Editorials & Comments.
Tragedy Of Presidential Politics
il current events are any
indication of the kind of national
leadership the nation will have
after the November Presidental
election, the American people
face a tragedy of major portions.
The Carter administration, if
not the President himself, an
nounced last week that a Re
publican Party sponsored tax cut
proposal was irresponsible and
politically motivated. The Demo
crats, the President's party, said
instead that they'd offer their
own, more responsible tax cut
plan as a part of Carter's mid
year budget review planned for
next week. However, that has
changed already because the
mid-year review is expected to
predict a federal deficit of nearly
$60 billion in fiscal year 1980.
This represents a $24 billion
increase over the budget esti
mate announced only last
March. These sudden shifts ir
the President's budget predic
tions and his reaction to Re
publican Party politics appear to
characterize some of the con
tinued weaknesses in his leader
ship. Specifically, we are re
ferring to the apparent lack of
planning and research before
making decisions and the result
ing sudden and reoccurring
changes in decisions.
On the other hand, we're sadly
mistaken if we think the nation's
leadership will be any better
under the Republican Party. For
example, while former Presi
dent Gerald Ford was telling the
Republican National Convention
in Detroit that Republicans r
would save the jobs of the blue
collar auto worker, the Republi
can majority on the Mecklen
burg Board of County Commis
sioners used in the words of The
Charlotte Observer (July 14), "a
hatchet on the county's federally
financed CETA jobs program..."
The Commission majority re
jected the $250,000 in federal job
training and employment funds
because they did not want to
provide $27,000 in County money
for program administration.
ι ne reiauonsnip œiween
Ford's comments and the ac
tions of the Republican majority
on the Mecklenburg Board of
County Commissioners lies in
the fact that in addition to being
in the same political oartv with
the same political mind-set or
mentality, the Commissioners'
actions more clearly reflect
what a Republican president will
do as opposed to the political
rhetoric of the former President.
It is evident from these ob
servations and there are many
more, that no matter which
candidate - Carter or Reagan -
wins the Presidency in Novem
ber, we, the voters, may suffer
from inadequate leadership;
therefore, who you vote for and
why will be of even greater
significance in this year's
election.
Worker-Welfare Myth
In a recent column William
Raspberry wrote that welfare
grants ought to be tied to a
requirement - that able-bodied
recipients go to work. Raspberry
went on to give support to the
idea and to note that such à
program had been initiated by
Republican Presidential candi
date Ronald Reagan when he
was governor of California.
In a subsequent column, Rasp
berry expressed considerable
surprise that he did not receive.
negative reaction from liberals
and other so-called advocates of
the poor. In fact, the syndicated
writer said he received "an
amazing degree of support for
the idea; some of it, predictably,
from people who describe them
selves as 'taxpayers', but much
of it from people whose sym
pathies are with poor families."
No one, least of all a know
ledged writer like Mr. Rasp
berry, should be surprised by the
response received to the work
welfare idea. The fact is liberals,
many of them do-gooder whites .
and some from the "black mid
dle" class, and the nation's
political conservatives, be they
Democrats or Republicans, have
perpetuated a myth that poor
people, or more specifically wel
fare recipients, have an aversion
to work.
The myth is designed by
libers to serve their own need to
feel important by giving wel
fare recipients a sense of de
pendence upon them. Many of
these liberals survive economic
ally or politically by perpetu
ating the dependency myth.
On the other hand, conser
vatives seek to perpetuate this
myth because they know our
economic system simply cannot
provide jobs for the vast major
ity of the able-bodied welfare
recipients. In fact, this vast
majority is a very small per
centage of those receiving public
assistance. Therefore, much of
the rhetoric about putting wel
fare recipients to work is purely
•for political reasons and to cause
others to be less sympathetic to
the needs of the poor.
Among the hard facts in this
regard is that as in any other
institutional arrangement there
are a few who will attempt to
exploit the system. Poor people
are no different in that sense.
Poor people are no different also
in that the largest majority of
them are endowed with the work
ethic and would thus prefer work
to welfare if such work is eco
nomically beneficial to them in
the same sense that we all view
work. Therefore, if a partial
welfare payment was coupled
with the person's earned income
he or she probably could begin a
successful struggle to rise above
his poverty and eventually not
need welfare.
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SUPREME
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The Supreme Courts' Congressionaly enacted Affirmative'Action
program was a breakthrough for the first time. The Court explicitly
endorsed the power of Congress to award federal benefits on the
basis of race. A potent tool for racial minorities in the words of
Chief Justice Warren L Burger is to achieve the goal of equality
of economic opportunity.
Congress' R^jht To Cointer Racial Discrimination
I I
As I See It
JCSU- The Continuing Episode
D.. " IJ fl " 111 i " *
' Poet Columnist
First, let me apologize
for an error made in last
week's article. During the
layout process two para
graphs were transposed.
Hence, the article's ending
was not understandable
This error was due to our
brilliant layout supervisor
who is a UNCC graduate.
This proves that JCSU is
not the only trouble spot in
minority recruiting. The
article appeared correctly
in the Iredell County edi
tion. Will wonders ever
cease?
We stopped last week
talking about JCSU having
a chance to regroup and
make it through the hard
times. The fund raising
campaign currently on the
way is a bright spot The
institution has taken the
initiative tn r···» »·.
money.
The athletic program
(especially basketball) is
improving rapidly. Athle
tics is the publicity avenue
for building a strong re
cruitment program.
Unfortunately, little else
is worth blowing your horn
about. What is needed is a
rebuilding of the academic
programs. In a world that
is consistently changing, it
is critical to have an aca
demic prograpi to meet the
challenges of those
changes.
This is impossible to do
at an institution that offers
nothing in the field of re
search and development.
How can an institution
compete with schools that
have professors writing the
books that JCSU is using to
teach from. The informa
tion being taught at JCSU
is history by the time the
students get it.
So, what student will go
to JCSU if be or she has an
opportunity to go else
where. Moreover, it is un
fair for those students who
do attend the university.
Gerald Ο. Johnson
They are not prepared to
face the challenges of the
job market.
If you need proof of what
I'm telling you, go ask any
individual that recruits for
a major corporation. Ask
them what do they think of
the recent JC8U graduates.
You will get the truth. It
will be painfully true.
Ironically, there are
some excellent students
coming through Smith.
But, unfortunately, they
get caught up in the vicious
cycle of the sub par stigma
associated with the school.
For instance, a young
lady used to work for me
when I was Director of
Computer Science at JCSU.
She could have competed
academically with anyone.
However, when she applied
for graduate school at
UNCC, she was required to
take undergraduate busi
ness courses again. She
was a business major.
Several other people I
know are doing work down
town that requires a maxi
mum of a high school edu
cation. Again, they have
degrees from JCSU in busi
ness. These people are the
lucky ones. Most graduate
without jobe at all.
It sounds hard to believe
but it is true. But it is not an
uncorrectable situation.
Simply upgrade the faculty
salary ranges, then up
grade the faculty, then up
grade the curriculum pro
grams, and then upgrade
the recruitment standards.
Sadly enough, the cur
rent faculty has grown
weary of the fight. Con
sequently, they have be
come complacent. They
live from pay day to pay
day not trying to be cre
ative, innovative, or even
instructive. In fact, most
have other jobs. Hence,
they must go. I don't think
most of the current faculty
can be revitalized to be
productive.
In order to bring in good,
new talent, you must pay
the greens. More impor
tantly, you must give them
the freedom to be creative,
innovative and instructive.
To this end I think the
current administrators
must go. When you don't
have the ability to admin
istrate you inevitably le
gislate, which does nothing
more than frustrate. I fault
the current administration
with forcing out a lot of
good talent because they
did not have the ability to
administrate.
w îrn a new administra
tion that is not composed
entirely of educators, the
school stands a chance.
Every black institution
inevitably turns the reigns
of administration over to
educators. Moet of these
people can not perform the
function of administration
well. They get promoted jo
a level of incomoetençv
Now that we've cleaned
house, we can institute
some innovative and cre
ative programs. Make sta
. tistical analysis, computer
science, communication
skills and research a part
of every discipline. Give
monetary incentives for
those who have books pu
blished and new research
ideas. Get the faculty key
ed for self improvement.
Then upgrade your ad
mission standards giving
scholarships to the reallv
Affirmative
Action
The Black Senior Citizen
By Gerald C. Horne, Esq.
Special To The Poet
It is often said that the humanitv of a
country can be gaufed by how it treats its
elderly citizens. If such be the case, then the
United States so-called home of "Human
rights", ranks high in the inhumanity poll.
The late Black comedienne Jackie
"Moms" Mabley used to say that "the only
thing an old man can do for me is introduce
me to a young man." The "humor" of this
line is reflective of the lack of veneration of
senior citizens in United States' culture.
Today headlines blare out that Social
Security and Old-Age Pensions are im
perilled and may soon be bankrupt. Right
wing politicians, by calling for voluntary
contributions to the Social Security sys
tem, imperil the system even more.
Even if Social Security remains viable,
the fact is that the payments are not
keeping pace with rampaging inflation. An
elderly person on a fixed income is the
prime victim of the Carter Administration's
disastrous economic i>olicies.
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iuc 01511s aie cvcijfwircic aiiu vci uiiiuj
not worthy of the leader of the so-called
"free world." It is no accident that dog-food
sales have skyrocketed in poor commu#
ties, especially Black communities. Or
that the number of senior citizens being
arrested for petty theft has jumped tre
mendously, as a recent ABC-TV documen
tary pointed out.
The social ennui and breakdown in
community has led to the "dumping" of
seniors in ill-regulated nursing homes,
where brutilization and degradation are
rife. The revelations about treatment of
seniors in New York City nursing homes led
to a State Assembly investigation and
numerous headlines. But when all was said
and done one of the main perpetrators,
Bernard Bergman, escaped virtually scot
free.
Λΐ uie same urne, geniniicauon" nas mc
the Black elderly especially hard. This is
the process that has accelerated in the wake
of the so-called "energy crisis," whereby
whites have decided that living in far away
suburbs is no longer chic' ana'have begun
moving back to the cities with a vengeance.
This has led to massive displacement of
elderly tenants as landlords, not being
deficient in math, have begun not renewing
leases and re-renting them to white "gen
try" at 100 percent profit aod.more.
All this serves as a backdrop for the
planning and preparation leading to the 1981}
White House Conference on Aging. For a
study om the black elderly just published
by the United States Administration on
Aging demonstrates unequivocally that
there has been little progress in changing
startling facts first reportea at the 1971
White House Conference: i.e., their paltry
incomes, meager and inadequate health
care, transportation, housing, education,
nutrition, etc. Indeed, it is no exaggeration
to say that the state of the black elderly
should be declared a "disaster area" anc
federal funds should be pumped in imme
diately, ala Mt. St. Helens or another such
calamity. If ever there was a segment of the
population in need of affirmative action, it
is most certainly the black elderly.
Even a cursory examination of the
statistics bears this out.
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talented.
From Capitol Hill
Helms Seems Obsessed With White
Alfred· L. Madison
Special To The Poet
Senator Jesse Helms
from the State of North
Carolina which has been
the scene of several Κlan
incidents spares no oppor
tunity in revealing that he
is not pro-black. In a con
versation with him about
three years ago, he in
formed me that he wanted
some blacks on his Senate
office staff, but until this
writing he does not have
any.
It was Jesse Helms' lead
ership that brought Ian
Smith, the racist Prime
Minister of Rhodesia to this
country. Then later, the
Smith hand-picked Mu
zorewa, who succeeded
Smith was brought to the
United States. It was Jesse
Helms' two staff members
who were reported as
having gone to England
when Prime Minister That
cher was meeting with the
Rhodesian freedom fight
ers and the Smith faction in
trying to affect a peaceful
solution, who told Ian
Smith to hold his ground.
Now that Rhodesia's
name has been changed to
Alfred· L. Madison
Zimbabwe and a new go
vernment has been set up
with Mugabe as its Prime
Minister Jesse Helms
presented an amendment,
which requires the Prési
dent of the United States to
report to the Congress ··
every sixty days after the
authorization of funds to
aid Zimbabwe, on the go
vernment's internal situa
tion and its observance of
human rights.
Robert Mugabe, who was
jailed and denied all citizen
rights by the Ian Smith
forces, now that he has
Decome frtme Minister
has attempted no revenge,
but instead has Drought the
Smith forces all the whites
of fair, Just and equal
rights. Yet, Jesse Helms
sounds off the Senate floor
that Mugabe has set up a
Marxist-style government
and that many Americans
are concerned about demo
cracy in Zimbabwe. The
Senator showed no concern
whatsoever about demo
cratic principles when Ian
Smith and his few whites
were denying any type of
democratic privileges to
the overwhelming majority
of blacks in Rhodesia;
when they were Jailed,
beaten, killed and not al
lowed any kind of humane
treatment. Instead, the
Senator sought to sustain
the Smith government.
Then, too, if Americans
believe in true democracy,
then they believe that the
type of government should
be chosen by the governed
Mr. Helms also intro
duced an amendment
which would allow the
United States to engage in
covert actions in Angola,
which calls for repeal of the
Clark amendment which
requires a congressional
debate before any actions
could be taken in Angola
against the Southwest Afri
can Peoples Organization
(SWAPO) which is truly
fighting for the liberation
of Angola against the white
racists supremacists who
are supported by apartheid
South Africa. Helms ranted
and raved about the Marx
ist SWAPO saying they are
being supported by the So
viets, Cuba, East Germany
and now Nicaragua. He
said, "there is a fight going
on in Angolo for the very
soul of a nation. On one side
is pitied a group of Angola
patriots, attempting to
throw out occupation
forces of nations which are
enemies of the United
States."
Senator Tscongas in
speaking against the
Helms amendment, em
phasized how several Ame
rican corporations are do
ing business in Angola; the
Angolans have moved to
strengthen their ties with
the United States. They
have built an embassy in
Paris and that European
business are dealing with
them. Τ son gas stated that
the Soviets would welcome
the United States' turning
away from Angola.
Instead of the Helms
amendment, a joint
amendment by Tsongas,
Javits and Helms was
passed. It authorizes the
President- to initiate ac
tions in Angola if he de
termined such actions were
in the United States' na
tional security interest. He
could do this by privately
informing the Foreign Re
lations committee* of both
Houses. This amendment
has not yet reached the
House floor for passage.
Senator Helms, constant
ly spoke of the immense
natural wealth of Angola.
He seems bent on seeing
that Black Africans have
neither control of the contb
nent's wealth, or freedoiti
from white oppression <f
their basic human rights.I
From observing Jesse|
Helms' actions in the Se
nate, one wonders if h<
really believes in the De
claratlon of Independence
which states "all men a ré
created equal and endowed
i
with certain inalienable
rights of life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness"
even if they are not white.
Mount Carnal
To Host
Convention
continued from Page 1
and is followed with music
from the Congress Choir
(combined church choirs)
and a skit or special
feature. The Jamea F.
Wertz Oratorical Contest
•tarts at 7:30 and is follow
ed by offering at 8:10. Mr.
Don Steger, Assistant City
Manager of Charlotte, de
livers his ad dues at ·:1»
and the program will be
concluded at ·:50 with the
Final Business Session
Cheek the ads fa the
Charlotte Po>t each week
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