Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 24, 1974, edition 1 / Page 4
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I Editorials 1 * More Rehabilitative rrograms Answer : To Prison Problem? * * David L. Jones, secretary?of the -^Department of Social ^!b^^^ , : t^ Cti?trol< reeeBti^ ajiked the. Advisory Budget new and safer prisons over a two year period. Jones estimates that an additional 7,000 prisoners will be added to the already over-crowded correctional system by 1983. The prison populatipn to d^te js more than 11,000 and the capacity is just over 10,000. ~ He has asked for $40 million out of the total to go for a 460-man medium custody unit; S9.6 million for a 200-man medium custody unit; and $14 million for three 200-man units. He said the reason for the construction increases is to combat a condition in today's prison that is "dangerous and explosive". According to a local newspaper report. Jones said that prison^ crowding "is leading to a situation that is impossible to control." He added, the article read, that rehabilitation is "impossible" and conditions in many prisons are "dangerous and explosive." In all of Jones' proposing, he never once mentioned spending - a dime toward programs that attempt to reintergrate inmates back into society. In view of many well known penoligists beliefs that the emphasis in corrections today should be to "correct" rather than to instill "resentment", Jones has made it clear that his goal is to make sure that inmates are adequately housed and guarded. What some of that money should go for is to increase participation in existing rehabilitative programs, establish new ones and provide more advancement centers to adequately deal with the problem of recidivism. Vernon E. Jordon Jr. wrote: "Until prisons are totally abolished or replaced by community rehabilitation centers, maximum use should be made of work-release programs, prison unions, job training, and other similar reforms.? It just seems that the best way to reduce the prison population - is to increase the number of participants in rehabilitative nrnoramQ What Vtonr?ar?c ? - 1?r ? ,?0 ..H? ..wppvna in me i-uurts ueiore one gets to prison however;7 is a story in itself. Our^ Youth Must Be Properly Trained Training black youths for leadershio and resoonsihilitv must be the concern of all those who have the interest of black race in mind. Too often, our young men and women seem to feel that leadership ability comes with age. But actually, leadership potencial and the responsibility that goes with it must be cultivated from childhood. The parents now more than ever before'must instil in the very young the virtues of hard work. We must also remember that the voun O nnpc Iparn mr\rp frnm _ w ^ Q ?? W ? i\'? V It V/ III what they see than from what they hear, although both are important. The future we are building for our children will be conditioned by our present surrounding. We can train our youths for leadership position by showing them leadership and responsibility ourselves. For in our youth's lie our hopes. H THE WINSTON-SALEM CHRONICLE is published every Thursday by the Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc. 2208 N. Patterson Ave. Mailing address: P.O. Box 3154, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102 Phone: 722-8824 Individual copies 20 cents Subscription: 810.40 per year payable in advance (N.C. sales tax included) Editor-in-chief Ernest H. Pitt Society editor Linda Morrell Business editor Charles T. Byrd Jr. Publisher .Ndubisi Egemonye Opinions expressed by columnist in this newspaper do not necessarily represent the policy of this newspaper. BBMBP MB HP BBMBP(BP HP BBSJBBL 9V*L "-11 WINSTON-SALEM CHRONICLE I /MX/J Blacks, Lab It has become fashionable in . recent years to speak knowingly of an impending realignment of the Democratic ?Party. Since the time of Franklin Roosevelt, the Democrats have secured the allegiance of working peopleblack and white. Now, we were told, all that is changing. Conservatives, such as columnist Kevin Phillips, predicted that white working people would soon shift their loyalties to the Republican Party, in large measure as a reaction to racially-tinged v :i i - i- * issues. Lioerais, sucn as rrea Dutton, an adviser to Senator McGovern during his presidential campaign, envisioned the emergence of new and basically middle-class forces to replace working people as the Democratic Party's base (Dutton specifically pinned his hopes on the youth vote). Beyond providing the Democratic Party with the power of numbers, blacks and organized labor have injected a sense of vigor and commitment into the political system. Middle class activists often assert that their superior dedication and moral vision compensate for the lack of a mass base. But there can be little doubt that it has been labor-in combination with the black community-which has most energetically and effectively defended the interests of ordinary people. The relationship between blacks and the labor movement has been one of close cooperation most of the time. / r t or, And The L.. D i n uy Dajun HD81IH . and occasional differences which are resolved with no feelings of enduring bitterness. Yet one would never know this, if one limited his reading to the-most popular liberal magazines and newspapers. The message of these journals is that blacks and the labor movement are deeply split over the direction of the Democratic Party and, particularly, that labor is trying to limit black representation on party governing committees. In these account^, the AFL-CIO is usually described as a "conservative" force within the party. This is absurd on its face. Labor cannot he rnn?prvativp anrl - - w v v Wiawvi mm ?l v v MIIW J V ? give unqualified support to Andrew Young, Barbara Jordan, and Tom Bradley, lead the fight for impeachment, and have " the only coherent program to protect the interests of minorities and working people against the possibility of economic depression. There is no question that there are differences between some blacks who serve on the Democratic National Committee, and the labor movement over the for nartu - ? Q ? ?w? {/Ml ?J governance. A number of blacks, led by California Assemblyman Willie Brown, walked out of a recent meeting because of a disagreement over delegate selection rules and have threatened to boycott the' party's Charter Conference, scheduled for December in Kansas City. There are three observations which need to be made. * OCTOBER 24, 1974 WRpSy> ^ I W a* 1 A ^k . ^v> jpPP^SSs^ ^"y? : Democrats First, however serious thq differences may appear now, the liklihood is that some agreement can be reached that will be acceptable to all -sides". ?? Second, leading a walk-out of a committee meeting may be a dramatic way of. expressing one's discontent, but it does nothing to further tne role of black people within the party. Black people have achieved important power within the Democratic Party; they are certainly not being excluded from its affairs. But they will not be able to exert that power, except in an essentially negative or counterproductive way, if they threaten to bolt the party simply because a decision does not go their way. Third, there are those within the Democratic Party who would prefer to see a cleavage between blacks and the labor movement. They themselves are antagonistic to labor's role in the party, and are not above exploiting racial differences to help assure their own dominance. Recent history should have made clear that the future of _ the liberal coalition does not lie with the middle-class oriented forces who formed the nucleus of the McGovern campaign. The future lies with the working class majority of both races, and their representatives in the labormovement. This is why it is essential, more than ever, to resist those efforts to divide $ these two forces for social change. .....
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Oct. 24, 1974, edition 1
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