Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Feb. 13, 1982, edition 1 / Page 15
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: Ronald Reagan opposed the landmark Civil ' Rights Act of 1964, which has done more to bring equality than any other piece of legislation. But he says he is not racist. - Now President Reagan has moved to grant tax'' exempt status to lily white, segregationist private ; scr.v0. in contravention or a policy initially established by President; Nixon. He still alleges that he is not a racist but those who believe him are no ; ' doubt also prime candidates to buy the Brooklyn Bridge or swamp land in Florida: " , m ; ' Ingeniously, when he announced this decision to ' : give these de facto subsidies to 100 racist academies, r; he alleged that the "sole bass" ; was that td- ministrative agencies e.g. the Internal Revenue Service; should not exercise "powers that the Constitution assigns to Congress' or "govern by "administrative fiat." 9 ' ; This is demonstrably false. When the Nixon Ad- ; . ministration in 1970 adopted the policy of denying tax exemptions to "sej acting under pressure junction. . r - This policy has prodding from both authorized it and required it. In Green v. Connolly, Judge Harold Leventhal, writing; for a special three-judge coiirt ; in Washington, p.C., penned words putting the lie to Reagan's remarks: ' tr under the Internal Revenue Code; properly construed, racially discrimanatory "private schools art hot entitled to Federal tax exemption for t charitable, educational institutions, and persons making gift? such schools are not entitled to ,' deductions. Contrary interpretation of the tax laws . would raise! serious constitutional questions." But Reagan, who apparently feels that there are Hio rights of blacks, he is bound to respect, ignored these "Serious Constitutional Questions". 7 He also ignored various dear signals from other branches of government. In 1976, Congress difrect- lv marinated the finvernmmt tit Hnu lav vmnntirtn' to social clubs that overtly discriminate on racial grounds; the aim was to make the treatment of such clubs more consistent with the established policy of denying exemptions to "eg Academies". Simultaneously, Congress has placed its im primatur on existing procedures requiring private schools, at minimum to publish and advertise that they do not practice, racial discrimination as a re quisite foir' obtaining tax exemptions. ' The Supreme Court has also spoken pn these issues, In 1976, it ruled that the Civil Wghts Act of 1866 bars private, nonsectarian schools from deny- ing admission to blacks solely on the basis of race. , Ainumber; of other Supreme Court rulings that touch; upon the constitutional prohibition against ,. government sponsorship of school segregation strongly suggest the .patent unconstitutionality of the Reagap policy. '; f ,! . - For example, in 1973 the High Court prevented Mississippi from lending textbooks to VSeg Academies", declaring it unconstitutional for the government to give, "tangible- financial aid" to these institutions. ,,.,, Thus, it was this clear line of Congressional and High Court pronouncements that Reagan chose to ignore in lending a helping hand to racists. The blatant illegality of all this spawned an in furiated and anguished out-cry frdm the civil rights community and its allies. This angry fight back caused Reagan to quickly reverse field and an nounce that be would sponsor legislation; in con . gress io. overt urahiaowrt,decisien.t a This did not negate the fact that his original deci . sion continues to stand and, as pf now; racism is be' ing directly promoted by the government. . Nor did Reagan explain how he would push this legislation through Congress when his principal ally, there, Senator Strom Thrumond of South Carolina is a prime supporter of "Seg Academies"; e.g. Bob Jones University of Greenville (SQ which expels students for inter-racial dating. : r ; Spearheading the counter-attack against this latest form of racist Reaganisiri has been the NAACP.- Executive Secretary Benjamjn Hooks charged that when the Administration Vsneaked 1 through this arinouncment they were abandoning a twelve-year-old policy, - butressed by numerous federal coiirt decisions.' This "Friday evening syn drome," he said,' "is devious, v deceptive and furtive" in an obvious allusion to the effort to release the decision during a slow news period. Hooks announced that the NAACP has commit ted $10,000 and has launched a fundraising drive to support a broad legal challenge to the tax exemp tion ruling. Vi : 'X'v v"h-": I '" ',' ' The NAACP also announced that it would ask the Supreme Court to apoint the general counsel of the NAACP to serve as "special attorney general ; for the limited purpose of prosecuting these two : cases on behalf of minority people.' , 3T Affirmative Action; . u v. '.- t. . , ; I . .... j , : . ,.. - . ' '. : . ... . . ; ; : Reaganism Is Racism . . : f:: , V By OcraldC. Home, Esquire The NAACP went further and decided to seek an injunction to block the Internal Revenue Service from granting tax exemptions to racists. V ; Finally, the NAACP will 'convene an emergency conference of top civil rights attorneys' to plan n "even broader series of actions designed to stop this " ' " . ' ' make criticizing this lait cvtnzt. ''. . Reagan has also moved to tSssSk govemmect loans to students; he Ms declared war on the shcoof lunch program that feeds millions of yc-rj;, Head Start, which has improved the edatknil capabiStks of s generation of black students, baa Jmen under-constant bombardment by the Ad ministration. ;v'--?v '--? ' ' i Clearly, with the coming age of robots and the In- . creased use of computers and chip technology,. ; Reagan and his supporters see no trtility in blacks becoming; educated, since H is assumed they'll be This was a iimely call for at the same time Bob iftrte: HL eresident of Bob Jones University, has caliea on.nis o.vai siuaeni w iww; unempjuycy anyways , . . tn-noners to launch a massive letter writing cam- But 1982 is an election vear with concressionil , paign tlirected at Congress and flic White House. rv seats up for grabs. The groundwork should be laid It i Thus, the gauntlet has beert tossed down decisive .now for inflicting i mighty blow against no " " 7' i :. .C-1;. -r r , ; lv t the feet of the black community. Tony Brown 'eaaanism. Political committees in churches. !! " V ' Mlu.v imnorttrs have been 80- ni. irut noi.hhorhvk nH t ,MUhi r i.: nj r.. tA-nr, a tMonhnn ; hlflud mi the oeanuts the White House nas aiiocaicu , immediately. Only such an organized and determin- jregationacadem.es." he was , ;JSS cZffiw ipUttk'tolieges and ;univmil(es.l will be in- response can ultimately extirpate the -Racism from a prcl.rn.nary court .n- "s '?ftthe WnUf aT been enforced since then under ' - ' : ( ?V "'"'vV, ' 1 ';f" " ' ' " ' -J . federal courts, that averred the law - :', i,-- . . . - ' ." , l. , 111 ' . 1 ; . 1 ' 1 , , 1 s a a SI Reajgan's Broken Promise . By Congressman Augustus F. Hawkins ; Upon becoming President, Ronald Reagan trumpeted a ' call to revitalize the ., American, economy. In a speech before the National Urban League in August, 1980. candidate Reagan pro nounced, "Unemployment is not the answer to in flation. Unemployment means only tost -Jobs, and blacks, who all to often are the last hired, are usual ly first fired.'!, ' . ' '. ' Despite this pronouncement,' in the yar Presi dent Reagan has been, in office the number of American men and women who are unemployed in ' creased by nearly two, million" while the total number 'of Americans working shrank by: half a , million. , ':;'i;'';;7':;;?:::. . At? tbe same time . the unemployment rate for blacks went from 13.9 in January,' 1981 to well over 17 in December of last year. . . Indeed, as evidenced by President Reagan's state t of (he Union address, this Administration has aban-. doned that commitment to reduce joblessness and , : has I instead endorsed ' discredited policy of $ deliberately creating unemployment in a vain at tempt tq control inflation. " In his address, the President went on to predict that the economy would improve. Unfortunately 1 the American people did not elect Mr. Reagan to predict the future, nor do we pay him in excess of ''$200,000 a year to be a fortune-teller; no more than . a football coach is hired to predict the outcome of a ' given game. The football coach, nige our f resident, is paid to come up wjth a plan which will achieve Mr; Reagan was elected to deal with the problems facing America TODAY; a sinking economy, a, hemorrhaging budget and an unemployment level nearly rivaling that of the; Creat Depression. , However,' rather than dealing with these critical , . (Continued on Page 16) - t 1 TOUTiMADANDWEDONT IIARIEIDU''" -;v If you're not unhappy about your, electric bill, you should be. Because in the last ten years the cost of elec tricity has nearly tripled. And within the past few months we've had one of the biggest rate increases evet ' -Vk kri'yxmW'gorig b'nln'Jiini.beiie; but we don't like the situation any rnore than you do. : ; 4, We're people too. Qtizens of the commumties we sepre. And we're nc?t about to place an unnecessary ' ' financial burden on our niends and neighbors. Just those two items - fuel costs and interest payments cost us more than $1 billion in 1981.Thats about $135 million more than we paid in 1980. And the cost of virtually everything else involved in providing your electric service went up, too. . To be perfectly honest, we'd like the option of hot having to buy fuel or borrow money when the costs are too high. But we can't Because no matter what it costs to produce your electricity, we have to make sure there's enough for everyone. : Kff,YVE(XBlMlE. m lUU HAVE QIIES1T0K3 AND VFD , withthosof powercompamesincpof the I'1T1? HTm A mSiiTCn nnrrt ' try. Because you don't live in other parts oTthe country. mm i rjmm. psiiw n sin r'. 1 m m . a 3 . a u.. n. : j zxjux L'&M&rnsa.(ti tm ' . i" w. wmrt . mwmm 4m-mmmmir -lUU UVC (1C1C. UUl WllllcilUUliaiJV LHUVCcI lA-Hlll. I IKV yti . prove that power companies everywhere are having prob lems wttn mgn electric rates. And lAike rower is doing a There are two major reasons.The first is inflation. Almost everything it takes to operate a power system costs more this year than it did last yearlMesi trar) ' labor, maintenance, you name it. v ; ' , v ,' n The other factor is the McGuire Mudear Station. The first generating unit at McGuire is complete. Now we have to begin paying for it It was absolutely heces-, sary to build McGuire to meet the public demand for electricity. And in our minds, it was absolutely necessary : that we make it a nuclear plant Because although nucle ar plants are more expensive to build, they're more eco nomical to operate. . , For example, let's take a look at our. Oconee Nucle ar Station, completed in 1974, an4 our Belews Geek Station, the most efficient coal-fired plant in the country, which was completed about the same rime. , If the electridry generated by Oconee in the last eight years had been generated by Belews Creek instead, it$ cost to customers would have oeen about $500 million more. better job than most in coping with those problems. The following comparison of electric bills in selected cities is based on 1 ,500 kilowatt-hours of usage, tabulated on comparable rates for residential service with electric water hearing All rates effective January 1, 1982. TotalBill ? : Total Bill With Fuel , With Fuel Qty " & Taxes Gty & Taxes New York. NX Prdadelphia, Pa. Qeveland,.Ohio Chicago, 111. Los Angeles, Ca. Jacksonville, Fla. $196.46 $120.85 $118.13' $114.30 $111.24 $109.27 Houston, Tex. Columbia, S.G Richmond, Va.. Crtoriotte, N.C. Atlanta, Ga. Knoxville.Tenn. $ 97.27 $ 89.37 $ 87.62 $ 78.64 $78.59 $69.50 WHATWEmppm We're not throwing up our hands about this high rate situation. 3-' t.Vyi,:h We're fighting hiard to keep rates from rising so rapidly. In fact, we've been fighting rising costs with definitive action for many, many years. Here are just a couple of the things we've been doing: The cost of electricity went up because McGuire wasbuutButfW Jledxfaifaf feitfetfe. the plant been designed to use coal,oil or gas instead of ?r," ,a V7 m , nuclear fuel. Our job as a public m1iw is to produce enough electric- m I J' ' if 1 t ty io meei uie nceas or uie people wc serve, u inc VC COpC Willi UllOUKIJ Vt'tyCCat Ul3ti people demand more through population increases You really don't need to be told about runaway inflation. - You ve been living with it for years. ; , And, you've been coping with inflation by cutting ; back on the. things you need and want And in some cases, by simply doing without So if you can make it with out a pay raise every time prices goup, why cant Duke? . V The answer is that if we cut back pn the things it takes to provide your electric service, the entire economy of ouf service area would sufTer.Your jobrhealthand safety would be in jeopardy. ' ' - ' 'y: ' Although we ve been able to, offset some of the effects of inflation by delaying non-essential spending, , there area few items that we just can't do without , tike the fuel we use to rnake your eledridtyln ' 1980,qur total fuel bill was about $680 rriillion.In 1981, fuel costs increased to more than $790 million. And while we drive a hard bargain to set the best fuel prices, there's no way we can stop buying it just because me , One of the reasons our rates have remained consistendy prices have gbne up. , , .V " .' lower than most othercompanies is that wcusefuel 1 ' , ' Our second biggest expense is tjbe interest that has - more efficiendy. In factDuke ftwer $ coal-burning elec to be paid on monev that was borrowed to build the trie system has been the nation s most efficient for seven . power plants and other facilities that are needed to pro- straight years. ,.' vide you with electridtyThat's right,we have to rxwrrow That's a record no other power company has ever ' money to build power piano just as you have to borrow approached. But we're not sitting on that record. Our goal rto buy a hew home or cat . 5 is ro be more efficient every year The difference is that we can't stop buuMing apow- Load Management and Fuel Efficiency are two and industrial growth, which brings hew jobs, it's our job to make the power available. Often, that means more power plants. And more power plants cause rates to go higher. -. So we've come up with a program that gives cus tomers the electricity they really need without so many new plants having to be built The program is called Load Management. And it's many faceted. WsH be discussing these plans in the months to come. But mainly they involve using electricity more effi ciendy in homes and businesses and industries, and shift ing electric usage to times of the day when the overall demand for electricity is hot so high. By 1990, this pro gram can reduce plant construction costs by more than $10 billion. : ?'" er plant just because the interest rates are too high. If a plant is truly needed to keep up with the area's growing demand for electricity.we have to keep building and . borrowing. In 1980, our total interest payment on "i borrowed money was more than $220 rnillion.In 1981, interest payments shot up to more than $245 million. highly effective programs. v ; But we don't want to lead you to believe that elec tricity's ever going to be cheap again. Because it won't Duke rower and its customers can, however, slow ' the rate of increase. By managing our electric usage and using it as efficiendy as possible. DHuiFGTVEl I
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Feb. 13, 1982, edition 1
15
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