ERNIE BROWN JR. From the Web, some food for thought

Like most of you who have Internet access, you are swamped with all kinds of information via e-mail.
Most of it is garbage, but every once in a while you receive some information that you can use or that causes you to stop and think.
I recently received an e-mail from my friends Emmett and Martha King of Youngstown telling me about something called Black Think Tank.
The e-mail told me that Tavis Smiley, a black broadcaster, is the host of a show on C-Span every year that provides food for thought for black Americans culled from the think tank.
For example
Here are some of the gems that came from this year's program:
UThe first Americans going back to 13,000 BC were black. Look up the Folsom people who lived in Arizona.
UThis fact is the best reason to stop our use of the term African-American and say black. A white person who was born in Africa, moves to America, and becomes a naturalized American citizen is an African-American.
ULook up the Slavery Law of 1665 (which stayed in effect until 1968) and the Maryland Doctrine of Exclusion (1638). Both laws state that blacks must be excluded from the benefits afforded whites and that blacks must remain noncompetitive with whites, except in sports and entertainment.
UAsians, not blacks, received 80 percent of all government minority set-aside contracts.
UBlacks eat more fish than whites by a 4-to-1 one margin. For every dollar whites spend on fish, blacks spend $9 on fish. Fish selling wholesale for $1 will retail at $2.50 to $3. Guess what business blacks should be involved in?
UThere are no black-owned national cable or major network television stations.
UThere are no companies on the Wall Street stock exchange where blacks own the majority or controlling interest of the stock.
UNinety-six percent of all black inmates are men. Over the next two years, 440,000 black inmates will be released from prison. Most states have no place to put them as they re-enter society. Guess what business blacks should be involved in?
UIn 1860, 98 percent of all blacks in America worked for white people. In 2001, 98 percent of all blacks in America still work for white people.
UEvery dollar earned by a Jewish person touches 12 to 18 Jewish hands before it leaves their community. Every dollar earned by a black person leaves the community right away.
USixty-seven percent of all hate crimes in America are committed against blacks.
UOut-of-wedlock births in the black community account for two-thirds of all black births.
I was intrigued by some of this information, and I decided to go to the Web to find out more about Black Think Tank.
I learned that it was founded Jan. 21, 1979. Its official founding followed the participation of some of its members in the birth of black studies on American campuses, the Web site says.
Speakers available
The think tank has speakers available to elaborate on some of the pressing issues in the black community, including Drs. Julia and Nathan Hare. Julia Hare is a specialist in male-female relationships, and is a motivational speaker and social psychologist.
Her husband was the first person hired to coordinate a black studies program in the United States.
He has earned Ph.D.s in sociology and psychology. He was founding publisher of The Black Scholar and has taught at Howard University, San Francisco State University, Virginia State at Petersburg, Lone Mountain College and the California School of Professional Psychology.
The Hares were in Youngstown in 1989 as part of Youngstown State University's Black History Month programs, Vindicator files show.
The site also contains information on black studies, black history and has links for reader information, brainstorming and a books and tapes page.
The Web address is www.blackthinktank.com
The e-mail ends by saying I should pass this along to all my black friends. Consider yourself notified.
ebrown@vindy.com