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10 THE CAROLINA TIMES SAT., DECEMBER 6, 1980 CAS 1 nsg n i H H A SURE m BLAChS RETICENCE T05EIZE THE INITIATIVE TO ORGANIZE THFid LUnnUNlTcS SAID DOUGLAS 0. GLASGOW, DEAN OF HOWARD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK ISA MAJOR FAt mo Ann MinWRVW FACTOR CONTRIBUTING TO OUR COMMUNITIES' UNDEVELOPED STATUS" Affirmative Action: Affirmative Action By Gerald C. Home, Esquire POUTJCAN BUSINESSMAN DOCTORS LAWYERS ARTISTS TEACHERS MINISTERS WORKERS COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS SOCIAL WORKERS FRATERNAL GROUPS FINANCE COMPUTER SCIENCE INSTITUTION ADMINISTRATION ENGINEERING PLANNING ARCHITECTURE BLACK PRESS Business In The Black Sense, Skill and School Retraining A Must! Charles E. Belle "With all they getting, get some understanding," don't remember where exactly it's written, but it works. These days only about half of the black American male adults are able to find a job. It's not only bad luck and being black that is holding them back. Each one needs to sense the necessity for meaningful labor in life and possess the skills to sell that labor after some form of the proper schooling. Some two .million additional black . American. adult employees are currently' pounding the pavement looking for pro ductive work. When one watches the way foreign countries recareer train their just be sure to be the best one in the business." In America, it pays to be number one. Sense my drift from this, send some young adults back to school and see if you might want to send yourself back. Filing clerks, bookkeepers, bulldozer operators, podiatrists, dental hygienists, mathematicians and mining engineers are some of the selected job categories that are expected to have a fifty per cent growth in job opportunities in the 1980s. The Stevens contract also provides clear evidence, of the benefits of union membership for blacks and all workers. It includes provisions regulating Though Ronald Reagan has yet to come to office (that won't happen until January 20, 1981) it is already clear, that affirmative ac tion and other issues of concern to blacks (e.g. busing) will receive less than a receptive ear. The lame-duck Congress, reacting to a perceived right-wing shift in public senti ment, recently passed a rider barring the Justice Department from court actions to en force the use of busing to achieve desegrega tion. This Senate maneuver was in response to a similar provision passed earlier this year by the HouseThough several constitutional scholars have expressed grave reservations about the constitutionality of these measures (Prof. Lawrence H. Tribe of Harvard Law School blasted the proviso as an "attack on the very heart of the executive's duty to en force the laws, including the Constitution"), conservative Congresspersons have promis ed to press on with similar measures. For example, Senator Orrin Hatch has vowed to introduce a constitutional amend ment to ban affirmative action. He has pro mised that the Office of Federal Contracts Compliance Programs (OFFCP), an ag gressive federal agency mandating affir mative action among government contrac tors, will be forced to toe the line. This follows, on the heels of the rider attached to the Health and Human Services Department appropriation bill to prohibit use of funds to implement programs which include racial quotas in employment and education. These types of measures have been welcomed with open arms by Reagan and Company. The President-elect's transition director and top advisor, Edwin Meese, said on November 9 that "the governor opposes. . . .quotas". Those who have been heartened by the incremental increases in black lawyers at the Justice Department should know that Reagan's transition team has criticized the "quota system" for hiring and promoting lawyers. Reagan's team has lined up with white male lawyers in the department who have -scored the program under which commit tee reviews most hirings and promotions to insure that women and minorities have been considered. Symptomatic of Reagan's an tipathy to equal opportunity is the fact that this Justice Department program has been criticized by civil rights advocates as weak since it does not involve quotas or goals, yet the transition team still feels that it has gone too far. Unfortunately, there is some support in certain influential circles for Reagan's anti affirmative action approach. For example, a new Department of Transportation program recently took effect requiring that companies headed by minorities and women be given rales in highway aijd mass transit construc tion. This innovative program," which may be a precursor to others in federal depart ments, has been greeted with - resistance. Nineteen states have requested waivers from provisions in the program. The virtually lily white Associated General Contractors, a ma jor trade organization, has sued the Govern ment over the program. The New York Times, voice of the liberal (?) "Eastern Establishment" has editorialized against this major effort to reverse discrimination.. Contracts to black construction firms in volved in transportation projects does not involve peanuts. In rebellion-torn Miami, black contractors recently were awarded lucrative contracts to construct the major bus maintenance facility in predominantly black Liberty City. During the fiscal year which ended on September 30, minority firms were awarded $42 million in contracts by Amtrak. Before some begin to look back with misty-eyed nostaligia to the' Carter Ad ministration, keep in mind that despite the rhetorice, these years were no Shangri-La for affirmative action. In fact, New York State filed a suit against the Carter-led federal government charging that it had failed to en force its own regulations requiring federally assisted construction contractors to increase the employment opportunities of minorities and women. Moreover, black construction workers in Philadelphia have filed a motion in federal court against the Department of Labor to prevent that agency from adopting a new construction industry program that would "destroy the affirmative action re quirements for Philadelphia area construc tion contractors", and in a ' classic "physician-heal-thyself" contretempts, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commis sion (EEOQ, the main federal agency charg ed with combatting job discrimination, has been sued in Miami by one of its more highly regarded black employees on the grounds that he was passed over for two promotions because he is black! Hence, even if Carter were still in office, affirmative action would still face lough sledding. Some may aver that the "Reagan landslide" dooms equal opportunity, but this is far from the truth. True, there has been possibly a rightward shift in Congress, but not necessarily in the country as-a whole. It should never be forgotten for one moment that in actuality (with the record low voter turnout) Reagan received only 26;9 of the eligible voters' support. That means a great "Silent Majority" did not vote for him. Note also that not so long ago "Proposition 13" and cutting support for social programs by cutting taxes was being touted as the new "conservative wave". But few noted that on Election Day, Proposition 13-style measures were roundly defeated in Iowa, South Dakota, Utah, Arizona and Oregon. Indeed, one must wonder aloud as to whose interest it serves to trumpet this base canard about a "Reagan landslide" and "conservative tide." In any event, the task for affirmative ac tion advocates should be clear. Preparation should begin now for aggressive lobbying tactics aimed at the incoming Reagan regime. On January 21, he should be greeted with a veritable snowstorm of post cards and letters informing him of the black communi ty's intention to fight for equal opportunity. NAACP chapters, churches, etc., should link up with those trade unions planning for a spring March on Washington. It should never be forgotten that the gains of the 1960's can only be protected and advanced with the aggressive tactics of the 1960's. To Be Equal The Future Of The Black Vote By Venon E. Jordan, Jr taxi drivers m ArnricaM ftmiarin tawf eifistvrw- 3 teW Ot them have Pn.D SI At Ohe time atit haolth nnliiac Karc Aicnrlmlnatlnn t!nnalli rrm,AA th rVmvriii Dorfir ...Itk or another nearly all of the people in a given profession on the decline decide to become cab drivers. Unfortunately, today taxi drivers and chauffeur jobs are showing a decline for . prospective number of job openings in this decade of the 80s. A drop of almost 9.8V is decreed in unpublished data from the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. To tell the truth, this is nothing like the decline in prospects for people who used to take pleasure and certainly little ' pocket money from positions such as '. teachers' aides, telegraph messengers or operators. These job prospects are ex-, pected to decline 5l.887o, 72 and 44.5Vo respectively during the next ten years. Yearning for a new job will not just be unskilled workers and farmers, but col lege and university professors, down 14.3 as well as secondary school teachers, down some 26.5. Sales work, especially advertising agents, ex pected to jump 42.4 followed by bank, financial managers, expanding over fifty per cent are refreshing action areas. s Engineers, life and physical scientists, mathematical specialists, science techni cians, medical workers, technicians, computer specialists, social scientists, such as economists and even entertainers such as actors, musicians and com posers, dancers, and editors and reporters, are expected to have above average job openings in this decade. Decency declares, however, that those who do not have a Ph.D. had best be masters of their professions. In short, a college degree is great if it happens to be a graduate degree. Determining what field of employ ment to become engaged in is no easy matter, no matter what the growth pro spects in the near term. Take the advice given to me so many years ago, "Go do whatever you want to do. good or bad, and health policies, bars discrimination on the basis of race, sex, age, or religion, and protects workers from arbitrary management decisions. From a financial point of view, the contract has much to commend it. It provides for increases in the neighborhood of 8.5 and in the case of the Roanoke Stevens plant, -allows for retroactive pay which totals over $ 1 ,000 per worker . The significance of the Stevens vic tory, however, is not confined to the tangible benefits it has jroduced for workers. Of equal importance is the fact that the ACTWU's success will trigger a major organizing effort in the South. For neary two decades, J. P. Stevens' stubborness was a symbol of the dif ficulties in organizing the South. Now that the myth of Stevens invincibility has ' been demolished, organized labor will be more bold in its efforts to achieve major gains in this region. In the wake of the discouraging results of the 1980 election, the Stevens victory might be regarded as the exception rather than the rule. But, I believe that the Stevens victory will be looked upon in the future as a milestone in the history - of the American labor movement, for it marks the emergence of a modern, ag gressive brand of union organzing which can break the back of even the most ag gressively anti-union of companies. Organized labor will, of course, have to contend with a Senate run by Strom Thurmond and Orrin Hatch and an ex ecutive branch under the control of Ronald Reagan. But there will be equal ly important battles to be fought outside the halls of Congress. These battles, the Stevens victory shows us, can and must be won no matter which party controls the Congress or the Presidency. Those who are predicting four years of retreat and retrenchment by labor and its allies are in for a rude awakening. The J. P. Stevens victory may well be the beginning of a new era of aggressive organizing. tionally provided the Democratic Party with its core supporters who remained loyal in the 1980 election. Estimates of the black vote for President Carter range from a minimum of eighty per cent to a maximum of ninety per cent. That has led to troubled feelings among many. One notion is that blacks will be "punished" by a reigning party that got only a handful of votes from them. Another holds that blacks have to break away from a party that takes them for granted. I can't buy the idea that blacks will be 'punished" for their votes; the system just 'doesn't work that way. Common sense sug gests Republicans will try to expand their base, not narrow it. The success with which they detached other parts of the Democratic coalition makes it probable that Republicans will go after the black and Hispanic voters they didn't win over in 1980. , As for deserting a party that takes them 'for granted, any group will vote for can didates who offer it the brightest prospects. Blacks will probably remain largely Democratic until they feel they have a viable alternative. In 1980, the black vote may, have gone to Carter but black support for him was soft. A more moderate Republican standard-bearer Wfc8tm?ftt8 of - blacK voTOryoreater'xnCTasiaaiwffiH uw Carter candidacy would have resulted in a significantly higher black voter turnout. It is too glib to say the black vote always goes Democratic, without an important qualifier. The black vote traditionally goes to candidates ranging from moderate to liberal who demonstrate an identification with black needs and aspirations. That was proved all over again in 1980 as black voters switched to the Republican line to back congressional and local candidates who they perceived as favorable to black in terests. It is interesting to note too, that the strong identification of blacks with the Democratic Party is relatively recent. It took Roosevelt's New Dejal to break the black allegiance to the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln and the Reconstruction. And the lopsided Democratic majorities only started in the six--ties, when Kennedy and Johnson initiated "the Second Reconstruction. So there is historical evidence that blacks, like other voting groups, switch party iden tification when another party competes for their votes and frames a program that will appeal to them. So rather than "punishing" blacks, a Republican Party intent on becoming the na tion's new majority party must appeal to s fWitok-tvteTf through atfc, cecord in . the, .next v'lTKMiF-ryearSi.Jf .it protects black social and civil rights gains and if it fulfills its promises to wipe out unemployment, it can add blacks to the other groups that have withdrawn from the old Democratic coalition. Why should they bother? After all, Mr. Reagan won in a landslide without black votes, and many of the new Republicans in the Senate are there without visible black support either. The answer is that a 1980 is rare in politics. Close elections are the rule. And in close elections, the black vote can be decisive. Black voters hold the balanace of power in many key states. Even the shift in population to the Sunbelt reinforces this fact, as the large black population in the South and Hispanic voters in California and Texas and Florida will be crucial in future elections. Politicians know too, that measures that alienate black voters also drive away others who share the goal of a more equal society. Republican strategists believe they are posed to capitalize on a massive realignment in American politics. They know that cap turing black voters is necessary for them to prosper over the long term. So the 1980 elec tion, rather than ending black political in fluence, should inaugurate a new period of . competition for black votes. Economic Justice As A Crime Deterrent By Congressman Augustus F. Hawkins Lt.W.H. DUPREE ..Of the 55th Massachusettes voluntafirs- one of many who served bravely in the civil war; after General Grant took Richmond & General R.E. Lee surrendered, Jefferson Davis, the Confederate President was cap tured & jailed on May 10, 1865 at Fortress Monroe! He was tried in May, 1867, before the first mixed jury ever drawn in the South! If you ask the average American what are the most serious crimes in the nation, the answer would probably single out street crimes such as robbery, mugging, murder, rape and assault. If you were to ask a further question about who commits all these crimes, the answer would come back, and wrongly so, that minorities are probably the single most important perpetrators of street crime. These answers are very popular, unfound ed assumptions which too easily explain away a crisis that exists in the whole criminal justice system, which America has yet to face. And yet there is some light at the end of the tunnel, created by a small, distinguished group of minority Americans known as the National Minority Advisory Council on Criminal Justice. Their job, funded by the U.S. Law En forcement Assistance"" Administration (LEAA) in 1976, is to provide guidance, direction and recommendations to federal,' slate and local law enforcement agencies. This charge is a formidable one, but using their own sense of fortitude, intelligence and sometimes a feeling of outrage, they have provided their unique perspectives on the causes of crime and violence. They have also charted responsible paths to the realization , of social justice. . And nowhere is this belter accomplished than in their recently released study, "The Inequality of Justice". Essentially the study deals with crime and the administration of justice from a minority viewpoint. It is expressed in terms of a black perspective, a Hispanic perspective, an Asian perspective and"a Native American perspective, as articulated by those living in ghettoes, barrios, and reservations. The study is harsh in its condemnation of the way in which criminal justice is enforced in minority communities it notes: Throughout the history of the United , States the white majority has felt compelled to use economic and political power, and particularly the criminal justice system, to maintain control and authority over the racial minorities in American society. The oppression of minorities in America is sup ported by a system of racial beliefs and ideologies that has pervaded the nation's major political and cultural institutions, especially the criminal justice system." Interestingly enough, their view pro pounds the position that the greatest and most serious crime in the nation, causing criminality and social deviation, is the crime of depriving minorities of economic, political and social justice. The Advisory Committee describes this "crime" as one in which "there is an air of hypocrisy in the' public pronouncement of a nation about freedom where the essential social .levers of opportunity education, jobs, housing, and political power are kept out of the reach of the masses of minorities. Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians and Asian Americans remain, with few exceptions, segregated, powerless, and at a marginal level of existence as a result of our nation's socioeconomic system and practices." They go on to observe that "the periodic spasms of minority discontent across the na tion relate in particular to the government's management of the economy and the use of government power in periods of crisis. Yet, for minorities all over the nation, the issues, above all others, are political and economic (Continued on Page 11) (USPS 091-380) L.E. AUSTIN 1 Editor-Publisher 1927-1971 ' Published every Thursday (dated Saturday) at Durham N.C. by United Publishers, Incor- , porated. 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