Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / April 2, 1977, edition 1 / Page 4
Part of The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
clack pu:: sw AKDPOimciAiis nxzsfussx&m it is c::iy wzovsh fiS&J-J uc;$rXt::DP0UTicALwirrTiw m;:xom?$imcmiA&iSTO . HOVEVPTHWCHSOaSTY. - Q A jtH Weir V W I .. .. Ug?- IVe Cannot Afford Dropouts The alanningly high rate of drop outs in the public schools or our city (and nation) calls for drastic measures if a trend is to be reversed. Just as industry retools to meet changing conditions and needs, so must our schools. Public school administrators and faculties need to get to work designing and providing courses to prepare itu- -dents for roles in tomorrow's occupa- , tions, as?well as;to assume their.places as;:consurnen;and future parents. 5tu dent input could be extremely valuable if the adults concerned would so some active listening and not be so ready to theorize negatively oh new idea&Many, ; ; good things are now going on in our schools, but the increasing dropout rate signals that some other things going on : are not good enough. ;, Projected trends indicate j that A Heeded A reprimand or the official and public censure this week of. the five Durham policemen for their admitted; actions against a prisoner is due them. Brutality by police officers has long been a blight on most communities and . any number of alleged suspects have, raised the issue. ' ' , - ' Excessive emotional vbehavior; by any policeman toward a suspect or pri soner should "not be excused. ' ' : It was revealed during thelxourt testimony that certain policemen had become so emotionally charged ijthat they were unable to function properly. However," the fact that they claimed the were responding t to a v fellow THE By Dr. t 1 ""j :;v:;.. .. , : J: WILL ROBOTS REPLACE PEOPLE? By 1980 the Bell Tele phone system anticipates the installation of a new computer control electronic switching system, to automatically enter billing Mormation. Coupled 'with remote telephone trunk arrangements for automated long distance coin telephones, it will reduce the need for 4300 operators at a net annual company saving of ' $530 mQlion. There it a mechanical robot, capable of moving its arms In three directions; tight ening a screw, and generally assembly line work. The cost it $25,000. It comes to work on . tjma and takes no coffee breaks.'. A computerized ' self ticketing robot machine has been installed ' in major ; air ports. . It dispenses passenger, tickets after credit card inser tion; and obeys instructions either typed by the traveler on the machine's video screen, or by telephonic request. Tickets are processed in ; about 60 seconds. -''"", A GUARANTEED JOB In Japan, an' einployee once hired is guaranteed a life time job. Similar employment protection is assured New York and New Jersey longshoremen. Their union contract guaran tees compensation for 2,080 hours of work per year, until reaching retirement age. The Ford automobile . labor contract of 1976 Intro duced the four day work week. The United Automobile SUBURBIA TWIJ IrUTnw nearly ; one-third of this year's freshmen will not finish high school Of those who do finish and go on to a four year college or university, only four out of ten will graduate. During this same period, many adults will be thrown out J of work because they have not kept pace with changing technology and other reasons. - , Education, management arid labor must come to grips with the problem. Through cooperative efforts, . more ; afld maybe different Hnmiai oppbr. tunities can help reverse' trie increase in dropouts and unemployed; Such efforts could not only give a boost to the total economy but also help to increase the new pitifully meagre per capita income in our state. We can no longer afford to waste the untouched talents of many of our youth,. At Reprimand , officer's death at' the hands of the pri soner did not give them license to take things into their own hands and inflict their emotional assaults upon the re- ' strained prisoner. Two 'wrongsT do not make a 'right'. Further, it sets an ex-, tremely bad example for the public, which by law, policemen are expected , to serve. We hope that the public reprimands and censures will serve as a deterrent to similar actions by the policemen in the future. ; We believe that policemen should f, be respected and supported by the public, but they, too, should - and can - earn that respect. rv (T)) THE Q.E.A. Toote Workers three year contract provides 12 paid days off in addition to normal , holiday leave.'"',; ..v.; the United Steel Workers will propose for this yearscon tract a life time employment guarantee at full pay. UNEMPLOYMENT COST: The right to work can no longer remain subject to cor porate or governmental capri ciousness. Much of the cause of the fiscal crisis facing federal state and city budgets is the high cost of sustaining the ; unemployed through welfare program funding or unemploy ment benefits. World War II was the first time our- nation achieved full employment. The automated industrial plant of tomorrow, will have people jobs per ToDod Hnamiinpiu toy Affirmative Action Ruling Dug Sometime this year the Supreme Court will , - hear a case of crucial importance to blacks and ' ' other minorities. It's the old reverse discrimina- j ; tion" vs. affirmative action argument, and the . Court's ruling will have a major influence on uni- versity admission and employment policies. - The issue came before the Court two years ''' ago. in the De Funis case, but the Court ducked ' it, refusing to give a definitive ruling. .-. Now it's back; with a white California, Allan Bakke, suing the University of California at Davis for twice turning down his application for medi cal school reserving " 16 out of its 100 open ings for disadvantaged applicants.' ' The University says it has over 3,000 people applying for admission, and reserves those 16 slots to help integrate the school and the pro fession, and to fulfill the compelling need for more minority doctors. Nationally, only about two per cent of all doctors are black, a situation that is clearly the , result of racial and economic discrimination. As a result, black - and other minority - communi ties suffer denial of medical services and equal access to medical care, as well as being deprived ' of role models, civic leadership, and sympathetic ' professional assistance. And the University isn't just taking anyone for those reserved slots; the students are all quali Conorossaan :i!iuiiciJ!iiiiiiuiiiiiHinimiiii!iiinmu!uiiuiiuiim:uu DlacEt America received another shock to its al ready reeling domestic crisis recently in the shape of the Hanafi Moslem physical take-over of three major Washington, D. C. institutional structures. The take-over also included some 130 hostages. . . The situation was grim and charged with the tensions of the unknown. One person lost his life. Some others were physically brutalized. Fortunately the tragedy ended with the surrender of the hostages by the Hanafi Moslems, due to the leadership effected by three Moslem Ambassadors, District Government leaders, and law enforcement officials. ? y A fairly happy ending to a story which was fraught with the potential for great; violences Now that its qver though, most of us will re i am to business as usual. ; ; . y. rf.,'4.t-J., , -T But dut of the depths pfthaf human dramaf the real drama never strfaced because some of us have become toe insensitive and immune to its workings. .. J."-1 'S - What I'm talking about are the conditions in ... this nation that are the actual root causes for the ,; . . . (" - .' Cenjomin t. fJoofis liiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiM Too Uuch Time On The Playing like a broken record, in speech, sermon, writings, private chats, press interviews - what ever I have continually harped on this theme: Black youngsters spend too much time striving to be star singers, entertainers, and super athle tes, and not enough time in study, trying to acquire knowledge. Some folk nave got mad at me when I said this, and when I chastise TV and radio for seek ing out the star singer entertainer, super-stud 1lur1Ht formed by. machines of compu ters. There are more people seeking work that there are jobs. There are more people entering the labor market than leaving it? ;. ' We have turned off the senior citizens i thoughts of early retirement, by the shabby way we force them to live on a fixed income, and preclude their working to supplement their retirement benefits. Even marriage to another social security beneficiary is at the cost of loss of fixed income. . EXECUTIVE ROBOT " The office of the President and the control of Congress rests with one party There can be no excuse . for lack of cooperation between the Exe- cutive, ', ; Administrative and Congressional branches ' ' of government.;, -'. - My suggestion is that if Congress and the President failv to act with deliberate speed, to , assure employment for all, then the American people , should replace them with robots who know how to think and follow instructions. 3 AMEN 3 fied. While they may have somewhat lower test s scores than the white applicants, for the majority 84 entrance slots, such scores often reflect cul- ' tural bias and aren't accurate predictors of later , - sUccessr;ii":';S7:T ;:y " : In choosing to give added weight to an appli- cant's disadvantaged background,' schools and employers recognize personal attributes not re- ' fleeted in test scores that suggest professional , success. For a poor black or Chicano to get to a certain level indicates he's got ability, drive and perse rverance. So a little extra boost to help him compete with advantage persons for such scarce goods as professional school admission makes sense. , , -c - . ' lt ,,, That's the principle too. behind such pre ferential treatment as yeterans points on civil service exams, and. all institutions have long histories of special favored treatment for alumni, friends, and others, as well as long histories of outright negative discrimination against blacks and other minorities. f; ; . It is hypocritical for society to finally ack nowledge that-past discrimination was uncon stitutional and then refuse to take adequate steps to remedy the effects of that discrimina tion through reasonable positive racial considera tions on the grounds that would be "reverse discrimination." llaivfibs' CoIcdd Misfortunes Still desperate acts that blacks are sometimes forced to commit in order to survive. The Hanafi Moslems are black; and as all blacks jn this society, they too are constantly searching for ways in which their continual deprivations can be addressed and resolved. These deprivations usually come in the form of discriminatory actions by the majority society, designed to keep blacks at the lowest end of the spectrum in all things concerning the social order. If you want tragic recounting of what these things are, read the just released National Urban League's publication, "The State of Black America 1977". t In the report you 11 find that there's a crime being perpetuated against black America - and t no one's going to jail for jtf : J; 7:; r . '. ; In brief the NjUL f epbrt fayi: ? "In the context of the recent past no year has been more destructive to the progress of Blacks that 1975. The facts spoke for themselves. The growing income gap between black and white, the de- athlete to discuss weighty matters of state and country while ignoring blacks more qualified to . address these subjects - doctors, lawyers, socio logists, economists, teachers, etc. This is not elitism but awareness of what this is doing to us. I would be the first to applaud the super athlete and star singer or attaining their elevated status. I, for one, also enjoy their pen formances. But 1 think things should be kept fat perspective. ;-v I believe that our, youngsters are spending entirely too much time trying to become star basketball, football, baseball players; or singers and dancers and entertainers, to the detriment of acquiring knowledge, a must in this complex world. . ;, , , , " . . Now comes strong support for this position in the person of none other than Arthur Ashe, the super star professional tennis player, who happens to be black. ' . In a recent column that appeared in the New York Tunes, Ashe, Wimbledon and Forest Hills title champion who is a native of Richmond, Va., says: - - "Since my sophomore year at the University of California, Los Angeles, I have become con vinced that we blacks spend too much time on the playing fields and too . little time in the libraries." ; Begging us to listen further, Ashe says "I don't have children, but I can make observa tions. -I strongly believe the black culture ex pends too much time, energy and effort raising and praising and teasing our black children as to the dubious glories of professional sport. v "ADchildren need models to emulate -parents, relatives or friends. But when the child starts school, the influence of the parent is shared by teachers and classmates, by the lure of 1 books, movies, ministers and newspapers, but most of all by television. 1 . .. .. "Which televised events have; the greatest viewers? - Sports - The Olympics, Super Bowl, Masters, World Series', pro basketball play-offs, Forest Hills ." . . So your child gets a massive dose of 0. J. p Simpson,' Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad All, Reggie Jackson, Dr. J. and Lee Elder and other pro athletes (including Ashe). And it is only natural that your child will dream of being a pro athlete himself.". . (. Well, the child also gets huge doses of enter tainment - singing; dancing, acting. He identifies ; with the outstanding performers of this medium, as wen. But not everybody can be a star singer or dancer or entertainer or actor-actress. Everybody ' can't be a Walt Frazier, Elvin Hayes, a Jim Brown or a Sugar Ray Leonard. Nor can they be a member of the The Jacksons, Archie Bell and the Drells or be a Billy Davis or Marilyn McCoo, an -V ' t vc:::i l ran EXECUTIVE PIXECTCX, HATIOiM U1IAH LEAGUE I The outlook , is troubling. Lower courts - ruled in Bakke's favor, saying that the program's goals and classifying applicants by race are Tin-" constitutional, but that the University's system1 of racial preference violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution. ..'. - " And there is suspicion that the University '. wouldn't mind losing the case. It's not the strongest example of affirmative action that might have come up, and America's educational establishment has never been very keen about expanding opportunities for blacks and other " minorities. ' "' - And there's little, reason to expect much from the current Supreme Court, whose civil rights rulings have marked a retreat from earlier decisions. But one ray of hope comes from the Court's recent decision upholding a New York legislative redistricting law that used racial composition as a key factor in drawing districts line for the legislatureThere, the Court realized that the effects of racial discrimination cannot be remedied without resort to such racial considera tions. At stake in the Bakke case is not just one special admissions program at one school, but the future of special admissions programs to uni versities and many affirmative action employ ment programs as well. On The Rise pression level of unemployment in black commu nities, deteriorating public school systems, the in difference of the national Administration to the. problems of minorities' and the poor, and to the plight of the cities. ' In cold statistic' as spelled out in the pro ceeding pages, the overall position of blacks did not materially improve in 1976, and indeed in some areas - most notably affirmative action - blacks suffered further setbacks". ' The Report then goes on to observe: "In its totality: the Bicentennial Year was not a time of celebration within Black America. The problems spawned of . racism and neglect were still too much a part of everyday life to permit the majority of blacks the luxury of venerating the past. For them, the present was what mattered.1 For many, life war reduced to the basic issue of survival from day to day"; ? Blacks are hurting badly in this great demo cracy, and if we fail to put that together with the Hanafi Moslem acts, then we truly don't under stand the grief we are headed for as long as Blacks still remain sitting in the "back of the bus". ' f , . KC CoRtpissicner Field Aretha Franklin, a Barry White or a Natalie Cole. Ashe offers some interesting facts: "For the major professional sports of hockey, football, baseball, golf, tennis, and boxing, there are roughly 3,170 major league positions, available (attributing 200 positions to golf, 200 to tennis and 100 to boxing). And the annual turnover is small." There are fewer positions for super star entertainers - actors singers to occupy at any given time. In sports Ashe figures your child has less than;one chance in 1 ,000 of becoming a pro. In entertainment, he or she has far less than those monumental jobs. Ashe says his grandmother was more proud of the degree he acquired at UCLA in 1966 than all of his subsequent awards and glories achieved on the pro tennis circuit. And, he ends with this very sane observa tion: "We have been oi the same roads - sports and entertainment - too long. We need to pull . over, fill up at the library and speed away to Congress and the Supreme Court, the unions and business world. We, need more Barbara Jor dans, Andrew Youngs, union cardholders, Nikki Giovannis and Earl Graveses. Don't worry: we will still be able to sing and dance and run and jump better than anybody else!" To which I say; Amen.. ; L E. AUSTIN Iditor- PubUshervl927-1971 v Published every Thursday (dated Saturday) at Durham. N, C, by United Publishers, Incorporated. Mailing Address: P O. Box 3825,' Durham, North ' Carolina 27702. Office located at 436 East Pettigrew Street. Durham. North Carolina 27701. Second Cbus -Foxtaiie Paid at Durham, North Carolina 27701 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One yeav J8.5Q (plus $0.34 taki tax for North Carolina residents). Single copy, $0.20. Postal regulations REQUIRE advanced payment on subicriptions. . Address all1 ; communications and make all checks and money orders payable to THE CAROLINA TIMES, v . ' . 1 National Advertising Representatjve: Amalgamated Publishers, Inc., 45 West 45th Street, New York, Niw York 10036.'.,. 4 vv ? - ' 'v .- , 'Membcr United Press International Photo Service, National Newspaper Publisher! Association, Noh Carolina Black Publishers Association, Carolina Community Newsservice. ', v "... ' Opinions expressed by columnists in this newt paper do nor necessarily represent the policy of this newspaper. This newspaper will not be responsible i forthcreturnofijnsoH
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 2, 1977, edition 1
4
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75