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News Tidbits - KSU and Rev. Coleman, Home Depot, Taco Bell

by Theresa Fritz Camoriano

1.      The Rev. Louis Coleman is Kentucky's own version of Jesse Jackson -- always picketing to protest perceived injustice toward blacks.  Most recently, Coleman protested the failure of KSU to renew the contract of its black president, Mr. Reid.  KSU has a predominantly black student body, and, during Reid's tenure, the students' results on standardized tests plummeted.  Also, large quantities of money disappeared during Reid's watch, triggering an investigation and potential loss of future funding.  If Coleman really cared about the welfare of blacks, he would be very concerned that the students at KSU are receiving a terrible education, leaving them ill-prepared for life.  Instead, he protests the decision not to keep a poorly performing administrator in place.  Hmmmm.

2.      Home Depot recently instructed its stores not to accept any government money.  Apparently, the organization has decided that the red tape that would be imposed if it accepted government money would not be worth the trouble.  I went to Home Depot last Saturday morning to buy some supplies, and I found that it was selling T-shirts for $5 with the preamble of the Declaration of Independence printed on the back.  Bravo, Home Depot!

3.      The Presbyterian Church has voted to boycott Taco Bell, because it doesn't think the farm workers who work for the companies that supply products to Taco Bell are paid enough.  The church wants Taco Bell to enter into negotiations with the farm workers.  But those workers don't even work for Taco Bell!  While the church or any other group is perfectly free to organize a boycott, this one sounds pretty lame.  Taco Bell does not hire those workers and should not be responsible for the relationship between its suppliers and their employees.  Furthermore, the workers are not forced to work for those suppliers.  Obviously, they think it is a pretty good deal, or they would work somewhere else.  While we all would like to receive a higher income, the solution is not to organize boycotts but rather to figure out how to make ourselves more productive.  If Taco Bell loses business due to the boycott, its low-wage employees and the farm workers will all suffer, but the church won't feel responsible for that harm.  Instead, it will feel very virtuous for having stood up to evil big-business on behalf of poor farm workers.  Of course, boycotts can run in two directions.  Maybe people who recognize that the Presbyterian Church is actually harming low income workers will organize a boycott of their own.  (Perhaps they already have -- the church has been losing revenues for the past few years. Surprise, surprise -- the market really does work after all.)

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