Minority Help

The news is full of Supreme Court decisions restricting the affirmative action programs for minorities. At the other end of the spectrum in the local news is an actual application of an affirmative action program, namely the affirmative action program at Los Angeles International Airport.

It turns out in the LAX case that the beneficiaries of the affirmative action program are: 1) The wife of Rep. Julian Dixon, who resides in Washington, D.C., while receiving more than $100,000 per annum on a $15,000 investment, 2) the Rev. H.H. Brookins who now lives in Washington, and 3) John Mack, a local political activist in the black community (Part I, June 16, Metro, June 17).

The selection of these three was presided over by Airport Commissioner Johnnie Cochran, who, in turn, was selected for a government contract, calling for legal fees of $100,000 with the participation and approval of Rep. Dixon.

Cochran is vociferous in stating there is no connection between the plums being passed out. Hopefully, he is correct but it remains at the very least a most fortuitous coincidence.

The real point of all the above is that the minority “leaders” involved are stripping the affirmative action program of its moral and ethical underpinnings. If this is the way an affirmative action program works, the latest retrenchments by the Supreme Court are of little moment. Unless you are the wife of a congressman looking for a $100,000 annual return on a $15,000 investment, that is.

This writer still happens to believe in the need for strong minority assistance. I just hope it can survive the twin assaults from above and below.

MARTIN M. SHAPERO

Woodland Hills