JOHN GALLAGHER, Detroit Free Press
- Minority auto suppliers are being disproportionately hurt by the auto industry implosion, and that is devastating Detroit’s African-American communities, the city’s influential Council of Baptist Pastors said today.
At a news conference in Hamtramck, Council President Rev. Dr. Oscar King called on Congress to approve a loan package for Detroit automakers, saying minority suppliers and the African-American communities that rely on them need the American auto industry to survive.
“This is not a gift. We are not asking for anything that is not ours,” King said of the federal assistance funds for the automakers. “Taxes go up to the federal government. We’re asking for a reasonable redistribution. Give us our money back so that we may use it to provide for the stability of this faltering economy.”
