August 21, 2000 Features What's in Your Green Tea? BY FRANCES CERRA WHITTELSEY An In These Times special investigation. Why I'm Voting for Nader ... BY ROBERT McCHESNEY ... And Why I'm Not BY JAMES WEINSTEIN Fox Shocks the World BY RICK ROCKWELL Now comes the hard part for Mexico's new president. Tijuana Troubles BY DAVID BACON NAFTA is failing workers. Unions Get Religion BY DAVID MOBERG News Safety Last BY DAVE LINDORFF As oil prices soar, so do the number of deadly accidents. Sale of the Century BY GEOFF SCHUMACHER An unusual government auction helps preserve the Nevada wilderness. Water Wars BY CHARMAINE SEITZ A botched deal leaves Palestinians high and dry. Profile BY BEN WINTERS Lowell Thompson, a.k.a Raceman. Views Editorial BY JOEL BLEIFUSS Toxic shock. Viewpoint BY KIP SULLIVAN HMO's invasion of privacy. Appall-O-Meter BY DAVID FUTRELLE A Terry Laban Cartoon Culture Give It Away BY DAVID GRAEBER The Maussians are coming. Good Fela BY HILLARY FREY The music, politics and legend of Nigeria's Fela Kuti. Time's Arrow BY CARL BROMLEY A Chilean dissident finds the cinema in Proust. Mission: Impossible 3 BY BILL BOISVERT Goodbye, Mr. Secret Agent ...

Raceman Cometh By Ben Winters The stereotypical advertising executive has evolved over the years, from gray flannel to counterculture chic. But one thing hasn't changed: He's still white. Not for long, however; not if crusader Lowell Thompson has his way. Lowell Thompson, a.k.a. Raceman. Credit: Howard D. Simmons. In the early '90s, the mild-mannered Thompson - an African-American career ad man - ducked into the phone booth of his soul and emerged as Raceman, launching a one-man crusade against segregation in the advertising industry. In 1992, Thompson conducted a survey and discovered that of an estimated 6,500 creative personnel in the top agencies, only 60 were African-American; he published those numbers in Print magazine, and he's been trying to change them ever since. "I want 15 percent of the creative departments of the top 25 ad agencies to be African-Americans by the year 2005," Thompson says. "Blacks comprise between 12 to 14 percent of the population at this point, and they should be much more fairly represented than they are."     TOP HOME SUBSCRIBE MAIL   In These Times © 2000 Vol. 24, No. 19