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—TWg CAWOUNA TIMES Saturday, Jury 10, 1972
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EDITORIALS
COALITION UK HELP BRIHfr-
CHAN6ES
The term "coalition" is being
heard in many places these days as
more and more blacks and other
minorities realize that coalitions
can become mechanisms for effec
tive social, economic and political
changes. A coalition is an alliance
of parties, individuals or groups for
joint action or purpose to achieve
a specific objective. It may be tem
porary or permanent, depending on
the objectives desired. Through a
coalition, cooperative efforts of
blacks and other minorities and
concerned whites can be aligned
and welded into a dynamic thrust
for action.
Solutions to economic, political
and social problems of blacks and
other minorities lie as much in the
white community as in the black
community. The economic re
sources needed to provide blacks
with meaningful equality of oppor
tunity is controlled by the majority
group. Thus, a joint effort is re
quired if needed social changes are
to take place which will improve
the socio-economic status of minori
ties and the poor.
Soaring rhetoric, "telling it like
it is" or "doing one's thing" will
UNITED DURHAM INCORPORATED
MOVES MEAD
The economic development and
growth of UDI to fill some of the
needs of the Durham community
deserves much praise.
Lake all new operations, it has
had its share of ups and downs.
However, the overall gains in terms
of self-help, employment opportu
nity advances, and the cooperative
sharing of technical and business
Jcnow-how has given much to build
Sup self-image, identity, awareness
of the possible power and mutual
understanding among low-income
persons.
Among the major needs of peo
ple, regardless of socio-economic
level or status are food, shelter and
clothing and employment opportu
nities. UDI, in its first economic
ventures, is providing a supermar
ket for purchase of foods at lower
costs to its shareholders and other
' persons. The production of modu
lar homes puts UDI in a producer's
The champion of the reaction
aries and alarmists have long
sought to turn back the calendar of
equality and to smash the alarm
clock of history. However, there ap
pears to be rays of hope as we look
to the acquittal of Miss Angela
Davis, by a jury in San Jose, Cali
fornia this past week-end.
During the period when Richard
Milhous Nixon was Vice President
an obvious injustice was being per
netrated in DeKalb County. Geor
gia. The then Vice President, from
his high office replied, "No Com
ment" to the injustice.
This week the jury of the State
of California, San Jose, home state
of the then Vice President, now
President, rose above the maudlin
practice of yore. A jury, sitting in
a state that has a native son, Ron
ald Reagen as governor, native son,
Richard Milhous Nixon, as Presi
dent and creator of the "Nixon
Court" who are presently in the
process of re-writing the Common
haw of Henry 11, just could not
-QUESTION ON FUTURE OF
CONTROLS
It if to be expected that pressure for
removal of wage and price controls will
Increase as the economy moves into better
working order, and the Democratic
majority of the congressional Joint
Economic Committee may have fired the
opening gun in a large-scale campaign for
speeding the decontrol process with its
recommendation that the administration
remove wage-price restraints from all
firma with fewer than 1,000 employes.
The recommendation isn't to be
regarded aa solely a political move. Hie
Democratic majority has taken the
not create one job, nor improve the
quality of education or provide bet
ter housing or improved health
services. Blacks and the poor are
still in the minority and will need
the help of both the State and Fed
eral governmentß.
The cooperative skills of the ma
jority will be needed to manipulate
the power levers, open doors and
supply technical assistance. Blacks
and concerned whites can bring
about changes by pooling their
resources and their energies.
The task is so great that all
Americans who truly seek change
for a better America of professed
ideals must join hands. All con
cerned citizens—biack, brown, red
and white—have a stake in our fu
ture and must join hands to build
an open society. Remember no
man can be free unless all men are
free.
Certainly coalitions of blacks,
other minorities and concerned
whites will help to effectuate the
much needed sbcial, economic and
political changes that are so ur
gently needed in our most decadent
society.
market. For there are very few
black manufacturers of any goods.
Such a production venture helps to
establish economic stability and
helps provide jobs and employment
opportunities as well.
The continuation of ventures such
as UDI, as well as the beginning of
many others in our cities, should
become a priority in our dying cities
of the country in order to provide
new life and hope so that people of
the decaying cities who have been
abandoned—usually the poor, mi
norities and the near poor can share
in the benefits America has to of
fer.
It is only through continued sub
sidies, coc erative sharing of tech
nical skills \nd knowhow and re
funding of projects at Federal,
State and local level can the
process of abandonment be stopped
and our cities become revitalized as
a productive force.
ET IU BRUTUS
stomach the vigilante type of
justice.
With a clear conscience before
their God—be it mundane, ethereal,
or monetary, the San Jose Jury re
turned a verdict of acquittal for
Miss Angela Davis. The real signif
icance of this verdict is that it pre
vents the "Nixon Court" from the
opportunity to again lower the Com
mon Law requirement of guilt from
the now "heavy majority" to the
will of one.
All oppressed persons and con
cerned citizens must continue to
fight, even more vigorously, the
rampant injustices that are all
around us. The acquittal of Miss
Davis, who spent 16 long months in
jail and had placed upon her an ex
orbitant bail, will give hope to
many other Americans, black and
white, who still have faith in a sys
tem of justice as distinguished from
a system of convenience.
The task ahead demands that al!
forces unite and work diligently to
further eradicate and eliminate
such injustices.
position that most of the inflationary!
pressures rise from large companies, and
it haa argued that removal of controls
from firms with fewer than 1,000 employes
(with the exception of a few critical sectors
of the economy such as health services)
would free the Pay Board and the Price
Commission staffs from much of their
routine duties so that they could
concentrate on the big. companies,
In effect, that would be a form of
selective decontrol, although on a much
larger scale than the administration has
practiced thus far.
HOW... UT mm
i cmmrrtißUTmtTHetVLK*
A PACK IN THBHOMEP&TRICTS THAT
FLOOocMeHe&mn wrests,
To Be SHB
Equal
TAXES AID INEQUALITY
Death and taxes are the two
elements of human life that
seem to be permanent. Not
much can be done about the
first, but the system of taxation
can be altered to help bring
about a more equitable society.
The way it stands now the tax
system is a considerable part of
the structure of inequality in
American life.
And that inequality could
get a lot worse if something
like the proposed "value added
tax" ever goes into effect.This
would place a tax on manu
factured products at each stage
of their development—in effect,
a national sales tax since it
would be passed on to the
customer.
This is what is known as a
regressive tax-a tax that every
body pays at the same rate.
Most of the taxes we pay are
regressive taxes in that they are
not pegged to income. Income
taxes that tax lower incomes at
lower rates and progress up the
scale to the point where higher
income people pay higher tax
rates help equalize the distribu
tion of dollars available to
families in the society. Until
our entire tax structure he
comes far more progressive
than it is, moderate-income
families will bear an excessive
burden of the costs of running
the country.
The majority of local taxes
are regressive. A state or city
with a sales tax doesn't scale
that tax to income. Everybody
pays the same five or six per
cent of the cost of the taxed
flings You Should Know
HATSMPSUT% jja
THE GREATEST FEMALE RULER OF ALL
TIME, SHE RULED FOR THIRTY THREE YEARS./
ISO YEARS BEFORE KING TUT SHE GAINED POW- JLL->
ER THRU 7 SLY INTRLGUE / OUST ING HER HALF- K
BROTHER THOTMESM. COUNTLESS PLOTS FO- \«
MENTED AGAINST HER BUT SHE VANQUISHED /H^LKEFLFLSH
ALL ENEMIES /TO FIGHT MALE PREJUDICE SHE '
MASQUERADED AS A MAN, CHANGING HER NAME
FIND DECLARING THAT SHE WAS THE SON OF 00P/
SHE REIGNED UNCHALLENGED UNTIL HER DEATH /
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item. This means that poor
people pay a much higher per
centage of their incomes in
taxes than do the rich, since a
much higher part of their
smaller incomes goes for the
purchase of essentials. The
federal social security tax is
also regressive since it is a flat
rate on the first $9,000 of in
come. So people who make
more than that don't pay the
tax on their excess income.
Then there are the loopholes.
Salaried working people can't
escape taxes their better-off
neighbors skip. Business and
professional expenses and en
tertaining are deductible. Home
owners deduct mortgage in
terest payments and property
taxes but apartment renters are
denied that escape-hatch. Al
though their landlord deducts
mortgage costs and property
taxes from his taxes, his tenants
can't deduct that part of their
rent that goes to paying those
costs.
Wealthy investors profit from
these unfair tax arrangements.
Purchasers of municipal bonds
don't pay any taxes at all on
their dividends, a situation that
cost the federal government
more than $2 billion in lost
taxes last year, money that had
to be made up in higher rates
for the rest of us. Profits from
the sale of stock are taxed at
25 percent instead of their
ordinary income tax rate, which
is often much higher. Why
should income derived from
stock speculation be treated
more favorably than income
derived from salary?
Recent figures released by
the Internal Revenue Service
reveals that many rich people
still pay less income tax than
do poor people. Some 18,000
wealthy individuals paid an
average of only four percent
of their incomes in income tax,
while more than 3,000 of them
showed a loss for tax purposes
while their tax-free income
amounted to almost S2OO
million.
And that 8 just the beginning.
We haven't even begun to look
into the vast network of sub
sidies to individuals and corpor
ations that benefit those who
need help least. While black
farm workers are driven off the
land or labor for semi-starvation
wages, wealthy farm corpora
tions reap huge sums from the
government and then, when
they mechanize, throwing farm
workers out of work, they get
tax credits for depreciation
while the poor can't even get
decent welfare allotments.
So the way the system works
is to create a welfare state for
the rich. For all the talk about
high welfare costs and social
expenditures, far more money
flows from the gaxes of poor
and moderate-income families
into the coffers of the well-off.
That'B why we are hearing
about "tax-revolts" and growing
anger among citizens who are
no longer content to pay the
same rates that rich people,
who can afford more, pay. Re
forming the tax system is a
necessary first step to reforming
our unequal society.
WASHINGTON An In
terpretation by antiwar pro
testers, some of whom pad
dled in canoes up the Potom
ac, of the significance of
two demonstrators sitting
outside the Pentagon, their
feet dangling in a lagoon:
"One of our ships has
made it into the harbor of
the Pentagon and is prepar
ing an amphibious landing."
• T AKM6 A IHH
CLOSER [|i^H
LOO 4nHI
By JOHN MYERS -,.. f
This is a column a boot
good-by. A year and a half in
the past I walked into the
office of Hie Carolina Times
to meet Louis E. Austin for
the first time. I feel we liked
each other almost immediate
ly. Each of us has part of a
desire fulfilled with out em
ployment agreement. He would
have a white man working on
his newspaper. His prediction
of years previously had come
to pass. I, had my first job
as a news reporter. Austin
showed me what a press was
like, what a deadline meant to
a paper and how.to dig up
information on a story which
no one wanted to tell. I
learned a lot from the old
man. In him I not only saw
the newsman but also patience,
fortitude, courage and a never
ending dream of accomplish
ment for his people. I also
saw his death and a hospital
bed testimony of his concern
for my safety when going into
certain neighborhoods in
search of news. I shall con
tinue to miss him.
On the staff are many peo
ple whose memories I shall
carry with me. Willie Q.
Allen, who to the end tried
to get me married and convert
me to Christianity. He suc
ceeded in neither but it,cer
tainly was not because he
didn't try. He is another
friend I shall remember.
Betty Heath's and Alice
Rogers' laughter will certain
ty enter my thoughts in the
future when I remember the
early days. Their singing will
probably also keep me comp
any at certain times in the
evenings when other things are
quiet and memories have a
chance to envelop the mind.
I shall remember Clarence
Bonnette, a man who came
from the roots of poverty and
will not stop until he reaches
the top of whatever penide
he is in search of.
Harto Fisher, Elwood
Carter, James Vaughan and
Mrs. Austin; they will all go
with me in thought over the
years. I shall miss them all.
The past 18 months were
filled with excitement, in
terest, and routine, but most
of all they contained educa
tion. I was with the Times
when the Storm Troopers were
acquitted in Hillsboro. I was
there in the following riots
and demonstrations in Chapel
Hill and Carboro. I was here at
the riot on Fayetteville Street
and again at the one at Dur
ham College.
I covered memorial dinners,
acceptakce speeches, fund
raising kick-offs. 1 learned of
people and their thoughts at
the Durham School Charette.
I saw a klansman and a black
radical working together. I
saw a nation of blacks.partici
pate in a track event at Duke,
as had never been seen in the
south east before. I learned of
community envolvement, city
and county strife, government
issues and people's problems.
One of twe most beneficial
things I learned in this past
portion of my life was a look
at the world of the black
man. I had views changed,
ideas created and discarded,
and I learned of a people too
proud to bend further to the
ground and of their determi
nation to stand straight and
(L. E. AUSTIN
Editor-Publisher. 1827-1971 I
Published every Saturday at Durham, N. C.
• by United Publishers, Inc.
MRS. VIVIAN AUSTIN EDMONDS, Publisher
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walk tall when odds were
against them. I learned a lot.
To all the friends and co
workers, to all my acquaint
ances, business contacts, the
facroty workers, bank presi
dents and men on the street,
thank you. Thank you for in
forming, instructing, teaching
and reaching out with friend
ship. I shall remember this.
This is my last column for
tThe Carolina Times. As of next
Monday I shall be with the
Sanford Herald. I wish to make
it known that I shall be there
at anytime I may be of assist
ance in anyway to anyone.
Please do not hesitate to call
on me.
It is extremely difficult to
end a column about good-by.
Does one say good luck, I'll
see you? Does he say I'll
miss you? I would like to end
this one with a poem. I hope
it will convey my thoughts
and feeling to my many
friends.
How do you say good-by
to people who have meant so
much
Do you say take care, I'll miss
you, do you say I loved >ou,
did you know
I don't think you can say
good-by; I don't think you can
express exactly how you feel
One must simply total the
years he was allowed to know
them and accept that fate
Knowing, be it two or twenty
neither is long enough.
: Situation
i •
i Is Serious
In South
WASHINGTON -The
National Education Associa
tion says that a survey of
about 10 per cent of school
districts in 11 Southern states
! showed that 24,866 students,
black, have been ex
pelled or suspended from high
school since the summer of
1970.
In addition, the NEA said,
23,881 students were involved
in school walkouts, boycotts or
demonstrations In the 256 dis
tricts surveyed, and 2,570 were
arrested as a result of inci
dents largely growing out of
racial clashes at recently de
segregated schools.
HOW TO HELP get these
displaced students back in
schoor or to help them con
tinue their education in some
othen manner is the problem
the NEA says it is trying to
work out.
The NEA said the prelimi
nary information was based
on data compiled from 256
school districts out of a
i total of 2,780 districts from
: July, 1970, to May of this year.
THE NATIONAL school
group said it made the survey
after receiving a report in
March that thousands of ques
tionable suspensions and other
actions had occurred in the
11-state area.
States in which it said some
material was gathered were
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississip
pi, North Carolina, South Car
olina, Tennessee, Texas and
Virginia.