Page A4-The Chronicle, Thursday, November 22, 1984
Winston-Salem Chronicle
"i. f?otmded-4Q?4 ?
ERNEST H. PITT,
NDUBISI EGEMONYE ALLEN JOHNSON
txtHUlnr Editor
ELAINE L. PITT ROBIN ADAMS MICHAEL Pin
OtU\i \funjxf AwiMuni Editor Circulation \1anaxe'
Brick without straw
7
A football careened off a goal post in Norfolk Saturday
afternoon and ended Winston-Salem State's season.
-V
Quarterback Mike Winbush, a little player with a heart as,
big as the Gaines Complex, literally followed the ball off
field goal kicker Tyrone Smith's toe to the goal post.
As the officials waved the last-second scoring attempt
off-target, Winbush pleaded with an official for a moment,
began to sob as the shocS^vore off and the hlirt set in, then,
in a show of class we've come to expect, congratulated his
Norfolk State opponents on the win.
Meanwhile, sophomore wide receiver Masha Paul fell to
the artificial turf and cradled the ball in his arms, as if
somehow grasping it would magically restore the CIAA
football title that had slipped through his and his teammates'
fingers by a single point.
Though sports and editorial writers indulge in hyperbole
all too often, it was a magnificent game.
\ M ? _ _ -~r
more importantly, nowever, the fact that WSSU made
this game period is a tribute to Coach Bill Hayes, who ton-^
sistently offsets a meager budget and resources with hard
work and imagination tp produce winning football teams.
Hayes is*a lot like senior quarterback Wiflbush: He is the
working man's coach, a former center for North Carolina
Central whose school is too small and poor to field a football
powerhouse; so he fields a powerhouse anyway.
Winbush, a pigeon-toed scrambler who looks like
. anything but a football player, is too short to be a quarterback
and can't pass, say his critics; so he passed, ran and
led his team Saturday like a man possessed, prompting even
opposingJansao rave about "No. 1." ?
WSSU athletic director, basketball coach and resident
J 1 i ( r?' . i m i-i ??
lcgcnu ^uuence mgnouse oaines cans Hayes a man who
"makes brick with no straw." . Gaines,
of course, ought to. know, since he's made
enough of the same type of brick over the years to become
the winningest active coach anywhere -- including the ACC.
Still, both Hayes and Gaines wouldn't mind some straw
every now and then, in the form of increased alumni and
community support for Winston-Salem State's growing
academic and athletic programs. Contributions, singlegame
attendance, the support of fundraising drives ... every
little^bit helps.
In the meantime, join us in applauding Bill Haves and his
9-2 football team for the lessons they've taught us this
season - on and off the field.
Crosswinds
The drug problem ~
From The (Raleigh) Carolinian.
Two reports in" two different publications recently identified
drugs as one of America's foremost health problems.
One account indicated that 36 percent of the high school
seniors in a 1982 survey reported using stimulants.
Art Linkletter told a Raleigh audience recently, "In the
United States, we use more drugs than any Western in
dustrialized nation. We feel we should be happy all the
time.
?We ^are -hvmg~if^a-eouftt^-wherewe^re4augivt4hat-the^
old medicine cabinet is there and if you don't feel good,^
take something. They (drugs) are effective. They are drugs
that make you feel good, and quickly. The eliminate pain
and the harsh realities of life. Since life is not fair, if you're
in a problem, you tend to look for something that makes us
feel good."
Another published account points out that television
commercials promise "a pill for every ill." We learn that
relief is available on the grocery shelf.
A result of this "feel good" obsession is the destruction
of the human fabric within our society. The segment of our
society which collapses will be the group least able to defend
itself ? the black community.
P AnCPnilAntK; tkora IP n ^ U1o^>lr
wujvv|uv.mi) , uitit ia a gicdici 11 ecu iui me uiaeiv eunimunity
to educate itself regarding the ills of drug involvement.
This is not a task of others, but one for our own
members of the community who are knowledgeable.
Between drugs, alcohol, the jails, homosexuality and
war, the chances of our youth accomplishing a productive
life are decrasing rapidly.
Certainly, in regards to the drug problem, we can involve
ourselves in providing some solutions. It would pay for the
black community to commit itself to helping eradicate this
problem from its midst ? much less than it could potentially
cost.
DA DlCCctoC CA6?V SA.VS H? WAS. AND We WILL D\
T\teTUA\NW6 ^ ^ ^
YteS^
Ht ALSO SENT YOU THIS ~W? PUAN "fo N1
(C-in ^ ? *
The mythology of bla
By JOHN E. JACOB \\\\?mWl
Special to the Chronicle
There's a new myth about
the black status in our society.
In the past, blatantly racist ex- S
planations of black poverty B *5r rv
flourished. Povertv- the nlH B
myth went, was due to racial ?&? m wA
inferiority. Then the myth was
refined to blame poverty on
. individual failings - blaming
the victim. .
Now, there is a new myth
and we might call it blaming * it ^
the helper. It says that federal A^6k^
programs VSHI
welfare and others rob people
of initiative, create dependen- HRIHHHB S+* Jk
cy and prevent blacks from . .
? competing in our economy? ?:
A little common sense
would demonstrate that programs that alleviate poverwhatever
the failings of any ty.?
single program, the body of The nastiest twist in the new
social programs developed mythology is_th<^claim_that_z:
over the past two decades has blacks themselves share it.
given people the tools- with Unreliable poll results are trotwhich
to compete. ted out, supposedly showing
If poverty is growing, that is significant numbers of blacks
mainly because our society is who feel their situation is unstill
mired in systemic changed over the past five
.. discrimination; our economy - 4 years of-federal social prois
not flexible enough to create gram cuts. Of course, that on-jobs
for all and our educa- ty demonstrates that their
tional system fails to educate situation five years ago was
people for an advanced * what it is today -- bad.
economy. In fact, the black situation
The new myth about pover- has demonstrably worsened
- ty exists because it provides a through destruction of key
i ? r> .. ... - ?
tunvcmcni excuse ior cutting saiety net programs. Poverty
How Mondale lost hi
By MANNING MARABLE
Special to the Chronicle lar8e corporations and upper
fifth of the population, which
No incumbent president in has gained 8.7 percent after inrecent
history deserved to be flation and taxes since 1980.
? *1 r? 1 J - "
uvitaicu uiuic iiiitu ivuiicuu l^cspue inese siausucs, as wen
Reagan. as a record of foreign policy
Behind his patriotic rhetoric blunders and domestic policies
stands a monument of public which reinforced racial and
policy failures unequaled in gender inequality, Reagan
our generation. A quick com- buried Mondale at the polls,
parison of Carter's record Conventional media
with Reagan's first term shows wisdom now claims that
that real interest rates, factor- ^
ing inflation, increased from ?AU Reagan had to do lh,
0.2 percent to 4.7 percent bet- , , . r
1Qsm . * qq a , , to embrace elements of th
ween 1980 and 1984, and real J
home mortgage rates jumped which relam Popular supp,
_Jr om X.percent. to,6.4-percen t ~And^UblicJlMtWg.^aJuL.
^/after inflation. propriate times. "
The Census Bureau nntrc ^????
that the number of poor peo- Reagan's charisma and perple
had climbed by 6 million sonal popularity was decisive
since January 1981 and the in his victory. Any rebroadcast
average unemployment rate of the first presidential debate,.
under Reagan is 8.6 percent, in which the incumbent apwell
above the Carter ad- peared disoriented and at
ministration's 6.4 percent times comatose, should
figure. Real farm income fell discourage the view that
by over 50 percent between Reagan was "more qualified"
1981 and 1984. Even the to lead the nation than his
politically conservative Tax Democratic challenger. I
Foundation in Washington, would suggest, instead, that
D.C., has computed that the Reagan did not win the elecmedian
income of a typical tion at all; Mondale, despite
family of four, after inflation, all his advantages, lost it.
was $107 less this year than in Consider the candidate
1980. himself. The basic theme
The real beneficiaries of which could have united the
Reaganomics have been the~ various factions of the
ev_ECT\ON fcSULTi CAN BE fc So9EJMNdr 0N6 1*V WtBfc ML PUIHW6 A&ONt, AND
fcXPtCtfcNCt fCQ A, RX1T1CA4. PACT"/ THC NliXT D*Y 6V0?VON S
y Cgj
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SCAPUNE THOSE. WHO
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DNI DUALS INUlCAWGUA
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ii
EUTBAUZE TW.W. if
ITIBE GOVEBNMEMT I; C
s;
ick status
' a
declined when programs c!
geared to providing fresh op- s<
portunities were in vogue. It ci
increased sharply when those g
programs were abandoned. w
Studies show black poverty n
is now at 36 iv?rr^nt t h* ?
r ? WW... f 11
highest rate since the Census c<
Bureau started publishing its si
figures in 1966. The typical ^ cl
black family lost over five per- it
cent in real income between
1980 and 1983 ~ the highest a<
loss for any group. In the same l>
period, an -additional 1.3 Si
million blacks became poor, jc
almost half them because of fi
the withdrawl of federal pro- p<
grams. d<
Part of the new mythology st
also says that black poverty is di
the result. of one-parent st
households and welfare cl
dependency. But black one- in
?-'parent families?are?poorer w
than white ones. And there is a la
direct link between female- re
headed families and St
unemployment. It is lack of
' jobs, not welfare, that has the m
greatest negative impact, .on g<
black families.. ly
The peddlers of the new gr
mvth Hnn't toll tie Vi/mii -i
J V*V/II w bVll UJ Iiv/TT U1V ^1,
poor and the hungry are sup- at
posed to survive without fa
welfare and food stamps. ar
They don't tell us how people
are supposed to become in- bi
Please see page A5 m
m
s coalition is
in
wi
Democratic Party -- labor, hi
blacks, Hispanics, women's $1
groups, Southerners, young m
urban professionals - was the sc
issue of fairness. er
Reagan's budget cuts had ca
hurled millions into poverty
and the vast majority of lower- le<
to-moderate income 01
Americans have not been ch
touched by the 1983-84 nc
"recovery.'' But throughout
?. yc
-oughout the campaign was ^
le New Deal-Great Society ^
ort, such as Social Security
?L
much of the campaign, Mondale
focused his challenge on
the uninspiring issue of budget
deficits and the necessity to increase
the taxes of all families .
with annual incomes over
$25,000. 7"
Instead of criticizing the T
bloated Pentagon budget, condemning
its purchase of $10
a11#?n M/ron^Vmr f/*? ?.r\r\ ?
? ?v.i "IVIIVIIW 1U1 J7,OW pi
each, Fritz called for annual tc
defense increases of 3 to 4 per- m
cent. Instead of calling for ma- g<
t jor programs to reduce tc
unemployment and to improve ti
public health care and social ci
needs, Mondale proposed F
Please see page A5
I 6u?S TVUT HAPnNS \WH6Wev/ B - 1
A PABTV I* &0 &MJLV DfftATmO
s
risis looms
n day care
ly MARIAN WRIGHT
iDELMAN
yndlcated Columnist
President Reagan recently
igned a proclamation declar
tg the week of Sept. 2-8,
984, 'National School-Age
'hild Care Awareness Week."
There's nothing unusual
bout that, except that the
roclamation was dated and
sued Sept. 21, 1984, 19 days
fter the week was to have
een celebrated.
Those of us who have been
tudying the state of the naon's
child-care system had to
mile rather sadly at this latest
xample of the president's *
ymbolic, rather than real,
esponse to the needs of
hildren.
Despite all the recent news
bout the shortage of good
hild-care, the sexual abuse of
ame children in day-care ~
enters, and the dramatic
rowth in . the number of
omen in the labor force,
either the federal government
or the states have made the
jmmitment necessary to enire
safe, affordable, quality
lild-care for those who need
The Reagan
^ministration's response has
sen to cut the Title XX Social
ervices Block Grant, the ma>r
source of federal day-care
inds for poor children, by 21
srcent in 1981. Since then,
sspite increased need, 25
ates are spending less for
ay-care than in 1981, 27
ates are serving fewer
lildren and 15 states are payg
1981 wages to child-care
test Children's Defense Fund
port, "Child Care: The
ates' Response."
Without leadership and *
oney from the federal
>vernment, most states simp- *
cannot and will not meet the
owing need of families for
lild-care assistance, which is
>solutely necessary if poor
milies are to be able to work
id to avoid welfare.
Child-care is not a luxury,
it a necessity for millions* of
others, especially black
others who have to work
hen their children are young
order to make ends meet. In
>83, two-thirds of all women
the labor force were single,
idowed, divorced, or had
lsbands who earned lets than
5,000 a year. Adolescent
others who need to finish
hool or training and find
nployment also need childre.
For years, our government
aders have been warned that
lr country would soon face a
lild-care crisis, and they ig>red
that warning.
Now, more than five million
>ung children return home
om school to empty houses
:cause their working parents
nnot find or afford childPlease
see page A5
etters
A note
A . ? ?
ot thanks
o The Editor:
I would like to take this opartunity
on behalf of At>rney
General Rufus L. EdListen,
former candidate for
jvernor of North Carolina,
) express my sincere appreciaon
and gratitude to all of the
tizens of Winston-Salem and
orsyth County who supPlease
see page A5
r* K CfcWSUCAW
N SL I!
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