White Mayor of Houston Rejects Reparations Resolution

• Originally published in the Houston Chronicle on 4/13/2004[here]
  

Mayor rejects reparations demand
Mayor Bill White said again Tuesday he will not be pressured into putting a reparations resolution on the agenda for a City Council vote. The resolution supports a House bill that would establish a commission to examine slavery and recommend remedies, including possible reparations to slaves' descendants.

"I understand and sympathize about the need to dialogue," White said. "But I don't think there is any consensus about reparations and compensation. This is a highly charged issue, and that makes it more divisive."

White said the city should focus on issues where it can make an impact, like improving traffic and neighborhoods.

Advocates of the resolution expressed frustration about White's lack of action after waiting more than four hours to speak at council's public session Tuesday.

Minister Robert Muhammad told White he is mishandling the issue.

"His words were candy-coated cyanide," Muhammad said. "It was poisonous, although it was meant to taste sweet. He gave us nothing of substance."

Two weeks ago, Kofi Taharka, chairman of the National Black United Front's Houston chapter, was hauled out of council chambers by police for refusing to leave the podium when his time expired.

"If he disses us, he will gain stature with the moderate white community," Taharka said of the mayor Tuesday.

The National Black United Front asked White in February to put the resolution on the agenda. Until they get a formal response, they said, they will continue to show up at the weekly public session