10:29 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 24, 2005
By GROMER JEFFERS Jr. / The Dallas Morning News
Black leaders in Dallas and across the country are crying foul as a string of federal corruption investigations have targeted black politicians.
"Our leadership is being attacked all over the country," said Dallas Nation of Islam minister Jeffrey Muhammad. "We need to realize this and come together with a local and national agenda for the betterment of our own community."
Most of the people named so far in the FBI's investigation into corruption at Dallas City Hall and the city's tax-credit housing program are black. They include four black City Council members and three black members of the powerful City Plan Commission.
The predominance of blacks named in the investigation has stunned veteran black politicians.
"That's just crazy," said Ron Kirk, who in 1995 was elected the city's first black mayor.
"I'm just not a conspiracy believer, but I'm also not unfamiliar with how unfair these types of investigations can be," he said. "Certainly they [the FBI] are not blind to the way these investigations are going. This cannot be stretched out over a long period of time."
After FBI officials met this week with concerned local civil rights leaders, U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper defended his investigation, saying it was fair and impartial.
"While I will not comment on any particular investigation, grand jury subpoenas are routinely issued in federal investigations," he said in a written statement. "It would be inappropriate to draw any inference from the mere fact that a particular individual's name is, or is not, included in a grand jury subpoena."
'More at play than race'
David Bositis, a senior researcher for the Washington-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, said the targeting of black officials may be based more on politics and demographics than race.
Many black elected officials are most influential in urban areas, which is the starting point for numerous FBI corruption inquiries.
"There may be more at play than race," he said.
But such sentiments, some say, give little comfort to those who watch as their names are linked to federal investigations in news reports.
"It's them today," said Joyce Foreman, president of the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. "It's you tomorrow."
Maxine Thornton-Reese, who has been named in the investigation with fellow council members Don Hill, Leo Chaney and James Fantroy, said the stain of the investigation will be hard to remove.
"I know there is a God," she said. "And there are people in Dallas who will right the wrong."
Others share her views
Dr. Thornton-Reese's attitude is similar to that of black elected officials in other cities.
"Historically, there has been racial targeting of public officials," said Texas A&M political science professor Kenneth Meier. "I've never seen any evidence that black officials are any more or less corrupt than white officials."
Officials being targeted by federal investigations across the country range from big city mayors to civil rights icons.
•In Atlanta, former Mayor Bill Campbell faces trial in September on charges of racketeering, tax evasion and accepting bribes. That probe has netted the convictions of 10 city officials and contractors, most of whom are black.
•The long-running investigation of former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, now president of the Urban League, led to four indictments.
•In Philadelphia, an FBI investigation included the bugging of the office of John Street, the city's second black mayor.
•In Birmingham, former Jefferson County Commissioner Chris McNair, the father of Denise McNair, one of the four young girls killed in the 1963 church bombing, faces trial in a federal investigation into a county sewer program.
Political motivations
Ron Walters, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, said he is convinced such investigations are politically motivated.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, he conducted a study that showed only 8 percent of blacks named in investigations were convicted. Former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy and former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Sr. were among those charged in federal corruption cases but later acquitted.
"Law enforcement is used as a tactic to destabilize, intimidate and weaken political power, and that's what's happening in Dallas," he said. "Even if there is one rotten egg in the bunch, the people of Dallas shouldn't just stand by and do nothing."
Mr. Kirk said the investigation could make it difficult to revitalize the southern sector, which has become one of the city's top priorities.
He said private businesses will not want to invest in an area perceived to be a haven for crooks and chiselers.
"It would be very difficult to improve the schools and the overall economic climate with this cloud hanging overhead," he said.
E-mail gjeffers@dallasnews.com
Uhmm-Uhmm! Bill Campbell needed to be targeted. Uhmm-Uhmm!!
tian
By GROMER JEFFERS Jr. / The Dallas Morning News
Black leaders in Dallas and across the country are crying foul as a string of federal corruption investigations have targeted black politicians.
"Our leadership is being attacked all over the country," said Dallas Nation of Islam minister Jeffrey Muhammad. "We need to realize this and come together with a local and national agenda for the betterment of our own community."
Most of the people named so far in the FBI's investigation into corruption at Dallas City Hall and the city's tax-credit housing program are black. They include four black City Council members and three black members of the powerful City Plan Commission.
The predominance of blacks named in the investigation has stunned veteran black politicians.
"That's just crazy," said Ron Kirk, who in 1995 was elected the city's first black mayor.
"I'm just not a conspiracy believer, but I'm also not unfamiliar with how unfair these types of investigations can be," he said. "Certainly they [the FBI] are not blind to the way these investigations are going. This cannot be stretched out over a long period of time."
After FBI officials met this week with concerned local civil rights leaders, U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper defended his investigation, saying it was fair and impartial.
"While I will not comment on any particular investigation, grand jury subpoenas are routinely issued in federal investigations," he said in a written statement. "It would be inappropriate to draw any inference from the mere fact that a particular individual's name is, or is not, included in a grand jury subpoena."
'More at play than race'
David Bositis, a senior researcher for the Washington-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, said the targeting of black officials may be based more on politics and demographics than race.
Many black elected officials are most influential in urban areas, which is the starting point for numerous FBI corruption inquiries.
"There may be more at play than race," he said.
But such sentiments, some say, give little comfort to those who watch as their names are linked to federal investigations in news reports.
"It's them today," said Joyce Foreman, president of the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. "It's you tomorrow."
Maxine Thornton-Reese, who has been named in the investigation with fellow council members Don Hill, Leo Chaney and James Fantroy, said the stain of the investigation will be hard to remove.
"I know there is a God," she said. "And there are people in Dallas who will right the wrong."
Others share her views
Dr. Thornton-Reese's attitude is similar to that of black elected officials in other cities.
"Historically, there has been racial targeting of public officials," said Texas A&M political science professor Kenneth Meier. "I've never seen any evidence that black officials are any more or less corrupt than white officials."
Officials being targeted by federal investigations across the country range from big city mayors to civil rights icons.
•In Atlanta, former Mayor Bill Campbell faces trial in September on charges of racketeering, tax evasion and accepting bribes. That probe has netted the convictions of 10 city officials and contractors, most of whom are black.
•The long-running investigation of former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, now president of the Urban League, led to four indictments.
•In Philadelphia, an FBI investigation included the bugging of the office of John Street, the city's second black mayor.
•In Birmingham, former Jefferson County Commissioner Chris McNair, the father of Denise McNair, one of the four young girls killed in the 1963 church bombing, faces trial in a federal investigation into a county sewer program.
Political motivations
Ron Walters, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, said he is convinced such investigations are politically motivated.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, he conducted a study that showed only 8 percent of blacks named in investigations were convicted. Former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy and former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Sr. were among those charged in federal corruption cases but later acquitted.
"Law enforcement is used as a tactic to destabilize, intimidate and weaken political power, and that's what's happening in Dallas," he said. "Even if there is one rotten egg in the bunch, the people of Dallas shouldn't just stand by and do nothing."
Mr. Kirk said the investigation could make it difficult to revitalize the southern sector, which has become one of the city's top priorities.
He said private businesses will not want to invest in an area perceived to be a haven for crooks and chiselers.
"It would be very difficult to improve the schools and the overall economic climate with this cloud hanging overhead," he said.
E-mail gjeffers@dallasnews.com
Uhmm-Uhmm! Bill Campbell needed to be targeted. Uhmm-Uhmm!!
tian
