Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Sept. 1, 1979, edition 1 / Page 7
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
u 1 J a . . iuc language qi pouucs is an interesting suDject to ' many, a confusing one to most. The practice of not say ing whit you mean and not meaning what you say is, of course, a Ions established oolitieal tradition. Hnwtwr its modern practioncrs have raised this tradition to an art form which is at once masterful and dangerous. The goal of much of today's poltical rhetoric is to confuse rather than to enlighten. Advocates of a par ticularly controversial cause or viewpoint seek to cloak their beliefs in innocuous, pleasant-sounding words and phrases to minimize their emotional impact. The use of this device is not limited to a single side of an issue: while opponents of abortion crusade under the "right to life" banner, those on the other side defend the prinid ple of ''freedom of choice." Not all political euphemisms are internationally deceptive; some serve a legitimate public purpose. Too often, however, such verbal gymnastics serve to legitimize racial prejudice and retard social progress. The best-known, example of this came to the late 1960s, when candidates like George Wallace and Richard Nixon pandered to facial fears and suspicions by thinly-veiled appeals for flaw V order." Blacks cor rectly viewed this .phase as condoning and even en- CAuraffina racial nnnmdnn .anrf nhr vniAA tW candidates like the plague. . Modern examples of radal "catch phrases" are even III I. ...J. . II J. II.LIIII.J LU.IIU.H.I.I ..LUI.........,.....-''"--" ! , mui iiifiiii.i ii i .1. .'' J.;MJ Jl" ' .'.U - 'Waste, Fraad, and Abase' By Rep. Jaliaa Dixoa more subtle and discreet, but no less threatening. To day, opponenets of social progress through integrated education extol the virtues of "neighborhood schools and "freedom of choice," which too often becomes "freedom to discriminate." --"' At the federal level, "waste, fraud and abuse" have become the watchwords of self-appointed guardians of the Treasury, who seek to ride the crest of Prop. 13 fever and' middle-class distrust into the is political limelight. Increasingly, such simplistic and inherently regressive language has found its way into legislation. - Last year, Congress passed language which forced the Department of .Health, Education and Welfare to specify and eliminate S1.3 billion in "waste, fraud and abuse" in Medicaid and welfare programs. Though real progress towards this goal was made, the Attorney General ruled that HEW had not sufficiently complied with the near-impossible legislative mnfat, Fortunately, HEW will not be forced to cut millions from its fourth-quarter Medicaid and welfare payments, as originally feared. An eleventh-hour compromise bet ween Congress and HEW wffl enable the Department to borrow off its 1980 appropriations. However, the Medicaid and welfare checks of millions of indigent and needy Americans were in legal limbo while Congress, in the name of responsible management, held to its ill conceived position. In addition, identical language was .inserted in next year's appropriations bin, so there is no ' assurance this charade win not be repeated twelve mon ths from now. This episode further calls into question the apparent fondness of certain politicians to seek simplistic solutiions to coirIex prcl!5: la prr. . ' pro vide another arguaent tzzizzt wtit & "-" I ur Muskie calls "kgfslsting w& a cjt tzz r:L:r thia a ' Most importantly, tils epusds rsls scr.2 C :-1 --"J questions about our fsaussslsl tziiend vv : tr.J priorities. One wonders why the so-called t-Sz n-r-"-a always seem to dse out fctnssa services rrrrs3, while routinely approving defense prcsrara trJL v iz cs forms of corporate welfare. Why, for ar.p2, is there not criticism of "waste, fraud and abuse" at Ct Tear tagon, where billions of dollars ia tmotUfi kese change look around for ways to be spent? And wty d so many of those who rail ajainit "welfare chests" end the like continue to defend the massive ineqmtfes and in efficiencies in our tax collection system? - These questions are obviously too complicated to be answered in the limited space available here. Intfrarf. this skepticsm, this questioning if traditional assump tions, must become a permanent part of the new "language of politics." r f ' . Certainly, no one in public office defends "waste,' fraud and abuse." However, we need to recognize that no single agency or program has a monopoly on these problems. When politicians pretend otherwise, they are engaging not in pur dent fiscal management, but. Eke earlier advocates of law V order," in poStkal decep tion of the most dangerous kind. I think We can agree that the quality of life in this country which is often preconditioned by one's skin col or has never noticeably changed depending upon which political party is in office. In 1980 this nation will elect to be led by either a Republican or a Democrat . Each new administration brings to the White House minor changes to titillate the press. Lyndon Johnson turned out all the lights to save money. Nixon attempted to introduce royalty to the White House through the use of uniformed honors guards. Jimmy Carter doesn t serve hard booze. We can predict these kinds of changes to occur whenever there is a transference of power. But we, as Black Americans, must bear in mind that our struggle to survive in a pluralistic society will remain constant. Our lot win only improve to the extent that we stay on the case and vigilantly look after our own welfare. At the recent National Executive Board meeting of the National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees a resolution was adopted which resolved to serve notice President Carter Will Have To Work Miracles To Get Black Vote In 1976, President Carter received round 96 per cent of the black vote. With soaring inflation and rising unemployment, both of which place a greater burden on blacks and the poor, without a miraculous change in these conditions, it is highly unlikely that he can count on a significant black vote in 1980. Many of the rank and file blacks have expressed the opinion, that, with no improvement in their living, President Carter being the Democratic nominee with no moderate Republican Presidential nominee, they will vote for other elected officials, but sit out the Presiden tial candidacy. They are also stating that since not all of the blame for their economic plight can be placed on the President, they will take a hard look at the entire records of the other elected official candidates. Blacks are beginning to perceive a deepinsight into their voting process. . Blacks do feel that economic conditions could be im- Goved, if President Carter, after, Aaviiigaigoed umphrey-Hawldns into law would notjiave perceived that his job was complete, but instead that he should have thrown the weight of his administration behind im plementing the mandates of it. Ambassador Andrew Young's Resignation The news of U.N. Ambassador, Andrew Young's resignation is both distressing and dishartening, and in-' creases my skepticism of the motives of the Carter ad ministration. As a fellow clergyman of Ambassador Young, in the United Church of Christ, I am personally familiar with his commitment to peace and human rights. I am in agreement with his assessment of what it will take to br ing about a lasting peace in the Middle East or anywhere else in this troubled world. It is certainly "ridiculous" to maintain a policy which eliminates one of the primary parties involved in the conflict from participating in in formal and formal peace talks. Ambassador Young has 'forged a path which has significantly increased United States allies among Third" World and African Counties. The U.S. State Department has failed miserably in its attempt to bring1 about peace, and furthermore, has managed to intensify and widen' the gap between former allies in the struggle for human rights domestically. I .find it extremely difficult to accept the State Depart ment's version of Ambassador Young's meeting with the PLO representative. I beliwe he had at the. very least, tacit approval by the State Department or Presi dent Carter to participate in the meeting. One cannot help but think that the crux of the problem was preceiv- A Postal And Federal ; VIEWPOINT j . By Robert E. White Political neutrality as Vo Approach 1980 on aspiring politicians that the National Alliance will support the candidate whose platform most nearly mat ches its own aims. The resolution was an outgrowth of a widespread at titude that blacks will always vote Democratic regardless of the personal integrity of the nominee, and indeed there is some evidence to support this notion. The message I wish to send through my column this week is that black people throughout the country must assume the respc sll.lity of extinguishing this assump tion. We simply cannot afford to place party obligation before personal obligation. And it is the personal obligation of every Black American to take seriously the needs of our people. Full employment, equal job opportunities, fair hous ing, quality education, safe neighborhoods, and ade quate health care as a few of our needs. These are some of the issues that concern us. We must examine the attitude of each candidate on these matters as they apply to us. Whether or not the EBOQ THE nam mmi If A IF RED A L. UADISON The forced resignation of Ambassador Young heaped coals upon the already flaming black disappointment fire in President Carter. At the recent meeting in New York of black leaders from across the nation, President Carter's administra tion's handling of the Young case was heartily deplored. It is seriously felt that Mr. Carter bowed to the undergjrded mentality of racism that exists. Andy Young, more than any other American Ambassador to the United Nations had enlightened the American peo ple ofallthnic,gToups q the -potentials and workings : of the U.N. How many American citizens t&tf'recW anything that any American U.N. Ambassador has done or even remember the names of many of them? Certainly Andy has caused nationwide attention to be -' focused on the importance and inhuman pressure of the Third World. Some congressmen, who give support to Jhe white supremacy rule in Africa, while giving flimsy .reasons for such, as averting communism, have pressured- for Andy's dismissal. Mr. Young's for thrightness and candor, which no one has challenged have been hard for some people to accept, and conse quently they have been calling on President Carter to get rid of him. "The truth is stonger than fiction and cuts sharper than a two-edged sword." i - Mr. Young, who is the only person who-always ap e pears before Congress or any group without any written notes at all, speaks calmly and candidly, has to be counted as one of the most forthright, intelligent and considerate of fair and human treatment of all people lights are on or out in the White House or whether or not French or California wine is served a of no interest to us. You may be sure that thre wfll be ample lighting when any of us is present and the wine is not likely to be a vintage familiar to our taste. It is an established fact that without the black vote Jimmy Carter would not be our President today. He knows it and we know it. This should instill as sense of power in us. This means that the black people in this na tion are a major political ally with bargaining leverage. It means that we are a special interest group whose demands must not be taken lightly. It means that we must articulate our needs to each political candidate and lend our support to the one who most convincingly ad dresses our concerns. Political neutrality is the password for blacks in the upcoming election. We must make it dear that our votes are available to the candidate who makes it known that he or she is on our side. This is the American way. on the face of the globe. Because of American racism, such a person often appears a threat to some people. Blacks are fighting mad with the administration for its double standard in handling the Young case and that of Mr. Wolf Ambassador to Austria. Mr. Wolf met with the PLO several times, but was only reminded of the U.S. policy, while Ambassador Young met only once with the PLO representative, and then in trying to pursuade him to accept the U.S. request for delay in the Palestine debate. No one has decried the Ambassador's mission, only that he should not have done it at this time, while the United States was continuing to work for the delay. Mr. young is being required, as President of the Security Council to refuse to have any talk with the PLO, even though its a requirement of the president to talk with all members. Blacks also feel that President Carter has bowed to Israeli pressure, in this forced resignation. They fed very strongly that Andy Young who, along with Rev. King, did more than anyone else to get Jimmy Carter dected President has been mercilessly maligned by the State Department and media, has been made a sacrificial lamb for radal and Jewish pressure. Blacks fed that President Carter, instead of standing up forthrightly for .fair and just conditioni'for4 all human beings, has chosen sides for what maybe termed personal political expediency, and that he has subor dinated black concerns and support to Jewish whims. By Dr. Charles Cobb, Executive Director of the Commission of Racial Justice United Church of Christ : f ed by the administration as Ambassador Young himself, not the act of an unauthorized meeting. The act of discussions with the PLO was an act that almost any Ambassadorial levd of fidal but Young could have got ten away with and at least one Ambassador has. The U.S. Ambassador to Austria has md with PLO representatives three times before Young had his meeting and he is still U.S. Ambassador to Austria. The question we must ask ourselves is, Why not Young? There are dues in Young's own words. He came to Washington last week with his mind already made up to resign in the wake of this latest controversy, because he was too controversial for the issue to be percdved dear ly, and while that was bardy tolerable on Africa policy, on the Middle East issue, it was threatening to be Ad ministration. In announdng his resignation, Ambassador Young basically said he was tired of and uncomfortable with biting his tongue. In short, there isn't room in the Carter Administration for an Andy Young and while I am not suggesting that Andy Young is the Black Messiah,-, his forced removal 'comes dose to suggesting that there isn't any room in this administration unless we toe the line and, say, med and think along lines that maintain the status quo. Therefore, where the State Department and administration have failed, I call on the Church and the religious community to a more visible role in solving the Middle East problem. Thus, as a Educational Info Contors Program SooEiing Inforosfod Citizon Input member of the Working Committee of the Churches' Human Rights Program for the Implementation of the Helsinki Final Ad, I call on the National and World Council of Churches to form a ddegation to med with both Arab and Israeli representatives in the middle east in order to structure a setting for a lasting peace. It must be said that to focus on Young's dismissal as reflective of a problem between blacks and Jews is to fundmentaUy miss the point. There are indeed problems between blacks and Jews, but Jews are rdevant to Am bassador Young's dismissal only in so far as the device used as a Middle East issue. The problem is with the Carter Administration. President Carter has made it dear he is running for re-dection and that there is a lot which wiU no longer be tolerated, and the measuring stick isn't rightness, effectiveness or skill. Secretaries Joseph Calif ano and Brock Adams as well as Am bassador Young know that now. Ambassador Young says that he will campaign for Jimmy Carter's re-election. This cannot be taken as a caU for blacks to do the same, for us Andy Young is not the issue, what Jimmy Carter does or doesn't do or hasn't done, must remain the issue and his continuing silence on the case of the Wilmington Ten and Ben Chavis is a case in point. 7 The teleprinter was invented by David Edward Hughes in frt IS. Stocks are vokaku, but make loud noises by banging together the bub during the mauny Fayette ville- Cumberland County area residents concerned about improving dtizen access to educational information and referral services will med in the Center for Continuing Education at Fayetteville State Univer sity, Septebmer 28, at 2:30 p.m., to discuss the recently authorized educa tional information Centers Program. North Carolina is one of more than forty states partidpating in the pro gram, and Faydteville is one of 23 dties across the. state selected as a meeting site. North Carolina's Pkk gram Director Carole Tyler says, ."Through this series of meetings, we; hope to discover what; local educational oppor-1 tunities exist that should to Identified and, catalog' ed for easy access' to citizens." ArdathOoldrtdnof the Governor's Office of Citizen Affairs will attend the ' meeting to point out how development of local educational information centers relates to Com munity Involvement Councils now being organized statewide. The North Carolina Adult Education Associa tion, through its Task Force on Education Brokering, planned the series, and the projed is 'administered througnt the Office of Continuing Education, University of North Carolina Oeensboro. . "In communities where hoUine or crisis centers operate," Tayler says, "we want to find out about them. Perhaps an educational information service can be added. If educational information and referral services already exist, we want to discuss how they can be linked into a statewide educational Information network of programs and people." . Community agency and institutional represen tatives, educators, and citizens have received spedal invitations to at tend. The session is open to any dtizen having spedal concern for creating better linkages bdween learners and learning oppor tunities. To determine whether space remains available for the Fayd teville area meeting, con tad Dr. James E. Carson, local convener, tdephone: ' 486-1224. HIE Continued from Page 5) Comprehensive Cancer Center, and with Dr. I Stephen Haskill, an 'associate professor o obstetricsahd gynecology, at the University of North. Carolina--Chapd Hill, to , learn the role of natural killer cells in patients with , ;oyarian cancery, . ; . ; You don't ha to borrow your neHiborl copy of . TIISCAkOLtNAWm. OS Today 682-2913 , DOWNTOWN I Chapel Hill Rooty St NORTH GATE Worn St. t Club Blvd. BOULEVARD Hoot Vbttyd. al Chapel Hill Wvd RIVER VIEW Konboro d. oppowt Shopping Cntr CROASDAILE Oardin Vnw Bldg. BETHESDA 1714$. Miami Blvd. BUTNER CtciralAvt. atDSt. CHAPEL HILL franklin St. at (tttt Or. MAIN OFFICE 606 S. Duk St. m 1 1" I 'rMrafAaM a GfMWs ( I T 1 5N. 1 U-Z-JiiM- 1 1 civr ) I ; Lccn Accct:cn I CONVENIENCE and SAFETY MEMBER hdwal Savings loan hsunnw Corf - Your Saving Insurad to 140.000 are yours at
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 1, 1979, edition 1
7
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75