Editorials & Comments
Federalism Or “State Rights”?
i nis administration has taith
in state and local governments
and the constitutional balance
evisioned by the bounding
bathers, said President Kea
gan in his State ot the Union
Address last week, 't his capstone
of Mr. Keagans political philo
sophy that he calls “new fe
deralism is better known by
most people as plain old “state's
rights. " • • ”
Underlying Reagan's philoso
phy is the cost ol big govern
_meint. high taxes and the tederal
superstructure that reaches into
every corner ot American lite.
Underlying the^^cdncerns ot a
growing number ot Americans,
including members of the Presi
dent's own political part, is
history's stark reminder ot how
and why we have a big national
government and a nightmarish
tear ot the chaos ol 50 separate
state government's disseminat
ing justice arid public service in
50 unequal incompatable ways.
Syndicated columnist Richard
Reeves illustrated the potential
tor chaos by looking 'at our
interstate highway system. 'He
has written, “because of loUsy
roads in South Carolina -' and
because, for instance, there is no
reason for'New Mexico to build a
highway for trucks to go from
Dallas to Los Angeles' - the
federal government had to take
—principal responsibility tor nn—
portant road-buiiding and" main
tenance. :
Mr. Keeves continues, “And
the teds did a magnificent job.
h'or the 1950s through the 1970s,
Washington spent $80 billion to
construct' 42,500 miles of the
finest roadway in the world. One.
measure of that achievement
was the tact that the death rate
on American highways was
reduced by 75 percent' during
that period.’’
You guessed it, in spite of that
record ot success, the highway is
one of the programs that Keagan
wants to return' to the states
along with 39 other federal pro
grams. Not too surprising is the
tact that many social and wel
tare programs are among those
to be shitted to the states.
It is a welt known tact that
many ot these social programs
have served as a leveler to
ott-set the injustices in employ
ment, housing, education that
burden rhany minority groups in
spite of the civil rights legis
lation oi the past two decades.
Ironically, while Mr. Reagan
argues that such legislation
should lay to rest minority
group tears ofa return to "states
rights^ he is also attempting to
weaken - the Voting Rights Act -
such legislation. All of this is a
frustrating reminder that the
phrase "states rights" has
historicaffy meant a denial oi
justice and equality to blacks
and other minorities and that
"new federalism’’ is cover tor a
return fo cancerous racism in
America.
Furthermore, because ot the
rural domination ot many state
legislatures, both North and
South, most urban dwellers have
had to rely upon the federal
government for' major assist
ance in housing, mass transit,
neighborhood revitalization pro
grams and utilities. Left to the
insensitive thinking ~ of these
"luial-oriented—legislators—may
lead to even greater decay and
human misery among the
millions in our urban centers.
Finally, while "new federal
ism" and “states rights" may be
philosophical phrases that
appear remote from the day-to
day economic concerns in keep
ing up with the cost of living,
battling inflation and maintain
ing a job, they'are phrases that
ail adult Americans need to
become aware of and fully'
understand. The' Congressional
debates and their'reaction to
the "new federalism" or the lack
of it may have a profound affect
upon your life.
More Aid For The Unemployed
i iic net non s mounting unem
ployment -- now at 8.9 percent
arid expected to reach 10 percent
even by the Keagan Administra
tion’s own analysis - lias caused
the President to alter his plan to
cut at least one social program
at least for now. Instead, Keagan
is asking Congress for another
$2.3 billion to aid the unem
ployed.
It seems interesting that this
move is occurring While IWtn
Carolina is closing over a third of
its Employment Security Com
mission 'offices, hundreds "of
teachers may lose their jobs, arid
the city may lose as much as $12
million in the next fiscal year
beginning July l which will
cause a loss' of more jobs.
This is a part of the “new
federalism' and the near total
ignoring of a little noticed but
important law - the Employment
Act of 1946. This Act calls upon
the federal government to take
steps to create maximum levels
ot employment when joblessness
~~6xuccd3 four percent with jotv
_ lessness more than 8.9 and rising
the Administration’s actions
appear small and in no way
compatible with the Employ
ment Act.
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Second Class Postage No. 965500
“THE PEOPLE’S NEWSPAPER”
Established 1918
Published Every Thursday
by Thte Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc.
Subscription Rate $15.60 per year
Send All 3579’slo:
1521 West Blvd., Charlotte. N.C. 28208
Telephone (704)376-0496
_ Circulation 7,151
104 Years Of continuous Service
Bill Johnson Editor. Publisher
Bernard Reeves General Manager
J- ran •’ arrer Advertising Director
Dannette GaitherOffice Manager
Second Class Postage No. 965500 Paid At
Charlotte,-Nor Hi Carolina
_I’nder the Act of March 3,1878
Member, National Newspaper
Publishers’ Association
North Carolina Black Publishers Association
Deadline for all news copy and photos is
H p.m. Monday. All photos and copv
submitted become the property of The Post
and will not be returned.
National Advertising
Representative
Amalgamated Publishers. Inc.
'Wit S. Vfirhlgiin Avr. t.*, w. l.'.th St.. Suite I l«:i
( hirago. III. MMilfi New York, New York. IttOIMi
f nlumet .*>-0200 ( 212 ) 0)0-1220
_
Needed Now ...United Community Leadership
WE NUET PREVENT
OUR OWN CHIL
PR ON TURNING
into JUNKIES
WHO PREY ON
their own
PEOPLE. WE CAN...
PREVENT THAT.
Tony Brown’s Comments
Bottom Of Economic And Social Order
-Africa,— the second
largest continent, is an
area of 12 million square
miles in size. It is com
prised of 53 independent
countries, and populated,
by over 350 million inhabi
tants who speak over 3,000
languages and dialects.
Although concentrated
primarily on the African
Continent itself, African
sons and daughters and
their descendants are dis
persed over the planet - a
scattering that is common
ly referced^to as the Afri
can Diaspora. For centur
ies, and wherever the jour
ney led. Blacks have found
themselves almost without
exception at the bottom of
the economic and social
order, struggling at odds
against man and nature for
survival.
mricans were me tirst
builders of civilization in
Africa, the cradle of world
civilization. They dis
covered mathematics,, in
vented writing, developed
sciences, engineering,
medicine, religion, fine
arts, and built the great
pyramids, an architectural
achievement which still
baffles modern science.
If life truly began in
Africa, and the best evi
dence indicates that it did,
then Blacks by the very
nature of that fact, share
kinship with, every human
being that ever lived. HoWr
then, did they become so
exploited, oppressed, hated
and despised.
Moreover, if Africans
built the first civilization.
discovered science, mathe
-matics, and developed
writing, how did they fall
from grace and end up on
the bottom? For the an
swer to this question you
must read the phenomenal
book - “The Destruction of
Black Civilization: Great
Issues of a Race from 4500
B.C. to 2000 A.D.," pu
blished by (Third World
Press) - written by Black
historian Dr. Chancellor
Williams.
If most white scholar
ship on Africa is to be
believed, early African
were primitive savages
with no notable past. Being
innately inferior, they slept
through the mellenia, built
no monuments and devel
oped no worthwhile civil
izations. The facts, how
ever, tell quite a different
storv
He explains that early
Africans excellend in many
area. They were builders in
every sence of an advanced
civilization; scientists,
mathematicians, astrono
mers, engineers, archi
tects, inventors and so on.
Their greatness flowed
from their superior ability
to produce -- out-produce
the competition with
enough surplus beyond
their needs to be able to
engage in international
commerce and structurea
sound economy.
. For eons the resources of
Afric<rhave been a magnet
that has attracted the
entire world. And since
man’s greed has always
taken precedence over all
humane considerations,
Africa has been plundered
by the world for her human
wealth in the form of
slaves, and for her art and
artifacts which Western
artists have attempted to
copy.
The fatal flaw of many
afro-Americans, ironically,
has been the fact that,
believing so strongly in
brotherhood, they were
willing to place more trust
and confidence in others
than themselves. That may
have also been the fatal
flaw of ancient African
civilizations, according to
Dr. Williams.
"We have always been,
the race of brotherhood
seekers,” he explains. "We
have been the ones who
forever have come with the
drive for brotherhood with
other people who have
never sought brotherhood
with us; never, except for
expedience where they saw
an opportunity to play the
role of big brother for a
while, while they are gain
ing effective control.”
And, while it is noble to
be forgiving and under
standing, the best under
standings are learned
through the lessons of hi
story. History defines a
people. It tells you who you
are and what you can
aspire to become. Some
Blacks today believe that
busing, for example, will
~Diihg brutlieiliuud and bro—
therhood will bring pros
perity. History, however,
has negatively judged that
See BOTTOM Page 10
By Rev. John Perkins.
Walk
Your
Talk
Kev. Per Kink
Integration Or Development
The crucial racial issue today is not
integration. The crucial issue is human
development. And integration is not the way
to human development. Equality is (though
equality may bring integration)’.
Laualitv is a whole lot dilierent than
integration. Let me illustrate. Integration
always assumes that what blacks nave is no
good, and so we re supposed to learn white
ways. Integration takes me out of my
community and removes me to the wlhtg
community, it never works the other way
around. But “equality develops ’ what we
have. It takes what we have and makes us
proud of it. It makes us well, Arid you can’t
start anv more basic than making a person
well.
The rejection of integration also grows
out of a certain amount of reality, in the 60 s
some white people^wereforintegfation, but
more were against it. And then came the
backlash where white people opposed to
integration proved more determined than
the ones lor if. So black separatism came
out of a reality oT being rejected.
I’m not saying integration can’t work, but
whites never gave it a fair chance. What I’d
really like to say to you and be honest is tHat
if you have been in Mississippi like I’ve been
in Mississippi you"don’t think about what
white folks around' you are going to say
about what you are going to do. Now we
have to be like that. Otherwise, we don’t get
anything done. White folk didn’t want us to
vote. We didn’t "get the right to Vote until
after "a lot of people had dietf in the
mid-sixties. So we cannot be really human
beings, black'hliman beings, and pick up
our signals from the white community. 1
hate to say that. 1 would like to say that we
need to be sensitive to them. But if we're
sensitive to them, we don’t'move.
1 hate to say it, but' 1 don’t' he awake at
night thinking about what the white people
are thinking about what l am doing, l can’t
if I’m going to help my' people. "We’ve -
started a medical cooperative, and we
couldn’t wait for white support. But now
that it’s started we have some white
support. There were one and a half doctors
in town, and we added one and sometimes
two. That means our patients rush to fill
their prescriptions at the three drug stores
in town. So that gives the white pieople a
good feeling, and they ’re saying it's good to)
provide drugs for those people. We have ah
alliance now, "but it’s because we have
something they want, not because they’re
for integration! '
Church Integration
integration in the church is a different
problem. Even when whites favored it,
integrating churches has been slow. That's
fact, l think the reason is cultural dif
ferences. Blacks go to church because of the
style of the minister,' and whites who come
to evangelize among blacks just don’t have
that style. (Jr if It's a basically white church
in a changing neighborhood and they decide
to call a black pastor, it Still doesn’t work. It
doesn’t work because the white people call
a black preacher with a style fhaf satisfies
their needs. But whites continue to leave,
and blacks don’t come because the preacher
doesn't sound like' their preacher.
Hart of the problem is that black folks
clohTPasiealiy come to church to hear truth
the way it’s determined by whites. The
black church is a church of feeling, but the
feeling isn’t always based on biblical truth.
What we need are preachers who will '
preach the truth with the black style: '
From Capitol Hill
Ur. Arthur
Fleming Will Be Heard
From Again! ~
Mlreda Madison
Special To The Post
Dr Arthur Fleming, who
luts been Chairman of the
Civil Rights Commission
since March 1974, is being
removed by President Rea
gan While the President
emphasizes strongly that
his Administration is de
dicated to the principles of
crvif rtghtsr it can easily be
seen why Arthur Fleming
who is not only dedicated to
civil rights principles, but
that he works untiringly on
methods for accomplishing
these rights There in lies'
the conflict between Mr
-Kfiagafljind^Arthur Flem
ing The President slopped '
with the principle dedica
tion, while abolishing all
methods securing civil
rights
In a statement w hich Mr
Fleming entitled “Civil
Rights," showed how the,
proposed cuts in funds for
the commission impact on
the mandates enforcement
of the 13th. 14th and 15th
amendments to the Consti
lotion Civil rights are
nationally endowed rights
to which the Civil War
amendments obligated the
national government
Fleming stated that these
laws were enacted not just
Alfreda L. Madison
io purge me nation of the
doctrine of white supre
macy, but they gave the
Federal Government the
OOMtltutional responnihi
lity and authority to effect
uate these rights. He
showed how Brown v.
Board of Education, in 1954
was a major civil rights
step and then in the sixties
congress passed laws ban
ning discrimination in edu
cation, employment, hous
ing and voting. These
caused the federal govern
ment to resume its post
Civil War role and made it
the primary guarantor of
these rights These were
buttressed with a range of
social and economic legis
lation aimed at overcoming
the conditions of poverty
that nearly a century ot
broken promises in civil
rights had perpetuated
Dr Fleming related that
inspite of the civil rights
legislations, strong reme
dial measures by various
agencies were needed to
make the laws a reality.
An investigation by the
commission'revealed: lack
J>f adequate resources for
enTBrieiiienl. lack- -of go
vernment coordination and
passive rather than active
enforcement. The report
states (hat the President’s
budget cuts adversely af
fect both funding and staff
ing of five major civil
rights eniowement pro- -
grams The Equal Oppor
tunity Commission will lose
122 positions Civil Rights
Division of .Justice Depart
ment 46. Commission Di
vision of Office Federal
Contract Compliance of the
I^abor Department 216, Ci
vil Rights Division of
Health and Human Re
sources 66. and Civil Rights
Office Of Education De
partment 45 positions All
of these greatly jeopardize
federal civil rights enforce
ment efforts
The report states that
Elementary and Secondary
School Act, tederally fund
ed housing, CETA, Emer
gency Sehool Aid Act,
Legal Service Comora
tions, Small Business Ad
ministration Programs,
Bilingual Educational Act
and Community Health
Centers are among the pro
grams that were establish
ed for breaking down the
barriers of past discrim
ination. They were created
or redesigned in the sixties
and seventies to overcome
the legacies of slavery,
segregation and discrimin
ation. The budget cuts will
have a damaging effect on
the contribution these pro
-gEflJttULjjgye _made in ful
filling the Federal (WHI ~
ment’s civil rights obliga
tions under the Civil War
amendments.
Mr Fleming criticized
the Administration's em
phasis on block grant pro
grams. rather than cate
gorical grant programs as
a form of federal assist
ance to state and local
governments This theory
will eliminate many pnv
lections for the disadvan
taged that were built in
these programs by con
gress This decentraliza
tion of federal funds places
the federal government in
the position of being a mere
conduit for the flow of
American tax dollars The
director emphasized that
available data show that
block grant programs are
subject to serious abuses
on the state and local level,
and that there is a great
need for the federal go
vernment to incorporate
safeguards into the block
grant programs
Mr. Fleming said that
the Administration s Civil
Rights Commission reduc
tion budget hampers the
federal government's abi
lity to enforce prohibitions
against discriminations in
•
•education, housing, em
ployment. government ser
vices and that by cutting
the social and economic
programs designed to over
come effects of past dis
criminations seriously im
pede implementation of the
13th, 14th and 15th amend
ments He stated that the
civil rights problems are as
real and profound as our
national fiscal problehis
Arthur Fleming strongly
emphasized that the civil
rights issues are not
getting strong leadership
from either the Executive
or legislative branches of
r
our government. He stated
that enforcement of con
stitutional rights is not
whether the majority vote
for their enforcement
They are not subject to a
popularity contest It is the
duty of the nation s lead
ership to see that consti
tutional mandates are im
plemented
Arinur Fleming, whosi#.
intense dedication to civj
rights will not end with
Reagan's dismissal as Civil
Rights Commission Chair
man He has already
carved out a very strong
niche in the NEA and he
will work with an organ
ization where he will be
tmturinijeiH ill his endeuv
ors. He is certainly to be
heard from again.
Read And Write
More than 50,000 people
in Charlotte cannot read
and write well enough to nil
in a job application.
You can teach someone
else how to read. No ex
perience necessary