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MISSIONARY
BAPTIST MINISTERS CONFERENCE OF WASHINGTON, D.C. & VICINITY
Rev. Dr. Moses Jackson, President
Rev. Dr. George Gilbert, Sr., Chairperson, Civil & Social Action Committee
June 26, 2000, 12:00 Noon
PRESS STATEMENT IN REGARDS TO REFERENDUM TO
RESTRUCTURE THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SCHOOL BOARD
The Officers and members of the Missionary Baptist Ministers
Conference of Washington, D.C. & Vicinity, has gone on record that we will say
"NO" to the referendum and encourage the members of our Churches to vote
"NO" also. We also call on every citizen registered to vote in Washington, D.C.
to take a stand for democracy and vote against what will raped them of their rights to the
democratic process.
We must send a strong message to Mayor Williams and those who
wish to strip the citizens of what little democratic powers we now have. We are a city
that presently suffers with "taxation without representation." And now the Mayor
is proposing that one of the areas in which we can exercise our only democratic rights to
elect some of our leaders will be taken away.
Tuesday vote on a home rule charter amendment could take many
powers away from our elected school board and invest them with our Mayor and the D.C.
Council. A NO vote is necessary to any hope that the elected school board will regain its
authorities, as agreed by the D.C. Financial Control Board when it assumed school powers
in 1996.
Moreover, there is the concern as to whom the Mayor might
appoint, and whether the history will continue to repeat itself and the citizens East of
the River will not receive equal and fair representation in the process. In addition, the
citizens need to know that if the Mayor appoints four members to the School Board, it will
give him leverage in issues and matters concerning the educational system of the District
of Columbia.
We must ask ourselves the question, has the Mayor proven that
he indeed wants what is best for the people of Washington, or is he playing to please the
Congress, those who put him in office and the three or four persons who made major
contributions to assist him in stripping the citizens of their right to VOTE and the right
to CHOICE.
THE ONLY VOTE IS NO!
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