Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Sept. 10, 1977, edition 1 / Page 4
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4.Tt"!CAnOtmTrvrS SAT.. SEPT. 10. 1877 GOVERNOR HUhrfe DILEMMA Dcnrcnb" i. floods . :'v ." ' ; ' - iiinnmninmiiiiiinniiiiiiniiiiiminiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniii iCCLIIyS XTrCClcr IIAACP L'aa Day Begun ., . II.'. 'A 'III- II u- ' .. aSr' Once A fan A TIME THERE DIONT KNOW WHAT .10 DO, HE DDNT THINK HE'D -BE RE eiECf ED fcHEMiED SOMETHINGEVV ''FREE ' THE WILMINGTON 10'' THV CRiED. But THEGOVERNo THIWKIMG ,CF TH05E' VOTES HE MIGHT OPFEflD HVJH6 THERE OECl510nLES$; n THE W,nD- v, Slow Pace Belt or Than No Pace Employment within state govern ment has been slowly changing. In North Carolina as shown by statistics which reveal more blacks are being, hired. . , , 1 ' For years, most blacks in state government had been more or less relegated ,to 4he positions with in ferior pay without much possibility for upward mobility. While this process of hiring the. more qualified blacks and placing 'them . in- meager or, low paving positions has' existed for many years,, there appear' to1 be some" changes Aow? . from this pattern. These changes seem ! to have appeared with the appoint-., ,'raent of a new director of State per sonnel Commission last January, Rules have' been "adopted, whereby each state department; would be required to '.re cruit, interview, select, hire, promote and train' more minorities;- and especially blacks. k . .. V Prior to these changes, the greater per cent of blacks so employed in state ,', " government earned less than $10,000. Those in custodial positions earned. even less. ' y Available statistics show that the number of minorities hired between r January 1 and June 30 has increased in the state's egencies. Of special note has been the increased hiring of blacks in' j the Department of Commerce and the Department of Natural and Economic 'x Resources. . ; November 1; 1977 is the date when Ho Ploiving : , f Unemployment among blacks con ,tinues at a distressingly high level even v as some barriers to clerical, administra-, tive, technical, high level service and professional positions are being -breached. . ' v- The jobless rate among blacks has .been and remains at least twice that of -whites. , '-) Particularly ominous is the forty; , per cent unemployment rate of out of 'school black teenagers. . - . ' . . State government' and federal, 7 A NATIVC Of BUFFALO, N.Y. L'.-;.;-'-".a ; .... -i-f ....,:..'--,"' TAtB SMC WAS LONO PflESiOCNT Of THE WW10WAL AyoarK?tf qf cotoFo womcnS ciubs- SHC tftOUOHT ABOUT MANY ADVANCES, AND- WHCN THfRC WAS A MORTQAQC ON FREDERICK 00U01ASS' HOME IN AN AC08TIA, DISTRICT OF COLUMSU, AMQUWTINO TO I V?00 00 IT KAS JHJ MO RAI8E0 THE FUNDS TO PAY, SHI eCCAME A TRAVfXWg CECTURER WAS A GOVERNOR WHO the: altered affirmative action policy be f comes effective. This policy will require that each department, develop a work ; force analysis which would examine the ( number and levels at which it employs , ' minorities and women; provide a set of objectives, goals and timetables; pro- vide for recruitment and interviewing programs which would include a mini ' C mum. bf three candidates for each ' ; vacancy to be filled with minority V? - applicants representative of the ethnic, sex and handicapped (composition of ,Vthe applicant group" whichiSlhelj? . firing ' "black ' employment within ? ,f needed high range. The program also , 'carries plans for the promotion and career ladders, for present, employees,' asf well as for training ,'and internal re-;' - 'porting systems to measure total pro ": gram effectivenesi 1 ; ' '. - ' The continuing lack '';oT a positive , affirmative action plarty the City of Durham, which,'- continues : td. relepte blacks and other rninorities to the , lowest paying jobs, appears , to be in consistent with the altered atnrmative action of the State Personnel Commis sion. Cities ought to bring their hiring and promotion policies ' in line with . those of state agencies.- Durham,' . forever, boasting of its accomplishments, should bow its head vin shame until it .corrects the blight of V ; its' minority hiring practices. The slow pace of the state in minority hiring is better than no pace which characterizes, Durham. - Wo Crops agencies can, with forthright policy and action, bring about greater employ ment opportunities for blacks and other minorities. That kind of policy and action .needs agitation; Ordinary '.citizens r- you and I need to bom bard our congressional representatives with letters expressing the need to re duce unemployment, Our representa-, tives respond positively ,when they get. the word from back home that action is needed. We don't get . crops without' plowmg. ' - . ', .-. - ' A',' Err, , , (y i a : j. i .. .v.. - - You do not have to be blessed with 20-20 hindsight vision - only a reasonably -observant . . mind - to know that until only few years ; ago me imagej that televisiprr- projected of blacks and women was uniformly tad, parti cularly of blacks. . r ' The first fifty years of commercial radio broadcasting dating from about. 1920 and the , first twenty .years Of commercial television ' . . . i' .1.. j.. oroaacasting, -represent sucn an ugiy smuygc on this nation's moral escutcheon that it is ;" taking some furious scrubbing today just to ; ertect 4 dull, uneven shme; , , For decades the, only image American had of black folks on its radio and TV airways was v, that of thi "Beulahs"i goodnatured but , v' simplemindedf maids; "Amos n Andy", a combination of shrewd conniving simpletons that lived in a perpetual state of muddled but frenzied buffoonery. ''r-!irJ I' . Fm not saying that many of the programs' ' involving both Beulah and Amost and Andy and the Kingfish and Miz Blue and Caledonia -and all the rest were not a tjraes evocative of chuckles or outright sidesplitting mirth! What I am saying is that this was the totality of black life that commercial radio and TV would deal with. The other bits and !)ieces, that help flesh put our humanity were ost some where ; JbetWeen lthe cracks of yawn-; ing indifference and peVsisteni prejudice. This is what the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights essentially was saying in its recently released 181-page report that hal been so soundly thumped by the critics. ' The CRC declared RV, its principle target, is a world in which the programming is geared i Hn S i & ' :rA--'-Hm ' v io ue eqoai g iiiiiliiilifiiiiiiiUiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllillliiilliiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilliiillilllilll Theilillved 4 One of the most difficult, perhaps unsol : vabterprjiwlemrV.natiQirJiWi. swhat to do about: illegal immigVationi. ;;i 1 J ; Jt . is difficult becuase we know so little about it - estimates of illegal immigrants in the United States range from four million to twelve million, a spread so wide that the truth is that we simpljdoh't know how many there are. Nor do we know if indeed they take : significant numbers of jobs away from citizens c and .resident alieni" if )ey depress labor sun dards, or even if they use social services to an extent not covered by the taxes they pay. ;,; 'The problem may be unsbivable because, short of putting up an American-style Berlin I Wall on the Mexican .border, or instituting 4; police state? tactics, there m&X e noK way 1 to end Illegal immigration: 7 ' To its credit, the Administration is trying to curb illegals. It has produced a program of ' sanctions against employers of illegals, tough er enforcement f oflator laws and border patrols to try tiai .'fc'ope Wjtti the massive inflow. President Carter is also asking the Congress to legftirrnnestatus :6ti undocumented aliens ' alteadyi.;;(cbuhby.' Those who entered ;' befoffrvJanuaryt 1970, w(ould be . granted residentalien status and become eligi ble for citizenship Those' who"' came here between 1970 and last January would be able to apply for temporary residency and permit ted to stay and work here for five years. :Cc3fjrbsl)Dan 14 " 1 r ituitiiiiiinitiifitiifiiifiiiiiiifiiffiiiiifiitiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiitiiiiitfiiiiiiiiimitiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiitfiiiftifiifiifiiiiiitiifiiiiiiiiffiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiitfiiTiiiiifiiiiiii - 'I 1 J The ; 1 find it hatf ,o6elievetbuUhere are many ' white Americ rwho-are; really convinced that there i significant discrimination . against our me'sVdiscriminated-against , second class citizeni'SSthe blacks and Spanish-speak-ing. Of course, the statistical facts regarding v across-the-board racial and ethnic discrimina--' tion, does not support this view, but a mount ' ing campaign continues almost unabated, to ' pull-back from our weak-kneed scand to end racism in America (Top-level government jobs 1 - held tw ties In 4976 were SO per cent c0 V wMe'.u..Jld 94.9 per cent. In the private - ' sector'in 1975 , blacks held 3.0 per cent of top ii level jobs; Spanish speaking 1.6 per cent. Iri ' k I our colleges and universities, whert democra - f ile' opportunity should flourish, this picture dismal, with most of out presti- gious institutions practicing the most deceit- ful kind of employment tokenism.) ' urameittsai in some quarxers moaesi progress hast been made in" allowing minori-: . ties to,catch,,but this catching up. has pri marily'; only -affected blacks and Spanish-. speaking in e, middle class and upper middle v The overwhelming -number ; of minorities have been little affected by so ailed affirma tive action programs, especially in the areas of employment,' higher education, housing and health care delivery. - ; So in my estimation the hue and cry about .1 . - A. .1 ' J ! Ik. M.UI epts of preferentiaf treatment; thus causing reverse discrimination is just so much hot, airr' ; ' . racist baloney, arid hog-wash!! "' Esoeciallv "when one ' realizes that , only those with power have, the capacity. to either,:, f v to white males who present strong, mature' and" virile images, persons who exercise con- troi over their own lives, neonle who are? prooiem solving and sensible. Minorities and women, on the other hmi0 fo-howjpfixe to deal with EEO problems the report -states, eenerallv are mrtrsvprf in :V within the,arencv and an external EEO unit. dependent and subservient roles and minori- , ties appear primarily ' in ethnic and racial ' , settings or as tokens m afl white shows. It is, ' says the report, a world of "stereotypes. . It is also "a window dressing" world in .. t ' which minorities and women appear as actors - or as on-camera newsperson - but a world in. r which the decisions are made arid the power -held by white males. The report went on to say that TV is a world where women and . minorities rarely make news, where news makers are white males,? Usually govern-, ment officials or public figures., : ? j v' , J113 exclusion, :; the report, entitled : 'Window Dressing On The Set: Women and Minorities in Television,' suggest that women , and minorities "may not matter.w The wport roundly criticises the - Federal Communica-v -tions Commission for permitting this ; "stereotyped" programming and discrimini ' lory employment practices that lead to this kind of programming. ' . . , weu, 1 would like to praise this report; :,generally, while taking exceptions to some of its features. ' 1 do not believe the FCC should have the power to censor ; programming; but J do 5 agree that the television networks are guilty , of racial and sexual stereotyping. Whfle the FCC has not done all it should and could, ! believe it has 'done more than any other Problem? The problem of undocumented aliens is a tough one because equity and fairness toward aliens have to be combined with a concern for the well-being of our own citizens. Most of the illegal aliens are probably working in sub-standard jobs, exploited by employers who know their workers won't dare insist 'on minimum wages or fair labor standards for fear of being deported. I hat kmd exRlpitatlonrWprkijjft through the system by making ft ibvOiefi ay.xoA vw ' working conditions. A large number of citi zens are already employed at below-minimum wages and in jobs m which employers refuse to comply with health arid safety regulations. The existence of a pool of undocumented ? workers willing to take sweat-labor jobs at low ' pay and subminimum conditions drags down ' the whole labor market. w , So the President's program is correct in targeting in ort employers of illegal labor, with stiff fines and even prison sentences for per- siMcm violators, uui now eiiectrve tnat will be is another story. Forged documents are so common among illegals caught at the border that the only really: effective-documentation would be some sort of identity card or work permit that couldn't , be forged, And that would take us all a long way down the road toward tyranny -if there's no place in this country for mandatory ID cards. Hawhbs' Colcbn citizen' M(mZfihtWW "demand iieceln't 'Preferential Treatment' Myth discriminate or not discriminate, depending upon their whim at the moment of their decision-making. Oh yes, there are federal laws on the books ' making it illegal to discriminate; but these . laws have been effectively 'and sometimes : deliberately ignored, because those with the r power to enforce the intent of the law, have determined that preferential treatment will only be reserved for those already in power. ' The obvious result has been a continuing -battle by blacks and other minorities on the one hand trying to break down the discrimina- ' ting barriers;, and ' their meeting formidable opposition by the white majority on the other - - hand,: who wish to hold on to their preferen 1 tial status., " ..' When the chips are down, however, and when we get to the. nit-grit issues, the major question always remains: are blacks, Spanish-, speaking 'and other minorities going to be' allowed their fair-share of the fruits of the labor in America? - - The answers for the minorities so far have : been: - be patient; don't push too hard; things i are getting better; the majority can't be sacrk ficed for me minority;, let's do these things ', voluntarily; the courts ma decide these mat ters on their merits; etc.etc., etc; ' ; ' , In the meantime, patience runs out; push-: ing improves some conditions; things are not significantly better the majority still want' their cake and not share it; voluntary efforts ( are not effective; the rcourtt have decided,' " and decided, and decided - and mostly on the side of the U.S; Constitution which declare that everyone in this country must be treated ; major federal xegulatory agency (for example,' ft is the. jlyvinajor institution of its kind to M put into-! effect a strong equal employment t ' ooDortumtVi oromm. ' estabhshmg both an to guide the,jUidustries tne rye reguiaies;. . ; . ) I am proud of the role I played in helping . ' to establish these offices and much of the ; programs, and policies they dispense. The FCC then should be criticized for things it has not done while; praised for those that have been ;-' initiated in true public interest.! The FCC should have control over networkY to the sse ; frtent that it has 1 regulatory, ' powers over individual stations that comprise ' the networks. , . The way I believe the FCC can deal much more, effectively with the delicate issue of programming. For it is a truism that TV radio rogramming is like the computer; if nothing but garbage goes in only garbage comes out. If the networks are forced to hire ; minority, ethnfc and women ideas with those of the prevailing white male, a much more dynamic' and - democratic: ideal will prevail i ' and that is the pestf kind of censorship. (By 'the Way I anujiappy that a recent federal appeals ..court ruling has declared that , only i ? broadcasters with fewer than five employees ;, are exempt from FCC's EEO guidelines. The rruling strikes 'down; 'a', 1976 FCC prder ex- ' panding the exemption to include stations !, with fewer than .ten employees, a decision I strongly diagreed with and wrote a dissent ing opinion against). . .' . bv'voiil josdmi EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL URIAN LEAGUE , There are problems with other, aspects of the program, too. Granting either permanent or temporary residency is an attempt at fairness. People who have struck roots in our society, worked and paid taxes, all the while living in fear and Outside the, protection of. the law, deserve some such recognition'. But it also serves as a spur to others who may l? W mm '?pss jmbprder, " '"thev'to! e granted regularized status oftimeTi1 ''('Jf-," ?'' IJ By " other ' 'nations standards, our immi gration laws are liberal, legally, admitting about 400,000 people a year. But in a time of recession and lack of jobs for the less skilled and less educated citizens, ' illegal immigration is a worrisome prbblerrt. 'f . , - Perhaps the first step should be to find put ; just 'how bad ;the problem is.; How many iUegal aliens are there? Where? What jobs do .they hold? : Dojthey compete with citizens workers? 'Sich'studies should .'be .-made: by communtty - agencies based in the heigh- borhoods where' poor people live and work, including the undocumented aliens. ! . Once, we get a better picture of what is actually happening, we may be better able . to. deal, with the problem.. Meanwhile, some elements' of the Administration program, k 4 especially the parts zeroing in on substand ,ard employers, constitute a step in the right direction. . -pecioe ina S wi rfi ri By Rep. Augustus F. Hadins ;' equally (including blacks, and other minori 4" ties!!) " Yet, the foot dragging still continues, with the myths still in place. Where do we go from i here?-When this question was once posed to the late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, ( he said in effect that we'd "keep on, keeping ..-On i: : , - . That's the cure now - we are going to "keep on, keeping on". 'ton 1 -r-V. rM2l "''L'e, -AUSTIN ' E Jfubliihe 1927-1971 ' Published . every; Tfiuriday (dated Saturday) at 'Durham, N. C.; ty, United Publishers. Incoiporated. ; 'Mailing Addreu-Pf 0. Box 3825, Duiham, North Carolina 2770 J. HDiW16cated at 436 East Pertigiwi Street, Duiham, rfarth Carolina 27701. Second Clan Portage Paid at '"Durham, North Carolina 27702., ! SUBSCRIPTION: RATES Ona year, $80 (pW iSOM talei tax fpj,Nprth Carolina residents). Single' ooWt $0.20. . iPottal regulation. REQUIRE advanced payment' 'on 'aubicrfptioni. Addms all communicttloni and make all checks nd money orders payable to THE CAROLINA TIMES. . National Advertising Representative: Amalgamated ' hibBshenTlnc, 45 West 4ith Street, New York, New York 10036. ' . i . Member: United Press International Photo Service, ' .National Newspaper Publishers Association, North '; Carolina Black . Publishen Association, Carolina r Community News Service. ...?" ' Opinions expressed by colurrtnists in this newt paper do not ' necessarily represent the policy of this , newspaper. This newspaper will not be responsible for the return of unsolicited pictures. . 'i
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Sept. 10, 1977, edition 1
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