Page A4-The Chronicle, Thursday, July 12, 1984
Winston-Salem Chronicle
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founded I9?4
ERNEST H. Pin,
NDUBISI EOEMONYE ALLEN JOHNSON
untie' h \r\ uli\f hlitnf
ELAINE L. PITT MICHAEL PITT JOHN SLADE
(>t'n i V/w"ur?' ( i'i u/rf/H't \wt\iunt
Hard Knox
The state's Democratic Party has tried hard to restore a
kindred spirit among its warring factions.
But the rifts created during its bitterly fought gubernatorial
campaign are as deep as they are wide.
Making matters worse is Eddie Knox, who obviously
decided that the animosity he harbors toward Gov. Jim
Hunt for Hunt's hands-off stance in the primary is more
important than the hest interesLSLathis. poIiiicaLpaity or the
black voters who supported him in large numbers.
True, it was Knox's wife Frances and brother Charles,
not Eddie, who dropped a political bomb on the party last
week by publicly endorsing Sen. Jesse Helms at a Regional
Airport press conference.
But Eddie Knox might as well have been there. His apparent
approval of his wife's and brother's actions, coupled
with his barely lukewarm endorsement of the Democratic
ticket in November's general election, nearlv amount to an
W y * V *
unspoken endorsement of Helms, anyway.
Friends of Knox might argue that what happened last
week is further evidence of the former candidate's forthrightness,
character and belief in principle, no matter
what the political liablities.
And, granted, Mrs. Knox, who masked her contempt for
the governor, the media and what seemed like the rest of the
world about as well as Jesse Jackson has masked the fact
that he is black, was right in characterizing Hunt as a
master politician who does what is most politically expedient.
Moreover, Knox should respect his relatives' decisions to
support whomever they believe in.
But their announcement, with a grinning Helms on hand
to bask in the glory of it all, was borne more out of bitterness
and a thirst for vengeance than enthusiasm for
Helms.
Otherwise, how could they support gubernatorial candidate
Knox, whose comparatively-progressive platform
was diametrically opposed to what senatorial candidate
Helms stands for, then vocally sing Helms' praises0
mat s a jou-degree turn it ever there was one.
We haven't forgotten that eridorsed Eddie Knox, in
good faith, in June's'primary runoff against Rufus Edmisten.
But, had we known what would happen a month later,
we wouldn't have.
Knox and his family have taken sour grapes to a new low.
r
Crosswinds
Turning back the clock
From the Portland Observer.
The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling which placed
seniority over affirmative action is as detrimental to AfroAmericans
as the "separate but equal" ruling in 1896. The
court legitimized the illegitimate notion of "reverse
discrimination."
Affirmative action was the only active redress to
systematic and institutional policies that excluded
Am#>rir?onc K i; raw If 1 ~ . ? Ji -?' "?1
< iinvi ivuiij iia^.v, anu 5tA. 11 &11 cmpiuycr u iscrim inaieci
against people of color and women in the past, affirmative
action allowed for numerical readjustment.
Under the Reagan administration, society has disclaimed
any responsibility for making people of color social,
economic and political minorities. White males are in a
position of reaping benefits for acts which they claimed
44Why shouki L be laid-o# wherwI've
here for four?" asks a white worker in defense of his
seniority rights.
However, if the plant did not hire blacks 15 year ago, the
black worker could not reap the equality of security granted
his white counterparts. He or she will be laid off in reces
sions and barred from promotions because of
discriminatory acts 10 or 20 years ago. People of color will
continue to pay for the sins of those who would not hire
them because of their color or sex.
The seniority system in the collective bargaining agree.
ment between company and the union perpetuates, or
"locks in, " the effects of past discrimination.
When Congress and the courts made white male
supremacy illegal in employment, both the formal and informal
system of selection remained intact. There was the
"old boy" system of filling vacancies by word or mouth
and preferences for sons and nephews of employees.
A 1 CA rl ornrtt i U /.IJ U.. ? ? ? ? ? ' ' A * * 1 -
nciu uy persunnei uireciors aooui me
kinds of people best suited for certain positions, and
assumptions that certain ethnic groups have a natural
monopoly in other positions, perpetuate past discrimination.
Federal agencies and the lower courts were willing to confront
these much more complex obstacles to equality by imposing
goals and quotas.
Please see page A5
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High techi
By JOHN JACOB
Syndicated Columnist
America is a nation of
change, and in recent years
changes have come fast and
hard. They are evident in new
technologies, a restructuring
economy and a meaner social
outlook.
The first of those trends is
of special importance to our
educational needs. It is
generally accepted that we are
at the dawn of a high-tech era.
That means the future will
belong to those who can work
at computer terminals, be
comfortable with advanced
data processing and communications
technologies, and
have-access to the techniques
oT an?in form at ion-based
economy.
This trend poses a major
challenge to the education
community, and especially the
black colleges, which graduate
the majority of blacks. It >.
means many will have to
retool. They'll have to adjust
curricula to the high-tech age
and provide students in all
disciplines with the fundamentals
of technological literacy.
And that challenge is compounded
by the financial
squeeze faced by most of those
institutions, and by the traditional
aversion to math,
science and other subjects that
are fundamental to the hightech
era.
Some 600 blacks a year earn
Ph.D.'s in education, but only
20 to 30 in engineering and
physical sciences, and only
about a half dozen in math.
In 1982, only one black person
got a Ph.D. in computer
science.
If you look at
Reaganisn
R\j nR MANNING MADAQI C
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Syndicated Columnist
ministration's response to the
outcry of black educators and
administrators has been contemptuous.
For example, last year the
U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights ordered a study of eight
colleges for the "effects of
student-aid cuts on institutions
with large numbers of black
and Hispanic students."
Reagan, of course, had succeeded
in restructuring the
commission to obtain a clear
voting majority for his rightwing
views on desegregation
and affirmative action.
As a direct consequence,
this January, the commission
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tiology, \o\
undergraduate degrees, similar
percentages can be seen. As
much as we need educators,
social workers and others skilled
in the juman and social services,
the black future will be
limited if we don't have our
share of the skills required by
a high-tech society.
This is a problem that has its
roots in social disadvantage,
inferior public education and
lack of opportunity in elementary
and high schools.
Future physicists and
engineers come to college with
sound backgrounds in math
and the sciences. But most
black students have been
denied the access to those
backgrounds and the encouragement
to succeed in
-those fields.
"... As much as we need ec
others skilled in the hum
black future will be limitec
of the skills required by a
The problem is compounded
by national policies that
have undermined the little progress
that has been made
toward greater equity.
Those national policies are
widening the gap between
black and white, rich and
poor. The 1985 budget plans
to make more cuts in education
aid. The official response
to the calls for excellence has
been school prayer, rhetoric
about discipline and tuition
A 1! - _ .1 ?
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public education.
Higher education funding
for minority and low-income
students has already been
slashed deeply. The TRIO pron:
Preparii
voted 5-3 to cancel its study on
black and Latino higher
^ lUcuU Qmyfra. ^irmor ,of.ihgu
commission, informed the
press, "Unless the commission .
wishes to establish that federal
student financial aid is a civil
right guaranteed to members
"Ironically, however, thee
cutbacks in tenure-stream
faculty are occurring prec
mllooos nro rorl11/ ?/n n tlini
v\ynv^v^> M ' I. I (.UMl.injt; I fic I
professors and administra
of minority groups, this project
would appear clearly
beyond our jurisdiction."
Since the results of the study
clearly confirmed the human
AND GOUfuSlNCr THE WOCLD ABOUT Out
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grams that helped disadvantaged
young people make it in
college have been a prime
target for the budget cutters.
And the Department of
Education's proposed restriction
on grants and loans to
students will inevitably force
many black people to abandon
their hopes for higher education.
A special target of the
enemies of equal opportunity
in higher education have been
the programs that provide
financial assistance to
graduate and professional
education. And assistance to
struggling black colleges has
been confined to lip service as
the resources made available
to them are nowhere near proportionate
to the needs.
4
iucators, social workers and
an and social services, the
I if we don 7 have our share,
high-tech society. "
An educational system can
turn out more scientists and
. engineers than GM does cars.
But if they are drawn from a
favored elite while the rest of
our students are doomed to
semi-literacy, the system itself
is far from excellent.
In fact, it is a failure.
Equity is not an issue that
can be sidestepped. For
blacks, it is the central issue equal
access to quality education
is the prime issue on the
black education agenda.
i- _ i . - i
i Dcneve u nas to oe at the
core of national educational
policy as well.
John Jacob is president of
the Xationai t 'rhan I eague.
ig the few
destruction created by the
budget cuts of 1981-83, the adChavez's
role in the attacks
against minority educational
opportunity is more than a little
ironic. Growing up in a
poor Chicano neighborhood
"o!lapse of black schools and
positions for young black
:isely at a time when white
r. overall numbers of black
tors. "
in Albuquerque, N. M., she
attended the University of
Colorado and earned a degree
Please see page A5
i Does He HAve me EI?tHT
TO DO THAT?
jj
\
Letters
Brother, you
better care
To The Editor:
Ben Franklin said it long ago:
"Gentlemen, we must all hang
together or we will most assuredly
hang separately."
Well, sports fans, dear old
Jesse Helms, that great defender
of Roberto d'Aubuisson, is doing
it again. No one can call Helms
lazy ? since everywhere a human
right or a bit of equality raises its
wee head, i& da the spot
like a great big jack boot ready to
stamp it out if he can.
Now he is after the Civil Rights
Act of 1984, which is intended to
overturn a recent U.S. Supreme
/-* . i; ?
vouri ruung on sex discrimination.
The high court said a law
banning sex discrimination by
colleges does not permit cutting
off financial aid assistance to
schools fhat violate the law.
"So what," you say. "What
do I care if the women don't get
money to play volleyball?"
Brother, you better care.
Sponsors of the bill thought
merely shoring up the Title IX
education law would not be
enough. So, to be safe, they added
language to ensure that similar
protection is extended to
minorities, the handicapped and
the elderly. Helms hit the roof,
because the proposed bill would
mean help for all of us, and not
just those in school.
Come November, we need to
hang together, and get Jesse
Helms out and Jim Hunt in the
Senate. I want, as I am sure you
do, too, a senator who will look
after the welfare of all of the people,
and not just dictators,
woujd-be dictators and petty
tyrants in general.
So, while we still have a vote,
for the Lord's sake - use it.
Nell Scott Weaver
Winston-Salem
Congratulations
To The Editor:
(This letter was addressed to
Ernest Pitt, the publisher.)
This comes to congratulate you
and the staff of the Chronicle for
the recognition received from the
National Newspapers Publishers
Association as the best black
newspaper in the nation. The
recognition is not only an honor
for the Chronicle and the
Winston-Salem community, but
it should serve as a source of inspiration
to other young black
men wuu et^pirc iur a career in
business.
What you have accomplished
in 10 years should dispel any
doubt in the minds of those who
feel blacks cannot operate a successful
newspaper or business.
I salute you for your outstanim
dif^ accomplishments-, amifc fcefc?
Thare TffK'regmTf.???
Jerry Drayton, Minister
New Bethel Baptist Church
Winston-Salem
Hate to see him go
To The F.ditor:
The news of Clifton Graves'
resignation from Winston-Salem
State University and his plans to
move to Connecticut (Chronicle,
June 28) almost struck me as
though it was an obituary.
Of course, we know Cliff will
still be alive and kicking as he
Please see page A5
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