Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Nov. 22, 1975, edition 1 / Page 2
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-. .- 2 THE CAROLINA TIMES VSAT, NOVEMBER 22.1 975 ' Are Wo Too Eager For Presfgo? black cotmtmoiis u jy- smmn excess of (ihaAt m BACH vmuiTH ti? A SfBOTKDSQa ELS It's Our Turn To Aid NAACP Our National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which has been working for 66 years to achieve first-class citizenship status for us black Americans, ' is in grave financial trouble," according to the New York Times' Charlayne Hunter whom the NAACP helped to get into the then segregated University of Georgia a decade ago. Elaine Welles of the Philadelphia Tribune reports that the NAACP has a deficit of nearly S 25 0,000, and is said to be"reaching a point where it could imperial critical programs that are the f life-Wood iof theoTganization. To put it bluntly, our NAACP is in debt, bills are going unpaid, lawyers are awaiting their fees, and the payroll for the New York national staff is in danger. In years past, the organization turned to the wealthy Joel and Arthur Spingarn who put in their own funds and raised additional monies from their friends. At other times, the NAACP called on labor, especially the United Auto Workers for financial aid; and still later it dependc heavily upon its later millionaire President Kivie Kaplan who increased the number of Life Memberships from a few hundred to more than 50,000 as weil as contributed out of his own pocket. Today, the NAACP is rightly turning for funds to us black folds whom it has aided enormously through the years. Here's a small sample of that aid: it fought lynching for 30 years, shaming Americans out of the barbarous practice; it succeeded in getting abolished white primaries in the South which for years nullified the black vote v there; it fought restrictive covenants in housing through the courts until these were outlawed and we, like everyone else, are free to live wherever our checkbooks would take us. And the NAACP, figuratively, snatched away the humiliating railroad dining car curtain that used to segregate us as if we were carriers of some deadly disease. , Its crowning achievement was the 1954 Supreme Court decision which began removing our children from the indignity of segregated schools. But still further, the NAACP worked with other organizations in ' the 1 960's to end jim crow public accommodations, as well as secure the passage of the all important "Voting Rights Act" through which the number of black elected officials has increased to more than 3,500, including 140 mayors. But the work of the NAACP. is not finished', Job .Crimination ja .-rtmnant . in government as"jwetl " as irt private industry; too many blue collary unions are keeping us out; equal opportunity is too much of a sham; and contract compliance is a sharade. Even equal opportunity in education is far from a reality. So, we have a long way to go, and only the NAACP has the capacity and the expertise to help us travel the road.. If we appreciate the past achievements of the NAACP, and if we want its assistance in the future, it's time to reach down in our pockets and come up with the money to keep the NAACP going full speed ahead. And we have the mpney. Dr. Andrew Brimmer says blacks last year earned nearly $58 billion or $58,000 million. The NAACP owes only one-fourth of a million, or $250,000, and they are saying it is in deep financial trouble. Why? We spend billions on high-powered cars, cigars and cigarettes, Scotch and bourbon whiskey, rouge, lipstick and eyeshadow, but not nearly enough toward achieving equal opportunity for ourselves. -The local branch of the NAACP is at 407 Columbia St., Durham, A. C. 27707. Take out a membership today. They start as low as $4. And further, our president, Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett, urges you to get with your local NAACP branch and push a membership drive or fund- raising effort. 7, hMacta ' m$1P&& : Black Press Deserves OicehfGhnml Recognition Unforgettable Moments At NCCU The spontaneous standing ovation given North Carolina Central University's Touring and Concert Choirs under the direction of Charles H. Gilchrist during President Ford's visit to the campus on November 14 will remain an unforgetable moment for the 5,000 or more persons in the McDougald Gymnasium. This great and unusual choir which has appeared nationally received the audience's ovation with the aplomb and graciousness ,that have characterized them through the years, both at home and during their travels. The emotionally charged Spiritual, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand," along with the narration by choir member Phillip Simmons of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's "1 Have a Dream" touched the heart of everyone within the sound of his voice, including the 3,000 or more persons listening on the outside. Gilchrist was personally saluted by President Ford upon the excellent performance by the choir as well as himself. Gilchrist, a Baritone, and the arranger of that particular song, also sang a solo part, while student leader, Mrs. Lois Wortham directed the group. The college community and Durham salutes these fine young people as well as their director, Charles H. Gilchrist, for their most excellent performance and the spirit of goodwill that was engendered by them during President Ford's address and visit on North Carolina Central University's campus. I talk about the Black JPress a lot because I think about it a lot, believe it to be an invaluable tool in these troubled timet for the dissemination . of information, presentation of positive images and thus an indispensable weapon in our continuing fight for freedom, justice and equality in this country. . . - . -j 'f My views, of course, are colored by lifelong experience with and love for the Black Press. la my hometown, Memphis, Tennessee, I sold the oM Memphis World as a boy. . The Memphis World was a subsidiary of the Scott family's prestigious Atlanta World, the third black daily newspaper iii the U. S. and the first black paper to establish branch newspapers in various communities in the South. The Atlanta World is still published today and enjoys a respected standing in that burgeoning community. One can quickly forget that in the days when I was selling black newspapers, white daily newspapers did not carry black news except that which degraded, humiliated or presented the grainy texture of black life murders, rapes, robberies, arrests, family strife.etc. These usually were printed on the front pages under bold headlines and caption. 1 A "Colored Notes" column or a 4 Colored Page' which carried brief items validating respectful black life: marriages, deaths, births church logdge, PTA, fraternal and sorority meetings were located in the back of such newspapers, buried among the want ad sections, under the byline of a "safe", .carefully selected ,black.., ..- fi r:f. -. The not cry of "Freedom of the Press." by the Fourth Estate, oddly was but a whimper in early colonial history of the U. S. Early newspapers received their authority to publish from the Crown and were obliged to carry mis statement in front-page logo. Editors and publishers were tried ncoha FCC CoHihuiot I " i V 1 ii and summarily tossed in jail for criticizing in print the King or local authority representing the King. It was not until the trial of 1735 of John Peter Zenger, a Philadelphia printer of Indifferent skills, that freedom of press became a true reality. Zenger, of German descent, was vindicated in that historic trial of publishing a libelous articles against the Crown. An old, 88-year-old Philadelphia lawyer, Andrew Hamilton (no kin of Alexander's) successfully defended him. He declared that truth was on trial as well as the cause of liberty and the right of all men to be free. . But freeing the press to be free has not meant that ftheinationV white , press , would be a responsible press, as well The truth' of existing social conditions the lynching of blacks, the shameful enslavement of human beings, by others,, the grandfather clauses disfranchising the blacks of the vote, restrictive covenants In real estate sales, fair employment, segregation in the armed forces and in schools - did not move the white press to action, or protests, in any meaningful way. These were the concerns and the Black Press was left to deal with them. In a speech, John H. Johnson, president of Johnson Publishing Company, addressed the Sigma Delta Chi Journalistic honor society in Washington, D. C, and touched on this subject: "We must look back at an American press which out of apathy or fear or both - failed for so long to man the ramparts when freedom was being denied to millions of Americans who happened to be black or red or brown He said there is a tendency in American, to put the rights of blacks and the rights of whites into separate compartments. "There is crime and there is black crime. There is poverty and then there is black poverty. There is morality, and then there is black morality. And these phenomena are frequently interpreted in different lights." Because of its many contributions to America,, including a century-and-a-haif struggle to hold aloft the torch of journalistic truth and freedom, the Black Press should have an honored place on the rostrum of the upcoming Bicentennial celebration. But more of this next week. (NNPA) IT'S OUR TURN TO AID NAACP A Setback For The United Nations When the UN General Assembly passed the resolution declaring that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination," I thought back to the historic day lu 1936 that Haile Selassie went before the old League of Nations to ask for help in saving Ethiopia from Italian invasion. The League of Nations refused to stand up to protect the integrity of small countries then. It rejected Ethiopia's plea and thus sealed its own death warrant, for it became irrelevant, a pawn in the hands of the Axis powers out to dominate the world. I fear that by passing this obscene resolution the UN may be taking the same path of weakening its own integrity and becoming irrelevant to a World in need of international leadership and reconciliation. ' Smearing the "racist" label on Zionism is an insult to intelligence. Black people, who recognize the code Words since Wire been victimized by . code words like"forced bJdng," "law and order,' and others, can51 easily. meil out the fact that "Zionism" in this context is a code word foi anti-Semitism. ' v.- Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, a movement that overthrew British colonialism and arriculates the national aspirations of the Jewish people. Its drive for national independence was one of the hlOliTor'Afrtoan independence movements. Is the General Assembly majority saying that national self-determination is for everyone except Jews? ' Proponents of the resolution insisted on defining racism as not only color discrimination but also ethnic and national origin discrimination. By that standard most of the states voting to condemn Zionism are themselves racist. The Arab states that rammed the resolution through are among the countries most guilty of TO BE EQUAL By VERNON E. JORDAN, JR. Executive Director National Urban League discrimination. Many are guilty of persecuting . .. their , own ninprities, be they -Copts, Kurds, or Jews. In fact, most Israeli Jews are dark-skinned people who fled oppression in Arab lands and the handful that remain there are forced into grim ghettos where they are ruled by terror. In the Sudan, blacks were victimized by northern Arabs who killed many in a brutal civil war. Elsewhere black Africans face discrimination in Arab states, despite propoganda to the contrary. And the odd partners that made up the General Assembly majority included the Soviet bloc led by a Russia that persistently discriminates along ethnic lines, and countries like Brazil, a brutal military dictatorship currently engaged in destroying Amazon Indian communities. The common denominator seems to be a cynical hypocrisy that is morally offensive. Perhaps the biggest reason for many states' vote was fear of Arab oil power and also the promise of aid from the oil-rich Arabs. While many African countries stood firm against these pressures, others succumbed. From the African viewpoint, that was a mistake. Earlier Arab promises of aid have been broken and I suspect new ones will too. More important, the struggle against racism is crucial and by turning the definition of racism upside down and diluting it with lies the real struggle becomes severely compromised. It is also in the interest of smaller nations that the UN remain a viable force in the world. To the degree that this evil resolution harms the UN's credibility and reduces its influence, the cause of the smaller, less developed nations is harmed too. Because of ".the '-Gmiia cnances lor, peace in -jmiXmlW for the resolution calu'in to question IsraePa very existence, something that must be non-negotiable. There is plenty of room for differing opinions about a just solution for the Mideast crisis and for the Palestinians' just demands for self-determination, but no one in his right mind can - or ought to - expect Israel's Jews to throw away their hard-won independence and statehood. November 10, then, is a day that will live in infamy, a day that saw the evil of anti-Semitism raise its ugly flag in the very body most of the world's people look to for leadership and for righteous pursuit of justice. A Great Civil Libertarian Justice William O. Douglas, who has been the champion of civil liberties during his 36 years on the Supreme Court of the United States, resigned November 13, due to poor health. His resignation will give President Ford the reponsibility of selecting a replacement. It is expected that the president will take this opportunity to select an individual that reflects his conservative views. Justice Douglas was the mainstay of the liberal majority, which under Chief Justice Earl Warren, esiablishedan activist tradition of constitutional interpretation of the, law. Legacies of the activist tradition of constitutional interpretation of law led by the liberal majority, including Justice Douglas, have been the expansion of the rights of criminal defendants, reapportionment of state legislatures and the end of racial discrimination by law and to a major extent, in fact. These rights have included the sex discrimination laws, voting rights laws, public accommodation laws, discrimination in employment, discrimination in education and in public welfare and improvement in criminal justice system which includes the right of legal counsel to those who could not financially afford legal representation. Among the greatest beneficiaries of these rights have been the poor, minorities, especially Blacks, anid women. We hope that this trend of activist liberalism will not be turned back as the" Supreme Court replacement is made; especially in this Bicentennial year as we celebrate this great year of .freedom, liberty, and equal justice; and as we remain loyal to the purposes for which our nation was founded. American Education Week lings You Should Knov; American Education Week, sponsored by the National Education Association, (NEA), American Legion, The National Congress of Parents and Teachers and the U. S. Office of Education is being observed during the week of November 17-22. Its theme is "Our Future Is in Our Schools." This week has been observed annually since 1921 and special efforts are usually made by all school systems to make the public aware of the special event. While most Americans continue to debate the important role of schools, others at both levels, parents and teachers, have, attacked the institution of schools with hysteric voices against busing, with strikes and boycotts and against book use types. This week certainly should call upon administrators, teachers, parents and interested citizens to recommit themselves to making America's schools better with the purpose of making the best education possible for children and youth. One important method would be for all individuals to really learn more about our schools in each community and area' as a basis for active and continued personal involvement. There is no substitute for personal involvement by visitation to schools and even in classrooms to gather first hand knowledge. Most teachers and administrators welcome this for they know that is how school bonds can be passed by the citizenry. For after all, children and youth are our most precious resources and they will continue to need the educational development, growth, and financial help through school bond passage and governmental assistance if they are to become the informed and intellectual leaders of tomorrow. Our precious value of individual liberty will never be jeopardized as long as the channels of education are free and the lights are still burning in our schools. KING PREMPEH o. 1931 One OP AFRICA'S RICHEST MONARCHS,HE HAD 3,33$ WIVES AND A GOLDEN THRONE I HIS ATTEND ANTS WORE JEWELS AND RARE SILKS! TOR TWO, HUNDRED VEARS.HIS PEO- ; . RLE DOMINATED THEIR GOLD COAST NEIGHBORS AND COLLECTED HEAVY TAXES MOM THE BRITISH ANOTHIOUTCHl CMTAttotMt Aft
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Nov. 22, 1975, edition 1
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