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LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENT
?
Barn Is On Fire
Last September, President Richard
Nixon, on a campaign swing through
North Carolina reportedly said in
Charlotte that he favored school de
segregation but critjcized federal
agencies which "try to act like local
school boards."
To quote the United Press Inter
national account, Mr. Nixon said, "It
is my view there is too much of a
tendency for our courts and federal
agencies to use the whole program of
what v\e call school integregation for
purposes other than education".
The statement was widely accepted
in North Carolina and undoubtedly
accounted, in part, for Mr. Nixon's
carrying the state in the November
elections*?
That was, however, last fall. This is
January and Mr. Nixon has been
sworn as President and more impor
tantly, perhaps, to school boards and
parents across the country, Robert
Finch has been sworn as Secretary of
Health, Education and Welfare.
Here is what Mr. Finch says in the
latest issue of LIFE magazine on the
subject: "Generally speaking I hold
with the premise that laws are laws
and should be enforced as Congress
intended. Local situations do differ
and each problem has a different
chemistry. There aren't many laws
governing social change that can' be
given blanket endorsement without
working considerable, and perhaps un
justifiable dislocation in some areas."
If anybody believes that Mr. Finch
has said anything at all, we are not
one of them. The words are so
familiar and have been so often
spoken in the Johnson years one must
assume that nothing has 'fchanijed.
There is no mention of federal
bureaus or agencies no.w. There is no
implication that the Nixon adminis
tration is going to move with any
degree of promptness toward bringing
some common sense into the picture
of federal domination of local schools.
A lata, report didc loses that Secre
tary Finch has stopped actions by
HEW to cut off funds in Martin
County, but if this has any meaning, it
has not been spelled out. Such actions
have been halted in the past.
What Mr. Nixon needs to do is to
make it clear that he federal govern
ment is not going to operate the
schools of this country beyond the
enforcement of the laws of Congress.
One has only to look at Franklin
County schools to see that bureau
crats have gone far beyond the intent
of Congress. Integration is being used
now as a key to gain assess to other
school functions and this danger is no
longer a supposition. It is a clear fact
of life and the Nixon administration,
if it is to be true to those who put it
in office, should act firmly and should
act at once.
It is time spokesmen for the admin
istration speak in plain blunt terms
that all can understand. The mumbo
jumbo is no longer acceptable. The
barn is on fire. Somebody needs to
bring the water.
Bright*^/ Carolina Blue
These columns have not always
found it easy' to support some of the
things that take place at the Univer
sity Of North Carolina and have, in
deed, from time to time taken oppo
site sides. Therefore, there is more
than a passing degree of pleasure when
? we find some actions by the Greater
University's center post, which we can
wholeheartedly support.
Such is the case with Chancellor
Carlyle Sitterson's very sensible
answer to demands by the Black
Student Movement on the Carolina
campus.
In the 19-page statement; the
Chancellor nowhere applies any de
gree of discrimination, but does in
stead exercises an inviable amount. of
understanding. However, his answers
are firm and well placed. The message
is plain and clear. He nor the Univer
sity are going to relinquish control.
The operation of Carolina will remain
with those entrusted with the respon
sibility.
In this day when college and uni
versity officials are buckling under to
even the most asinine demands of
minority groups, it is encouraging that
UNC, long noted for its liberalism,
refuses to do so.
It is a most . hopeful sign and
somehow the Carolina blue seems
somewhat brighter today.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
Among the most important promises
Richard M. Nixon made to the American
people when he was campaigning for the
Presidency was one to reply on "freedom of
choice" in public education. Thousands of
concerned parents and educators are tuning
that he will stand by his campaign commit-,
ment.
"Freedom of choice" is a system whereby
parents of school children state their pre
ference as to the schools their youngsters
will attend. It is a system that has evolved
out of the turmoil since the Supreme Court's
school ihtegration decision of May 17, 1954,
and which represents a workable approach
to elementary and high school integration.
Freedom Of Choice
SENSING THE NEWS
By Thurman Sensing
Federal coercion oT students, parents and
school authorities is eliminated. Experience
shows that racial groups, when given an
opportunity to express themselves through
"freedom of choice" plans, desire to mai
ntain neighborhood schools and traditional
lines of association.
In the early 1950s, wheji the school crisis
was developing, organizations such as the
National Association of Colored People
theorized that mass mixing in education was
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Mhitm-HiU SjMiuu
'Next, we should decide on the length and width of your
confession of grievous sins against Vietnam.'
A Start In Franklin
VIEWPOINT
By Jesse Helms
borne 01 President Nixon s more nagging
critics are now complaining that his Inau
gural Address contained' no ringing phrases
that will be remembered by the people. It
ipay be a blesssing. Ringing phrases often are
followed by hollow echoes, and sometimes
tragic ones.
In any case, Mr. Nixon-chose to declare
his hope for peace on earth and good will
among men, a laudable human desire that is
neither new nor original. But, "for that
matter, neither was the spirit of John Ken
nedy's often-quoted inaugural challenge to
Americans that they ask not what their
country could do for them- Sadly, history
must record that the Kennedy years, and the
Lyndon Johnson years that followed, were
marked by unprecedented numbers of Amer
icans who not only asked, but demanded,
that the government do for them what they
should, and often could, have been doing for
themselves if they had but tried.
So, glorious political rhetoric - whether in
campaign speeches or in Inaugural Addresses
- has a habit of falling flat after the festive
cheers have subsided and the new President (
or Governor) has settled down to a con
frontation with destiny.
That is when the mistakes begin. Lyndon
Johnson intoned to his countrymen: Come,
let us reason together. But then his pro
grams. which he shoved through Congress
with the crush of a political bulldozer,
proved to be engraved invitations to unrea
soning corruption, resentment, dishonesty
and irresponsibility. This, of course, is surely
the last thing that Mr. Johnson intended. His
error ? and it was a tragically compounded
one - was that he misjudged the proper role
of government; he tried to assign functions
to it which, by its very nature, It could not
successfully perform.
And so it may be in the case of Mr.
Nixon's emphasis on peace. As someone has
said, our new President's emphasis - if he is
not careful - may be as misleading as it is
laudable. As one reads Mr.Nixon's Inaugural
Address, it seems to contain the implication
that peace can somehow be obtained simply
because America seeks' it anew. The reality,
of course, is that there is no hope for early
peace unless, by some miraculous, circum
stance, it should come from Moscoe and
Peking.
It is commendable, then, for America to
continue to hope for peace, but our efforts
had better be geared to preserving America
-the citadel of what remains of liberty in the
world.
As for good will among men, amftng the
citizens of this nation, Mr. Nixon must
understand the realities of that, too. Good
will cannot be bought from mobs, and there
can be rio further compromise with them.
And if good will cannot be achieved, then
the sternest methods of law enforcement
should be applied to assure good behavior.
Let the revolutionaries sneer at law and
order, if they choose, but let them under
stand that law and order shall prevail. The
surest way for Mr. Nixon to promote good
will among men is to retrieve this country
from the violent and the criminal, and
restore it to the decent and the law-abiding.
Perhaps this is what our new President
intends. No one should expect miracies in
his first days in office, or even in the first
weeks or months. But he can start, and start
he must."
HE CAN START IN NORTH CARO
LINA, BY ORDERING THE JUSTICE pE
PARTMENT TO CEASE ITS PERSECU
TION OF THE SCHOOL AUTHORITIES IN
FRANKLIN COUNTY. He can start in
Washington, D. C., by ordering the State
Department to reinstate a dedicated public
servant named Otto Otepka - the security
officer who was disciplined and demoted
because he uncovered and exposed security
risks in high political places. He can start by
returning to the states and local governments
their right to run their own schools. He can
start by ordering the elimination of fraud
and corruption in the give-away programs of
the federal government.
There are a thousand ways he can start.
And in doing so, he will be creating a
renewed unity in this country that has been
sadly missing for a decade or more. And In
creating anity, he will automatically add
strength to this nation's sometimes apathetic
resistance to communism, and thus supply
meaning to an eventual hope for peace. In
that way, the emphasis of his Inaugural
Address can begin to come true. It cannot,
and will not. in any other way, .
the desire of Negro parents. But time has
shown the truth to be otherwise. Nowadays,
the demand in Negro communities is for
"black" schools - schools, that is, in which
the faculty and student body are not inte
grated. In New York City, for instance, the
great school crisis of recent months has
arisen from the determination of the black
community to have black principals and
teachers in the Ocean-Hill Brownsville school
district.
While thinking in the black community
has turned towards decentralization of pub
lic education, the federal government has
persisted in demanding total integration and ,
the destruction of tKe- 'neighborhood schhoi
concept. '/*
During the years of the Johnson adminis
tration, the Department of Health, Educa
tion and Welfare established rigid guidelines
for forced integration and employed finan
cial pressure to institute busing so as to
achieve racial balance in public schools.
As a result, the educational system in
many states - and many parts of the country
- has been disrupted and community tension
has arisen. Strictly educational considera
tions have been tossed aside by HEW, and
integration has become the primary objec
tive of government action. Many fine schools
serving the black community, where black
students feel comfortable and can best reach
their potential, have been abandoned under
ordeq from HEW.
The Johnson administration sought the
abolition. of "freedom of choice" plans, and
the federal courts bfcked It up. The courts
seem bent on seeing that parents don't have
any voice in where their children attend
9chool. For the abstract goal of integration,
the positive values of community schooling
are tossed aside
In his campaign, Mr. Nixon expressed
support for "freedom of choice," and reveal
ed understanding of the national value of
neighborhood schools. While Mr. Nixon
can't control the operations of the courts, he
can .move with dispatch to end federal
insistance on "racial balance" in public
schools
Under new direction, HEW can take the
heat off school boards and inform them that
henceforth efficient operation of school
systems, and regard for community sensibi
lities. will receive ftill backing at the federal
level. HEW also can make plain to the public
that it Is aware of the feature of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits the use
of federal funds to bus children for the
purpose of achieving "racial balsn<*."
As for the federal courts, perhaps such
action on the part of the Nixon administra
tion will restore a measure of common sense
to the jintt?U|l activists insisting on racial
balance. In the American system, the imple
mentation .of ideological dogmas Is not the
proper role of the courts. Let the courts deal
with specific instances Of injustice, but also
let them recognize that the civil rights of
' parents should be recognized, including the
/
"COME
Jr T?
THINK
r
OF IT..."
by
frank count
Cousin Soul Count ain't the brightest of the Count boys by
a long shot. Everybody knows I am. But. Cousin Soul bums to
Washington ever so often and for some reason, he seems to
think this makes him know more'n anybody else about what's
going on in the country. He comes back with some of the most
shang-shang-alang stories you ever heard.
Well, in case->I need to tell you . . . old- Soul is back and so I
just gotta tell you the latest thing from Washington.
Cousin Soul says they are going to build a experimental city
some w her es in the South- He even said it might be right here
in good old Franklin County -but we don't believe this . . . not
for a minute. The federal government ain't never going to
build nothing in Franklin. If they wuz, they'd have stopped
tearing the place down long ago.
Soul says the city is just going to be for left-handed folks
with green eyes. He says others will be welcomed . . but only
left-handed folks with green eyes can become bona fide
citizens. That is, if you ain't got green eyes and eat with your
left hand . . * you can't vote in the elections. And of course,
the folks with the greenest eyes will be picked to run for
Mayor and the Town Council and important things like that
there.
They ain't decided on the name for the place yet . . . some
of the left-handers want it called Lefty City and them with the
eyes want it to be called Icy Green City. They "bout decided
to let Orville Freeman name it ... if they can find him.
Cousin Soul says there's more to it than meets the eyes-blue
or green or whatever color. He says there's going to be
factories- mo stly making left-handed pitcher's gloves and pink
sunglasses. He said he heard one fellow say in a Washington bar
that they're gonna operate their own schools in the new city if
they can find enough blue-eyed, righthanded teachers. They're
picking them this way, says Soul, so's the children can learn
something about how the other folks live in case they grow up
and want to leave the new city.
But, they're having some trouble locating the place- in spite
of Cousin Soul's efforts to help his old home county. It seems
some of the planners-having been living in the far left for so
long -want to find a location where the sun rises in the west.
They claim the western sun makes ihem green eyes look bluer.
Never thought of that -did you?
But Soul says it is all true, tie pot it-right smack off a park
bench in front of the White House. He said the fellow told him
they's meeting in there right now deciding how much it is
gonna cost. Soul said the fellow ought to know 'cause he was
sitting there with holes in his clothes and shoes. He musta paid
a heap of taxes. Soul said, to of been in that condition.
Soul ain't going-back 'til it gets warm . . . so's I guess we'll
just have to bide our time before wy get any more straight
word from Washington on this newest city. But, you folks be
trucking n bout it. If we can figure some way to move the sun
evpry morning ... I know a good pasture they can get mighty
cheap. 'Course it needs a bit of cleaning up before it can be
used . . but, it can be bought mighty cheap.
I: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
""TTTTTTT
To The Editor:
People of Franklin County '
as well as surrounding coun
ties are often wondering
about the feelings and effects
of the Vietnam War. I am
only one of thousands of
soldiers here trying. to do his
job. We are all fighting for a
cause which cannot be de
scribed to some, and yet un
derstood by others.
With the many letters and
cards from home, it has made
life more meaningful and it .
gives all soldiers something to
look forward to when return
ing home. Morale is the most
important factor in any war.
Letters of only a few words,
mean a special feeling for
each and every GI.
I receive the local paper
from home with a note inside
each paper. This note reads i
Love You', signed Mother,
These words will never be
right to have some say regard
ing their children's education.
"Freedom of choice" It a
concept that should find ac
ceptance in all sections of the
country and among all racial
com ponent* of America 'a
population. It is without the
blemish of coercion, but
simply outlines a school
system based on the wishes of
parents and the common
sense feeling of communities
For American In 1969, "free
dom of choice" Is right. Just
and necessary
till
forgotten and will always be
avitlV^ho wherever I miy go.
Speaking for myself and
fort'all my friends here in
Vietnam I would like to take
this opportunity to thank all
of my friends, for all the
letters and cards and most of
all for the wonderful warm
thoughts that were behind'
each word. I can say these
letters will never be for
gotten.
' My special thanks to each
and everyone of you for sup
porting your husbands and
son's In the Republic of Viet
nam
Sincerely,
SP5 John R. Edwards,
805th Trans Co. (Lt. Trk)
APO US Forces 96291
The Jimci welcome s
letters from readers, fi
per tally on / problems and
opinions concerning
Franklin County. We do
not undertake to edit let
ter* without the content
of the. fi>riter. but reason
able length u advised to
assure publication.
All letters mutt be.
signed and must include
the name and address of
the writer. The Timet
will not publish unsigned
letters, ot withhold
names of Writers for any
reason.