The mind-set of blacks must change, minister says

Blacks must move toward self-reliance, the longtime clergyman said.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Rev. Lonnie Kwajo Asim Simon, during nearly 50 years of service to the community, has taught the word of God, marched for civil rights and been arrested in defense of blacks. Now he says the mind-set of the black community must shift.
Being reared in a Baptist church just outside of Pittsburgh, the Rev. Mr. Simon was not always in the forefront demanding civil rights for blacks.
"As a child, we were taught that if you had any problems, you pray and wait on God and he will see you through. That was ingrained in me," Mr. Simon said.
He said the ingrained passive attitudes began to fade in 1965. That year Mr. Simon and several other pastors from the Youngstown area traveled to Montgomery, Ala., to participate in a march to that state's capital for the extension of the Voting Rights Act.
"That was the turning point in my life, from being passive to becoming more active," he said.
Mr. Simon, shortly after the march, participated in training at the Urban Training School in Chicago to learn how to deal with disturbances in the local community. That training, he said, came in handy when dealing with some civil unrest on Youngstown's South Side after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Mr. Simon went on to serve on the Youngstown City School Board from 1972 to 1975 and continued as pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church from 1962 to 1995.
Turbulent times
It was during his time as a member of the school board that he was arrested for defending what he considered to be the unfair treatment of blacks during a football game at the South High School Field House.
Police charged the pastor with disorderly conduct. He says his car was destroyed with dynamite and his family was harassed as the case made its way through the court system.
The disorderly conduct charge was eventually dismissed.
Mr. Simon was arrested a second time in the early 1970s while participating in a welfare rights demonstration at the Mahoning County Courthouse. Those charges also were dismissed.
He said one of the key issues in the civil rights movement was the desegregation of schools -- something that he says has been less than successful.
When a school gets too many blacks, Mr. Simon said, whites tend to leave, so true racial integration is not achieved. He said integration has not worked at all because of the same philosophy -- blacks move in and whites move out.
For that reason, he said blacks need a new focus away from integration and more into "self-help, self-reliance and self-determination." He said each member of the community has a role to play instead of waiting on another figure like Dr. King.
Mr. Simon also said more blacks, particularly males, need to go into the education field. He said black children need to see those daily images in the classroom.
jgoodwin@vindy.com