Blacks in Congress Split Over Menthol Cigarettes

STEPHANIE SAUL, New York Times

- Free cigarettes are no longer handed out at Congressional Black Caucus functions. And it has been years since anyone referred to Edolphus Towns, Democrat of Brooklyn, as the “Marlboro Man” for his campaign contributions from the tobacco industry.

But the Congressional Black Caucus has not severed its financial ties to big tobacco. And that can complicate matters when the political discussion involves smoking’s impact on African-Americans.

A rift has opened in the 43-member caucus over a menthol provision in legislation that would enable the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. To reduce smoking’s appeal to teenagers, the legislation would outlaw flavored cigarettes — except for menthol cigarettes, which are specifically exempted.

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Md. Congressman Cummings Encourages FCC Chairman to Enact XM-Sirius Minority Programming Proposal

- Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), former Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, sent the following letter to Kevin Martin, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in response to the recent proposal by FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein requiring Sirius-XM to lease 15 percent of their satellite capacity to diversity programming:

July 23, 2008

The Honorable Kevin Martin
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street SW
Washington, D.C. 20554

Dear Chairman Martin:

This letter is to follow up on my correspondence dated May 15, 2008, regarding the proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc., that is being considered by the Commission. I appreciate your time and consideration.

I opposed the Sirius-XM merger due to my concerns that the newly formed company would control over 25 MHz – enough to transmit over 300 channels of radio and some video into every local market in the country. This would be an unprecedented amount of spectrum in the hands of a single company – more than the entire spectrum allocated to FM and AM radio combined. However, I also recognize that—should the merger be approved—it will provide a real opportunity for minority ownership and participation in the satellite marketplace. That is why I support the conditions that Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein recently proposed to you and the other Commissioners regarding dedicating 15 percent of the spectrum to diversity programming.

While I believe the allocation of 20 percent of spectrum to diversity programming to be a stronger commitment, Commissioner Adelstein’s proposal of 15 percent is a giant step toward opening the doors of opportunity for minority-owned businesses that have historically struggled to compete in this industry. Further, I feel it is extremely important that this requirement be negotiated, ratified and approved by the Commission prior to approval of the merger. This percentage of channel capacity would clearly assure the public, and more specifically our minority population, of viable minority media ownership and diverse programming.

I commend Commissioner Adelstein for his willingness to work with you and his fellow Commissioners to bring forth a plan that is clearly in the best interest of consumers. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or my Legislative Director, Ms. Nikki Jones at 202-225-4741.

Sincerely,

Elijah E. Cummings
Member of Congress

Analysis: AFRICOM mission prompts concern

STEVEN DAVY, United Press International

- Several recent reports have raised concerns over the balance between military and civilian roles at U.S. Africa Command, highlighting fears about a potential militarization of American aid to the continent.

A Refugees International report suggests the Pentagon could overstep its authority with AFRICOM, while the Center for American Progress argued U.S. national security strategy should reject the trend toward militarizing foreign policy.

Critics of AFRICOM say the U.S. military should remain focused on training African security forces and peacekeeping operations, leaving the larger humanitarian role to the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development in concert with the United Nations and international aid organizations.

AFRICOM was announced in 2006 by U.S. President George W. Bush and top military commanders in an effort to address Africa’s growing importance as a region of strategic interest in the global war on terror.

Previously, operational responsibility on the African continent was divided between U.S. Central Command, U.S. Pacific Command and U.S. European Command. Egypt and Yemen remain part of the U.S. Central Command’s so-called Area of Responsibility.

Officials have sought to strike a balance between a military and civilian presence at AFRICOM. But they have failed, according to Refugees International.

“What was supposed to be this well-balanced command (shows) a lack of capacity within the State Department and AID to provide the personnel and dispatch them to AFRICOM,” said Mark Malan, Refugees International peace-building program manager.

His report, “U.S. Civil-Military Imbalance for Global Engagement: Lessons from the Operational Level in Africa,” was published last week.

“Until the structural imbalance within the State Department to use instruments of international engagement can be addressed, then AFRICOM can never be a balanced civil/military command,” he concludes.

Early drafts of AFRICOM’s mission included language taken directly from the aid community, including concepts like humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. Applied to what is viewed as a military mission, use of this style of language sparked concerns about the potential of using the military in a direct humanitarian capacity.

Surveys taken by Malan in Africa of local leaders and journalists, among others, produced suspicions that U.S. intentions with AFRICOM are to protect oil interests and “re-assert American power and hegemony globally,” the report says.

While the language has since changed, Malan’s report suggests the Pentagon refrain from using AFRICOM for “hunting terror suspects under a thin mantle of humanitarianism.”

AFRICOM has been beleaguered by resistance from several African countries. It is scheduled to become fully operational in October in Stuttgart, Germany, because no African country granted permission for the construction of a permanent U.S. military base.

U.S. defense officials say they are still planning to eventually locate AFRICOM in Africa but will operate out of Germany until circumstances change.

One of the concerns about a permanent U.S. military base in Africa is that the United States is planning a heavy military presence in Africa and that AFRICOM is a U.S. foreign policy move to militarize the ongoing humanitarian mission across the continent.

Army Gen. William Ward, AFRICOM commander, in March addressed the U.S.-African Defense Policy Dialogue meeting and said the new command is designed to address security concerns that have developed in Africa and to work with African nations to assist in dealing with potential threats.

Ward added that AFRICOM will maintain a light footprint in Africa.

Despite Ward’s assurances, criticism over what exactly AFRICOM’s mission will be has escalated recently.

In recent testimony in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Theresa Whelan, deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, seconded Ward, saying AFRICOM will work in partnership with African nations and aid organizations to further issues concerning stability and threats from terrorism.

“(AFRICOM) represents an opportunity to strengthen and expand U.S. and African security relationships in such a way that our combined efforts can help generate more indigenous and therefore more sustainable peace and stability on the continent,” Whelan said in a statement.

The recently published Center for American Progress report, “Humanity as a Weapon of War: Sustainable Security and the Role of the U.S. Military,” argues that American foreign policy would greatly benefit from increased attention to issues concerning poverty.

The report, authored by Reuben Brigety, Center for American Progress Sustainable Security Program director, suggests the radicalization of groups in Africa suffering from poverty, environmental degradation and poor governance are greater threats to U.S. national security than what the current U.S. foreign policy objectives are attempting to address.

Brigety says while the U.S. military is vitally important for enhancing American strategic objectives, it should not replace efforts to fight global poverty. He argues for a new approach to American foreign policy emphasizing humanitarian aid.

“To keep our country safe, it is no longer enough for America to destroy its enemies,” Brigety writes. “We must also care for our friends, whether they be powerful states or impoverished people.”

National Urban League Congratulates the Congressional Black Caucus for Its Heroic Efforts to Expand Housing Counseling Services in the ‘American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008′

- Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, today applauded Congress, and the Congressional Black Caucus in particular, for providing resources in legislation to address the severe housing crisis that disproportionately impacts the African-American community. This landmark legislation, the “American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008,” is currently under consideration by the full House of Representatives.

“The National Urban League applauds the Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Rep. Barney Frank; the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, Rep. Maxine Waters; the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick; Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charles Rangel; and the entire Congressional Black Caucus for their extraordinary leadership in crafting landmark legislation addressing the national housing crisis,” Morial said. “These congressional leaders have ensured that the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention of Act 2008 not only addresses the larger problems of industry giants like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but also specifically targets urban, low-income and minority communities and homeowners who have been affected by unscrupulous sub-prime and predatory loans.”

According to the National Urban League 2008 State of Black America Report, blacks hold nearly five times more installment debt than whites, and the median net worth for African Americans is $11,800, versus $118,300 for whites.

The National Urban League has been in the housing counseling business for over 40 years and currently serves over 40,000 homeowners per year. Because housing counseling plays a key role in increasing financial awareness and closing the wealth gap between minority and non-minority households, Mr. Morial has recommended an expansion of housing counseling and financial literacy services in an effort to improve the financial situation for minorities with respect to securing home ownership, maintaining good credit and attaining monetary savings.

After 60 years, black military officers rare

Associated Press

- Sixty years after President Truman desegregated the military, senior black officers are still rare, particularly among the highest ranks.

Blacks make up about 17 percent of the total force, yet just 9 percent of all officers. That fraction falls to less than 6 percent for general officers with one to four stars, according to data obtained and analyzed by The Associated Press.

The rarity of blacks in the top ranks is apparent in one startling statistic: Only one of the 38 four-star generals or admirals serving as of May was black. And just 10 black men have ever gained four-star rank — five in the Army, four in the Air Force and one in the Navy, according to the Pentagon.

The dearth of blacks in high-ranking positions gives younger African-American soldiers few mentors of their own race. And as the overall percentage of blacks in the service falls, particularly in combat careers that lead to top posts, the situation seems unlikely to change.

Still, officials this week can point to some historic gains by blacks in the services as the Pentagon commemorates Truman’s signing of an executive order on July 26, 1948, mandating the end of segregation in the military.

Best known among the four-stars is retired Gen. Colin Powell, who later became the country’s first black secretary of state, under President Bush. Another is retired Gen. Johnnie E. Wilson, who in 1961, at age 17, spied an “Uncle Sam Wants You” poster and joined the Army.

The second of 12 children, Wilson grew up in a housing project outside Cleveland. Enlisting in the Army, he said, was the only way he’d get a college education.

As a young recruit, he found that the older, black noncommissioned officers were eager to guide him, and they urged him to try for Officer Candidate School. Over the next 38 years, he rose through the ranks to become a four-star general.

Why haven’t more done the same?

For one thing, Wilson said, “it’s hard to tell young people the sky’s the limit when they look up and don’t see anyone” who looks like them.

According to Pentagon data, as of May:

_ 5.6 percent of the 923 general officers or admirals were black.

_ Eight blacks were three-star lieutenant generals or vice admirals.

_ Seventeen were two-star major generals or rear admirals.

_ Twenty-six were one-star brigadier generals or rear admirals.

_ Three of the black one-stars were women.

The Army has led the way with black officers, with nearly double the percentage at times over the past three decades as the other services. Blacks represented 11 percent to 12 percent of all Army officers during that time, compared with 4 percent to 8 percent in the Navy, Air Force and Marines.

The reasons for the lack of blacks in the higher ranks are many and complex, ranging from simple career choices to Congress and family recommendations. Most often mentioned is that black recruits are showing less interest in pursuing combat jobs, which are more likely to propel them through the officer ranks.

“Kids I’ve spoken to, who choose to do supply, who choose to do lawyer, who choose to do admin, have the impression that ‘If I go to Army and become an infantry person, that is not a skill that I can carry to the civilian work force,’” said Clarence Johnson, director of the Pentagon’s Office of Diversity Management.

Wilson — who specialized in logistics and did not take the combat route — said he does not believe ROTC programs or the military steer black recruits to the non-combat jobs — although that may have been a problem many years ago.

Instead, he said young black officers choose other fields because “they want to prepare for a future outside of the military, and they believe that being in communications, being in logistics will provide them a better opportunity to succeed.”

In 1998, nearly a quarter of all active duty black officers were in various combat fields. As of this month, that had fallen to 20 percent, compared with nearly 40 percent for non-blacks, according to Pentagon data.

This year, roughly half of all black active duty officers gravitated toward supply, maintenance, engineering and administrative jobs — almost double the rate of non-black officers.

“That tells me, honestly, over the years the pipeline for those blacks going to general officer is not going to be markedly improved above what it is now,” Johnson said.

He said he hears recruits say, “I’m joining this ROTC thing, so that when I get out in four years or eight years, whatever time frame it is, I want a skill I can use.”

Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, echoes those pipeline concerns.

“It’s all about how many people you put in the front end of the pipe,” Austin said in an interview from Baghdad. “It’s very difficult for anybody to get to be a colonel or general in any branch of the service if you don’t have enough young officers coming in.”

Austin took the combat path to his three-star rank, starting as an infantryman and tactical officer. Later — as a general officer — he commanded troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The forces he sees now, he said, are far more diverse than when he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1975. Then, he said, blacks made up only about 2.5 percent of the Army’s officer corps.

“We treasure diversity because it brings in a lot of different viewpoints and blends in a lot of cultures,” he said. “It makes us better.”

To achieve that diversity, he said, the military must encourage more blacks to join, highlight the successes of those who have done well and “talk about the opportunities that are offered and how those opportunities can help them in their quest to be successful people.”

Another stumbling block is getting more members of minority groups into the military academies.

While white cadets often come from families steeped in military history, black students may not have that long line of ancestral officers.

A review of congressional nominations to the military academies shows that black and Hispanic lawmakers often recommend fewer students.

The fewest appointments to the academies came from Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., who forwarded just three names for the classes of 2009-2012. Two other members of Congress — Massachusetts Democrat Michael Capuano and New York Democrat Jose Serrano_ sent up five names.

According to Pentagon data, the number of lawmakers who failed to nominate at least one candidate to each academy increased from 24 in 2005 to 38 this year. Of the 75 lawmakers overall who did not nominate someone to each academy in all four years, 40 were either black or Hispanic.

Senior black officers say they work hard to mentor younger troops, and they can all recall the people who helped shape their careers. And not all of them were black.

Navy Rear Adm. Sinclair Harris vividly remembers his white commander on the frigate USS Jarrett — a tough, Pittsburgh Steelers fan from western Pennsylvania.

“Tough love,” said Harris, who was a lieutenant at the time. “He insisted I take my command qualifications test, and when I didn’t do good, he had me take it again.”

Harris, deputy director for expeditionary warfare for the Navy chief, said networking and relationships are critical. But he cautions that mentoring is a two-way street that hinges on what the recruits do with the help they get.

“You can’t get lazy in this man and this woman’s Navy,” he said. “You have to keep learning to stay ahead.”

Nonetheless, blacks have come a long way since Truman, with the stroke of a pen, ordered the integration of the military. Before that, the Army had segregated black units and the Navy had minority members assigned to particular, lower-level jobs.

His mandate was aided by the Korean War, when a shortage of soldiers forced American commanders to begin integrating their units.

Defense officials say the Pentagon is now colorblind, offering the same opportunities, promotions and jobs to all races.

Compared with the corporate world, the military appears to provide a bit more high-level opportunities. As of late 2007, just five of the Fortune 500 companies were headed by black chief executives — or just 1 percent.

While the percentage of black recruits has grown during the past 60 years, it peaked at almost 26 percent in 1979. That year, they represented nearly four in 10 of all Army recruits and almost three in 10 for the Marines, both all-time highs for the services that see the most battlefield combat.

The Air Force and Navy, meanwhile, peaked in later years, with blacks accounting for roughly 20 percent of enlistees.

Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, the percentage of blacks coming into the Army has plunged from 22 percent to 13 percent. Also, the percentage of blacks in military overall has dipped in the past 10 years, from more than 20 percent to 17 percent today.

The decline has come in part because family members and other adults who influence young people have become less likely to recommend military service.

Still, Johnson points to positive indicators. Over the past decade, the percentage of black officers has grown slightly, including the share of black women at higher grades.

The military, Wilson said, has worked hard to create mentoring and outreach programs that identify and encourage minority officers. But, he said, the services have to do more marketing and recruiting.

“We as a military just have to find a way to tell our story,” he said, adding, “If I had it to do all over again, I would still join the Army. It has paid off for thousands of us. If it had not been for the U.S. Army, I’m not be sure what our station in life would be.”

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