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	European Plea for Democracy by Leo Cendrowicz The Guardian / Telegraph European Union   Brussels. October 15, 2005   The European Union has been the work of the political elites and needs radical change to become democratic, the European Commission's vice-president has warned.   Margot Wallstrom said the union needed dramatic reforms to gain popular support. She said the EU had to transform itself economically: 20 million unemployed in the EU was a "totally unacceptable" figure.   "This has been a project for a small elite, a political elite," she said. "That has worked until now. Has it ever been alive, European democracy? That is a very good question."   Mrs Wallstrom was speaking at the launch of the EU's communications strategy — dubbed Plan D for representing democracy and debate. It comes in response to surveys showing that public trust in the EU has fallen, from 50 per cent late last year to 44 per cent this northern spring.   "It's clear that to convince Europeans to the European idea, the institutions have to change," she said."The institutions must lead by example in their ability to reform and to be more transparent and more efficient."   Mrs Wallstrom, a devoted European federalist, announced plans to set up national debates across Europe on what citizens want from the union. Commissioners and senior EU officials will go to the Continent debating students, young people, politicians, trade unions, academics and business groups.   The commission also hopes to recruit celebrities and sports stars to tour the Continent as "goodwill ambassadors" for Europe. Mrs Wallstrom said that after the no votes in the Dutch and French EU constitution referendums earlier this year, she thought European governments appeared to be afraid of public opinion.   Mrs Wallstrom, a former Swedish social affairs minister, is noted in Brussels for her outspoken views. Last year she became the first senior member of the commission to write a weblog, which attracted attention for mixing descriptions of her family life with often controversial thoughts on EU politics.   She believes EU institutions should connect with people through TV, radio and the internet, using celebrities and public figures as UN-style goodwill ambassadors.   She noted that globalisation had created uncertainty, with people asking tough questions about job security, pensions, migration and living standards. The EU needed to grasp these opportunities rather than use globalisation as a scapegoat, she said.   But Plan D was not about resuscitating the EU constitution. "This is not a rescue operation," she said. "It is very difficult to see how it can be brought to life, so it will remain on the backburner. Constitutional engineering" to make the document more palatable would be insulting".
	US rally highlights Racial Inequalities by Associated Press, agencies USA   Oct. 2005   "TV images don"t bring Change", by Robert Jensen.   For weeks after the racialized poverty of New Orleans was laid bare in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, people in the United States asked, “Could this be a turning point? Is this a moment when America might wake up to the inequality and racism in our own country?”   The question itself - posed most often by people living comfortably in the white middle class - is an indication of just how deeply in denial the vast majority of privileged Americans are about these fundamental injustices, their role in perpetuating them, and how real change might come. We should be collectively ashamed that the question is being asked in this form, for two simple reasons.   First, it’s true that the television coverage of the people who were the most vulnerable during the flight from Katrina and the aftermath - largely poor and disproportionately black - did shock many. As the evacuation proceeded, it was impossible to avoid noticing that who got out fairly easily and who got stuck - who lived and who died - was largely a function of race and class.   But did we really need those images to know that the United States has an inequality problem? In a country in which racialized disparities in wealth and well-being are readily evident to anyone who cares to pay attention, what does it say about us as a nation that we needed dramatic images on television to force us to confront the issue?   Even a cursory scan of the data on such things as health (infant mortality is twice as high in the black as the white community) or employment (black unemployment is double that of whites, a gap that has actually widened in the past three decades) reveals that serious inequality persists despite the gains of the civil-rights movement of the 1950s and ‘60s. Even for the measures on which there has been some improvement - for example, black-white poverty gap has narrowed somewhat in recent decades - the underlying reality is grim; at the current rate it will take 150 years to reach parity on that poverty measure.   Anyone who wants to know these things - any white middle class person with a computer, for example -- can figure it out quickly. The data are not state secrets.   More importantly, the cold data come to life dramatically when one listens to the experiences of virtually everyone in non-white communities, not just in New Orleans but anywhere in the United States. Perhaps no term captures this more painfully that “driving while black,” a reference to the routine harassment through traffic stops that so many black people, especially black men who are so commonly seen as inherently criminal, endure at the hands of law enforcement. In Latino communities, it’s called “driving while brown.”   The data is clear. The testimony is clear. We shouldn’t need pictures. The fact that so many seemed to be shocked by the pictures is a sign not just of the society’s inequality, but of the routine complacency in the most privileged sectors of our society.   But the question of whether the aftermath of Katrina will “change America” is perhaps most objectionable for the way it allows those with the responsibility to help change society - that is, those who benefit from the inequality - to escape into emotions and speculation, rather than analysis and action.   Yes, dramatic and painful images of black people packed into a sports arena-turned-shelter have tweaked the consciences of many. But tweaked consciences are notorious for lapsing back into complacency quickly when no political pressure is applied. Lots of well-off white people may have felt bad about what they saw in New Orleans, but such feelings are not morally admirable unless they lead to action that can change things. That means moving from an emotional reaction to a political analysis, and from speculation about whether things might change to a commitment to making things change.   Racism and racialized poverty in the United States are systemic and structural problems. They are not simply the result of confusion on the part of people in power; they are institutionalized. Progress comes when those systems, structures, and institutions change. That requires collective action, not individual fretting.   It’s true that the collective political project of overcoming racism is intertwined with the very personal struggle to overcome our complacency. It’s true that history can provide dramatic moments in which things can change quickly. But it is naďve - to a degree that suggests purposeful ignorance - to believe that a single emotionally charged experience such as viewing the images of racialized suffering in New Orleans will have a long-term effect on systems, structures, or institutions.   In the United States we have been through this before. In 1991, all of America watched the videotape of the savage beating of Rodney King, a black man, by Los Angeles police officers. We watched and emoted. We asked the question: “Could this be a turning point? Is this a moment when America wakes up to the inequality in our own country?”   Meanwhile, as we pondered that question in the 1990s, the United States intensified the racist criminal-justice practices that disproportionately target black and brown Americans. We built prisons to house the disproportionately black and brown inmates who would be casually tossed into jail to reassure the white affluent majority that things were safe. As a result, if current incarceration rates continue, one of three black males born today will be imprisoned at some point in their lifetimes.   So, it is self-indulgence to even ask the question whether an emotionally intense event such as the aftermath of Katrina will change U.S. society. The answer is painfully obvious: These events don’t create change. Progressive change comes when people commit to take the risks necessary to push change.   The hand-wringing that the white affluent segment of the United States indulged in after the hurricane was a common way middle-class people deal with their sense of guilt when they are confronted by what they have largely chosen to ignore. But this problem is hardly unique to the United States. It happens in virtually every country in which some segment of the elite has convinced itself that the grotesque levels of inequality are acceptable.   (Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas).   Oct. 2005   US Rally highlights Racial Inequalities. (Associated Press)   Railing against the delayed relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said Saturday that the federal government should be charged with - criminal neglect of the people of New Orleans.   "For five days, the government did not act. Lives were lost, Farrakhan said at the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March. We charge America with criminal neglect".   A crowd of tens of thousands cheered as dozens of prominent speakers - academics, activists, artists and media pundits - spoke in the 12-hour program on the National Mall.   Pointing to the broad spectrum of participants, Farrakhan said the march included an unprecedented array of black leaders of organizations coming together to speak to America and the world with one voice. This tells us that a new day is dawning in America, he said.   Ten years ago, Farrakhan urged black men to improve their families and communities - women, whites and other minorities had not been invited. On Saturday, all were welcome at the Millions More Movement, which organizers said would build on the principles of 1995 and push people to build a movement for change locally and nationally. Many participants said they were inspired by the gathering. "Farrakhan is the only one who can pull this magnitude of people together", said Michael Warren, 41, a Washington resident who attended for about five hours with three youths that he mentors. "No other leader since Martin and Malcolm have done this".   Many said the day held echoes of earlier gatherings. Kelly Callahan, 65, of Newark said he had attended the 1995 march and Martin Luther King Jr.s 1963 March on Washington. The movement, he said, is more universal now.   Mouchettee Muhummad, 38, drove through the night from Detroit with four companions. "We have to show that the spirit from 10 years ago did not die - its still alive", he said. "We have to show that we did not forget and we are actually carrying out what we pledged a decade ago". He added that Farrakhan is asking us to organize beyond political boundaries, religious differences, cultural differences.   Some speakers paid tribute to victims of the hurricanes in prayers and pledges of support, and many participants said the storm helped inspire them to come. Katrina brought the issues to the surface to some who were asleep, said Jason 2X, a Nation of Islam member who attended the march with several family members from Chicago.   Earlier, Jesse Jackson, the president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, urged people to channel their frustration about Katrina toward change their communities.   Farrakhan also appears to be broadening his message beyond those of concern specifically to black Americans and the poor. He denounced President Bush, the war in Iraq and Muslims who kill innocent life for political purposes. He also called for unity with Africa, reparations for slavery, inclusion of undocumented immigrants and a government apology to American Indians.   Danny Bakewell, publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel, a black newspaper, said the gathering was a glaring symbol of the possibilities that are in front of black people. This is not the end, it is a beginning.   Oct. 2005   Tens of thousands of black Americans have rallied in Washington to demand greater social and economic equality. The rally marked the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March on Washington.   Speakers demanded greater action to improve education standards for black children, and to reduce the number of young black men behind bars.   The racial inequalities exposed by hurricane Katrina were a dominant theme of the rally, with speakers like Patricia Ford of the Washington Labor Council demanding action. "I am sick and tired of the racism in this country and what I am not sick and tired of is fighting for justice, she said".   Veteran black leader the Reverend Al Sharpton urged the crowd to continue agitating for change. "We come today to march. But we will leave here with movement. We will turn America around, he said".   Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson called for a change in course away from violence and for millions to fight against poverty and illiteracy. "Do not imitate the violence, racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Arabism, gay bashing", he told the crowd. "We need millions more to build a multi-racial coalition, we need not battle alone to fight poverty and greed and war".   Oct. 2005   Thousands of activists are rallying on Washington DC National Mall, rededicating themselves to a mission and a message that began with a historic march a decade ago.   Men and women of all ethnicities were invited to Saturdays Millions More Movement - marking 10 years since the Million Man March urged African American men to take responsibility for improving their families and communities.   Other minorities, women and whites were not invited to the 1995 event, but they were welcome to Saturdays gathering - organized by Louis Farrakhan - which intends to build on the original principles and push people to act for change locally and nationally.   Much of the days focus is expected to be on poverty in the U.S., and the racial inequity that organizers see in U.S. President George Bushs priorities, as highlighted by his administrations slow response to Hurricane Katrina. It seemed like what (Bush) ignored was the weapons of mass destruction in America - broken levees in New Orleans are weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Bush, said Rev. Al Sharpton, organizer of the Millions More Movement.   Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson told the crowd that those frustrated by the U.S. response to victims of the hurricane should channel their energies to changing their communities. "We need millions more to act and react to what we saw in the gulf. Images were burned into our consciousness", said Jackson.
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