4 - THE CAROLINA TIMES SAT., MARCH 28,1977
Bhcks Destiny h Own Hands . . .
iu uu ujju . , By vEr.::o:i E. JORDAII
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...... . - - EXECUTIVE DimTO,
wnitney Young's Unfulfilled iGgacyr-
ROLL UP VOUR SLEBVHS
SLACK AmCA
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An Unusual University President
Dr. Ralph W. E. Jones, president of
Grambling State University for over 50
years, is taking on his final baseball
campaign as coach and tutor of the
famed G-Men. , . , , r.
As a source of motivation and
determination for the diamond sport
at Grambling University, Jones has
maintained a high level of performance
with his exceptional qualities. His
coaching tenure is believed to be the -longest
in college baseball history.
- Tutoring the baseball team as an
avocation, while serving as the uni
versity president, is most unusual. It is
pelievea he is theionl coaching presi
dent in the Umted!States, , '
for him, it was a labor of love.
The record speaks for itself. Since
World War II, teams coached by the
amicable president have won 797 games
and lost only 202. He has been a marval
of consistency, averaging 25.7 victories
per season during the 31 years span.
Early , records were destroyed by fire,
but reports say they were equally in.
pressive.
Over the years his presence always
added an intangible quality. He learned
from the ground up to live with adver-1
sity, to appreciate the gifted players;
who had talent and to understand and ,
Setting An Example
Theold adage that remjnds one to
do as I say do, not as I"$" was'fe;
versed or set back recenttyby 'bur"
national Administration. ,
For years, the Byrd Amendment
had permitted an important substance;'
chrome, to be shipped into this country
from Rhodesia often by devious means
and thereby benefitting big business
ventures. '
:' The government of Rhodesian
Prime Minister, Ian D, Smith, has had
eleven years of experience in eluding
trade sanctions, often diverting exports
to third parties who would then resell
the commodities to countries only no
minally observing sanctions. Generally
speaking, one might cite China, North
Korea, Soviet Union and possibly
others who' received the illegal chrome.
The .publication of the memoirs of
the late Chief Justice.' Earl Warren of
the U. S. Supreme Court will picture
"Dwight D, Eisenhower, late president,
as privately lobbying against desegrega
tion, even though he used United States
troops to enforce the law later in Little
Rock, Arkansas.
- The lack of positive top leadership v
during the years of unrest from 1954r
1960 allowed many subterfuges, delays,
obstructions and defiances to take root
and grow all across the nation.
The fruits of Eishenhower's actions
have been witnessed many times in ob
serving the school problems in the
1970's. Just witness the problems of
school districts in Boston, Louisville,
Detroit and even locally in oiir area.
Purham City and County Boards
hw, ii ist hefn rrp$sA from the juris ;
Important Memoirs
!v or
WILHJHS
emphathize with the unfortunate ones
who did not have such talents. Equally
important, negative factors were never
tolerated. He was known as a coach
with kindness, one who handled his
men with kid gloves, showed com
passion and also exhibited toughness.
His inspirational force sent Ezell
King, Tommie Agee, Ralph Garr,
Johnnie Jeter, Cleon Jones - and
Matthew Alexander to the major
leagues.
Garr, a star Chicago White Sox out
fielder, has batted the ball consistently
throughout his big league career. He
won- the National League batting title
in 1974 while playing with the Atlanta
Braves. Agee and Jones , sparkled in
World Series and All-Star, games for the
New York Mets before retiring. Alexan
der is now getting further opportunity
with the changing Oakland roster. King
performed briefly with Baltimore in the
early 1960's. ;
Dr. Jones has Won numerous
honors from the American Association"
of College Baseball Coaches and the
National Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics.
Yes, Dr. Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones
is an unusual university president. He de
serves to be saluted.
With the repeal of the Byrd Amend
" ment, the broader new U. S. diplomapy
. initiative will have an effect on the
white minority rule regime. There will
be limits set on the minority rule and t
such actions by the U., S. will,' in a
broader sense, uphold black majority
rule as the U. S; obeys the sanctions.
We must remember that there will
always be some countries which will
buy the product regardless of sanctions.
But it gives many Americans a lift
to find that we are no longer among
those who disregard sanctions while
urging other nations to obey them.
This "beating down" of powerful
business lobbyists by the new adminis
tration in favor of respect for such
sanctions can and will move the U7S.
ahead in its quest for human rights for
all people.
diction of the Federal Courts for the
first time in nearly two decades.
The conditions of our city and
county schools still bear the imprints
of the Eisenhower legacy. .
The goodwill of all the citizenry in
working with the schools, both city and
county, to improve the educational
programs through innovative methods
and genuine concern for the growth
and development of each child is
' needed now more than ever.
Positive leadership at all levels, in
cluding the home, school and the
community, and at governmental
areanas has become a necessity.
- As we seek to work and develop the
total child for his or her potential, per-
haps then the legacy of the Eisenhower
years will also pass away. .
It has been six years since Whitney Young's
death deprived our nation of one of its most
creative and forceful leaders, and the passing of
time has not dimmed his stature. Rather, it has
enhanced it as we see how right he was about "
America's need to change, and how the specific
measures he fought for are still needed: .
Most prominent in Whitney Young's unful
filled legacy is his concept of a Domestic MaH
shall Plan to rebuild the cities. His idea was that a
broad coalition of the public and private sectors
should concentrate national resources on inner
city problems worsened by racial discrimination. '..
He was the first person to put forth that
idea, and while many others have followed -using
his phrase and concept - the task is still to
be done. In fact, the opposite policy was. follow
ed - a program of federal and private sector dis
investment in urban areas, a massive redlining of
the nation's cities.
The pressing financial, needs of older cities
are bound to get worse unless Congress revises
the 1974 Housing and Community Development
V- Act. Despite its name, the law set up a formula
for federal aid to urban areas that means de
creasing amounts of vmoney will go to the cities
tEat need it most, while small owns and subur-
Benjamin 1. lloohs
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The woman was lightskinned, nearing middle
age. Her handsome face smooth but taut. Dark
eyes flashed. "My family," she said emotionally
voice slightly quivering, "always' asked me : Why
. do you want to know about your black ances
tors? Now ... your white ancestors . . . They
were important. They were British, French, Irish
..." Her voice broke off, white teeth dug ner-.
vously into bottom lip. .
"What I'm trying to say is my family dis
couraged us from trying to learn anything about
our African heritage. They were ashamed of it."
And so she became ashamed too, without quite
knowing why.
She made the statement to a group of people
attending the Museum of African Art's Ethnic
Heritage month affair in Washington, D. C, in
the shadow of the dome on Capitol Hill. The
affair was entitled "The Impact of "Roots an Inter-racial
Diologue on t Alex Haley's Milestone
BbbJu'V-t Another indication of how Haley's
Roots is generating thought among and giving
pause to a wide spectrum of folk.
Moderator was George Haley, Alex's
younger brother, who is general counsel, United
States. Information Agency. Also on the panel
was the Hornorable H. W. Philip Palmer, Am
bassador, Embassy, Sierra Leone, Africa, a portly
gentleman with a refined Oxford ian accent.
I will not reveal the lady's name. It would be
pointless and perhaps add to her embarrassment.
Suffice it to say that her shame is that of many
black people's in this country - perhaps a
, majority who were raised to view our African
LETTER TO THE EDITOR I Reader's Digest to Ropoat
veterans who have been out of
the military service for :en
years or more are not eligible
for the additional benefits.
The Veterans Administra
tion estimates thai 6.1 million
veterans are currently elij ble
for G I Bill benef ts, includin
including 3. 8 million who
have used part of their e'i
gibility and 2. 3 million who
have not taken advantage of it
at all .
We are particularly
anxious, howevei, to reach the
half-million men and women
who used the maximum 36
months of eligibility to which
they were entitled prior to en- i
, actment of the new legislation.
.They may now hi entitled to
an additcnal nine months of
educational benefits.
- We urge all veterans eli
gible under the criteria out
lined .above to contact the
Veterans Administration for
further details c 1 this new en
' titlenient.
Sincerely yours,
M. W. Johnson .Direct or
Pear Editor:
Many fornix servicemen
and WO.-.10.C among your read -l
ers nay be eligible for aJdi-
tional educate nal entitlement
1 because of a recent revision in
the GI Bill.
' The new law provides nine
additional ' months of GI Bill
eligibility to most veterans
who were originally entitled to
36 months of VA educational
assistant .
Because these, benefits
" are subject to an expiration
date, the Veterans Administn:
tion is making every effort to,
insure that all eligible veteran
'are aware of them. Your
assistance in alerting those who
may be affected wfll be appre
ciated. The new legislation does
not change that portion of the
law requiring that)? a veteran
must use his GI Jtll benefits
within ven years of his dis
charge from service. Therefore,
WILLIAMS
1858-1931
BORN IN HOLUDAYSBURG, PA.,HE
. MOVED TO JANESVILl,WSCONSIN.HIS FATHER
DIED LEAVING A LARGE FAMILY IN POVERTY.
WILLIAMS ENTERED MEDICAL SCHOOL AT NORTH
WESTERN UNIV. HC GRADUATED IN 1883. BUT
STAYED THERE AS AN ANATOMY INSTRUCTOR
M 1891 HE FOUNDED PROVIDENT HOSPITAL IN
. CHICAGOWLPINO TO SET UPTHE FIRST TRAIN-
INO SCHOOL FOR NEGRO NURSES LATER, PRESBENf
, GRQVER CLEVELAND APPOINTED HIM TO HEAD . -:
fRECPMANfr HOSPITAL IN WASHINGTON, D C.
ban communities in relatively ' good financial
shape will get more. , ------ -
, ' This amounts to a huge transfer of tax
funds from the cities to their suburbs, precisely
' reversing the priorities rational policy demands."
j ? But, that's not all - not only do the funds
move more heavily to areas where they aren't
needed as much, but those that do go to the cites
are often misused. Urban areas get their aid on a
complex formula that is supposed to ensure
funds for cities characterized by older housing,
overcrowding, and poverty pockets, but evidence
indicates most such cities put the money into
middle income sections.
A key part of Whitney Young's program was
open, housing. He was one of the key -figures in
getting a federal fair housing law passed, but that
law has not been enforced. WhUe many subur
ban communities have erected discriminatory
barriers in the guise of neutral zoning laws -supported
.by the courts - the government has
not tried to break the practice through law
suits and through aid cutoffs.
Another important aspect of Young's work
was affirmative action - trying to get employees
to hire black workers at all job levels. Here too,
in spite of some progress, there's been little more
The Impact of "Roots"
heritage with disdain or shame.
Our shame took; many forms, one of the
most blatant was (and in some circles sadly still
exists) our placing high on the socially desirable
ladder folk with light skin. "If you're light, you
are all right; if you're brown stick around, if
you're black, get back," was the old saying
spoken with mirthful rancor.
As if skin color in any race is an indication
of an individual's intrinsic worth. We blacks
struggle against that . noxious notion in white
.thinking, then turn around and clutch that
hideous monster to our own breast s.
Our shame over our African ancestry came
about naturally enough. How could we, be any
thing if Africa allowed us, to be forced into
slavery? The blame, thus shifted, it was easy to
ignore the corollary question"Why did we
cooperate in our own debasement?"
The two questions are not fair:. 1., Slavery
did not begin in 1619 with" the; .arrival bf Afri
cans to this country in chains. Centuries' before,
there was white on white slavery, cruel and de
humanizing as was black on black slavery later in
Africa introduced by warring religious and tri
bal sects. As to our cooperation with slavery here
in America, there are accounts too numerous to
relate here of our refusal even in our powerless
position to cooperate with that evil.
Our shame over our African ancestry was
nurtured by Tarzan of the Apex; by Jungle Jim
by the National Geographic's explicit pictures of
grinning, dancing, naked, striped-with-paint
blacks with bones in their noses or lips or ears
In an unprecedented pub-"
lishing action, The Reader's
Digest will re-issue its two
condensations of Alex
Haley's record-breaking book,
"Roots." The two condensa
tions from the book, . which
appeared originally in The
Digest's May and June, 1974
issues, will be published again
as a bonus to readers in the up
coming April , and May issues;'
Along with the second
installment,' to be published,
in its May issue, The Digest
will carry an exclusive, article
by Haley, titled "What Roots
Means to Me." In his four page
article, Haley discusses the re
action to his book and the TV
series: the thousands of in
quiries from people, . black
and white, seeking clues to
their own backgrounds. "Per
sonally," he writes, "I have
gotten thousands upon thou
sands of letters in which people
fSS. WA
than half-hearted results, with government agen-.
:. cies : themselves ' numbered among the worst
offenders."" ' '
. . The recession just about halted affirmative
action programs in their tracks, and the continu
ing glum job picture offers little hope for imme
diate change., But this is one issue black people
- , won't let die, and the Carter Administration
ought to, revitalize' "compliance programs and
stamp out job discrimination.
Another major federal "priority has to be .
reforming the welfare system, prefereably along
the lines of a minimum income guarantee as
. espoused by Whitney Young. He came out for
such a step long before it was fashionable, nd
now even conservative economists are backing a
. negative income tax or a similar device that
would guarantee a basic minimum level below
which no' . family would be allowed to fall.
The years since Whitney Young's death have
been marked by retrogression and intense hard
ship for blacks, other minorities and the poor.
But his legacy is intact, and it would be wise for
the Carter Administration to compile a check
list of Whitney Young's unfulfilled visions as the
basis for a - sound program that will make
America a land of social justice.
FCC
Commissioner
' and women, naked breasts shamelessly suckling
their young in public1.1'
It was reinforced by all the symbols and
icons around us: in -radio and TV commercials.
In newspapers how the story was treated; in
magazines - who the ads were geared to. Until
the mid-sixties, ' most commercial advertising
ignored the fact blacks used soap, or deodorant,
or coffee, -or kitty litter, or bought cars or
clothes or light bulbs or chewing gum.
Our shame (or self hatred) yet manifests
itself in debilitating black on black crime, that
seems to be intensifying rather than abating.
Our struggle - the black struggle - must be
, gin to zero in on this madness. Without discount
ing white racism, "we must not begin to assert
positive images of ourselves. The conveniently
accessible and weak scapegoat brother and sister
$ nextaloQry qre merely, wrenching reflections of
Television, which did much'tflr chronicle and
thus further the Civil Rights Movement in the
1960s and early 1970 may strangely point the
way today for us. Although our shame seems
palpable, choking, a suffocating thick swirling
gray mass of dust without outline, visibility is
getting better and much credit must be given
mass education and television. Look what it
did with one dramatic showing of the program
Roots!
For one thing, I simply can't seem to stop
writing about it.
Next week: Roots and the Black Church.
Condensations of "RoQfs"
pour out their hearts to me,
with one recurring poignant
line: Help Me Find Out Who
I Am!" .-A. ,.
"In all of ,us," he says,
"black, brown, white, there is
a desire to make this symbolic
journey back to the touch
stone of our family "
Surprisingly,, . Haley says
thatabout. 90 er cent of his
mail is from .whites. "The
pattern is for the.writers to tell
me that (1) they are white; (2)
Roots caused them ;to realize
they had never understood the
black condition; (3) the book
started them thinking about
their own family," '
Noting that the book took
hunf J 2 years to do, Haley says
his" ' publication came "at a
time of a convergence of social
assuagements, and a healing
political climate. People are
starting to find each other,"
he writes, "and this is where
for me, the meaning of Roots
lies."
In his Digest article, Haley
notes: "In my Jong and troubl
, ed journeys to complete Roots,
1 own an undying debt to The
Reader's Digest. Without its
help and encouragement Roots
could not have been written
with the scope that it has. The
magazine's support enabled me
to make repeated trips to
Europe and Africa. Without it,
1 could not have affored the
traveling, and consequently,
explored by roots."
The Reader's Digest be
came involved in , Haley's
project when he brought Digest
!."; ;:L i-:. Austin
m-Wot Publisher; 1927-1971
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