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Page A4-The Chronicle, Thursday, May 31, 1984
Winston-Salem Chronicle
hounded 1974
IRNIST H. PITT,
NDUBISI KOEMONYI ALLIN JOHNSON
Ci* tdilof
ILAINI L PITT MICHAIL PITT JOHN SLAOC
Of fur Ww nQgtf Circuiting Wiintgtr Auuiami tdnnr
The runoff
Coke or Pepsi?
Kodak or Polaroid?
Parkay or butter?
Edmisten or Knox?
The most discernible ^difference between state Attorney
General Rufus Edmisten and former Charlotte Mayor Eddie
Knox is that they don't look the same.
Otherwise, the two men are similar enough in their stances
tioi^a^lwir-fafie^Peittiiti atic primary runoff approaches
seems to have little effect.
Both men have garnered enough black support locally -the
enthusiasm of which, as we have said before, is a wonder
to behold - and have made overtures to one black organization
after another in the quest for endorsements.
In fact, their support is so strong within such organizations
as the Black Leadership Roundtable Coalition, that it
has threatened to tear the two-year-old black political juggernaut
asunder.
And it is so similarly present within the Baptist Ministers
Conference And Associates that the local council of black
clergymen has declined to make an endorsement either way,
though it heard personal presentations from both recently.
One of our city's black leaders has described Knox and
Edmisten as "Twiddle-dee and Twiddle-dnm." whirh mav
be an insightful, if somewhat facetious, way of looking at
things.
_ Both are ambivalent on the issue of the primary runoff
and lack the forthrightness t>n 4'black*' issues that Tom
Gilmore, our choice in the first primary, was courageous
enough to display.
Both favor the death penalty, which, in our eyes, is a
feather in neither's cap.
Both favor raises for public school teachers.
Both say they support the Equal Rights Amendment.
Both say their records in affirmative action have been
sterling (we think "adequate" would be a better adjective.)
Both have rickety political skeletons in their closets.
Both have been calculatedly cryptic in much of their campaign
rhetoric.
But both at least appear to be improvements over Gov.
Jim Hunt, a master navigator who sails .in whatever direction
the political winds dictate.
And both definitely are superior choices to Republican
nominee Jim Martin.
However, in a race that will be too close to call, we give
our nod to Eddie Knox, though neither candidate excites us
overly.
Knox has proven his ability to lead as the mayor of the
state's largest city.
He aisa knows the workings of state government as a
former state senator.
We are encouraged by his co-sponsorship of the Equal
Rights Amendment while a state senator, his enactment of a
fair-housing ordinance in Charlotte, the increased levels of
black and female appointments to government positions during
his mayoral tenure (though not all the credit goes solely
to him) and his diverse base of support.
Knox also has progressive ideas on criminal justice and
can point to his tenure as chairman of the Commmission on
Correctional Programs to back them up.
Clearlv. the black communitv and North Carolina as a
?r * *
whole have a tough decision to make. We solved the dilemma
by looking a bit closer at the men and the issues. We encourage
you to do the same.
Cross winds
n
From The Carolinian.
We note that the evils of our society are usually attributec
to the powerless, regardless of who is involved.
Usuallv when there ic anv tvne r\f mnvempnt nr tnrmnil ir
? ? ? j ? - w- - w -v -w m w m m J v j V A 111 V V* I A V>* V V * V Vt i ill V A* ii
our midst, if it involves white and black faces at odds, inevitably,-the
black faces are at fault.
We have yet to see or hear non-white interests chargec
with responsibility for their ill behavior:
Slavery was not tht fault of the slave dealers and owners
It was a product of the times and a logical economic occur
rence.
Slavery uprisings were the result of the misguided effort!
of insurrectionists.
Jim Crow was the logical attempt by the non-blacl
elementsin the Southern setting to reassert themselves. I
was also a political deal worked out with an aspiring
presidential candidate.
Institutiional segregation in our society was the legitimat<
phenomenon of an ignorant society.
"White flight" and resegregation are the natural results o
racial quotas and busing.
In other words, everything which transpires due to a racia
causation is understandable and acceptable as being logica
and normal.
Please see page A5
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^E'VE 6oT A ?LAVJ TO
TEENA66 \JN?*APU>VW?NT iSl^
NKJON'T THl > LO^e OlV
AND WEAKEN T\
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A message I
By CLIFTON GRAVES
Chronicle Columnist
(The following is dedicated to all
those graduating from high school,
college, or professional schools this
commencement season.)
We need you, Class of 1984, to
help us out of the mess in which we
find ourselves v^rshow us how to ex-~
tricate ourselves from Central
America ... show us how to end support
for racist apartheid South Africa
... show us how to vote for the man,
and not the race of the man ...
-- Maya Angelou, author, enter
tainer and educator, speaking to
graduating class of Winston-Salem
State University
Class of 1984, I, at once, envy and
fear for you negative and positive
propaganda u..UiYou ^must study
history and wcxkiux-make sure that*
mistakes of the past are not repeated
in the future ... Seek truth, and not
what others convey as truth ...
- Bill Moyers, journalist and television
commentator, speaking to the
graduating class of Wake Forest
University
Att ttwtnivil i
JL M *> r +*>
By DR. MANNING MARABLE
Quest Columnist
Nearly three decades ago, the Civil
Rights Commission was created to
study prejudice and discrimination
"on the basis of race, color, national
origin, religion, sex, age, and physical
handicap."
Its goal was to serve as the moral
and political consicience of the nation,
to suggest the steps essential in
the construction of a noq-racist and
democratic society. It had- no
legislative power, but both Congress
and the president had to come to
terms with its findings. Even when
headed by Repoublican chairmen,, the
comnxisidii .wa&uvan^efl8KtffiOSSini?
* merrtirr thcrstrtiggle'for equality.
It has now t^een five months since
the Reagan administration succeeded
I in uprooting most of its liberal opponents
from the commission. In ef{
feet, through his own appointment
powers and through Republican con
gressional appointments, a solid majority
of Reaganites of both parties
I dominates the commission. The
leading black participant in this 1'sellout"
of social justice is Clarence M.
Pendleton, the commission's chairman.
It would be unfair to describe
Pendleton as a modern version of
Booker T. Washington, the architect
i of the infamous 1895 "Atlanta Comt
promise," which embraced separateg
but-equal laws. This would be an inWliec
HONDfcLfc &C6SNT WKJOW
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ce
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to the gradua
The speeches from which the above
quotes were excerpted were, without
a doubt, two of the best commencment
addresses I have ever listened
to. 1 emphasize "listened to"
because, like most graduates, I
scarcely
ember ^
the changes ^
presented and Clifton Graves
the challenges
issued by the distinguished Sister
Maya and the astute Mr. Moyers to
the graduates of WSSU and Wake
Forest, respectively, were changes
_ . i i n
ana cnanenges so appropriateimperative
for young men and
women leaving the ivory towers of
academia in this most critical year of
1984.
Yes, as the dynamic Maya so boldly
and correctly asserted, we do need
you - high school, college and professional
school grads ? to help
America out of this "mess in which
we find ourselves." We need you to
Civil Rights (
suit to Washington, who despite his
accomodationist rhetoric bulit two
great institutions, Tuskegee Institute
? and the National Negro Business
League. A new epithet must be
created to represent Pendleton's
sleazy brand of neo-Uncle Tomism.
Since January, there have been a
series of devastating decisions by the
"Uncivil Rights Commission." On
January 16, the commission voted 6-2
to denounce the use of numererical
quotas for promoting blacks from
"The leading black participant,
is Clarence M. Pendleton, the
new epithet must he created t
brand"of rreo-ifndo Tomism. ''
? ?? -
sergeant to lieutenant by the Detroit
Police Department. Reversing the rulings
of the old panel, which had endorsed
the use of racial Quotas as a
4Mast resort** in attacking racism, the
new commission urged the Supreme
Court to strike down all racial
quotas.
The six Reaganite members
declared: "Such racial preferences
merely constitute another form of unjustified
discrimination, (and) create
a new class of victims.** In short,
white officers, many of whom had
been advanced in rank over morequalified
blacks, now comprised a
poor, defenseless *'class of victims.* *
Since this ruling, the floodgates of
FIRST, AXTAOTO FRott THE
LEFT - THEVJ, KTTAOteD HIKA
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p
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^tmSm
ites of 1984
help us to overcome the Quagmire of
"isms" - racism, sexism, commercialism,
imperialism, militarism -which
separately and collectively are
stifling creativity, growth, progress
and development in this land and on
this planet.
Yes, Class of 1984, it is your task,
indeed, your solemn duty, to
challenge, comfort, and correct the
-lies,-distortions *nd ^negative propaganda"
which permeate this society.
Yes, challenge those who tell you
that "communism," not economic
exploitation, is the root cause of
unrest in Central America.
Challenge those who tell you that
spending billions of what will soon be
your tax dollars for MX missiles and
nuclear military space stations will
somehow make you more secure in
East Winston.
Challenge those who assert that
capital punishment (state-sponsored
murder) is a deterrent to crime.
Challenge those who lie and tell
you that South Africa is making
"progress" in race relations, and that
U.S. corporations in South Africa are
benefiting the majority-black
populace.
Challenge those who teach you that
black children can't be taught, and
Please see page A5
Commission
racism and reaction have been opened
wide.
The commission has strongly
hinted that it would repudiate its
historic commitment to busing as one
of several means to desgregate public
schools. It has authorized a study of
the "adverse impact" of affirmative
action programs on whites of
southern and eastern European descent.
On March 27, the commission
recommeded that the Congress allow
the Government to nenalire an entire
in this 'sell-out' of social justice
commission's chairman. ... A
o represent- Pendleton's, sleazy.
institution when only part of that institution
is guilty of discrimination.
In theory, the position seemingly
asserted a tougher position on civil
rights.
But as dissident Commissioner
Mary Frances Berry put it, there were
so many restrictions written into the
resolution that it was like throwing
"red meat to the wolves" who want
to terminate all civil rights enforcement.
Finally, to muzzle the progressive
work of the 50 state advisory
committees on civil rights, the commission
voted to control the publication
and distribution of the state committees'
reports.
Please see page A5
WE U^fcOTo BE WWD OF RIM, WD
MOW WE'BEW*Y KMND miA
Chronicle Letters
Tom Gilmore
endorses Knox
To The Editor
As a former candidate for governor
in the May 8 Democratic
Primary, I want to share with
everyone why I am convinced that
Eddie Knox is a better candidate
for governor than Rufus Edmis
ten.
As I promised to do on election
night, I met with both remaining
candidates and discussed with
them the major policy issues confronting
this state. In addition, 1
observed them closely during the
Tffiur^dlpv^cd debates. 1 am now
stands head and shoulders over the
attorney general.
Eddie Knox is running a concrete,
issue-oriented campaign,
which is a credit to our electoral
process. Among the many issues
which I find we agree upon are
opening the state's major commissions
and Council of State
meetings to the public, creating a
workable system to increase funding
for education, and protecting
our environment through
establishment of tough toxic
wastes management programs and
the vitally important right-to-know
laws, which will disclose to all
North Carolina citizens when they
are coming in contact with hazardous
materials in their worksites
and neighborhoods.
Even when we disagreed on an
issue during the first primary, I
always found Eddie Knox willing
to clearly explain his stands. This is
in sharp contrast with his opponent's
campaign, which seems to
be based on the use of his public
offics and staff as a political platform.
Eddie Knox is clearly the man
with the proven leadership to be
entrusted with the important office
of governor. 1 sincerely urge all
North. Carolina citizens to join u
with me on June 5 and vote for Eddie
Knox.
Tom Gllmore
Julian NY"
More Knox
I
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To The Editor:
I have read a great deal in the
past few days about Eddie Knox
going on the offensive against
Rufus Edmisten. 1 have also heard
candidate Edmisten accuse his op,
ponent of taking the low road
while claiming that he is taking the
high road. 1 cannot accept that.
Mr. Edmisten would have the
voters believe that he is not to be
held accountable for his past, and
that any mention of his criminal
record or his failures in office is slinging
mud. We have a right to
know these things.
Mr. Edmisten will not debate the
issu?^Qix.trUrvisinir wfanrr. wrrnntek. -
, didate to follow. He will not
answer reporters' questions but is
being shielded by his public relations
people. He is limiting his
public appearances to "friendly
audiences "and yet he is accusing
his opponent of avoiding the issues
in the campaign. Incredible.
I cannot believe that the voters
1 of North Carolina will stand for
these evasive tactics from Rufus
Edmisten. I am one voter who is
thankful for Eddie Knox's efforts
to put the facts on the table for all
of us to see.
Allen C. Brotherton
Stanley, N.C.
WE'VE G<3T HIM TO?T\C*Uy 21
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