DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997           TAG: 9702270515

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   75 lines

GOVERNMENT, BIG BUSINESS SKIRT MINORITY OPPORTUNITIES, SOME SAY

Counting on government and big business to equalize economic opportunity for minorities is a waste of time, said some who attended a public forum on the subject Wednesday night.

Ditto for welfare reform and overt power plays, said others.

Education might serve as the great equalizer, but it often doesn't, in part because its own gears need oiling, most concurred.

The discussion drew about 50 citizens to the Park Place Multi-Purpose Center. It was the fourth in the Neighborhood Network's ongoing series of community talks - the second on race. Others have focused on crime and education. The sponsoring group is a coalition of civic league leaders.

Businesses profit from keeping people poor, said businessman Rick James, part of a panel of students, professionals and community leaders who helped lead the forum. ``They work for less, work harder, so, yes, there's a big profit in keeping them poor.''

Businessman Louis Eisenberg, another panelist, said there is also a ``political profit'' in keeping folks at the lowest rung on the economic ladder. ``It's an American disgrace the way politicians use poor people. Here, it happens that there are more blacks who are poor. Government pits race against race when really it's an economic issue.''

Education has the potential to be the bulldozer that smooths out the hills and valleys of the economy, but the quality of teaching needs to be improved, some said.

A woman who identified herself as a teacher was vocal about the part schools should play, and her comments were met with applause:

``School can make the difference, but I see teachers in there who should not be in there - white female teachers are the majority in inner-city schools. They've got the wrong people teaching. The gatekeepers are wrong. We've lost our role models in the schools.''

James said he agrees. ``Education could play a major role, but minorities are a threat with education.''

A man in the audience drew an analogy that others had seemed to aim for: ``Education is not a slam dunk.''

Government, too, falls down when it comes to economic equality, most agreed.

``Hold government programs accountable,'' suggested a woman in the audience, questioning whether officials assigned to help the poor are doing their best. ``Are they going to work themselves out of a job?''

``If Norfolk continues to discourage small business at the same time it subsidizes malls, the poor won't be able to survive,'' one man said.

Panelist Otto Carroll, an ODU assistant professor, said that government thinks in ``top-down instead of bottom-up'' terms.

Keeping the economic playing field from being leveled is the divisive spirit in the five South Hampton Roads cities, said one attendee.

Welfare reform may be aimed at helping people climb out of poverty, but it's not going to work, according to panelist Ethel Madison, a teacher assistant and community leader.

``What I want to know is what programs are available for me to help them,'' Eisenberg said. He said he'd not been made aware of any projects spearheaded by local government aimed at giving folks coming off welfare a helping hand. ``Where are the priorities in this city?''

``Before you go and talk to your leaders, you have to talk to each other,'' said a man in the audience. ``They know we're disorganized, don't trust each other. Coalesce through voice and vote and put people with different values into office.''

A man in the audience seemed to sum up the what many had said in other words:

``Can we get together? The government of Norfolk is not doing what it should. I'm interested in networking. What can we do when we leave here?'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON/The Virginian-Pilot

Lana Pressley of Norfolk's Villa Heights Civic League considers a

problem at a public forum Wednesday night on economic opportunities

for minorities. The discussion drew about 50 citizens to the Park

Place Multi-Purpose Center. It was the fourth in an ongoing series

of community talks. KEYWORDS: NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORK PUBLIC FORUM

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