Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / April 23, 1977, edition 1 / Page 4
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4 - Tt "S CAr.&liri A ' 1AT.. APRIL 23. 1177 ...;v,. ::t:i Est. v1. An leased deck Ccninsmty To Do Equal Dr vo:i e. J0Di:i aiiiiiiii!iiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!iiiiiiiii!iti!!iiiimuiuiiiiiiiii:iin:uniiiiu!!iiii!i!i!:!iiiintiim ' ..'.. . v... .- . . .. . "' V,v' ii) t IXECUTIU'CIIKICl, Save The Electoral College f THE DOPE. ) TEMPTER ; 4 PWHKEHHESS OF POPE IS A FIATTERM , fy tU SWEET POISOHAPLEASAHTSIH VC MM M&OEVEB HATH HATH mWHSELE V 4 V ComrsfiBifrHEfmsaFswHOuysiN. I ;MiA - Amsrm . . ..Ny Pursuit of Excellence Should Be Our Continuing Goal In a speech to a special awards day assembly at the 1 ,800 member student body of Washington, D. C.'s Cardozo earned As and Bs during the first semes ter, 'Roots" author Alex Haley said, "I believe that we as black people must become excited about the pursuit of excellence. You must decide that you rfc 'wrtitiiff' tn - he. the. best the is We believe this is sound advice for young blacks today in America. More than any other single group, young blacks today in America are the most subject to unemployment, under-em-ployment, and less than quality educa tion. Yet, they must be encouraged by family, friends, teachers and peers to be . motivated -tojachieve I in school and in J their ydungf lives. Whendoors are opened today, young people must be ready1 to walk through them, and have -, not only. the best preparation, but the - desire : and self-motivation to be As major American institutions are managaing social change, .to whatever degree, there is the need for black people to be ready to take advantage of what being the best can mean and be prepared to take advantage of every opportunity for upward mobility. . . For example, the National Guard, a School Boards Can Play Bolder Roles The recent National SchoolBoard Association meeting in Houston has re ported that it envisioned a new and bolder role for school board members. It is noted that they proposed new committees . to investigate specific educational concerns such as financing of schools, accountability and compe tence of teachers and administrators, evaluation of these professionals and bi- lingual education. ; It was noted in its press release that NSBA did not indicate that they, were seeking to continue to develop the opimum educational potential of all children Instead, they proposed to counter the "so called intrusion of the courts and federally regulated agencies Into school operations." It must be remembered that some school boards, just like some indivi- . "If thers is no struggle, there is na progress. Those who propose to g favor freedom and yet depredate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and a lightning. They want the oceans majestic waves without the awful rpar i of Its waters." -; I I ..',' . Frederick Douglass .. r 4 reserve component of the U. S. Army and Ajr Force, stands as an example of an institution that has changed. From being an "admitted white man's club" in the) early 1970s, with only 5,000 blacks; the National Guard instituted a program that has changed that institu tion, and today there are over 55,000 blacks in the Guard . However, the young black men and women m the Guard are in the lower -ranks,; and must be encouraged to follow the "pursuit of excellence" into the senior npn-commissioned and commissioned officer ranks. Restric tions tjoday are those an individual puts on his or herself and not always the "system". . Because Guardsmen and women serve 1 only part time, the National Guard offers a unique opportunity for blacks to gain management and leader . ship skills, often in military occupa tions I similar to their civilian jobs. When doors are opened the insti tutions cannot motivate young blacks to achieve, it's up to them, and its up i to us to encourage them to strive for ; the best. i , ., ( .. ,.. Wp've go to encourage our young people to make "pursuit of excellence" our continuing goal. duals; have had to be placed under a -court order to make them carry out the law jf the land in regard to all children securing an education. There are even thos board ? members who are still seekihg ways and means to evade the laws.! '..'',' ' , ' Local control may be good for some, but it appears that only Federal ; Guidelines and Funds in this day and time: will make many school boards do what is proper toward all children. School ; boards can play bolder roles in planning and developing the i, best! possible education for all children. However,' until that philosophy - for, 1 the i optimum development of all children . . is put into action they can expect continued Federal scrutiny and followup of guidelines. President Carter has proposed some sweep ing changes in the electoral process designed to make ? American politics more democratic. " Some" of his .proposals wrould do just that, but one could cause more problems than it solves. That is the plan to abolish the electoral college and replace it with the direct election of the President. At present voters cast their ballots for slates of candidates pledged to support.one of the con tenders for the Presidency. The slate that gets the majority of votes in a . state gets all that state's votes in the electoral college. It's an unwieldly process, but it has served us well in its almost 200 years of operation and it should not be cast aside lightly, The major flaw in the process - that electors might vote for candiates other than the one they're pledged to - can be corrected by simply doing away with the electors and crediting each state with the appropriate number of electoral votes. Do away with the indirect election of the President through the electoral college mechan ism, and you open the door to the end of the two-party system. It could also lead to election . of a president by a minority of voters unless a run-off election takes place, and a run off would be in itself an incitement for minor par ties which' could bargain away their- endorse- Benjamin I. Hoofis liiiiimimhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiwiiiiiiiHiiiiHiiimiiiiiiiiHiiiiiw A Tribute In mid-March of this year, Fannie Lou Hamer granddaughter of a slave, youngest of 20 children of sharecropping parents, an activist in the civil rights movement for more than a decade and a half, a citizen of the state of Missi ssippi, mother of two, herself and husband share croppers, and a true child of God, died after a long illness. I did not know Mrs. Hamer, personnaly, al though I had the good fortune to meet her several times. Her name during the turbulent 60s and 70s was an inspiration to all in the movement even though there was not always total agreement on how to tackle each and every issue of the moment; She was legendary even in life, a martyr in her own times. In death she assumes a mystical aura, the status of sainthood shrouds her. She shines like nearl,mfotedjhjiiey .in pie treasury, v Her death came at a time Vhen national and - world events are rapidly converging to a state of crisis: the rapidly escalating'' incidences of desperate men snatching hostages and using the media to air their grievances are triggering in creasing clamor by incensed citizens to curb morbidly excessive press coverage of such events; The ominous build up-of tensions in South Africa (Rhodesia, South West AFrica, as well as in South Africa itself), that s threatening to ex plode into a bloody widespread racial war en gulfing the entire lower half of that huge conti nent and ultimately engaging in the world's super powers in that dread holocust; the rolling back of educational opportunities for blacks and ISDQtl unnros uiuiiuj luiuiuuniiuiiiiiinimniuciniiniDiiiuiiiiiu uinnn tuiiiiaimnuju niiuiiuiiuiiiiiiiaiiciuiiiiuuiiimiiuuniiDiii IJy Jjp. AuyUSSlS F. HkAhS American Jobs Going Overseas It may be kind of unfair to say that Ameri can jobs are going overseas, but it depends on where you stand on the free trade issue. If you aVe 'for free trade between nations, . minus all artificial barriers, then you might suggest that American labor must be more com petitive with foreign labor." On the other hand if you are an American worker who sees that foreign imports make up 52 per cent of the American market of the very product you are producing - then you may want America to provide more protection for your product. (More protection ususally means plac ing a tariff or a quota on imported goods). The 52 per cent figure 1 quoted, pertains to the size of the American market currently cap tured by foreigr shoe manufacturers: Taiwan, " Italy, 'Spain, Brazil, and South Korea, and Mexico. , ' This penetration of the domestic shoe in dustry, has caused 300 American shoe factories to shutdown since 1968. and has thrown some 70,000 Americans out of their jobs. In fact our importation of foreign made shoes has increased 788 per cent since 1966,' (That's right 788 per "cent!!). ' '.. , And the situation since-1966 is as grim in some of our important industries, as suggested by the following import increases of foreign produc ed goods: clothing '- a 500 per cent increase; textiles - 80 per cent; autos 622 per cent; sugar . - 130 per cent; T. V. sets 614 per cent; stain less and alloy steel - 208 per cent. These industrial presently employ 3.4 . million workers, and they are in direct competi tion with foreign workers, who average between 47 cents and 52 cents per hour, as against the average American manufacturing worker's wage of $5.45 per hour. ,j , ;' These industries have also seen job losses of some 150,000 workers in textiles, 13,00 in tele ments to the highest bidder. Remember George Wallace? For blacks, abolition of the electoral college - would -severly-limit- our ; politicals leverage. mnii process. national elections. ' The larger states have the most electoral ; votes. No one can become President without tak ing at least some states from among California, New York, Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania Michi-. gan, and Ohio. Take another look at that list. All of those states have significant black and, minority popula tions. Black support in some of those states is essential for victory in the Presidential race. Take away the electoral college, and the importance of that black vote melts away. Blacks, instead of being crucial to victory in major states, simply become ten per cent of the total electorate, with reduced impact. The same is true for other minorities and for city-dwellers. The one national arena where large groups of people deprived of influence in the Congress and in local governments can make their interests felt would be stripped away. Inevitably, direct election of the President would ultimately mean formation of black par ties,' voting along racial lines and increasingly separated from the main parties, themselves weakened and dependent upon coalitions with splinter groups. The result would be less demo cratic in the real sense than the present system. The rest of the Administration program is to Fannie Lou llamer other minorities in this country by those who mask their bigotry by screaming "reverse dis crimination" and citing hated quotas to bolster their racist arguments. ". The busing issue, smouldering in places like Boston and Louisville, but remaining a volatile issue yet to be resolved; the House Assassina tions Committee fighting for its natural life and turning up some troubling information and in cidents surrounding persons and events in . the assassinations of King and Kennedy ; and in her own state, once the symbol of die-hard-murderous racism, the NAACP is still fighting for its very life under the determined hammer blows of oppressors common to both the organization and Mrs. Hamer. Mrs. Hamer's story is a familiar one; of being born black; m . dirt c m an atmosphere crackling wUh hatred and fear " where' i tlacks life was noi worth pJuggedi' nickel if he stood up for his rights. Hers is a tale of working from "kin to can't" (dawn to dust) in hot, humid cotton fields on plantations around Ruleville, in Sun flower County, for starvation pay. Her potential flared late in life. She was 45 years old with 6hly a Mississippi versio of a sixth grade education when the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee infused her with revolu tionary life. Her transfiguration began several yean earlier however, in 196L when she was sterilized in a hospital without her knowledge. She sym bolized the lost potential of "many thousands of blacks gone" who never had a chance to flower vision, 50,000 to 90,000 in steel, and the al ready mentioned 70,000 workers in the shoe industry. How long can we stand such dollar and job losses? This is exactly the question that Ameri can labor is asking the President. And at this point there are no easy answers. In the case of the footwear industry, the President, decided against tariffs or quotas. And this may be a key to how the President will handle other related import matters, since the President is supposed to be a "free-trader". What the President wants to negotiate are voluntary agreements - with exporting countries; agree ments which will limit imports to the United States. However, the so-called "protectionists", backing up the United States International Trade Commission's recommendation of increased foreign shoe tariffs, intend to take this battle to theCongress. The protectionists are in agreement with the I. T. C. view that certain American industries are in a survival struggle against foreign imports, and ? therefore need protection. For example the I. T. C. recommended that the current 10 per pent tariff on foreign made shoes remain, providing no more than 265.5 million pairs of' foreign shoes entered the country. Any importations over this level would undergo a 40 per cent tariff increase. What can the Congress do? Under the Trade Act of 1974, the Congress has the power to set quotas and tariffs on foreign made products which adversely affect American industries. But the Congress will probably move ' slowly in this area in order to see the degree to which the President can negotiate a change in the foreign import climate. Traditionally the United States has been commited to a free trade philosophy. And over a period of time this philosophy has paid off; since tlaivEiins Column just fine. It consists of plans for finally ending the patchwork of local election registration laws that operate; jto exclude people from the electoral States 1 unreasonably require advance regis- tration and- make the process difficult, with re- gistratipn periods and facilities often arranged to discourage potential voters. In part, that's why U. S. voter turnout is so shockingly low - down to only 5 J per cent of eligible citizens last fall. Substituting a system of universal registra tion for Presidential and Congressional elections makes sense.. All it takes is allowing anyone to vote if he or she shows up at the polls on Elec tion Day with proper identification. States with such simplified procedures have voting rates far higher than the rest of the' country. Universal registration would bring into the system people effectively excluded because of red tape. And that exclusion has been deli berate. Elaborate registration procedures were formulated around the turn of the century as. devices designed to exclude immigrants and blacks from voting. So reforming the registration process is an important step toward democratizing our society. It should be adopted and states should be encouraged to use Election Day registrations for state and local elections as well. But the electoral college has to be saved. Scrapping it will take , us into unknown, and probably, unhealthy, regions. FCC intorainiJsioacr; h !.'3 ; and become jizens who would enrich their society'and times. She was jailed, beaten, chased off the land for attempting to exercise the right to vote, a privilege she did not know she had until SNCC came along. She was the driving spirit behind the formation in 1964 of the Mississippi! Freedom Democratic Party which ultimately won all of its state's delegates seat to the 1972 Convention. Her experience with some southern whites who had contempt for black worth never caused her to hate anyone. She once said she could not hate anyone and expect to see God's face. Hers was a life of deeply entrenched religious beliefs. Her songs of militance were those of an en ; during and overcoming spirit. When she sang, "I 1 1 Ain't Gonna. Lei Nobody . Turn' Me; Round" the determination stood out, unencumbered by bitterness or hate. 0 Unlettered, poverty stricken, she neverthe less overcame this crippling background (she was also partially crippled by polio, aggravated by jailhouse beatings). Her impact on the civil rights movement and on this nation has put her in the enviable league of the other great black women , of this nation: Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Mary Church Terrell, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Rosa Parks among others. U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young, eulogized at her funeral: "If there had been no Ruleville," he said, "there could have been no Plains." Amen . the massive exporting ability of this country, has raised our living standards totally out of propor tion to others on this globe. . Currently, the previous receivers - of our -goods, are now massively exporting their goods to our shores. Can we cut this flow off, without doing further damage to our economy? The free traders say that raising tariffs and quotas on foreign goods will raise domestic prices. They also claim that the foreign countries will retaliate in kind, by raising their tariffs and quotas on American goods, and further, these countries will stop buying American products. Maybe the President is right; working out agreements so that the importers and exporters can mutually benefit, is the only way. Well see. ' L. I-. AUSTIN I ditor-Publisher. 1927-1971 . Published every Thursday (dated Saturday) at Durham. N. C. by United Publishers. Incorporated. M:iUin! Address: P. O. Box 3825, Durham, North '.Carolina 27702. Office located ut 436 l ast Pettigrew Street. Durham, North Carolina 27701. Second Clam Post ape Paid at Durham, North Carolina 27701 SUBSCRIPTION RATI S: Oltc yea- $8.50 (plus - S0.34 sales tax Tor North Carolina residents). Single copy. $0.20. Postal refulations RLQUIRE1 udyanced payment on ' subscriptions. Address all communications and make all checks and money orders payable to Till CAROLINA TIMES, t Natktnal Advertising Rcpresentatjve: Amalgamated Publishers. Inc.. 15 West 45 th Street, New York, Niw York 10036. . v . Member: United Press International Photo Service, National Newspaper Publishers Association, North Carolina Black Publishers' Association, Carolina Community News Service. ' Opinions expressed by columnists in this news paper do not necessarily.' represent the policy of this newspaper. This newspaper will nor be responsible for the return of iinstvllcltcdjjrture., r rrrerr ....... ....
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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April 23, 1977, edition 1
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