Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / March 20, 1982, edition 1 / Page 18
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18 THE CAROLINA TIMES SAT., MARCH 20, 1S82 CRIME U THE CLACK COW ilftfTY SHOULD BE EmdCjYscr,:cEM. MS-- H if fe' CUM WHEErWEHIOHCmOFMWmumCE. VANDALISM, SHOPLiPJlM,AHD ROBBERY. THE PXOBLEti CENTERS AROUtiD NARCOTICS DRUG RELATED CRIMES. BBBBBISSSSSBSOSBSBSSS3S3S3BS3 To Se Equal , . 7- , sbbbbbbb as b s j ia a 3 The Drive To ResegregateThe Schools IB5IB SB SBBBBBBBIBBBBB SB BBB BBBBHB BB B 3 Editorials Be Careful! Good Plans iBBBBBSSBBSSBBBBSSSSBi " Don't be fooled by the slogans about returning control 6f local schools to the community, preserving individual rights, or reflecting the will of the people. , ' ' ' The current Congressional drive against busing is simply a blatant attempt to resegregate America's , schools. As a byproduct, it also suspends constitutional "rights and undermines the federal courts. 1 That's the real meaning of the Senate's passage of an anti-busing bill that would virtually outlaw busing as, a tool to desegregateunconstitutionally segregated schools. ' ' The bill would prevent federal courts from ordering busing of students to schools more than five minutes from their homes, bar the Justice Department from pressing desegregatidn suits involving busing, and even permit the government to go to court to ask for removal of past busing orders. I have, a few doubts that the federal courts will throw this clearly unconstitu tional bill back into the cesspool in which it had its origins, but much damage will have been done until then. v ; You don't have to like busing to hate this bill, Even opponents of busing are against it on constitutional grounds. That's why Senator Lowell Weicker, who fought a yaliant, months-long fight to prevent passage of this bill, had some unexpected support from the' dean of Washington's conservatives, Senator Barry Goldwater. A " long-time opponent of busing, Goldwater said: "I think it is dangerous for the country to limit the actions of the courts. If we limit what the courts can do , with busing, how long is it until we tell the courts they can't act on drunken driving . or murder?" ; ' ;'.vvVr ' ' v ,-' " M The anti-busing crowd has whipped up a hysterical ; atmosphere ; that even tolerates drilling holes in Our legal system ' ' to get their way; Why? r'-ik Let's label it for what it is racism. That doesn't mean opposing busing is racist. Nor does it mean that the Senators who voted for that awful bill are racists. But it does mean that when you want to end busing without providing any alter native means for preventing resegrega tion, and when you do it with a fanatic zeal that would dynamite the courts and the Constitution, then a reasonable, ob jective observer is entitled to suspect .racism. , y . 11 Another factor is cowardice. Privately, some of the . Senators who voted for the bill would admit they did so in the belief that it would help them in their re-election campaign, expecting that the House would kill the bill or the courts would rule , it unconstitutional. And what about busing itself? No one views it as an ideal solution; but it is often a necessary tool to desegregate school systems in violation of constitutional .abuses. ' '.- Even though busing has often taken place in . negative circumstances, ad ministered by the same officials whose violations of mandates against segrega- tiori led to court-ordered busing in the first place; it lias worked. ; ' . ' Although relatively few children are bused ' for ; desegregation v reasons in America, it has helped reduce segrega- tlonj It: has helped improve , minority educational opportunities while not affec - ting test results by majority children, as countless research studies have shown. - And polls indicate that most parents whose children are bused are happy with the situation over eighty per cent in one recent national study. The bill now goes to the House, where the leadership should simply bury it. Don't let it come to committee. Don't let it go to the floor for a vote. Even debating a clearly unconstitutional bill would de mean the House and drag it into the same mud-covered field the Senate has just wallowed in - , ' And dare we hope for a Presidential statement opposing a bill that is un-' constitutional and . would . try to .. resegregate America's Schools? Does this Administration have the moral sense and the political judgement to take a stand j consistent with true conservative prin cipals? :, Sometimes Fail After a long, often bitter fight, residents of the Crest Street community, local government officials, and the state's Depart ment of Transportation have apparently worked out a plan that will both save the Crest Street community and clear way for com pletion of the East-West Expressway. We applaud the steady commitment on the part of the Crest Street community residents in this struggle to save their com munity from the destructive knife of this highway. slashing through their neighborhood. i ? : But we would be remiss in our duty to this community if we did not encourage the residents not to rest, not to relax their vigilance just because a plan seems to have been developed. Good plans sometimes fail, and people who have struggled long and hard often lose, though victory appears in sight. There are . many, many problems that still must be resolved before this plan will work. There is still much negotiation to be done. 50 38 BBSS! SS BSSSSSSS63SSBI iBSaSBBBBBBlBBIBBilBBaas'SSlSSSas Getting Smart Turning Back The Clock By Walter L. Smart Executive Director United Neighborhood Centers of America BBS BBS sBggSBBgsBSSSBBiglsSSSBBSBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBffBB BBB BBB It now seems very apparant that the revolutionary changes being wrought by the Reagan 'Administration will do a lot more than cut billions out of Social Welfare programs, transfer authority to the states for many programs previously administered by the federal government i and arm1 America to the tune Of several trillions of dollars. The Administration has also begun a very sophisticated attack on a number ofCYil Rights gairt for which a large number of Americans v UWJ W 111V VltOl LjLl tCL ICMUCUIV. 11)11 I flllll niiu ' . OCXJIOT Xifiished: It has ust moved, toa tteripr'WI'' be considered: ' 1. Like President Rutherford B. Hayes: before him, President Reagan has agreed to sell out the Civil Rights Of Americans of color in order to gain the support of powerful southern Congressmen for his new programs. v k 2. He doesn't really know what is going on and he is being ill served by high rank-, ing officials within the Departments of Justice and Treasury.'; "L Attention would naturally focus on Attorney General William French Smith Your wo A V ww liiui VWU TV 1IW1UWU LU VVUI Ik Villi i 1 11 II I i r II . Villi IIIIIVI UllTiT " 7 ' . r "-jr . .,oii u'j j "Jr;' ' " , "Vf " has of yet attached the label of "xacist. vMu.y a,M ty .,; iu lunc uic uciaui oi uvdi concept, oecause . wpuld move so steadfastly to turn back ui piiMa. usuaiiy loiiowa relaxing or vigilance. 'v . (perhaps a majority) had begun to accept as the law Of the land. ; " ' " - Avho:"- : i 'President , Reagan,: against whom ncr one f- ?of ' office- announced that the ' Justice iwpai uuui wvuiu uviK mci vac iiivwiy1 rrSf taking jW'WMH"8" ,71 iy uiscnminaie against minority fi ean.'rtkp'thebenems of 'a W e A Distasteful Spectacle The argument this week at the Durham County Commission meeting over a proposed county affirmative action policy was one of the most distasteful spectacles we've witnessed in a long time. To respond to a legitimate citizen concern with biting ridicule and comic; analogies as both Mr. Howard Easley and Mr. Dillard Teer did 'Monday morning past reveals an old-time narrow mindedness that seriously hampers this community's racial pro gress. " -. Nothing about affirmative action implies, an effort to force either incompetent, moronic, imbecilic or senile employees on the county. And the issue is not whether the proponents of the pro posed policy are right or wrong in their contentions. Rather, the issue is the responsibility of elected officials to treat legitimatecitizen concerns with dignity and respect. If the facts invalidate those concerns, then let the facts speak for themselves. But to stoop to the depths that Mr. Easley and Mr. Teer did in their responses to this concern shows that wisdom is not an automatic product of age; that dignity is not an-automatic pro duct of wealth. r . the clock of Civil Rights progress in this nation. 7v iew majrnave naa some aouois about the direction this Administration was going to take with regard to Civil Rights, forward or backward. Today, no one can deny the backward motion. In attempting to protect the President : from a hint that he might have some racist - tendencies. Attorney ' General William French Smith blurted out before a Con gressional hearing, "President Reagan doesn't have a: prejudiced bone in his : body' That may be so but if the public is prepared to accept that, then there are a number of other possibilities which must 1 ing school busing. , (b) Announced his opposition to Af firmative Action programs. (c) Announced his opposition to a continuation of the Voting Rights Act as . ( it is presently written. , In fact, the Attorney General's position on Civil Rights is strangely close to those of Senators Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms. . ' - 1 '-.y:: Recently, feelings finally erupted in ' public when President Reagan announced that he was overturning the policy of the last fifteen years by ordering the Internal Revenue Service to stop denying tax ex t empt status to educational institutions which discriminated against people on the basis of color. When the President began to guage the extent of the public's outrage over what many consider an illegal as well as an im moral, insensitive act, he announced his personal opposition to the act of discrimination and stated that he would introduce a bill to seek Congressional ac tion " against ? institutions which discriminate on the basis of color, t Sounds good, doesn't it? But unless the Supreme Court reverses him, all educa- orsubfv xemnt status as 4 direct result of actions taken by - President Reagan. To allow- a few men to rip off our carefully developed veneer of civility before the real fruits of an aroused socie ty, which truly provides liberty and justice : for allwould be the height of apathy and lethargy, Some Have said that they are confused about these times. Whatever these times are, it is not the time to sit back and take our freedom' and justice for granted. Perhaps next there will be an effort to . overturn the Public Accommodations Act and to return the South to an enclave of segregatiqn and prejudice. It's been done . before! - B SB B 39 SSBBBjBSBB B,3 BBSs iBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB g's i Black Family Plan BBBBBBSBBBBBSSSBBBSBBBBBBBBBBi By Congressman Augustus F. Hawkins IBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB.BSBBBS BBBBSB SlfetB Yea SfeanH Keow &04 r 1 I LAI - : m - om in ctrxmruTi, ; 0Ht0,FEB.3l861 HE ATTEfXEO SCHOOL THERS AND WOM HIS MASTCnOFSCCXECSGniElN ICS2. r 010 SO WELL IN THE . FIELD OF 0I0L0SY THAT HE WA3 ATnOED A PH.D. SUMMA Cm . UUOS in C07l K3 FA.1- - . REACHING DISCOVERIES ON THE HASIT8 OF CEES AND ANTS ARE WORLD FAMOUS! In line with the celebration of Black History Month, a meeting was recently ; ' held in Washington to unveil a document entitled: "Black Leadership Family Plan for the Unity, Survival md Progress of ' Black People" . Planning sessions attend ed by Members of Congressional Black Caucus, the National Black Leadership , Roundtable and an array of black leaders and personalities resulted in a plan which . offers black people and other oppressed minorities a model of principles and prac tices which can make us more effective in achieving the broad social changes of primary interest to us. 1 During the course of 'planning, twelve : basic rules were developed focusing on areas worthy of our attention. The twelve : ! rules are: - L Support the black church " . 2. Protect the elderly and support youth ' '.'''.' ' . , j 3. Excel in education , , , ' 4. Oppose crime 5i Contribute to the Black Develop ment Fund ' . . ' ' 6. Buy and bank black ' 7. Register and vote 8. Hold elected officials accountable . 9. Support black family and com v munity life 1 ' : s ' . 10. Challenge and boycott negative media, and support positive media - U. Secure and defend the black com munity , i ' 12. Support Mother Africa and Carib-; , bean nations . , History and experience have shown us. that the black church has held an un- . paralleled role in cementing the black f community together; while advancing the aims and aspirations of the community. Indeed, during the period of slavery, . many black : persons learned to read through exposure to the Bible. Black! churches have always been the bedrock of '. support upon which the struggle for : equality has been built. Even in the most adverse times, the black church has served , to fill the people with 'the Inspiration to , survive and the determination to persevere. , J ': . At a time when job opportunities' are quite limited, the need for black youth to be encouraged and supported in their educational endeavor is obvious. During the 1960's and 1970$. educational oppor tunities were for the first time extended to previously excluded groups. Since' that' time, large numbers of black youth have been able to gain the skills and (raining necessary to better their own lives. More importantly however, these same youths , were! able to bring their skills and talents back into the black community where they are so desperately needed. Understanding the power of the voting ; booth and effectively wielding that power has enabled black people across the coun ! try to put officials in office who are responsive to the needs of the black com munity. Most notable of these elections in which black voters have displayed their strength and sophistication, was in the. . election: of President Carter and, mors, recently, the election of Virginia Cover nor Charles Robb.:n?''Jv':: .:;;'v-;v'''- i , During the 1960's, the phrase "Black is Beautiful' came into being as a reaction to ' hundreds of n years '. of racist' psychological oppression which branded black people as lazy, ignorant, dishonest ' and a lot of other negative characteristics. The Plan s call for black Americans to challenge and boycott negative media 'takes up where the rBlack is Beautiful" phrase left, off in terms of combatting racist representations of black people. .When our children are bombarded With negative images promoted in the media, we cannot help but be concerned and ao stive. We must understand and defend the psychological, as well as the emotional, financial and " spiritual needs of our .children. We must demand that the media Include black artists in the creative and administrative processes. This simple step alone will go a long way toward solving this problem. The idea of freedom, justice and equali ' ty having a price should not be. The Con .stitution guarantees these rights to ail Americans. However, in the absence of . these rights being accorded to all citizens and in light of the struggles of civil rights' activists throughout our history, we know that the quest to attain these rights is very costly. Further, this is a cost exacted not . only in terras of human sacrifice and suf fering, but also in monetary terms. ; . The Black Development Fund is a na tional movement, rather than ah organization, envisioned to give greater discipline and effectiveness to the use and -allocation of our combined resources and. : income. It's simple. The Plan suggests that we should cive regularly to the black Organizations of our choice. Each month, a particular category of organizations is. targeted for donations. In the month of " April, for- tance. black senior citizen . organizatic are to receive donations. . IfVe can put the Plan into effect, we will have progressed a long way in the tjruggle to marshal our resources for an . effective impact upon a society which has not been attentive to our needs. For more information on the Plan, contact the Con-i , gressionai Black Caucus in Washington,; .WhUon.D.C.M5.5,: f!:rth Ctrcllna
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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March 20, 1982, edition 1
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