eididli (LCOMJ |
Some Underlying Issues
. it ir i* . .
wvuuuv j wui ia v vi ivv viuv maj uv
one of those not permitted liquor
sales under the new regulations.
This fact alone may influence how
many may cast their vote on Sept. 8.
A second issue, nearly overlooked
in spite of its importance, involves
the moral overtones of any kind of
liquor vote. Nearly ignored, the
issue was brought to light when
anti-liquor spokesman Henderson
Belk reportedly said that people
supporting liquor-by-the-drink sales
risk facing the wrath of God.
Ironically, the Rev. Coy Privette -
limself a minister - and leader of the
anti-mixed drink forces, disassocia
ted himself from Belk’s comments
and allegedly said “I .can’t play .
God.” The Rev. James Palmer said
his organization was remaining neu-'
tral on the vote and the Rev. James
Frieson said his ministers’ group
would announce their position at a
later date.
Strong Drink
It appears inconceivable that any
minister would find reason to sup
port the Sept. 8 pro-vote when there
are so many Bible statements that
speak against the use of strong
drink. For example, in Leviticus
i0:8-10 we find these words: “And
the Lord spake...Do not drink wine
nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons
with thee...that ye may put differ
ence between holy and unholy, and
between unclean and clean.”
A third issue involves the vague
and unanswered question of the
economic impact that mixed drinks
may have on the local economy. In
spite of a lot of talk about mixed
drinks stimulating the economy and
creating jobs there is reason to
doubt this will happen. For exam
ple, it was announced last week that
the Kemper Open is going to leave
Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Country
Club for a new location in the
wasnmgion area. ine announce
ment about this move appeared to be
totally indifferent to the SeDt. 8
liquor drink vote.
A fourth issue arises out of the
role, if any, that black voters may
play in the liquor vote issue This
appears significant because of a
too-little too-late effort by some
black leaders to suggest that blacks
stay home on Sept. 8 in the hope of
using their voting, or non-voting, as
a leverage to achieve goals of
greater significance to blacks.
There is, we believe, a great deal
wrong with this approach.
As we look back to the general
'election in November, the June
Airoort bond election and now the
liquor vote we see a common pat
tern. In each of these elctions the
Poorly Planned
(1) news media revealed division
among the so-called black leader
ship; (2) the calls for greater
leverage to get responses on other
issues affecting black were weak,
fragmented, and poorly planned;
and (3) some attempting to suggest
that blacks not vote.
These developments appear to be
a pattern established by blacks even
before the three elections referred to
above. The most dangerous and
damaging part is any suggestion
that blacks not vote. The time,
effort and energy that has been used
to get blacks to register and vote has
been well worth the effort, however,
there are still thousands not registe
red and voting. Furthermore, many 1
of those registered won’t vote. Thus, !
whether for moral, economic or .
other reasons each black should vote
on Sept. 8. Vote your convictions.
We have said repeatly in this
column that the only way blacks will
*• gain leverage, economic parity and* <
political respectability is by banning
together under a single philosophi
uu Liienie uuti win aiiow ana encour
age dialogue among ourselves on the
more vital issues that affect our
lives. These would include crime,
education, health, recreation and
public service.
We are not suggesting that we as
blacks must always agree on issues,
simply because we are black. What
we are saying is that the broader
issue that affect the quality of life of
our loved ones should be something
carefully planned and thought out
before such issues are made public
and through much misinformation
and misunderstanding little of real
value occurs to aid black people.
If we of the black community can
develop a common sense of purpose
through the building of bridges of
communication,'then, and only then,
will unity occur, leverage be esta
blished and blacks in substantial
numbers will register and vote.
THE CHARLOTTE POST
, ‘ THE PEOPLES NEWSPAPER”
Established 1918
Published Every Thursday
By The Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc.
1524 West Blvd.-Charlotte, N.C. 28208
Telephones (704) 376-0496, 376-0497
Circulation, 9,915
60 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS SERVICE
, Bill Johnson.Editor-Publisher
' Bernard Reeves.General Manager
Hovle H. Martin Sr.Executive Editor
Julius Watson.Circulation Director
, Albert Campbell.Advertising Director
j Second Class Postage No. 965500 Paid At
I Charlotte, N.C. under the Act of March 3,1878
Member National Newspaper Publishers
Association
North Carolina Black Publishers Association
__
1 Deadline for all news copy and photos is 5 p.m.
Monday. All photos and copy submitted becomes
the property of the POST, and will not be returned
National Advertising Representative
Amalgamated Publishers, Inc.
45 W 5th Suite 1403 2400 S. Michigan Ave^
New York, N Y. 10036 Chicago. 111. 60616
(212 ) 489-1220 Calumet 5-0200
uj iiv/jiu mai uiti oi .
As Mecklenburg County moves
closer to the September 8 liquor-by
the-drink vote, the battle lines
appear to be more clearly defined as
each side in the campaign gear up to
spend substantial sums of money on
last week to blitz to capture votes.
While these developments are
going on, a number of related and
equally significant underlying issues
have surfaced that may have an
impact upon our community long
after the mixed drink issue has been
settled. First is the question of what
will be the rules under which mixed
drinks will be served? It consistent
ly concerns us that we don’t know
what we’re really going to vote for
other than to know that in some way,
some where mixed drinks will be
served. This might mean, for
example, finding a new place to
purchase your liquor-by-the-drink
-- -f__I_
By Gerald Johnson
The other day while cruising
around the city I flipped m3
radio to WGIV. To my sur
prise the station was airing i
new thing called “Debate'
where Cheryl Gantt gave hei
opinion on the church's role it
Black Leadership and Jin
Black gave a counter opinioi
on the topic. It just so happen
that the topic is one of m3
favorites and both of then
were wrong putting it mildly.
But the idea of point
counterpoint on local Issues o
today is an excellent one.
think WGIV should be congra
tula ted.
Let's get back to the debat<
topic Cherly Gantt point*
out that if the Black churche
of Charlotte took as much timi
preaching on why Black's fai
competency test and othe:
prime issues as they did 01
liquor by the drink and airpor
bonds then the prime issue
wouldn't be prime She feel:
that the church holds the ke;
to solving Black problems an<
that the church should take 1
more active leadership role
Jim Black countered this b;
saying that the responsibilit?
of Black leadershiD can't lx
' BLACKS'RETICENCE TO SEIZE THE INITIATIVE TO ORGANIZE THEIR
COMMUNITIES' SAID DOUGLAS G. GLASGOW, DEAN OF HOWARD
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK, ISA MAJOR FACTOR AND
AN IMPORTANT FACTOR CONTRIBUTING TO OUR COMMUNITIES’
UNDEVELOPED STATUS"
/
By Vernon
TO
BE
EQUAL
POLITICAN
BUSINESS MAN Vk
DOCTORS
LAWYERS 7/1
ARTISTS 1*0
TEACHERS (
MINISTERS \
WORKERS V>^
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
SOCIAL WORKERS
FRATERNAL GROUPS
FINANCE
COMPUTER SCIENCE
INSTITUTION ADMIN 1STRA TIOi
ENGINEERING
PLANNING
ARCHITECTURE J
BLACK PRESS A
Can America Be Governed
There have been times when political leader
ship has been incompetent, corrupt, or otherwise
incapable of governing wisely, but only in the
past five years or so has there been any question
about government’s ability to administer this
complex nation.
That questioning has come about partly
^ because of the duplicity in the way the war in
r'Vietnam, was foisted on the public, and partly
ttetans^j'ffl.’Qie revelations of the Watergate
scandal, wftlA saw high officials spending their
tiipe scheming to commit illegal acts and to
escape publishment.
Both of those developments coincided with a
,/ time iff social change within the nation.
Later,- recession and its aftermath sffltok
people’s confidence in their leadership.
President Carter is reaping the results of a
decade of cynicism, and we have to recognize
that his low standing in the polls, and the relative
weakness of today’s Presidency is in large part
due to that negative cynicism.
The press has been full of speculations about
the ability of this Administration to govern the
nation. Those speculations are unworhty, for the
Administration is, by and large, made up of
people more competent and more committed to
doing right than those in previous Administra
tions.
When healthy skepticism turns to destructive
negativism, the integrity of democratic institu
tions is called into question. That’s a dangerous
development. The government is weakened in
its dealings with other nations, and it becomes
more difficult to do what needs to be done here at
hnmo
Blacks’ Destiny In Own Hands
CETA:
A Program Worth Defending
By Bayard Kustin
Special to the Post
As I listen to the arguments
>f those who are so committed
,o gutting the Comprehensive
Employment and Training
Vet (CETA), my thoughts re
urn to a memorable passage
rom the New Testament:
'For everyone who has will be
given more than enough; but
or the man who has not, even
vhat he has will be taken
iway.”
—Those few lines of Scripture,
I think serve as an exception- ■
ally appropriate epigram for
the social and economic poli
cies espoused by the resurgent
conservative ipovement, and
its allies in the business com
munity. Whether it be tax
policy, welfare policy, educa
tional policy, or labor policy,
one dominant idea reigns sup
reme - every failure of our
economic system is blamed on
the alleged greed and laziness
of the poor, the young, and the
supposedly “unproductive"
public sector.
To remedy our chronic
economic ills, conservatives
smugly tell us to forcibly
tighten the belts of the poor -
“the man who has not” --
while simultaneously enrich
ing the wealthy with tax
breaks and business subsidies.
While asserting that business
needs more “incentives," the
same political leaders and
economists call for a lower
minimum wage, lower living
standards for workers, and
lower wages for public
employees. In line with this
Victorian economic reason
ing. the “anti-Big Govern
ment” forces have set out to
cripple the CETA program.
As they see it, the current
debate about CETA offers a
hidhlu lnrrativo nnnAptnnitu lr
attack and threaten other
social welfare and employ
ment programs as well.
Every week, newspapers and
magazines uncover some new
instance oi CETA-related cor
ruption or waste. Some politi
cians. especially those who
hope to exploit the "tax re
volt.” enjoy characterizing
CETA, according to many of
its most outspoken critics, is
another obvious cause of run
away inflation, burdensome
taxes, and general economic
malaise.
The steady attacks and dis
tortions have taken their toll.
CETA is, I believe, perhaps
one of the most unpopular and
misunderstood federal pro
grams in existence. However,
a careful look at the facts can
quickly dispell some of the
more troublesome anti-CETA
arguments.
For one thing, CETA is
hardly the gargantuan mons
ter as portrayed by its oppo
nents. Compared to other
lederal programs, CETA is
relatively small. During fis
cal .ear 1978, CETA received
oid- '9 6 billion. By contrast,
t.i \ .....pholes that benefit busi
ness - and only business - cost
the United States Treasury
31.8 billion, three times the
cost of CETA- In overall
terms, only about 2 cents of
every tax dollar went to
CETA.
Despite CETA’s small size,
many critics contend that
even this stingy expenditure
for training and public service
employment should be drasti
cally curtailed. CETA pro
grams, they argue, have out
lived their usefulness because
we have now supposedly achi
eved "full employment.”
Such an argument is persua
ciuo nnlv for Ihnco urKn nnnei.
der6.Z percent uuempioymenl
as “full employment." I, foi
one, soundly reject such rea
soning.
While it is certainly true
that unemployment has de
creased during the last yeai
and a half (President Cartel
deserves some credit here)
the moderate decline hard!)
justifies scrapping or reduc
ing CETA. In fact, the scanda
lously high jobless rate:
among blacks, teenagers
women and unskilled worker:
strongly suggest that we neec
to expand rather than trim th«
CETA program.
Some CETA opponents.
ment suggest that it would be
far more efficient to subsidize
low-paying jobs in the private
sector. While such an app
proach seems attractive, il
ignores some fundaments!
economic realities, inlcuding
the highly selective impact ol
unemployment on specific
groups of workers, such as
minorities, young people, anc
the unskilled.
Unlike the “trickle down"
strategies which emphasize
investment tax credits anc
lower tax rates for corpora
tions, CETA provides effect
ive and immediate relief U
special “target groups,’
which, in all probability
would gain little even if th<
overall economy experience!
a sudden upturn. By selective
ly assisting groups like younj
people, migrants, women
minorities, and workers wit]
obsolete skills, CETA provide
job and training opportunity
which the private sector alon
cannot produce. Moreovei
without a program like CETA
' thousands of workers would b
The Administration is rightly concerned with
its image, and with the way it has been perceived
as drifting and confused. But it cannot simply
assume that this is just a public relations
problem that can be dealt with through PR
devices.
To a degree at least, the Administration’s
difficulties are self-inflicted. It may have
pjy indulged in ov«r-promising during the' caitife
aign, and its dehay in fulfilling some of ra
promises bred cynicism and distrust.
Polls taken at the time of the 1976 election
indicate that President Carter’s majority was
drawn to him because they wanted an activist
President who would undertake domestic re
forms, who would end high unemployment, and
fight for the interests of minorities and working
people.
Thus, when the Administration’s priorities
came to be seen as balancing the budget and
postponing domestic reforms, disatisfaction was
encouraged. The Administration has compiled a
fairly reasonable record on creating jobs,
targeting urban development monies, and other
important steps.
But it has also shown as distressing tendency
to trim its sails when faced with Congressional
1 intransigence. Instead of fighting against a tax
. cut for the affluent or a tuition tax credit, it
| simply comes up with a compromise proposal
1 for a slightly lower tax cut or a student loan
s program that would lessen funds available for
* the economically disadvantaged.
And when the President himself raises doubts
| about government’s ability to end poverty,
s inflation and other problems, he just encourages
the kind of attitude his AHminiatrntinn id tminM
As I See It Congratulates WGIV On “Point Counter Point” *
piuceu on me snouiuers ui me
church. The Black commu
nity at large has the problems
and therefore Its leaders
should be from the community
at large. He continued with
church and state separatioi
and that the more the church
got involved in politics the
more separations would
, occur - interesting, to say the
least.
, Neither point has any back
bone and both points could be
torn to shreds in 5 minutes
[ But with the limited time they
[ had to give their points it is
understandable Why their
arguments were shallow.
, Let's pose a question. Is there
i a need for Black Leadership?
, No.
j The need for “Black'
I leadership is gone There is n<
common goal that Black
, people as a group would want
to reach Oddly enough, the
, only common bond among
, Black people was discrimina
, tion Blatant discrimination
I drew us together as a people
, because rich or poor, young or
oid, doctor or pimp, our color
, was used to deny us civil
, rights Historically the time*
» did breed Martin Luther King
test than whites. There are
more Blacks In prisons than
whites. The list goes on but I
think you get the idea.
The bottom of the problems
facing Blacks is education.
The more education Blacks
get the fewer of these pro
blems Blacks will have.
But to motivate Blacks into
wanting an education is not a
leadership problem. No
leader can motivate a person
to want to learn. Moreover,
getting people to learn is not a
group process it is an individ
ual, "one on one" if you will,
process.
Motivation starts in the
home. A dumb kid is the
product of a dumb parent.
Dumb in the sense that the
Importance of education is not
instilled in the children. I
know parents that aren't edu
cated who insist that their
children get a good education.
These are not dumb parents
even though they are not
formally educated.
There is no answer to this
problem as I see it. Those that
want to make it can. those that
don't, won't.
An interesting assumption
that I am willing to bet on is
this: the majority of com
petency test failures are pro
ducts of welfare homes. I am
sure a study on the subject will
prove me right. Consequently
the welfare programs aids in
de-motivating and removing
the initiative from people. But
that’s another story.
But the point is where a
leader comes from is of little
Importance when a leader is
not needed. Times make the
man and when times become
critical enough a leader will
emerge. Who knows I might
press my “leader suit" when
the time draws nigh.
Football Mania
The time is here when bai
room talk turns from girls tc
the old pigskin. As usual when
this season comes, my good
buddy ole Ned the Niggei
comes out of the woodwork.
Ole Ned as previewed the
CIAA and MEAC and as come
up with his usual wrong
assumptions. But here is how
Ned picks them. In the CIAA
look for Winston-Salem,
Hampton, Norfolk State, and
Virginia Union to fight for the
ti'le. Look for a much im
proved JCSU team to be the
saaIIam
The big surprise comes
from the MEAC where Ned
says S.C. State will not make it
to the Gold Bowl this season.
In fact, Ned says, you can see
a preview of the Gold Bowl
this weekend when the surpri
sing Aggies meet the Rams in
Winston-Salem. The Aggies
will dethrone the Bulldogs.
Well, that's how Ned sees It
and I kind of agree with the ole
fool for a change.
Mint Museum
The Mint Museum of Art,
901 Hempstead Place, is look
ing for volunteers to give tours
and help in educational areas
of the museum. Volunteers
should be interested in art and
enjoy working with either
school children or the general
public._
■uiln »»«i*tM
Malcolm A, ana stokely Tar
michael and each In hia own
way helped ua out of the
bondages of open racism.
They helped us eliminate the
only common adhesive we had
as a people.
Consequently, since as a
people we are moving in diffe
rent directions there is no
need for a Black leader,
But there are a dispro
portionate number of Blacks
suffering from a variety of
problems The unemployment
rate among Blacks is higher
than that of whites. More
Black* fail thp PAmn«tMu<u