Former leader of civil rights organization rallies behind Northrop-EADS tanker - al.com

Former leader of civil rights organization rallies behind Northrop-EADS tanker - al.com: "A former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference wants the federal government to consider the Mobile area's large black population in deciding where new Air Force tankers will be built.

Charles Steele Jr. said in a letter to members of the Congressional Black Caucus that Northrop Grumman Corp. 'would provide an immediate stimulus' to Mobile if its bid for the tanker contract is selected over a bid from rival Boeing Co.

Los Angeles-based Northrop and its bidding partner, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., are proposing to assemble their tankers at a $600 million factory to be constructed at the city's Brookley Field Industrial Complex."