OPINION
j ^
The Chronicle
? ?
tsNisj H. Put Publisher/Co-Founder
? *
Ndubisi teimonri Co-Founder
hAMi Pirt Business Manager
fannie henderson Advertising Manager
t. kevin Walker Managing Editor
Kay Stuitz Production Supervisor
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North Carolina ______________ Amaloamatad ??
National Nawapapar Pr~.AwocW.on o? Circulation ????,
Publishers Association
File Photo
' "D" Smith, left, makes a point at the race forum.
1 Talk is cheap
J The city sponsored a slate
? of activities last week aimed at
! bringing the topic of race to the
! foreground. The centerpiece
was a forum about race held at
Joel Coliseum, where blacks,
??whites and Hispanics were
t invited to share their views on
? the current state of racial rela
r lions in the city.
I In terms of curing racism,
? every little bit helps. Unfortu
\ nately, last week's events put
J only a small dent, if that, into
? the problem. First, the people
t who attended the events have
J no problems with dealing with
i people of other cultures to
J begin with. Attendees are the
' kind of folks who go out of
? their way to form bonds and
? friendships across cultural and
J racial lines. Those who could
? really use a good lesson on
? multiculturalism - the kind of
\ people who avoid people of
? another race with a vengeance -
! were nowhere to be seen.
? Racism has changed greatly
? over the years. So perhaps sit
? ting around and simply talking
I about how to get along worked
back in the day. But now, when
Tacism no longer entails being
; ttarred from using a water foun
tain or a lunch counter, it's
money and access that talks.
For minorities, racism is
only a supporting character in a
cast of many problems. Eco
nomics plays the lead role.
Communities that blacks and
Hispanics call home are devoid
of businesses and decent hous
es. Issues like these, which cer
tainly may be linked to racism,
are the ones that we should he
holding forums about in order
to give people a chance to ask
city and business leaders why
they have been forsaken. Talk
ing simply about racial rela
tions is taking the easy way out
because nobody has to make
any commitments or answer
any tough questions, and folks
can just vow to do better and
everyone leaves happy.
The city can have a summit
about race every week for the
next 50 years and nothing will
change because the meetings
are designed to be too touchy
feely, and everyone wants to be
optimistic. But the issues that
need to be addressed to level
the playing field are not the
kinds of things that can be dis
cussed cordially over Sunday
morning brunch. They are
painful, ugly and may require
the raising of voices.
Talk is healthy, but to unem
ployed residents of East Win
ston living in substandard hous
ing, talk is cheap.
Pile Pholo
Elizabeth Dole speaks at a Republican event in the 1990s.
Don't go there, Liddy \
? From the years she spent
leading the American Red
Cross to her time running the
U.S. Department of Labor,
Elizabeth Dole certainly has
many things that she can toot
Jier own horn about.
Civil rights, however, ain't
one of them.
Dole's people say that the
Salisbury native wants sup
port from all segments of
North Carolina's population
in her attempt to replace Jesse
Helms in the U.S. Senate. And
apparently she wants to be a
bit of all things for all people.
Earlier this year when she
threw her hat in the ring for
the race, she tried to shore up
votes from Helms supporters
by stating that she and -the
outgoing senator see eye to
eye on the issues. Last week
she told a national television
audience that she has always
been a champion of civil
rights.
How is it possible for the
same person to be gung-ho
over Helms - the devil incar
nate to many black people -
and a civil rights supporter?
The answer is, it is not possi
ble. It is an oxymoron, like
meat-eating vegetarian.
Dole chose her team when
she expressed her admiration
for Helms. She shouldn't
expect to win over blacks now
with her civil rights record, or
lack thereof, which seems to
he the case. Although Dole
has never held elected office,
she has quickly picked up the
skills of a veteran fast-talking
politician.
Here's some advice for
Liddy: Talk about your small
town values, talk about how
you made it big, talk about
Social Security, if you will,
but don't talk about what you
and your husband have done
for hlack folks. You know bet
ter and voters know better.
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Thanks for coverage
To the Editor:
Thank you and your staff
for the publicity you gave to
the Winston-Salem Air Show
before and ^fter the event.
I don't know who all was
involved in the stories and
photography, but I would take
it as a personal favor if you
would seek them out and tell
them their efforts were appre
ciated greatly.
1 can place paid advertis
ing to get the word out for any
of my clients, but when stories
are published, it gives the
event credence and a degree of
importance. That is invalu
able.
In case you have not heard,
the attendance this year set a
record. That is two years
straight that has happened.
The air show is going to
become bigger and bigger, and
I hope that you will be a part
of reaching that goal in the
future.
Thanks again. The cover*
age meant a lot.
Cordially,
Bob Morphif
Black leaders, not 'Barbershop,' need a trim
Earl Ofari
Hutchinson
Guest
Talk about going way over
the top. The Rev. A1 Sharpton's
and Jesse Jackson's demands
for an apology from MGM over
two minutes of irreverent
humor in the film "Barber
shop" is nearly as laughable as
the film.
No one who is not comatose
could dare take seriously the
deliberately silly crack by
Cedric the Entertainer that the
towering contributions of Rosa
Parks and Martin Luther King
Jr. to the civil rights struggle
had no value, and that almost
certainly includes Cedric. None
of the characters in "Barber
shop" certainly believed it.
They immediately jumped all
over him.
In fact, it's due in large part
to the magnificent contribu
tions of Parks. King and other
legendary civil rights heroes
that entertainers such as Cedric
the Entertainer and the writers,
director and producers of "Bar
bershop," all of whom are
black, could even get a major
Hollywood studio to bankroll
their film. Their struggle also
opened wide the doors to
blacks in education, business
and professions. The crumbling
of those barriers has given
blacks the awesome economic
muscle to make "Barbershop" a
smash box office success.
And it's that black econom
ic clout that virtually guaran
tees that the box office cash
registers will keep jingling for
the film. Look, then, for a
"Barbershop 2" and "Barber
shop 3" and the inevitable TV
series clone.
But underneath Cedric's
wisecrack about black leaders
is an undertow of disenchant
ment and resentment that many
blacks feel toward those who
designate themselves, or more
likely are designated by whites,
as "black leaders."
Many of these leaders are
mostly middle-class business
people and professionals. Their
agenda and top-down style of
leadership are remote and often
wildly out of step with the
needs of poor and working
class blacks. They often
approach tough public policy
issues - such as the astronomi
cal black imprisonment rates,
the dreary plight of poor black
women, black homelessness.
black-on-black crime and vio
lence, ihe drug crisis, gang
warfare and school vouchers -
with a strange blend of caution,
uncertainty, and wariness.
They keep counsel only
with those black ministers,
politicians and professional
and business leaders they con
sider respectable and legitimate
and will blindly march in lock
step with their program.
Worst of all, they horribly
disfigure black, leadership by
turning it into a corporate style
competitive business in which
success is measured by piling
up political favors and corpo
rate dollars.
The sad thing is that it was
n't always this way. For
decades mainstream black
organizations such as the
NAACP relied on the .nickels
and dimes of poor and work
ing-class blacks for their sup
port. This gave them complete
independence and a solid con
stituency to mount powerful
campaigns for jobs, better
housing, quality schools, and
against police violence and
lynching.
The profound shift in the
method and style of black lead
ership began in the 1970s. With
the murders of Martin Luther
King Jr. and Malcolm X, the
collapse of the traditional civil
rights organizations, the
destruction and co-optation of
militant activist groups, main
stream black leaders, politi
cians and ministers did a sharp
volte-face. They quickly
defined the black agenda as:
starting more and better busi
nesses; grabbing more spots in
corporations, universities and
the professions; electing more
Democrats; buying bigger and
more expensive homes; taking
more luxury vacations; and
gaining admission into more
country clubs.
The biggest gripe many
blacks have about some black
leaders is that they arrogate to
themselves the sole right to
speak exclusively on behalf of
all blacks. That is much evidentr1
in Sharpton's demand that
MGM excise Cedric's political
ly incorrect quip from a film
that has already been seen by
thousands. This makes it seem
that the demand to slice is
made on behalf of all blacks.
Black leaders get away with
this arrogant presumption
because many whites regard
blacks as so far outside the
political and social pale that
they see blacks solely through
the prism of a racial monolith.
They are profoundly condi
tioned to believe that all blacks
think, act and sway to the same
racial beat. They freely use the
words and deeds of the chosen
black leader as the standard for
African-American behavior.
When the beleaguered chosen
one makes a real or contrived
misstep, he or she becomes the
whipping boy among many
whites, and blacks are blamed
for being rash, foolhardy, irre
sponsible and prone to shuffle
the race card on every social ill
that befalls them.
"Barbershop" is more than
a comedlc, slice-of-black-life
film. It spotlights the historic
role that barbershops in black,
and probably other ethnic
neighborhoods, have tradition
ally played in allowing work
ing people to vent, swap gossip
and share information, keep
abreast of social and political
issues, and to express their own
special brand of ethnic in
group humor. There is ncQieed
to apologize for or to cut that
out.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an
author and columnist. Visit his
news and opinion Web site:
www.thehutchinsonreport.com.
He is the author of "The Crisis '
in Black and Black" (Middle
Passage Press).
Photos courtesy of MGM Studios
The cast of the hit film "Barbershop," which has grossed more than $50 million so far:
I1
Cedric the Entertainer plays
the controversial character
who criticizes civil rights fig
ures, like Rosa Parks.