Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Feb. 6, 1982, edition 1 / Page 14
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BUCKS DESTLWIN OWN HAMS CA .it j& - tW; yl V sit A'si eiWujt TLieiAicttst ife?z Ant? smmat PrtmeMLreAP omimtrmn tub cmnHmttrMmcms At program? ' :;.'t: mrxwan3 r. Affirmative Action: The Voting Rights Act -the Battle is Not Over ; By Gerald C, Horne, Esquire Editorial Reasanomics and Black Survival Caught as we arc in the clutches of "Reagariomics," or supply-side economics, whichever term you favor, blacks must answer three critical ques- tions. ':-,.';v"' How can we survive this drastic switch in political and economic policy? How can we learn to thrive and prosper in this atmosphere? How did we get caught in this crunch in the first place? The third question is the most critical, because if we understand the mistakes that have devastated our struggle for equal opportunity in this country, we can avoid them. '. 1 . In his book, Vie Shaping of Black America, Lerone Bennett succinctly defines our struggle. "The story of black people in America is, among other things, the story of a quest for the hard rock of economic security." However, a current analysis of our struggle reveals a disquieting dilemma. Noted black economist, Andrew Brimmer, recently said: "A fundamental . revolution in favor of a conservative economic policy is far advanced in this country, and it will have significant adverse effect on blacks. . . .but. , . .the black community and its liberal allies have virtually no capacity to mount a campaign to counter the conservative thrust." But how did we get from Bennett's definition to Brimmer's analysis? The answer will give us a distressingly clear picture of Our mistakes. ; Largely because we dort plan very well, particularly in the long range, our ; purposes have often been thwarted by self-serving charlatans, devjous con ar tists and various political demagogues masquerading as our friends. And sometimes we have been done in by folks with good intentions, but short sighted goals. These so-called friends have been both black and white, and history records 1 much of their chicanery. " - - Booker T. Washington stumbled into this categorywhen on September 18, 1895 duririls an Atlanta speech, he offered whites an alarmingly devastating proposition. Washington said: "In all things that are purely social, we can be as MiCftK, essenti; Wit equal" doctrine even then before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1896, the court, ; in 'Plessy V Ferguson, ruled that the separate but equal doctrine was indeed constitutional. We had no'; argument against the decision, because we had ; foolishly supported the decision a year earlier. 1 r' '4:Phy"Jl,- h took us half of the 20th century to undo that mistake. And the price we paid for the error, for pur' failure to consider the long range-implications of Washington's proposition, 'was our inability to take advantage: of the great American economic: shift, front agriculture to manufacturing, which began around 1900 ami culminated in the late 50 s. v ; 1 6 , , - But even when the Supreme Court reversed Plessy vt Ferguson with the 1 school desegregation decision in 1954, our's was a hollow victory. Having fail- i j ed to establish a strategy to implement the victory when it came,, we found ; ourselves at the mercy of federal bureaucrats, the same people we had fought for fifty years. - - They told us to take it slow and not risk economic, drowning by plunging headfirst into the country's mainstream. We bought that hogwash, and missed; the country's economic boomi from about 1950 to 1975. , f During that time, our emphasis was the Civil Rights movement, a struggle . for social and moral freedom with little economic emphasis. '' And thcij beginning in the late '60's, after the riots, and peaking about the mid-O's; whatever economic principles still alive in our struggle were brutally slain by whjte liberals, - -s '? ' Those liberal politicians and social scientists, masquerading as our friends, used us to Justify the rewriting of many basic economic principles, along with the bending and twisting' of the economic system to force it to accept a r philosophy . tailed entitlement". vAnd in so doing; they stole our struggle for equal opportunity, and reshaped it into a fiht for equality. Thus did egalitarianism become the liberal battle' ' cry. The dictionary says egalitarianism is: ". . . .a philosophy advocating the removal of inequalities among men." , That sounds almost like our struggle, and in fact, most blacks believe it is our struggle. But there arc some subtle, but very significant differences bet ween what wc have always wati ted, and what the liberals said we wanted. . " : Our struggle has never been to eliminate inequality that is predicated upon superior tf fort, dedicajtiolf to excellence, and hard work. Rather, we have fought to remove those barriers reared before us because some people believe that being black synonymous with being inferior. ;The liberals on: the other hand, not only wanted to keep us from the mainstream at all costs, tossing us programmaticcrumbs to keep us quiet, but were willing t6 sell the free enterprise system down the drain in the process. " Thus, what we.see today, this so-called VReaganomics', is a last ditch effort by America's producers to save the free enterprise system. In a "Special Report on Major 'Business Problems", Business Week -Magazine reported in 1976 on the business community's assessment of the pro-, blcm: "Business, for its part, sees the egalitarian push as a threat not just to its pay scales but to the fundamental principles of a market economy." The challenge to which' the business community has responded, tapping Ronald Reagan. as their champion, was noted by Caspar Weinberger, former Secretary of Health; Education and Welfare, who said: . . .we have built an - edifice cf law and regulation that is clumsy, inefficient and inequitable. Worst of all, the unplanned, uncoordinated, spasmodic nature of our responses to these needs - some very real, some only perceived is quite literally 1 threatening to bring us to national insolvency. Now that we know how we got in the mess we're in today, it is quite a simple matter to determine where we go from here, and how we get there. , Black people must npfronty survive, we must thrive and prosper in this new, actually renewedonomic environment. j To survive, blacks' must learn the five basic principles of American economics: -f.-,i. !.-p'- t ' . ' i. . Corifumption must be commensurate with production. ' , Thetaitea rewards so to those -who take the greatest risks. - - V People make money, not just because they need money, but because they " satisfy ths, needs of other people willing to pay to have those needs met. r There are but three things to do with money: spend it; save it to spend, and invest it, and only the latter has governmental sanction. ' The on!y way to cut b racism is to make the financial gain of being non ?i , racist outrank the personal pleasure of being racist. To thrive and prosper in this "return to the basics", blacks must stop trying ?to market oppression, because America's "guilt bank" is bankrupt. Rather, we must marshal and market our resources more than $100 billion annually - and invest them wisely based upon a carefully crafted strategy, designed to: ask not how much more Li" government should do for us, but to prove rather ; how much vc can to fnr (iiis country. , . , ' " It i$ umt tliat we yai up or shut up! Burke County, Georgia is living proof of why the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is still needed, . Though a majority: of the US, Senate apparently has endorsed extension of this landmark legislation which has changed the political landscape of the nation," President Reagan is still hedging and waf fling on this crucial question. : Extension of the Voting Rights -Act should not just concern those of the Sonth for by extending the ballot to blacks, right-wingers and enemies of progress were weakened. Blacks voting, in the South moved the entire political spectrum of the nation" decisively jtp the; left and brough curmudgeons like L Strom Thur mond and George Wallace kicking and screaming into the twentieth century. , But the Voting Rights Act did not bring heaven on earth and Burke County, Georgia almost as large as the stale of ; Rhode Island illustrates thisraphical- ' i y Pending before .the U.s Supreme Court is the case of Lodge v. Buxton, .emanating from this deep South bastion of racism, which will influence not only ' efforts in Congress to amend the Voting Rights Act but will also affect the course of litigation seeking to dismantle at-large election systems. , ' ' The Lodge case involves, inter alia, a , challenge to an "at-large" system where officials are elected by the city as a whole . , rather than by individual wards. Blacks have long charged that this kind of system dilutes their voting strength. With the ' advent of the Bolden v. Mobile case, it is no longer sufficient to point to the lack of blacks in the city council to show discrimination. ; It is necessary to show that the system had been deliberately designed with a racist purpose in mind. Obviously, even psychiatrists and lie detector machines can't always divine r whether one was motivated by racist in- - . tent. But the Supreme Court has ignored ' this simple fact and with the Lodge vs Buxton case the possibility arises that pro ving racist intent in order to show con-. stitutional violations will be even .further imbedded in U.S. Law. The lack of political power of Burke County blacks is inextricably connected to their depressed socio-economic . state. ' Dilapidated shacks, screen doors hanging by their hinges and lack and indoor plum-! bing pock-mark the land scape.' " -In fact, records show 73 of all black , . homes lack some or all plumbing facilities compared to 16 of the White households and it is. evident in the number of tiny, aluminum outhouses behind the shacks. ' . Soon after schools were ordered to in-1 Bdmond Burke the help of the , county . commissioners'." ' Commissioner .J( n..-rtrtn ttnom named in the suit before i : Further, the Justice Department has 'SSSRt'-- ed to rejectreapportionment. plans in Georgia, I exas, Aiaoama, Mississippi, North Carolina -South , Carolina and Virginia. Blacks in every state of the Old Con- .' federacv have substantial . reason for ; ' 'j thff Supreme Court, donated the land the school and county equipment was us-? "ed to construct it, i ; ' The lower court decision n Lodge v. ; Buxton also said the commission had t. a i 4uf!aiii "in manner maac roau P - n.,shirt for the Votiiw Rkhts Act's extend so as to ignore uic legunuaic iiim-vj "i". : - ?i a , - - .' .; e countv's black residents." ' -.r ; ; : f . , .iC- 2 ri:.L.:s -i - in Aiaoama, wmcn nas g pupuiouuu s. mat IS ZJ.OVt DUTCH, uicagti iwv i t state senators are black and 13 of 105 p ....naiuM on. Klarlf In Mississinni: i with a 35.2 black population, the com-j-parable numbers are two of 52 and 15 pf. ' the county's black The" court also, noted that' a public' . swimming-pool was closed and sold for $1 !to a private group. The pool has been reopened as another private pool. Like apartheid South Africa, whites swim in the private pool while blacks use the in- -adequate public pool. Burke is one of the poorest counties in -Georgia but there is vast wealth held by a few big landholders. ' The wealth is seen in the endless fields ; of cotton, soybeans and peanuts. These feudal barons receive tens of thousands of I dollars each year in federal subsidies, all . the while complaining about V welfare cheats.". "y-r, - v.- But Lodge v. Buxton has reached the Supreme Court because of the question of , voting rights. Initially, all Burke County j voters were required to register at the courthouse between the hours of 9 a.m. and ' 5 p.m Understandably,, blacks' t memories of this courthouse are colored by the fact that lynchings occurred there regularly at one time. While other registration sites have since been opened, the county has been accused of devetoDine "ingenious" plans to . thwart black attempts to register. i Herman Lodge, the lead plaintiff in the 1 suit, said frequently there are no voter registration cards at these sites or voters show up at the wrong time or when the appointed registrar is away. "They make it inconvenient , to register," Lodge said, noting that there are only four places to register in the 882-square mile county. "If this place is ' as large as Rhode Island and there are on . ly four voter registration sites, there ; (isn't) much going for you. That's enough : to discourage you." - The . bottom line is that no black has ever been elected to the county commis sion, even though blacks have made up i 58 or more of the county's population ' since the present form of government was I adopted in 1911. : Opponents of the Voting Rights Act of : 1965 wish to bring all of the south down to the level of Burke County. The 1980 Census has meant that reapportionment -must take place and here the right wingers ! have sought to make inroads. Black groups and white allies have filed 122. In Georgia, with a population that is 26.8 black,! the comparable numbers; are two of 56 and 21 of 480 ; ; f In North Carolina with a 22.4 black! population, one,of fifty state senators and' three of; 120 representatives are black.: South Carolina witlua ; 30.4 black; population has no blacks in its -State. Senate Of .46 and ,15 blacks among 1241 . state representatives.' : . ! vuv?': , These sorry statistics point to the con-; tinued need for the Voting Rights Act and! i Underscores why- the Vintent" require-. rnerit should be knocked down in Lodge. v. Buxton. A closer look is even more revealing. In Alabama, the legislature drew a reappor tionment plan that reduced the proper-. tioii of blacks in more than a dozen legislative districts in the predominantly black agricultural belt. In Birmingham, ; . the new lines have meant that several ' black legislators are the only incumbents . in the state to "be pitted against one' another for re-election. : In Texas, blacks who have one: representative and Latinos, who have; two, have argued to great effect that they ; have made no gains in .the redistricting ; plan, though the Texas House has gone , from 24 to 27 members as a result of the '., state's increased population. c Yet, it is not only in the south that blacks are getting the short end of the sticks. In New York City, the , predominantly white city council has 'resorted to what one commentator has called "creative cartography" in order to: stymie increased black representation In Chicago, a city with three black con gresspersons, great energy has gone into .. an effort to redistrict in such a way as to insure their defeat. Particularly targeted' has been ( the' outspoken Gus Savage, y . former black journalist. The list is endless but the point is clear: ' : Blacks gaining the ballot have made it in-: j creasingly difficult to be a successful :.( i right-wing politician. ' ; . - ,.' If Lodge v. Buxton is lost-in the! ! x suits in, federal court seeking Jo overturn ' 1 TOfJ?)1 ?"d ifJheiVotmg f.fl reapportionment plans in Virginia, South" "J:J V "iT clc"uc" m"'ul1'" Carolina, North rflrfiina, ,AUfr7rflifi1,.,.. T, 1 pushed back tojhc ante-bellum Texas on the ground that they volatile ii.8 :w tyxMrrmip with lio i;Voting Rights Act.. , - ; ReaanvRewarScdc Discriminate rtt. I: Reacting to a. ;storm of protest, the Reagan Administration recently waffled on its decision to grant tax exempt status to schools and academies which ' discriminate against blacks. With its tail between its legs, the Ad ministration announced that at some time in the future it will introduce legislation in Congress which,' if passed, would deny tax exempt v status 4 tor schools that discriminate against 'iblack However, ' there was no indication; that this legisla tion would have the strength of the original Internal Revenue Service ruling. Further, given the current climate in Con gress, it is uncertain whether Such a law would pass; V ' ' At the heart of the current dispute is a 1970 IRS ruling , which declared that the purpose of the tax exempt status was to reward or aid nonprofit institutions which were furthering public policy.; A school that discriminates on the basis of race, the ruling concluded, is acting against public .policy and, there, isn't truly charitable. : According to the Administration, the. IRS should not be able to decide what constitutes good public policy. However,, as recently pointed out y Washington .Post columnist Richard ' Cohen, "it is i amazing that an administration that Ivoes . to use tax policy for all sorts of economic .reasons that will allow, for instance, corporations to sell their tax, credits ' does not think it proper to use this same tax policy to serve the cause of jsutice. . " There are numerous schools and col-' . leges across our ' country which ' -discriminate no one knows exactly how many. We do know, however that since ( il970 roughly 100 Such institutions have. lost their tax exempt -status. ;j ! ' there is no question in anyoc's mind as to the reason for the existence of theset 'schools. When tlie public school system y ' egan to be integrated in earnest during thef early 1970's, these ; alternative schools ; 1 sprang into - being.; Usually organized; under the veneer of; religious principles, ' the schools became' the reserves of thosei " who were fleeing the public system solely . for racial reasons. . The advantage of the tax exempt status;. , is that it allows donors to deduct con-f '. tributions made to these Institutions from their Federal taxes. This makes it much more attractive for a potential donor to y give to such institutions. Ttu fr:-ntn status also frees the institutions from pay ing unemployment taxes, Social Security taxes and taxes on net income;The reduc-t ed tax burden of the school thsu adds to its sound financial health., - The policy of penalizing private schools which discriminate was instituted in the early days of the Nixon Administration: The policy was approved by the congress and has been supported by Congressional action and all subsequent Presidents. In deed, the policy has never been question ed until President Reagan's recent waffl ing on this issue. Under the original policy, no private; l school or college would be eligible for the tax exempt status .unless it submitted to . the IRS a statement that the school did not discriminate on the basis of race. -! Though the Administration has publicly i waffled on this issue, it has not rescinded Business In The Black Benefit Behind . Change By, Congressman Augustus fi. Hawkins ; its request that the Supreme Court throw out two suits against schools which the government has previously described as "blatantly discriminatory. 'SThe effect of dropping these two suits wbuld mean that the tax exempt status would be returned to one of the schools and granted to the other. : .V . . v. v '"'.-V' -,' v The v Administration's hollow an nouncement that it will introduce legisla- . tion bi Congress to prohibit tax exemp tions for discriminatory schools does not hide, or smooth over the Administration's original intent to reward and subsidize . with public funds discriminatory instill)-. k tions. ... ; 1 ', , . I, .'for''.''one;;belieyethatif.!lhe. ad ministration cannot commit itself to work . to abolishing discrimination it should hot intervene.tp the side of bigotry. ..V :-. ' Therefore; 1 ask you to join me in let- .. 'ting the Administration and Congress . know that .; schools- which discrimiate SHOULp NOT enjoy; the financial ad vantage of exempt status. . i - ' . "-j:': i;. ; '. ... ...i- . i,J - 'Z-iH-lLtti:-L'-'i, :-.v: ;:'Vr ;iv'. " Tax Act For Everyone, By Charles E. Belle : '-.ff- Edltdruplishpr 1927-1971 tj-ym 091-380 5 1 V Hang on, America! That's still the cry 'of one of Wall Street's finest investment bankihg houses. If you are working, well you're hanging On. " . In time, the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 will impact directly on you. Passed by Congress August 4, improves and enhances considerably the Individual Retirement Accounts, referred to as IRA's, I' Starting January 1, 1982, everyone under age 70 Vi i whether covered under a , .plan or not , may make tax deductible con tributions to an IRA., . The . new contribution formula is a JOOfb of eatings up to the ceiling . amount of $2000, make it $2250 if you have a non-working spouse. The new law, by the way, does not require that the max- ' imum $2250 contribution be split equally between the husband . and wife. Well, don't look funny like that, you might have estate tax purposes for not wanting '(Conf -. - ' Published ivwy Thuraday (dated Saturday) (txceot the wik following Christmas) in Durkam. N e im Untied MMt,. Incurporatad. MaZ idK P 0. Bel 3825. Durham.: NX. 27702-3825 Off lei addrm ebangei tt tHE Box Zm,. Durham, M.C., POSTMMTtRf Send CAROLINA TIMES, P.O. .27702-3823. 5 . SUBSCRIPTIM RATES: Dm yiarv Stt.OO Iptor ?.! " Carolina rHldwtrS nflhj v ment m subscrlpttons. Addrtta an ewnmunhMlmw tSe" Wm to: THE "MLS. '?:" -r-Kifcvl' ;i;:''"-t';U-!vv.;.l; ;?'-V NATIONAL " ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE'' ' . CaroHna Black PublliharaAMoclaHoo ' ' Opinion! axprttsod by eelumnlstt in ' this ' :ZFEttfXmu4' rpr,SM, ,he lV!r RESPONSIBLE f. i
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Feb. 6, 1982, edition 1
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