North Carolina Newspapers

SAT, APRIL 27. 1979. THJECAROUNA TIMES -4 ADDID FUU TO' 'HACK IAGE" FRUSTRATION BAP HOUSMG HEW and North Carolina Buildings Versus Programs The general public probably missed a key point in the failure last week of the negotiations bet ween the UNC system and the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Everyone heard that figure President William Friday and Governor Jim Hunt were tossing around: $70 million. Few noticed what the state pro mised to spend $70 million for. The entire $70 million was for capital projects. More buildings, that is. The only figure mentioned for programs, for operations, is the $700,000 which was already reserved and committed to the five predominatly black schools. $700,000 is exactly one per cent of what the state was willing to spend on buildings. We don't want to get involved in paranoia and hysteria, but a question does come to mind. The state is willing to spend $70 million for bricks, concerte, and steel, but hardly an extra cent on people and teaching. Could that indicate that the state already plans to turn the five predominat ly black campuses into adjunct, satellite campuses of the white schools? Could they be thinking something on the order of "The buildings can always be used, but those people are just in the way.?" Some people in Raleigh are talking that way today. Rep. Ernest Messer and Rep. Jay Huskins come to mind. Black people need to keep their eyes open. The UNC system is well-supplied with sly racists who will try to buy us off with bricks and mortar. The legislature is full of such people. And the most re cent developments raise suspi cions of the governor. Economic Development Without Minorities? By Dr. Berkely G. Burrell Irr the Americari ( drib-mic' system, only two sectors comprise the Gross National Product (GNP): the public and the private. Historically, public sec tor, thus moving people from direct dependency on the federal government. This is called capaci ty building. And it is achieved through an investment of federal resources. This process occurs everywhere except in the minority community. The black community is con sistently denied the opportunity to build capacity. Even when government develops . programs that are designed to assist the disadvantaged, minority institu tions are locked out of the pro cess. It is as though white America believes that you can have minority economic develop ment in the minority community without the participation of rninorities. That would be a neat trick; but there are those who believe it could happen. Government must begin to understand that money spent ON minorities should be spent WITH minorities. Otherwise, federal resources will continue to pass through our communities without having any measureable impact on the minority institutions that can help make our cities livable again. One of the biggest com plaints about the social programs of the 60' s is that after spending billions of dollars on federal funds, much of the social and economic problems in the minori ty community are still with us. Some say not enough money was spent and we agree. But the larger question was not how much money was spent, but with whom was it spent? These pro grams did not fail because the issues were wrong. They did not fail because the timing was wrong. To the extent that they . failed, they failed because the im s plementation process was, wrong. The money appropriated to "help us" was channeled through white institutions. In the end, they were strengthened and their capabilities were expanded. A classic example is a research program of the late 60's. When college campuses were rebelling, the federal government decided to spend millions of dollars to find out what's wrong with the black n0 'folks.1' bYet the overwhelming percentage of those funds went to white colleges and universities. The Harvard's, MIT's, Stan ford's: these are the institutions that are funded to ask black peo ple what's wrong with them. Established community institu tions, such as Tuskegee, Howard and Morehouse, were virtually excluded from these resources. Instead, our black colleges and universities were left standing on ' some street corner crying "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." It was this pattern of govern ment spending that reduced the effectivenss of the social service programs. Minority institutions were left no better off than they were before there was a "war on poverty." If those federal dollars had been channeled through minority institutions, they would have been in a position to address the festering problems of their communities just like white in stitutions. They would have developed the means for sustain ed growth. The lesson of the 60's must not be ignored today. One way to lessen the dependence of min orities on the federal government is to strengthen minority institu tions; expand their capabilities, and allow them to play the role in their communities which they were created to play. The full growth potential of the American economy cannot be realized if the productivity of minority institu tions remain under-utilized. Policy-makers publicize and promote the welfare, unemploy ment and othe problems of minorities without ever sug gesting that there are minority in stitutions in our community that could generate and operate pro grams that could offer long-term solutions to these problems. To accept that is to finally realize that no minority economic assistance program can succeed without the inclusion of minorities in both the planning and implementation process. Understanding that, government must get down to the business of building and expanding the capacity of our minority institu tions to address these long-term problems. OUR DAY BEGUN VAV.V.'WAV.V.V.VAVAV THE SPIRIT OF MEANNESS By Benjer.b L Hooks EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NAACP There is no question double-digit inflation is having a pernicious effect on the psychology of Americans as well as on their pocketbooks. Its most revealing impact is that it makes people mean and too often pro ne to resent government efforts to provide, assistance to society's less fortunate citizens. But inflation does other things too. It can motivate people to take counter measures that will ultimately injure those very interests which they seek to protect the most. No clearer example of the myopia exists today than the call for a constitutional convention to balance the budget. So far, 28 state legislatures have passed such a constitutional convention resolution. Passage by six more woiild provide the re quired 34 that are needed to complete the call. Given the stealth with which this Proposi tion 13-type virus began sweeping the nation four years ago, few national leaders seemed to have been aware of the Trojan Horse within their midst until the California legislature took up the question this year. That was the serious trategic mistake that the amendment's backers made. Because California led last year in adop ting a constitutional amendment to cut pro perty taxes and limit state spending, and also due to Gov. Jerry Brown's presidential am bitions, the national spotlight immediately swung there to the legislature's action on the amendment. The California legislature re jected the constitutional amendment, resolu tion. Another benefit resulting from Califor nia's deliberations is that a great many Americans have now been awakened to the serious implications of the effort and have begun to mobilize a counter drive. "A Constitution," wrote Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes at the turn of the century, "is not intended to embody a particular economic theory, whether of paternalism and the organic relation of the citizen to the, state or of laissez faire "But fiscal austerity embodies just such a theory and its goals would have to be couched either so rigidly as to paralyze na tional policy or so flexibly as to be mean ingless, a teasing illusion like a munificent bequest in a pauper's will." In other words, a constitutional amend ment to balance the budget, as is presently proposed, would so tie the hands of the government that its consequences would be shattering to the national good. Most of the nation's top economists regard the-amendment idea as simplistic and unworkable. One basic problem is that it would remove the flexibility that both Congress and the Ex ecutive Branch regard as fundamental to the proper functioning of the budgetary process. A one-issue constitutional convention would also be counter-productive to the democratic aims of the procedure for pro viding constitutional amendments. Constitu tional experts feel that such a convention would only serve as a rubber stamp for the 34 states that had called for the convention. There is no question about the position Black Americans must take on this issue. They must oppose this plague and fight for its defeat. But in doing so, let us beware that we defeat our own goals by making this a black or poor issue. A constitutional amendement to balance the budget is injurious to the interests of all Americans. Let us proceed, therefore, to mobilize as broad a coalition as possible for the destruction of the sickness within our midst. 'Congressman Hawkins' Column ) BLACK YOUTH JOBLESSNESS ON THE RISE w-:to-:-:-:-f:-ft-x-:-:-w By Augustus F. Hawkins If you were willing and able to work, and seeking a job, and couldn't find one, just im agine how frustrated, angry and upset you would be. Well this is the case fdjr over thirteen per cent of white job-hunting youth and for more than 35 per cent of black youth unemployment is much, higher than the of ficial 35 per cent. On at days walk in some neighborhoods, four but of five youth I've talked to, have never been employed: and may never be employed. This worries me and it should worry you. Youth who are jobless, and frustrated may be forced into seeking some quick, antisocial-Hand often illegal1 way to vent 'their frustrations. 1 i ?: tr? The social costs of this' frustration can be measured in increasing trime, fear, urban decay, and family' break' down. The answers to resolve this problem are not easily attainable. But in the long run it's more economically sound and morally right to seek such answers, than it is to pay the $20,000 a year it costs to keep a youth in jail, if in his frustration he breaks the law. And there are some alternatives. Schools, for all their shortcomings, are a critical resource in educating our youth for the work place. Granted that education is no guarantee of employment, it still can provide the basic tools needed to get a youth into the job market. Families need to do bettter in saying this over and over again to our youth. In another area the Federal government, through CETA jobs program, is working with the business community to up-grade ef forts to train and employ youth. And even through CETA is not funded to provide anywhere near as many jobs as I think it should, it istrying to get jobs, train ing, and money directly to disadvantaged communities; it's also encouraging youth to stay in school through its Youth Incentive Program. ' ' Additionally, thefe are'fefSteU'CETA prb grams irtvoMngift-of-scHdd! projects, the Youth Adult Conservation Corps, the Job Corps, and others which emphasize on-the-job training. Youth unemployment is solvable. But we have got to insist that a lot more funding go into programs that work, and programs that are targeted to reach the neediest for whom the resources are intended. We simply can't afford to continue to see nearly half of our youth between the ages of sixteen and twenty, remain unemployed as has been the case for the past five years, especially when they constitute only one- fourth of the labor force. Nor can we ignore economic projections which indicates that unemployment for white youth will remain at current levels, while unemployment for black youth is go ing to get increasingly worse regardless of any improvement in the economy. The major job growth areas in the eighties will be in the highly technical, white collar, professional service sectors; the most ob vious question related to this is how do we insure that unemployed young people will have a good crack at these jobs? The President has inaugurated a Task Force on Youth Employment, to thoroughly examine ' mis nagging sore on ine ooay politic;'!' fitfjte it cotties 'b'j with s6mf good ' answers. ' ' In the meantime, we must expand to those things that are working well, by insuring that the private sector, labor, the schools, the government, and the community, are all working together towards resolving the pro blem of youth joblessness. , Incidentally, it's going to cost us something in lots of dollars to implement such a resolve. So we'd better make our minds up at the outset, that we can not have budget austerity and youth employment too. The two just don't go together. ELECTRICITY EATS UP EARNINGS 'Baby, you know I'll be needin you so-after the lights go down low..." are lyrics to a love song long ago. Every effort is likely to be made to reveal at least the rhythm if not the melody in 1979. Electricity of which the United States yses almost a third (32.9) of the world's production, according to the Edison Electric Institute, is increasing in cost. Every turkey in or, out of OPEC is taking his turn uping oil prices. Most electricity we use is converted primary energy produced in a generating plant. Fossil-fueled plants use oil, coal or natural gas in granting electricity. While nationally 16 of the electricity is provided by oil in some ;areas like New England petroleum produces 55 of the electricity supply. In 1977 we imported 46 of the petroleum used in this country. Black Americans at the bottom of the economic caste system must cut the cost of an ever rising electricity bill. Conservation is a habit which will help both the white and Black American consumer A free booklet is available for all people in or out of business to have handy. It details what you can do to save electricity and money through adopting common sense conservation habits in home heating and cooling, lighting, cooking, water heating, laundering and refrigeration. Write for "104 Ways to Control Your Electric Bill" Edison Electric Institute, 90 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. What you should know is that you are spending BY CHARLES E. BELLE seven cents a kilowatt-hour (kwhr), it cost almost $300 a year for the use of a water heater alone! A refrigerator, freezer, clothes dryer, room air conditoner, and color TV set follow behind each other in high use of annual kilowatt-hour consumption. However, humidifiers, bed coverring, coffee makers, radio-record players, washing machines toasters, vacuum cleaners, roasters, hair dryers and clocks are also costly electricity users. You can cut down on the electricity bill by considering baking two dishes in ' the oven at the same time. Also opening the refrigerator door as little as possible puts profit in your pocketbook. Place a dollar bill on th refrigerator's edge and close the door, if -you an pull the bill easily, the door is leaking cold air and need a new gasket. Quickly remove and stake out cloths taken from the dryer. Often you can minimize or even eliminate ironing. Install a dryer in a warm room, an unheated garage or basement makes the clothes dryer use more electricity. Even fewer electricity light bulb will break down costs; after all one 100-watt bulb produce 50 per cent more light than four 25-watt bulbs. Black Americans, as are all Americans, constantly increasing their use of electricity. The U.S. Department of Energy, estimates net energy demand by the year 2000 to rise to 143 quadrillion BTUs, unit of measurement, up an astounding 88 over 1977 levels. There are two ways to cut the cost of the country's energy bill. The first choice is converting from reliance on oil to a substitute source of energy like nuclear coal or solar is still going too slow in this society. Second, is conservation, a sane idea for the immediate impact on the Black American pocketbook. Q3u Carolina tTii'rlii "Oil (USPS 091-380) BREAMS UNLIMITED As the graduation season approaches for high school and college students, a message delivered at the Atlanta Univer sity Center by Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Joseph A. Califano, Jr., zeros in on some significant past and remaining civil rights challenges. The fight in the , '60s to be served at lunch counters in department stores and the struggle in the '70s for equal job op portunities in those stores, must become a push to own the stores themselves, he said. Califano urged Atlanta University Center students to aim not only for careers in business, but for control of banks, businesses and financial institu tions; not only lor careers in medicine but for chairs on medical faculties and hospital boards; not only for status as members of black elite but for a seat in all the centers of national decisions; and, not just for participation in politics for the presidency of the United States. He warned them against allowing their dreams to be limited by accepting barriers imposed by custom on self doubt. Because education will play an in- creasingly important role in bringing about justice in the nation, this is a pre season baccalaureate of considerable merit. ' NNPA Published every Thursday (dated Saturday) at Durham, N.C.-by United Publisher!, Incorporated. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 3825, Durham, N.C., ,27702. Office, located at 923 Fayetteville Street, Durham, N. C. .27701. Second Class Postage paid at. Durham, North Carolina 27702. 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