Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Sept. 26, 1985, edition 1 / Page 4
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Page A4-The Chronicle, Thursday, September 26, 1985 Winston-Salem Chronicle Founded 1974 ERNSST M. PITT, Publisher NDUftlSI fGEMONYf ALL8N JOHNSON Co-Founder Executive Editor ROSIN ADAMS ilaini l. PITT Assistant Editor MICHAKL PITT Office Manager Circulation Manager OUR OPINION A firsthand look is needed SO FAR as we know, the maelstrom that is South Africa's racial conflict must be reported by the nation's black newspapers secondhand. No one among the nation's black press has a bureau or a reporter in South Africa, so this country's black media must rely on national and international news sources for the latest developments - as those sources see them. We aren't necessarily assailing the credibility of the wire services and broadcast networks, but our English teachers always taught us that primary sources are more preferable and reliable than secondary ones. And our experience continues to teach us that the eyes of a black man sometimes see the same events as the eyes of a white man in a much different light. Otherwise, why would there be a need for a black press in the first place? What's more, we obviously don't always agree with other news outlets on what is news and what isn't. Take, for instance, the famine in Northern Africa, which was nothing new when graphic pictures of men. _ _ ? F women and children starving to death Anally reached us via NBC's "Today Show" last year. The drought and the famine it caused had only been going on for more than a decade. Had the black press been on its toes, it could have reported that story years earlier. It wasn't, and it didn't. Ironically, it hasn't always been this way. The black press decades ago sent correspondents overseas during World WarTI to cover not onlylhe actions of the Allied forces in Europe, Asia and Africa, but the treatment of the black soldier as well. The nation's black newspapers also successfully waged a 4 * Double-V" campaign during the war, admonishing victory overseas against the forces of Hitler and victory at home against the forces of racism. We need that brand of zeal today. Desperately. It isn't enough to read the gospel according to others when we can see for ourselves by pooling our sources as black newspapers and sending at least one of our reporters to the land of apartheid to report it as he or she sees it. The cost would be minimal, the results worth the investment a hundred times over. "We wish to plead our own cause*" said John Russwurm and Samuel Cornish, founders of the nation's first black newspaper, Freedom's Journal, in 1827. Is that still our credo? CROSSWINDS Palwpll on tn hall ML Ml vo^ gV iV A1VU From the Chicago Defender. The Rev. Jerry Falwell go to hell. President Reagan be damned. Quiet diplomacy will not end racial segregation in South Africa. P.W. Botha must go. Who gives a damn if he jumps in the sea? This is one world, and South Africa is not an island unto itself. Long live Bishop Desmond Tutu! Segregationist actor Reagan has never advocated equal opportunity for all people. When he was head of the Hollywood Actors Union, minorities were only token members, if at all. He has not changed and doesn't intend to. He is too wound up in his ego. Falwell wants blacks back in slavery. y Black Africa, for a number of years, has been requesting Black America's help. The time has come. All Americans who oppose apartheid must boycott all American corporations that support South Africa, including Continental Bank, Citicorp Bank, General Motors, Ford Motors and many other corporations that oppose equal opportunity. The Black Press will begin listing them for your information next month. President Reagan, like Falwell, would like to see us back in slavery. Let's stop spending our 180 billion black dollars with those who are not on our side. The Rev. Leon Sullivan of Philadelphia waged and won an agreement by General Motors, and other major U.S. corporations, to support South Africa with his 44Sullivan Principles" several years ago. Now he's apparently got religion and has changed his position. We must demand instir* Don't spend our 180 billion dollars where we can't get equal justice. t Wietp-r^ Jpp Tft I SORKY^omoToks i ^acuqtidmu Black Ameri< NEW YORK - t4Why a Freedom Convention?" I was asked. Why a Declaration of In "* " dependence or a Bill or Rights or a national Republican or Democratic convention? I thought. At certain times, people who think alike and aspire to a common vision need to be together to affirm themselves and their commitment. That's precisely why we're asking 10,000 people who aspire to a vision of freedom to attend the first and historic Freedom Convention in Cleveland, Ohio's Convention Center on Sunday, Sept. 29. ~~ What vision of "freedom? That African-Americans can attain a standard of living equal to whites by simply sharing their $200 billion annual income. And in 15 years, by the 21st century, we will increase the percentage of money we spend with one another from 6.6 percent (SI2.3 billion of our $200 billion income) in 1985 to 50 percent ($445 billion of our $890 billion income). This will provide for the necessary capital formation to build a manufacturing base and we plan to manufacture 10 percent of all goods and services pro duced in America by year 2000. The 1.7 million jobs we export from our communities each year by spending almost 95 percent of our income with non-black groups will be reduced in 15 years to around 800,000. Meanwhile, our increased income retention will seriously reduce the projected 20.6 black unemployment rate for year 2000 to the national average for all Americans. 1 tie presides NORMAL, Ala. ? I suppose there are at least two ways to analyze President Reagan's lightweight effort to impose economic sanctions on racist South Africa. First of all, one could argue that the Reagan executive order is a Mickey Mouse publicity stunt issued only as a last resort to stave off the imposition of much harsher sanctions by the U.S. Congress. On the other hand, we must give sufficient credit to Tran sAfrica and the Free South Africa Movement for their unrelenting protests and lobbying internally, as well as the external pressures brought to bear by the ever-growing revolutionary fervor inside South Africa. To be sure, Reagan's sanctions may be superficial - but let us not underestimate the effect and power of the struggle that has forced the "constructive engagement** man to publicly renounce his prior exhortations denouncing sanctions in any form. While all astute observers agree that Reagan's banning of computer exports, halting of nuclear technology exports, prohibition of loans and ceasing of Krugerrand sales in the United States are \ 3 ^0 yl*UV cans can buyt TONY BROWN Syndicated Columnist This economic stability will drive our increases in the occupa 1 - * uunai areas 01 science and technology to 13.6, our percentage of the national population. All of this progress will be indexed by the amount of money retained in black businesses and institutions and announced as the Black Economic Index (BEI) which is a paltry 6.6 percent in 1985 and projected to be 50 percent in year 2000. ?Too ambitious a plan? For t will make it happen. That's \ reinforce one another's resol part of a system that makes si we are thankful to God t> possible." Too ambitious a plan? For some. But not for those who will make it happen. That's why we need to meet and to reinforce one another's resolve. We are thankful to be a part of a system that makes such a revolution possible and we are thankful to God that he has made all of it possible. That's why we will declare our allegiance to America and our independence from poverty. Our Buy Freedom movement is based, of course, on faith in God and sound economics. It is a win-win situation. If you share this vision, the Freedom Road leads to Cleveland. We know that freedom can be bought and in Cleveland 44African-America t's lightweigh CLIFTON GRAVIS JR. Chronicle Columnist ostensibly steps in the right direction, the fact is that these initiatives are nothing more than symbolic measures designed to circumvent Congress and appease certain Americans. Indeed, a good barometer of F S ii^? Rev tali-tell 1 Ij^A the significance of Reagan's order can be gauged from the reaction of that great humanitarian, Sen. Jesse Helms, who was ''pleased'* by the president's superficial action, and who termed apartheid an "irrevelant" issue. Thus, if Helms if "pleased," then you know where that should i heir freedom U^ ?? ..,;it u- u-? ? ^ iiiv. win uc uuin on dcpi. zy. On Saturday, Sept. 28, Buy Freedom seminars will be held at Stouffer's-On-the Square hoteL For special discount rates for rooms, call (216) 696-5600. The 10,000 of us Freedom Workers will swell to 1 million by October of 1986 and, in 15 years, 20 million of the total AfricanAmerican population of 37 million will have taken the_ Freedom Pledge: "Yes, I commit myself to the equality of all Americans and to the use of my purchasing power where I see The Freedom Seal to create jobs and tome. But notfonhose who why we need to meet and to ve. We are thankful to be a ich a revolution possible and tat he has made all of it businesses for black Americans." Black businesses will flourish and hire more blacks, the rate for black infant mortality will be reduced to the rate for whites and blacks who want to work can do so. But it all begins with a vision. "Without vision the people perish," the Holy Bible says. Our freedom-vision will begin in Cleveland when Percy Sutton introduces Ossie Davis, who will call for the Freedom Plan. Tony Brown is a syndicated columnist whose television show, "Tnnv Rrnwn't Jnumnl " / /*? ^ " ? ***** w ?wtf VMfl l/V seen Sundays on channels 4 and 26. t sanctions leave the rest of us .... Clearly the struggle for true liberation in South Africa will and must continue. *Irrespective of Reagan's order, or, for that matter, congressional sanctions, the freedom due our South African sisters and brothers is yet elusive. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all of us to keep the I (CORSE.HE'S A.PHOHY. BEI lTRIEMANOFGDD j ^ & te* JL BNL pressure on our Congress and on rAffWffltlAW* /<<* ? Un.ia^. J ? ?vi |^/i suvuo uvui| uusincss in South Africa in order that we do our fair share in accelerating the freedom process. Winston-Salem native Clifton Graves is a syndicated columnist and the director of university relations at Alabama A AM University. CHILDWATCH Mary Eames' tragic dilemma By MARIAN W. EOELMAN Syndicated Columnist WASHINGTON - Mary Eames of Mississippi faced a difficult dilemma. She was in premature labor, but had no money or insurance to pay the cost of delivering her baby. When officials at her county hospital found this out, they sent her to another hospital" where the delivery would be paid for. But bv the time Marv reached the other hospital, her baby was dead. Mary Eames and her unborn child were both victims of a major inadequacy in our national health care system: its failure to provide care for the uninsured poor. This is a huge problem, because there are now some 35 million Americans who have no public or private health insurance. When these Americans, like Mary, seek hospital care, they are sometimes turned away, but more often are forced to transfer to other hospitals or are discharged before they should be. These practices have become commonplace in recent years. This disturbing and growing trend is the result of increased financial pressures on hospitals, which stem from a number of different sources. In recent years, ^the ^federal government has cut back on health programs that had helped to cover medical care for the poor. At the same time, private insurers have tried to hold down hospital and medical payments in order to cut medicalcost inflation. As a result, many hospitals are no longer providing care to people who cannot pay for ft. We can't tolerate a situation in which millions of Americans are turned away from medical help when they need it. Every state in this nation must develop a program for addressing this crisis. Encouragingly, the?state of Texas, which up to now has had a dismal record on medical care for the uninsured poor, has recently passed legislation that can serve as a model for other states. In May, the Texas Legislature approved a $91 million package designed to fairly distribute the burden of providing health care to state residents who cannot now afford it. The new program includes increased state commitments to VVVII A AVVIIVOI Si CUAVft ttiw kJ|ArVlfll Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and a new initiative that will enable the state to open maternal and infant health and primary care clinics in areas that now lack necessary medical services. It also sets new rules designed to set country standards for care of the poor and to stop hospitals from "dumping" patients who cannot pay. Texas Gov. Mark White, Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, House Speaker Gib Lewis and Rep. Jesse Oliver, who spearheaded the legislation, are all to be commended for their leadership in bringing their state to the forefront of needed chanae on this urgent issue. Another major initiative on indigent health care is under way in South Carolina, led by Gov. Richard Riley, who has made maternal and child health a priority concern. It is now up to other states to f/%11 AKI J * iwiiuw una icau UIQ IAKC action to address their own problems in providing medical care to residents who lack health coverage. A responsible program can save both dollars and lives. Marian Wright Edelman is president of the Children's Defense Fund, a national voice for youth.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Sept. 26, 1985, edition 1
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