Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Dec. 27, 1980, edition 1 / Page 10
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itcoulp be a fimmmmsTHAS MUTUAL m- CO-OPERATION To Be Equal The Gift of Christmas By Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Christmas celebrates nothing less than the gift of life and the birth of fresh hope. That's why it touches a universal chord, why all of us look forward to, the Christmas season with anticipation and joy. For many, Christmas means a renewal of basic values and of the necessary com mitments those values imply. Chief among them is compassion and help for those less fortunate. It is more important than ever before to affirm those values and those traditional Christmas seasonal reminders of man's brotherhood and the goodwill we should hold for all. Just a quick look around us shows the need for a rebirth of compassion and caring generosity. Millions of people are starving in- the famine areas of Africa. Millions here at home are jobless this Christmas. Millions of families will celebrate the traditional Christmas dinner with the only meat they'll eat this month. And many of those meager Christmas din ners are possible only, because of food stamps or welfare payments or other means society provides to supply the barest minimum necessary for sheer survival, and little else. We should think of those people people in trouble, people who are homeless, people who are hungry while we celebrate our own good fortune. That's what this season means to transcend our own concerns and embrace others in the full spirit of humanity and sharing love of one's neighbor. But unfortunately there's another spirit abroad in the land in this Christmas season, a spirit of selfish hard-heartedness, a spirit of indifference to those who are poor or who are black, a spirit of meanness. I suppose we can call that the spirit of anti-Christmas, and it is strong, very strong. It is strong enough to masquerade as part of the season's good cheer and hearty fun. Just consider one particularly ugly exam ple of the spirit of anti-Christmas. There's a nasty board game making fun pf poor peo ple and welfare recipients thatwil probably wind up under some Christmas trees the fewer the better, as far as I'm concerned. Players draw cards that read: VYour son is beat up by an ethnic gang while being bused across town to school; pay hospital $200." Another is "pitch pennies all day." Losers draw cards like: "working person's burden." Land on a box marked "illegitimate child" and you get play money welfare wants. It is disgusting that the sufferings of the poor are so callously treated by people mak ing fun of their miseries for profit. The very ea of well-off people playing a game that reinforces racial stereotypes and derides the poorest Of the poor is obscene, especially in this Christmas season. And how ironic to give such a poisonous game as a gift to impressionable children, helping them to learn racism and contempt for those Jess well-off than their own families, many of whom once were dirt poor themselves less than a generatioa or two ago. ' One stupid board game wouldn't bother me; what gets me is the mentality behind it, a mentality of me-first, damn-the-poor, hate those who are different or poorer. Poverty, isn't a game for those who arc Poor. It is" in the humblest homes that the true spirit of Christmas will reign this year, where people will share the little they have and take solace with the love and warmth of their families and friends. This Christmas let us all strive to rise above the petty race and class hatreds so prevalent io our society; let us dedicate ourselves to the lasting values of the Christmas tradition. In this season of rebirth and fresh hopes, may we resolve to give fresh meaning to the spirit of brotherly love and joy to all mankind. In that spirit, may I wish you and your loved ones a happy and joyous holiday. Christ Is Born Business In The Black Carter Aid Cries Cheaper Housing Cost By Charles E. Belle And it came to past in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) ' And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were ac complished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. ' Keeping waicn over toeir hock oroi, A M il. : m A.M -M . j a A.W I ! . rnnM s-f - : " .4. .-- . ' T - V ' auu, 10, iue angel 01 me jjura came upon mem, ana me giory 01 the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped - in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heaven ly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Would you believe the White House hopes to have cheap housing for the poor before Reagan rushes into the Oval Office? Well, open your ears and hear this, from the finan cial chief of housing, Jay Janis, Chairman, Federal Home Loan Bank Board. Mr. Janis, speaking before the nation's home loan lenders at their 88th Annual Convention of the U.S. League of Savings Associations in San Francisco, speculated on a tax incentive for savers theme. "Such a program would aid first-time home buyers and those who otherwise could not afford housing at market rates," suggested. Janis. A tax incentive for savings would benefit ban ksamgsia4 loans and other financial depositor institutions by . providing more funds, as well as giving them an opportunity to meet the housing needs of the people by making more mortgage loans. In addition, it Several bills have been introduced in Con gress to collar inflation and grapple with the disastrous housing dilemma. However, this tax incentive idea for savers is surely worthy of the attention of the White House occu-: pant for a few days now or in February, 1981. Finding a way to cover the loss of $500 million per year to the Internal Revenue Ser-, vice in cost caused by the proposal was a tricky problem. Robin Hood's idea is seized by Janis. Tax those with homes twenty per cent on their capital gains when they sell their houses, says Sir Janis. People without houses can run with that response! President-Elect Ronald Reagan is the reason Mr. Janis has a personal problem. Mr. Janis iust mieht not be in office to offer support for his suggestion to incite investors v . a 1 . i t l . .2-" o " w -o0 w vi ivn li I r " - - w l$m)tt$atio saMJHLqwj&CT. another thought by Jams spend. ;-- '- boqnd to survive under a Reagan regime. No one will have to, lie about the little money they make in their savings account on in terest income with right way Ronald Reagan around the White House. "In any event," according to Janis, "new conditions such as inflation, competition for funds, decontrol of interest rates and Federal Reserve policy shifts, have caused record high interest rates, curtailed mortgage loan money and a change in the basic home loan arrangement." At stake in all of this, according to Janis, are jobs. In an economic sense, housing has a substantial "multiplier" effect, he says. For every hundred thousand units that are started with new homes built, 176,000 jobs are created. Construction work, material suppliers and the whole subcontractor net work. No need to guess who benefits when .business must deuiand more workers AH Americans. ' - i. ; Affirmative Action: SAVE THE CHILDREN St. Luke 2:1-14 if there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those whopro pose to-favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation. are men who wphi crops without plowing up the ground, tfhey want .rain without thunder and lighting. They want the oceans ma jestic waves without the awful roar of its waters. Frederick Douglass, Things You Should Know 1834-1903 ..A.M.E. Bishop, born in Salem, Md., a graduate of Dickinson College and a stu dent at Halle, Germany. He taught theological history at Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, N. J. In 1873 he .became their President. In 1880 - a Bishop. Writer of many texts, his outstanding scholarship won great awards for the college. In and out of the church, he fought bravely for Negro Rights! It is now recognized in creasingly that black youth are at the heart of uncounted significant political issues. Busing, the sub-minimum wage, the draft, unemployment, etc., all involve to a greater or lesser extent the question of black youth. And despite the Interna tional Year of the Child, despite Operation PUSH and the Congressional Black Caucus focusing on the "black family" and "save the children," it re mains true that black youths are subjected con stantly to a drumbeat of attack. Making national headlines recently and confirming what to some was obvious was a recent study issued by the U.S. Surgeon General Julius B. Richmond. He noted that While the over-all death rate in this country was dropping by 20 from 1960-78, it grew by 11 for young people from 15-24 years old; the chief causes of death for this age group were motor vehicle accidents, other kinds of accidents, suicides, etc. But for black youth, murder was by far the chief cause of death. Correspondingly, a newborn black is nearly twice as likely to die in in fancy as a white child. And those black children who do manage to survive infancy, what happens to them? Well, for starters, like so many others in this society, they'll find it difficult to obtain any kind of health aje of children in two parent families. In other states, families cannot receive Medicaid because their annual incomes were considered above the poverty levels; but the ajtch is that in these state, the poverty level in- come is set at absurdly low ilevels, e.g., Tennessee's $2,400 per year. In other words, any family of four making $2,401 per year or more is deemed not to be powevery-stricken and is denied Medicaid benefits. But the threshold issue is that nineteen states have denied medical funds for prenatal care, thus con tributing to the unusually high infant mortality rates ,of blacks, who are forced by economic circumstance to rely disproportionately on Medicaid. This same economic cir-,' .cumstance and social pressure detailed in numerous studies has, led to many women-led families in the black com munity. Yet this only reflects the general na tional trend, as the inumber of United States families led by women with no husbands increas- ' ed 51, from 5.6 million to 8.5 million, between 1970 and 1979. If there was an adequate system of child care centers, the question of women-led families would not be a .. major social question. There are approximately six million preschool age children with working mothers; yet there are at least five million kids out in the cold a dispropor tionate number of whom are black. The right wing Reaganites who chirp in cessantly about black "welfare mothers" not working, at the same time block federally fiyyhri child care" (fte lack of which often prevents mothers from working in this unemployment plagued economy. The black youth who is able to .survive infancy and the pre-school years, then has to enter under equipped, crowded public schools, where drugs are often more available than books. One does not have to be a prude about mari juana smoking to be con cerned about a situation where one out of nine high school seniors is a daily user or where eight per cent of 12-13 year olds have tried the herb with half of this group still us ing it. The impact on thinking processes, reading comprehension, verbal and arithmetic skills, etc., is incalculable. Alcohol abuse, another "drug" problem that does not receive adequate at tention, is probably worse in the schools. The black community should also be concerned about our youths' undue watching of television. Wilson Riles, a black who is California Schools Superintendent, in aj recently released study, in- dicated that the more a I student watches TV, the worse he does in school. After surveying 500,000 sixth-twelfth graders, he concluded that the boob tube "is not an asset and it ought to be turned off. . . .the dialogue that goes on in many of those pro grams is of very low quali ty and the education value (is) nil." But a black parent without child care will use the tube as a baby-sitter, a black parent with a pover ty level inqpme who can not afford to pay for in tellectual pursuits, will use the tube as a substitute and our entire community Suffers. The black youth who Is deprived of education, health care, recreation and employment is likely to be found in a Miami-style rebellion. The ex plosiveness and unchan neled anger demonstrated by Miami has the potential to turn this country upside down. This conclusion can also be gleaned from the massive 45,000 word report issued by a commit tee of five whites and three blacks appointed by Governor Bob Graham. The committee's chair man, Irwin J. Block, a Miami lawyer averred: "Almost 45 of black teen-agers are unemployed here. They hang around all day on street corners. They're hungry and frustrated and are being frequently hustled by the equally frustrated police. Black youths don't even mind being arrested. In jail, at least they have three meals a day," ; Though this may be something ot an exaggera tion, it captures the tenor of the quandary. In an era when the dormitory for Olympic athletes at Lake Placid, N.Y., is now a prison for black and Hispanic youths, it is not difficult to see that the problems we are up against are immense. But, if problems for black youth are, say, three times as great, then inevitably they must receive three times the federal benefits. This is what affirmative action is all about and this is the idea that must be hammered home in demonstrations, rallies and marches if we are to : save the children. (USPS 091-380) L.E. AUSTIN EBitor-Publisher 1927-1971 - Published every. Thursday (dated Saturday) at Durham N.C. by United Publishers, Incor porated. Mailing Address: P.Q. Box 3825, Durham, N.C. 27702. TJffice located at 923 Fayetteville Street, Durham, N.C. 27701.' Second Class Postage paid at Durham North Carolina 27702. POSTMASTER: Send address Change to THE CAROLINA TIMES, p.0. Box 3825, Durham, .H.C 27702. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One. year, 512.0Q (prus $0.48 sales tax for .North Carolina rasjterts). Single copy J.30...Postal regoJations ; REQUIRE advanced payrnenf on subscriptions! Address all communlcatidns and make all checks ??d money orders payable to: THE CAROLINA TIMES. NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE: Amalgamate Publishers, Inc., 45 West 45th , . Street, New York, New York 10066. Member United Press International Photo Ser vice,. National Newspaper Publishers Associa tion, North Carolina Blaek Publishers Associa tion; . - ". Opinions , expressed by columnists ' in this newspaper do not necessarily represent the pWlcyoflhls newspaper k This newspaper WILL NOT be: responsible ior Ifte returfl-of unsolicited pictures.
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Dec. 27, 1980, edition 1
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