Harlem embraces Paterson with open arms

NEW YORK — New York Gov. David Paterson had a tough first week in office, but he got a warm welcome last Saturday from a hometown crowd in Harlem.

The state’s first black governor delivered a brief speech at a weekly gathering of a civil rights group affiliated with the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Paterson told audience members they now have a special ally in the governor’s office, one who wouldn’t follow in the footsteps of other politicians who have made big promises to the community, then ignored it once they got into office.

“Our faith that has guided us to seek justice is not going to abandon us when we have decision-making capacity,” Paterson said.

But he also promised fairness to all during his administration, and mentioned upstate cities that have been going through tough economic times.

“Just as it is always important not to forget where you came from, which I will not do, it is also important not to exclude anyone else in the way we were excluded for so many years by others,” Paterson said.

Paterson was sworn in March 17. Since then, he has been dogged by controversy over extramarital affairs, allegations of improper campaign spending, and his admission during a television interview Monday night that he used marijuana and cocaine during his 20s.

Paterson was born in Brooklyn, went to high school on Long Island and represented Harlem in the state senate for many years before becoming lieutenant governor.

81 percent of Univ. of Texas admission offers go to “top 10 percent” grads

AUSTIN — The University of Texas at Austin reserved a record 81 percent of its fall admission offers this year to students guaranteed a spot on campus under the state’s “top 10 percent” law.

School president William Powers is using those 2008 figures — which mark a 10 percent jump from last year — to renew his criticism of the decade-old law that he believes is as an obstacle to student diversity.

Powers said last Wednesday that admission offers at UT-Austin will be soon be exclusive to high-ranking graduates unless lawmakers give admission officers more flexibility in choosing students.

“Only about one in four students admitted under the top 10 percent law is African American or Hispanic, so there’s a natural limit if we don’t have discretion in who we can go after,” he said. “It’s a capacity problem.”

Currently, Texas students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class are guaranteed admission to the state university of their choice. UT-Austin has complained for years that the law limits its ability to recruit a well-rounded student body.

But changing the law has been a tough sell for Powers. The university’s minority enrollment is higher now than any time in the decade since lawmakers enacted it.

UT-Austin had just over 37,000 undergraduate students last fall. Of those, 6,700 were Hispanic and 1,700 black.

The top 10 percent law was adopted after a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision made affirmative action illegal in Texas college admissions. In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision, allowing universities to use race as one of many decision-making factors.

Democratic Rep. Helen Giddings, who co-authored the top 10 percent law, credits the measure with drawing more students from urban and rural schools.

“We cannot back away from making sure that these universities reflect the population of the state,” she said.

The current law primarily affects UT-Austin and, to a lesser degree, Texas A&M University in College Station.

Mississippi Elks Lodge gets Blues Trail

GREENWOOD, Miss. — The Elks Lodge in Greenwood, which provided a venue for touring rhythm and blues musicians, including legends such as B.B. King and James Brown, will be recognized tomorrow with a Mississippi Blues Marker.

The Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks of the World (IBPOEW) was formed in 1898 in Cincinnati by blacks who were excluded from the “white” Elks organization, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE).

By 1899, 12 lodges of the IBPOEW, which became commonly known as the “black Elks,” were established in eight states, including Mississippi. In 1902, a female auxiliary group, the Daughters of the IBPOEW, was founded.

The chapter in Greenwood was established in 1925, and property at this location was purchased for the establishment of a lodge in 1927.

The black Elks provided spaces for social, political and economic gatherings. Other black fraternal organizations that played a similar role included the Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Knights of Columbus, and Shriners.

Also, civil rights activist and Elk member Cleveland Jordan arranged for the Elks hall to be the first meeting place for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee went they arrived in Greenwood in 1962 for a voter registration campaign.

From the 1940s through the 1970s, the hall in Greenwood hosted artists including King, Brown, T-Bone Walker, Ike and Tina Turner, Percy Mayfield, “Little” Junior Parker, Roy Brown and others.

Blues Trail markers have been placed around the state to honor legendary musicians or places important to the history of blues music. The Mississippi Blues Commission plans for more than 100 markers to be put up across the state.