Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Dec. 15, 1979, edition 1 / Page 18
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J-TKECARQUNA TIMES : SAT., DECEMBER IS, 1979 If;?. '''.-..vi ..' "' : . ' . NOBMMtttMtM Senator Kennedy And The American Soul By Bill DuBois fn amove that promised to break the Iranian crisis wide open, Senator Ed ward, erinedy criticized the forraershah of Iran as being only for himself,-and said, further, that the -!U.ni.t'StatesVshpuld relate to the Ira nja pe'pje8-a whole, not merely as erje.nan, the shah. " vtyhalt happened as a result was what OpViiJdexpecJ iri a country at war, in iaf'" 'country visibly threatened by 'another country: the office of the President' and the office of the Secretary pf State and many public of Tjpiali severely criticized Kennedy as if he Had sided with a national enemy at war with the United States. JThtaj5,.:ho.weVer, that we still hjav? 'dipibmatic reVatiohs wtth' Iran, and the fact is, even more basically, lhiat what Kennedy was speaking was trlthi a commodity that is being rapidr mpsphere n?w- building in the United States'. ; ' -What is npt being confronted in these moments of hysteria is that the United States has welcomed to its bosom a man whom the Iranian people consider a traitor, a mass murderer, and a lhjef of billions of dollars of Ira nian, wealth. Although they had no right lo invade the American embassy and evenness right to take hostages, the actions of the" Iranian students who took the hostages are a response to that fact. The.'Arnerican people appear to be blind to mis. The reason for this blindness; would be a subject for another column, perhaps even a series of columns. The reasons are to be found jn .he conquering tendencies of the American people-Ahe conquering of : 'ihe Indians, the blacks, the. Filopinos, and the mind-set that has resulted. Even so, the American people, ap parently, want the shah, out of America; yet, according to the polls, they applaud Carter's "leadership," which is essentially an exercise in demagogy which appeals to the self righteous tendencies in the American character. What we close our eyes to is the fact that Carter is leading the American people down the possible road to he third war in thirty years against a small, improverished Asian . nation. And his whipping up of hysteria against Iran and Khomeini is accompanied by the applause of the American people. Kennedy's attempt to alert the American people to what is going on is pure sanity. He is attempting to bring to the attention of the American people the fact thati Jhey are being misled and that this misleading may cost them not only the respect of the international community and their relationship with the Moslem world but may also cost them, perhaps, thousands of American lives even, perhaps, a wider atomic war that could cost millions of American lives. Kennedy's words are not only sanity, but patriotism. He is attempting to bring the American peo ple to their senses. The lives and the well-being of the hostages are quickly being lost in this hysteria, and surely war would be the surest way of destroying them. Let us hope that Kennedy's sane voice will remain strong and self assured in this time of aggravated crisis a crisis not of Iran and the United States, but a crisis of the . American soul. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COORDINATING CENTER Occupational Safety Health & The Black Gerald C. Hcrna, Esq. oooooooooeoooooooocoooooocoooccoooocoooooooofeoooooooouoo6oonooooooooooBnff No better reason for the need for affir mative action in employment are the statistics on occupational safety and health among black workers; for the fact is that blacks and other minorities are faced with , the hardest, dirtiest, most dangerous jobs. The following dismal recitation should sober those who have been traduced by the siren of "reverse discrimination:" Fifteen per cent of the black work force (twelve million) are unable to work due to permanent or job-related disabilities. Blacks have a 37 per cent greater chance then whites of suffering an occupational in jury or illness. Blacks faced a 20 per cent greater chance than whites of dying from job-related in juries and illnesses. Many factors account for this. Inadequate health and safety laws, corporate greed ("profits before people"), e,tc. are a few. But the fact that black workers are trapped at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder is clearly a central cause. In the steel industry, blacks are heavily in volved in coke oven work; as a consequence, blacks are eight lime more likely than whites to get lung cancer. Blacks make up 22 per cent of the industry, and eighty per cent are assigned to the dangerous, comparatively low-wage coke ovens. In the textile industry, 25 per cent of the work force is black. Blacks there are more likely to get bysinosis (brown lung), chronic bronchitis and dyspnea (lack of breath). ' In the rubber industry blacks have significantly higher rates of stomach, liver, kidney, colon and postate cancer than white workers. In fact, blacks have the highest poslate . cancer death rate in the world and most of ' these black deaths are concentrated in Toledo, Akron and Cleveland where the rub ber industry is situated. In the agricultural areas otFlorida, Blacks were assigned mostly to handling pesticides. Not surprisingly, these black workers have high rates of liver and kidney dysfunction. Black women comprise 25 per cent of the 225,000 laundry and dry-cleaning workers, where many dangerous chemicals e.q. tetrachloroethylene- are used. Black workers in that industry had death rates twice as high ' as white workers. In the heavily black labor force of the ' tobacco industry (thirty per cent) of North Carolina, cancer is the leading cause of death among blacks between 40-54 and the second leading cause of death among black females 25-39. Ponder that the next time you light up! Blacks comprise 23 per cent of the ship building and repair industry where abestos which causes lung cancer and mesothelioma is a prime element. What can be done about this murder on the job? Are we consigned to a fate of seeing our finest sons and daughters wiped out? Is there nothing we can do about situation that amounts to and the term is not used lightly genocide? As ever, there is a way out. We must give support to unions in their battles for safer jobs. Employers, in the name of "de-regulation," have mounted a vicious at tack against the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the main government watch-dog. We must let our representatives in Congress know that weakening OSHA will mean defeat at the polls. Some states, like California, have state administered versions oHoSHA; in those states were they don't Have them, we must pressure state legislatures to establish them. We must reform workers' compensation laws to make for more benefits for the disabled. We must push for a health care system modeled on the bill introduced by Congressional Black Caucus member Ronald Dellums, which makes illness less of a personal financial catastrophe. , But above all, we must move aggressively on two fronts: First, we mukt combat the "profits before people" thic .that too oftefj characterizes industry and pukh for health safety committees at every work-site. Secondly, we must stridently tall for affir mative action in employment, so that blacks can escape from those menial, low-wage, dangerous jobs. Without such an effort, we, will continue to be casualties in the ongoing war for profits. To Be Equal Which English - Black Or Public? By VERNON E. JORDAN, JR. Last summer a judge in Ann Arbor, Michigan ruled that teachers at an elemen tary school serving youngsters from a low income housing project would have to lake a course in "Black English." Thai decision won't be the lasl we'll hear on the subject. Ii relii the fires of controver sy surrounding Black English, and it resolv ed the issues in a reasonable way. Proponents of Black English suggest that ii is a separale language and black children must be laught it both because it is their "home language" and because proficiency in Black English will pave the way for I heir mastery of Public English. , Opponents on the other Hand, condemn its use in ihe schools and insist that the children be taught in Public English, with no concessions made lo those who use Black English on a daily basis. Bul'thc crux of the issue was never which language should be used in the classroom. Black parents have made it abundantly clear i hat they insist their children be taught and be proficient in standard English. Thai's the language of job applications, of higher education, and of the world of work. Without skills in standard English black children face limited futures. Black English became a barrier to learning not because of the children's use of it, but because teachers automatically assume its use signified interior intelligence, inability to learn, or oilier negative connotations. Teachers often decide, on the basis of stu dent's speech patterns, that they can't learn. As one black psychologist testified at the Ann Arbor trial, "loo many are branded as siupid, just because they are brought up us ing different words than whiles." So by focusing on the teachers, the judge made the right decision. Sensitizing teachers to Black English will equip them lo com municate belter with pupils who use the language m- their daily lives. And it should : help them to make better assessments of the students' ability to read and speak Public English. But ii's a big leap from that to advocate teaching Black English in the schools. That would be a big mistake. For one thing, if many black children already speak the language at home there is no need to leach it to them. For another, it is inappropriate. It may be a useful com munications tool in the playground, but not in their dealings with the rest of a society that universally uses Public English. And the use of Black English varies widely according to region and cjass. Educators can't assume that being black automatically means a student knows or uses Black English. So Black English's place in the school is best seen as a sensitizing mechanism for teachers, aiding them to teach Public Enlgish to their students. Language isn't the only area where many teachers need to be sensitized. Just as hear ing Black English makes many stigmatize its user, so too do many teachers display discriminatory altitudes based on race, dress and cla4s. Teaching black, Hispanic, or poor children requires that teachers demonstrate respect for the child and his heritage. It means overcoming white middle class behavior and speech patterns aftd accepting the validity of other cultures. Such a con structive attitude demands a degree of sen sitivity lacking in many schools today. The overriding goal has to be to equip black school children with the ability to read, write and speak Public English, the language they will have to know if they are to enter the mainstream of American life. And that Public English must be taught in a way that does not ignore, denigrate, or eradicate the rich language traditions of (he students. Black students then, must be taught language skills which will give them access to the full range of economic, political and social opportunities. Congressman Hawkins' Weekly Column "If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who propose to 'favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops . "without .plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and . ; ...twg.-They' want the oceans majestic, waves without the awful roar pTits.waters. -Frederick Douglass By Augustus F. Hawkins !f fls Jog Should Know mm Wmrn : PDNDY 1789 -1839 Born in hardwick, n. jy he was A FOREMOST ABOLITIONIST WHO MVEDtN WHEELING, W.VA. IN 1815 HE ORGANIZED THE UNION HUMANE SOCj ETJf ? IN 1821 HE FOUNDED AN ANTI SLAVERY PAPER, AT MT. PLEASANT, OHIO i TH IS WITH WM . LLOYD CARRISON AS CO-EDITOR FROM SEPT. 1829 TO JrAnW 1330) IN ALL HE TRAVELLED MORE THAN 25,000 .i'jTED If STATES AND COUNTLESS PLACES ABROAD, ;!CHT;irjo FOR FREEDOM FOR THE SLAVES. -',, v' "''. ' . tOOOQOOCOCOOOOOOOOOOOt On April 4, 1979, I wrote an article in response to an irate communication frnm one of my constituents, who was finding it difficult to pay her bills, because of moun ting inflation. Her special concern was her need to drive to work, and gasoline price-inflation. Unfor tunately she lived in an area where public transportation was almost non-existent, which necessitated the daily use of her car to get to and from her place of employment. I noted in that article that the President was going to move to some kind of decontrol reasonably soon; especially because of the pressure of his secretaries state, treasury and energy and his top economic adviser, Charles Schultze. Those of us in the Congress who were op posed to decontrol attempted without suc cess to exert great pressure on him to keep him firmly reminded that decontrol would " mean extreme inflation. In addition to the fact that rapid decontrol would cause severe inflation, we also reminded him that oil company profits would be excessive; and that those least able to afford decontrol would be hurt the most by it: poor people and minorities. Many of my Congressional colleagues agreed with my assessment; Rep. Toby Mof fett said on "Face the Nation," that the President's decision was "probably the most inflationary decision ever made by a Presi dent." ' Hobart Rowan, the Washington Post's economic expert, indicated that "All the .President has done by going ahead with decontrol is to assure .the nation that energy, 1 will cost more, inflation will worsen, and the! oil companies will prosper." And this is exactly what is happening. ! Energy prices are up sixty per cent this year (fifty per cent of the inflation rate).!. Gasoline prices have spilled clear over ther ' one-dollar per-gallon mark. Inflation has hit ! a double-digit thirteen per cent, and it 1 doesn't appear that it will decrease anytime soon. And the oil companies profits? Not just an obsecene fifty per cent or 100 per cent in crease over previous quarter profits, but some companies are experiencing 300 and 400 per cent profit margins. Even talk of a windfall profits tax seems ludicrous, because as the windfall tax bill makes its way through the Congress, it ap pears less and less likely that it will be mean ingful. The House bill calls for a windfall profits tax that will yield an estimated $277 billion by 1990, but the Senate version has cut this almost in half. Additionally it appears that domestic, independent oil companies which are not involved in the refining of oil, will probably be totally exempt from paying any windfall tax at all. There are other such ex emptions just as likely to neutralize any, move to make oil companies more respon sive to the kinds of sacrifices the President keeps telling consumers they must make. Saying "I told you so," doesn't help either; what it does do in this case, is to in dicate that those of us who were greatly con cerned about the inflationary nature of decontrol, have a greater job to do now. And that job is to mount a campaign to reinstitute controls on oil, and to roll back prices on certain energy products, at some mutually agreed upon level. If energy prices are clearly fifty per cent of the current inflation rate, our job then is to attack that aspect of the economy, in order to slow it down, reduce it, and stabilize its impact on the cost of living. it we can do this, we II see a reasonable I decrease not only in energy, but also in the ' cost of housing, health care, and food. And also see reductions in all the other spin-off 1 costs so affected by these four. This means harder work on our part to change the cur- i rent energy policy but the alternative is ' worse. NORTH CAROLINA III BUCK PUBLISHERS AtSdCtATJON (USPn91-3M) L.E. AUSTIN Ed-Pub!!h 1837-1971 Putt shed every Thursday (dated Saturday) at Durham NX. by United Publishers. Incorporated. Mailing Address: P.O Box 3825. Durham. N.C. 27702. Office located at 923 Favet teville Street. Durham. N.C. 27701. Second Class Postage paid at Durham North Carolina 27702. POSTMASTER: Send address change to THE CAROLINA TIMES. P.O. Box 3825, Durham. N.C. 27702. . . SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One year, $12.00 (plus $0.48 sales tax, tor North Carolina residents). Single copy $.30. Postal regulations REQUIRE advanced payment on sub-scrip tions. Address all communications and make all checks and money orders payable to: THE CAROLINA TIMES. NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE: Amalgamated PubHshers, Inc., 45 West 45th Street. New York, New York 10066. Member United Press International Photo Service. Natknal Newspaper Publishers Association, North CaroHha Black Publishers Association. Opinions expressed by columnists in this newspaper do not necessarily represent the policy ot this newspaper ' i This newspaper WILL NOT be responsible for the return of i unsolicited pictures.
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Dec. 15, 1979, edition 1
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