is sick."
Another carried a sign that said: "Mr. Mandela, do you know how many people
your friend Castro has killed just for asking the right to speak as you do
here?"
At a Liberty City rally for Mandela, speakers were bitter and played
to an angry black crowd whose members vowed to boot from office the
politicians they said had slighted Mandela.
"The sleeping giant has awakened, " the crowd chanted.
"The power structure is banking on amnesia, " said Morris Johnson, an
African studies instructor at Miami Dade-North and rally program coordinator.
"What happened to black leaders?" asked Maydell Dardy, a Liberty City
grandmother at the rally. "What happened to white leaders? We don't have any.
It's a shame."
But while blacks were quick to lash out at those they considered
disrespectful of Mandela, they were slow to organize a welcome for the South
African anti-apartheid leader.
Less than a month before Mandela arrived in Miami, at the black affairs
committee meeting of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce's annual goals
conference, lawyer George Knox asked if the black community should host a
rally for Mandela and if so, what size hall people thought they should choose.
"It would be a blight on the planet Earth if we didn't fill it, " said
Knox, former Miami city attorney. Black activists did not come together
around a solid plan for a rally until shortly before Mandela arrived in Miami,
while they were quick to slam AFSCME leaders who invited them to listen to
Mandela, but initially relegated them -- and other invited guests -- to
another room where the speech would be piped in.
Black politicians did not weather the controversy much better.
About two weeks before the controversy flared, Dawkins asked fellow
commissioners to sign a welcoming resolution. When things heated up, and
several of his colleagues objected, Dawkins didn't push the issue.
The week of Mandela's arrival, Dawkins said he wouldn't miss part of a
city commission meeting to sit in the audience and listen to him.
"If I had a private conference with him, I would probably go, " he said
last Monday. "If there's a private conference where I had a chance to see Mr.
Mandela, I have no problem in the world seeing Mr. Mandela. "
Dawkins, however, did go to the convention hall Thursday morning. He left
before Mandela's speech, but later that day, for the first time since the
controversy erupted, he defended Mandela publicly and faulted the commission's
actions.
"I would say we, in the city of Miami, have failed to exercise what was
required of us as elected officials and we allowed our constituents to dictate
to us.
"We've allowed the tail to wag the dog."
Carey showed up Thursday at the convention center, and tried in vain
to get recognized so she could give Mandela her own certificate.
She told a reporter she might give Mandela the certificate at a reception
after the speech.
No such reception was ever planned.
Two days earlier, Carey hosted a press conference to support Mandela.
Mayor Suarez was the only elected Hispanic official to attend. Teitelbaum, of
the ADL, was the only Jewish leader to participate.
When asked that night why the county commission wasn't going to honor
Mandela, Carey said she had requested a key and proclamation several weeks
earlier, but couldn't get them.
Why not? She replied: "Ask Mayor Clark."
Dade County Mayor Steve Clark, however, gave a different account of the
lack of a key or proclamation. "No one ever ordered one," he said.
Throughout the controversy, Clark kept his profile low and his mouth
shut, and escaped censure.
"We dare not leave center stage open and empty or it will be filled by
mean spirits and the most retrograde voices, " said Teitelbaum, who tried to
serve as a voice of reason before Mandela arrived.
Suarez, by contrast, tried to play a peacekeeping role just before
Mandela's arrival, but found his credibility damaged by his earlier actions.
He was criticized by both sides.
Last week, the mayor's staff at City Hall received two telephone calls
threatening his life.
Although some found solace in the fact that the opposing demonstrators
outside the convention center Thursday were relatively peaceful, community
leaders, politicians and academicians said the whole episode only further
strained ethnic relations.
Osvaldo Soto, chairman of the Spanish American League Against
Discrimination, said Friday he would try to assemble black, Jewish and
Hispanic community leaders early this week. He hopes they can agree on a joint
statement.
"This has to be done in a hurry, " said Soto, "because we have problems in
a lot of places. "
Herald staff writers Sharony Andrews, Karen Branch, Elinor Burkett and
Kimberly Crockett contributed to this story.
KEYWORDS: MANDELA TRIP MI MD IMAGE BLACK ANALYSIS
TAG: 9002120526
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mh90 SOUTH AFRICAN 07/01/1990
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1990, The Miami Herald
DATE: Sunday, July 1, 1990 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: 1A LENGTH: 103 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: Nelson MANDELA ( - TRIP--)
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: PETER APPLEBOME New York Times Service
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOUTH AFRICAN
EVOKES HOPE
IN U.S. BLACKS
With the euphoria of his visit still dominating her thoughts, Pearl
Cleage is thinking about life after Nelson Mandela.
"The danger is we get caught up in it like it's a rock concert, like
going to see Prince, where it's wonderful, but three days later you don't
think about it, " said Cleage, a playwright.
"If we allow that to happen, it's a travesty. If there's no connection
between his struggle and ours, then the whole visit is really not the tribute
to his life and work that it needs to be. "
Like pilgrims contemplating a joyous vision, millions of American blacks
are trying to gauge the long-term effects of Mandela's visit to the United
States.
Interviews with black officials, intellectuals and community workers
around the nation indicate a widespread belief that the passionate feelings of
pride aroused by Mandela can have profound consequences for American blacks.
Mandela, whose eight-city U.S. visit ended in Oakland on Saturday, has
been explicit in saying he came to the United States to focus attention on
South African apartheid, not on U.S. domestic problems.
Those interviewed said, however, that Mandela's visit energized black
Americans as much as anything since the height of the civil rights era.
"I think you're going to see a lot of African-Americans
break out of the cycle of hopelessness we've had, " said Benjamin Chavis Jr. ,
executive director of the United Church of Christ's
Commission for Racial Justice. "We have a new Jerusalem. When he gets back on
the plane to fly back to South Africa, we have to keep that flame alive and
thank God Mandela has lit a flame that was extinguished in the 1960s. "
For some, nagging questions remain.
George Gee Jr., executive director of the Vanguard Urban Improvement
Association in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, said he still recalls
the rapture on the faces of teen-agers who saw Mandela. But Gee said he has no
idea whether Mandela's inspiration would win out over the lure of the streets.
"The drug dealers could care less who comes to town, " Gee said. "The only
thing it could do to them is to have some impact on their customers for one
day. "
Ronald Walters, a Howard University political scientist and an adviser to
the Rev. Jesse Jackson, said it was unclear how much of the emotion Mandela
evoked would last.
"If people have the opportunity to hear him speak every day or every week
or every month somewhere in their midst, it is possible that someone like him
could generate all sorts of activity, " Walters said.
"But given the fact that he's passing through and leaving, it leaves a
question mark in my mind if one can sustain that fervor, and if one can't,
whether or not one can have political involvement based on it."
But most others said the visit will have a profound impact on American
blacks, in large ways and small.
Hank Thomas, a former civil rights worker who now owns two McDonalds'
franchises in Atlanta, is trying to put together a student exchange program
bringing black South African students to colleges in Atlanta. He is confident
that companies that were lukewarm to him before will become more receptive.
Jackson sees Mandela's visit leading to more U.S. political activity and
a surge in voter registration that could help change the politics of the
South.
"We're going to begin immediately mobilizing people around the country
for voter registration, " he said. "The biggest threat Andy Young has in
Georgia to his winning the runoff is 500, 000 African-Americans unregistered in
Georgia. There are 300, 000 African-Americans unregistered in North Carolina.
If they register, Harvey Gantt will beat Jesse Helms."
Similarly, Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md. , said he thought Mandela's visit
would enhance the chances of Congress passing legislation that addresses
minority problems.
Several of those interviewed said the visit might have its most
telling effect on black leadership in the United States and would create an
avenue for new figures to rise.
"Nelson Mandela's visit has shown the hunger for leadership of integrity
and dignity and humility in black America, " said Cornel West, director of the
African-American studies program at Princeton University.
"The hunger in people's eyes for leadership with integrity is profound.
And we simply don't have it. "
The Rev. Joseph Lowery of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference is
cautious.
"I've never seen the U.S. media give the kind of attention they gave to
Mandela to any black man, " Lowery said. "The reason is he's going home. If he
were going to set up residence here, the stuff you hear about the violence and
the communism and Castro would be magnified a million times because they'd try
to cripple him. "
Atlanta's Cleage and others say the problems facing black Americans --
from crack to economic despair -- are more complex problems to address than
the stark struggle to end apartheid in South Africa.
"It's easier to think about sending money to Johannesburg than to think
about all these crack-addicted babies, " Cleage said.
And there are blacks who may not be touched by Mandela's visit. For
example, gang members interviewed by reporters in Los Angeles on the day of
Mandela's visit there did not know who he was.
Nonetheless, there is a widespread feeling that Mandela's inspiration has
the potential to uplift millions.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. , said Mandela's presence could have the same
impact on young blacks today that Martin Luther King Jr. had on his generation
30 years ago. And Leroy Keith, president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, said
Mandela symbolizes for his students the need for "disciplined perseverance and
resilience" in working for social change.
KEYWORDS: NATL BLACK REACTION MANDELA TRIP
TAG: 9002120480
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mh90 FOCUS MORE ON 06/30/1990
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1990, The Miami Herald
DATE: Saturday, June 30, 1990 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: lB LENGTH: 69 lines
li SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: CHARLES WHITED Herald Columnist
FOCUS MORE ON
WHAT UNITES US
THAN DIVIDES US
The Sound and the Fury:
To my column remembering America's own racial apartheid, and deploring
the acts of militant Cubans and Jews who tried to degrade Nelson Mandela's
visit to Miami because of his comments on Castro and Yasser Arafat:
"The emotional reactions to Mandela's statements . . . showed clearly
lack of sensitivity to the plight of the African American. Apartheid, meaning
literally 'apart from, ' was patterned after this nation's own degrading legal
segregation. As an African American brought up in the South under those laws,
I know what systematized oppression can do to a people. It will take
generations to erase the effects.
"If the Cubans and Jews, so caught up in their own historical plights,
had given a moment of rational thought, these emotional, impulsive and
self-serving reactions would not have taken place. I sincerely hope that with
calm introspection, each group can become more sensitized to the other and a
blunder like the one Miami's leadership displayed will not repeat itself.
"Let's turn this situation to the positive by reaching out to each other,
to try to understand our historical, religious and cultural differences. This
is the dawning of a new age. To survive, we must all put aside those
differences and let the higher call of love, compassion and understanding pull
us together." -- Dr. Wanda R. Cody, vice president, James E. Scott Community
Center.
To my column suggesting that visitor and convention chief Merrett
Stierheim's proposed Latin theme park for Watson Island be given serious
consideration:
"The answer to what to do with Watson Island is simple. Lease it for $1 a
year to the Disney corporation and let them do anything they want with it,
without government interference. " -- Jonathan L. Kates, M.D., Coral Gables.
"Upgrade the heliport and Chalk's Airlines facilities, but leave Watson
Island alone, Miami's peaceful downtown outland. "-- Sid Morris, Miami.
"Such a theme park would challenge Disney and Universal, who are
stealing our tourists. We need a stunning, fastest, longest and highest roller
coaster as the main attraction . . . pulling even international visitors up
there to 'ride the wind. ' We Dade people can rekindle our spirit of adventure
(and)
put Miami back on the map. " -- Lawrence J. Raabe, Miami.
Added note: Irving Cowan of Hollywood-by-the-Sea, who financed the 1970s
Watson Island theme park plan, writes that I was incorrect in saying that the
city of Miami picked a development group without bids. While this was the
initial idea, Cowan says, ensuing public criticism caused Miami to request
proposals and have the project overseen by the city manager and
commission. "Myself, along with the late Samuel Friedland and Ronald Fine,
created . . . Diplomat World Enterprises and presented a proposal, along with
others from all over the country, and we were successful in obtaining a
contract. "
Opposition, he recalls, came from influential residents of Palm and Star
islands and The Miami Herald. The project was aborted, leaving the city owing
him "hundreds and thousands of
dollars, " but Cowan chose not to sue. "I did not care to be further embroiled
in city politics, which at the time seemed to lack all direction. "
•
To my column on the rap band 2 Live Crew, noting that Broward Sheriff
Nick Navarro really faces a task now of getting South Florida morally
straight, from cracking down on dirty books to busting unmarried adults living
together in violation of state law:
"Not only are the laws of this state not being enforced, but the
country's laws as well. Are you proud of that? The picture I get of you, Mr.
Whited, is of a general leading his troops into battle, but saying, 'Let's
surrender, the odds are overwhelming! ' How much longer do we permit the moral
fabric of America to crumble?" -- John Squitieri, Margate.
TAG: 9002120675
65 of 84, 3 Terms
mh90 UNOFFICIALLY, MANDELA DAY 06/29/1990
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1990, The Miami Herald
DATE: Friday, June 29, 1990 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: 1A LENGTH: 125 lines
ILLUSTRATION: color photo: Nelson and Winnie MANDELA in Miami Beach,
H.T. Smith embraces MANDELA; photo: Verne Crosky at Gwen Cherry
Park (MANDELA TRIP U.S. ) , confrontation outside Convention
Center (MANDELA*)
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: KIMBERLY CROCKETT, ELINOR BURKETT And KAREN BRANCH
Herald Staff Writers
MEMO: MANDELA IN SOUTH FLORIDA; see related stories
UNOFFICIALLY, MANDELA DAY
GRASS-ROOTS WELCOME
COUNTERS OFFICIAL SNUB
Elected officials might have turned their backs, but grass- roots Miami
Thursday enveloped Nelson Mandela in a warm embrace.
The numbers and rousing welcome didn't rival New York's. The cast of
characters was not a Who's Who of politics and entertainment -- as it was in
Washington and Atlanta.
But Miami, ordinary Miami -- the teachers and technicians, homemakers and
health-care workers -- streamed across the causeways and bridges wearing
Mandela T-shirts and the red, black and green of the pan-African movement to
welcome the deputy president of the African National Congress.
As Mandela emerged onto the podium before the 29th international
convention of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, he waved and a gentle smile creased his face. His wife, Winnie,
raised a victorious clenched fist.
"Sisters and brothers, " he greeted the 6, 000 delegates and guests at the
Miami Beach Convention Center. They erupted into cheers of "Mandela, yes.
Apartheid, no."
"To be welcomed by those who hold the reins of power in this area . . .
to be warmly received by residents of Miami, is a source of great inspiration
to us, " Mandela said.
Mandela asked for continued U.S. sanctions against the South African
government, appealed for financial support for the ANC and praised AFSCME and
other labor unions for their role in opposing apartheid.
"Your proud record of struggle has shown you have both the will and the
determination to ensure that apartheid is ended now, " said Mandela, released
Feb. 11 after 27 years in prison. "In jail we could hear loud and clear your
voice calling for our. release. We are here to tell you that the proud spirit
of our people is far from being broken."
Mandela was repeatedly interrupted by enthusiastic union delegates.
Even before his appearance here, AFSCME members, who have been involved in the
anti-apartheid struggle for three decades, had raised $274, 500 for the ANC.
"I needed to be here for this historical moment. I'm 28 years old, and I
am seeing a person who was locked up when I was 1, " said union member Bernard
Clark of Miami. "I didn't really care so much what he said. It was just the
fact of being here, the fact that one day South Africa is going to be free. "
Outside the convention center, a multiracial, but mostly black, crowd of
3,000 supporters rallied -- and were kept a safe distance from about 300
mostly Hispanic demonstrators. The two sides traded taunts across the 120-foot
divide. Despite police officers' efforts, a shoving match broke out between
members of the two groups.
Mandela's appearance capped 10 days of the kind of controversy familiar
to Miamians. His refusal to repudiate Fidel Castro, Moammar Gadhafi and Yasser
Arafat splintered this community. While some Cubans and Jews supported
Mandela, a vocal group condemned him.
Auto mechanic Manuel Alayon, 70, showed up at the convention center
draped in a Cuban flag and carrying a handmade sign: "Mr. Mandela, do you know
how many people your friend Castro has killed just for asking the right to
speak as you do here?"
To Miami's blacks, the furor was a slap in the face, especially when the
city commission last week withdrew a welcoming proclamation.
"Miami looks bad, bad around the world, " said Roy Philips, a
Miami-Dade Community College vice president, as he sat in the stands waiting
for Mandela to arrive. "We need to come together, come to consensus. We all
love freedom, no matter where we're from."
After Mandela's departure in the early afternoon for Detroit, Arthur
Teitelbaum of the Anti-Defamation League called for community harmony. "That
requires that we lower our voices, listen hard to each other and struggle to
find common ground. "
Several elected officials attended Mandela's speech: Metro- Dade
Commissioners Barbara Carey and Charles Dusseau, state Sen. Carrie Meek and
Opa-locka Mayor Robert Ingram.
Miami Vice Mayor Miller Dawkins, who declared earlier that he would not
forgo the Miami City Commission meeting to attend the event, arrived bearing a
gift for Mandela: a silver plate engraved with the seal of the city of Miami.
He left before Mandela spoke.
Miami was the mid-point of Mandela's eight-city visit to America and part
of his 13-nation tour.
Although the public could not .enter the convention hall, large crowds
danced and sang in the wilting heat for almost five hours, hoping for a
glimpse of Mandela and his wife as their motorcade sped by.
Visibly fatigued after landing in Miami about midnight Wednesday, Mandela
slept in Thursday and reached the convention center about 11:15 -- 2 1/2 hours
hours late.
"Mandela, Mandela" erupted from the jubilant throng as his motorcade
pulled up.
Across town, about 2,500 people jammed Gwen Cherry Park in Liberty
City to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid leader and hear his speech broadcast
over speakers.
Their hopes that he might make an appearance were dashed. After his
speech at the convention center, Mandela considered attending the rally, but
his U.S. State Department security team discouraged the stop.
But four Miamians did meet him.
Following the speech, local anti-apartheid activists were introduced.
Lawyer H.T. Smith never expected more than a handshake from his hero.
But Mandela embraced the president of the Coalition for a Free South
Africa and whispered, "Thank you for your commitment to the struggle, " Smith
remembered.
Smith said that as he returned to his seat, Winnie Mandela "gave me a
bear hug and said, 'Thank you. ' "
Winnie Mandela, who has spent almost three decades keeping her husband's
struggle alive, then captured the hearts of the entire hall. Amandla, she
cried in the Xhosa language when the crowd demanded she address them. Amandla
-- power -- 6, 000 voices responded.
After leaving Miami, Mandela flew to Detroit, where he was met at the
airport by Michigan Gov. James Blanchard, Detroit Mayor Coleman Young and
about 90 dignitaries. As he weaved his way down a reception line, he stopped
in instant recognition before Rosa Parks, the 77-year-old matriarch of the
American civil rights movement.
"Oh, Rosa Parks !" he exclaimed, as Winnie Mandela wrapped the small woman
in a big hug.
Later Thursday, a mostly black work force of thousands greeted him at a
Ford assembly plant in Dearborn. And Thursday night, at a sold-out rally at
Tiger Stadium, Mandela spoke to an audience that included Aretha Franklin,
Stevie Wonder and Detroit Pistons basketball star Isiah Thomas. He closed by
saying: "I love you, I love you."
This report was supplemented by Herald wire services.
KEYWORDS: MB MD MANDELA TRIP COVERAGE