5A
OPINIONS/ The Charlotte Post
February 15, 1996
Barbara Jordan was a legend in her own time
Bernice P.
Jackson
Who could ever forget her
deep, thundering voice with
that wonderful elocution and
the brilliant thoughts behind
the words? If you ever heard
Barbara Jordan speak, you
never forgot it. You never for
got the moral authority, the
integrity, the brilliant analy
sis and the truth of her words.
February is Black History
Month and Barbara Jordan
was a black history maker
from her college days. A grad
uate of Houston's segregated
schools, she attended the all
black Texas Southern
University, where she joined
the debating team. It was that
team which maneuvered the
Harvard debate team to a tie.
"When an all-black team ties
Harvard, it wins," Ms. Jordan
recalled.
She made history again
when she became the first
African American ever to be
elected to the Texas Senate
and the first black elected to
the Congress from the South
since Reconstruction. "She
proved that black is beautiful
before we knew what it
meant," said President
Lyndon Johnson, who was
Jordan's mentor.
She spent only seven years
in the U.S. House of
Representatives, but she will
be remembered forever in our
nation's history. "There is no
black woman in poUtics today
that is not in her debt," said
Eleanor Holmes Norton,
Washington D.C.'s congres
sional delegate.
Barbara Jordan will be
remembered forever for her
fierce determination to protect
the U.S. Constitution during
the Watergate fiasco and the
ensuing congressional
impeachment hearings. "My
faith in the Constitution is
whole, it is complete, it is
Barbara Jordan
total, and I am not going to sit
here and be an idle spectator
to the diminution, the subver
sion, the destruction of the
Constitution," she said during
those hearings. But then she
reminded the nation that she
had felt left out the
Constitution by the mistake of
George Washington and
Mobilize the disaffected to work for change
Marian
Wright
Edelman
The countdown to the 1996
general election has begun.
We have less than a year to
persuade our fellow citizens to
register and vote in this elec
tion for the sake of our chil
dren.
Many of us African
Americans who struggle the
hardest to provide for our chil
dren are among those least
likely to vote on election day.
In the November 1994 elec
tion, only 39 percent of black
citizens voted.
It's easy to understand why
many citizens fail to vote.
Those who are the least pow
erful and work the hardest
often have little flexibility on
election day to juggle work,
child care, children's school
schedules and voting. It's no
wonder that many put voting
at the bottom of that list,
especially when so many folks
seriously doubt that their vote
makes any difference.
Sadly, this way of thinking
creates a self-fulfilling prophe
cy, and the voting process
ends up being dominated by
those who are more likely to
oppose the kinds of govern
ment aid and services that
will help our children, young
people, and strugghng fami
lies build productive lives. It
doesn't have to be that way. It
may be true that individuals
by themselves seldom can
make much of an impact on a
national level, but ordinary
citizens acting together have
the power to make a big differ
ence.
Today's and tomorrow's
young working parents need
representatives in Congress
and state legislatures who
worry about the economic
slide that young families have
suffered over the past two
decades. Legal-immigrant com
munities need political leaders
who firmly reject growing anti
immigrant and anti-child sen
timent. And African
Americans, other minorities,
and poor communities all need
representatives who under
stand the needs of vulnerable
children and families.
During the next 11 months,
we must persuade reluctant
voters to mobilize to elect
national and state leaders who
care about families' struggles
to raise healthy, educated chil
dren in the face of so many dif
ficult challenges. In 1994,
fewer than 1,000 votes deter
mined the outcome in seven
separate congressional races.
In one congressional district,
just 21 votes separated the
winning and losing candidates.
In one U.S. Senate race in
1994, the winner was decided
by fewer than 27,000 votes. In
that state, there were 91,000
black citizens of voting age.
but only 24,000 went to the
polls. Sixty-seven thousand
potential black votes were
lost.
Millions of potential voters
know that this nation is tak
ing a wrong turn by turning
its back on children. As some
political leaders call for bal
ancing the federal budget by
2002, we must insist that they
don't do it on the backs of the
young and poor, who already
suffer the most. By making
sure these same citizens regis
ter, question candidates about
their priorities, and vote next
November, everyone can help
foster public policies that sup
port the efforts of ordinary
American families and protect
children's well-being. "We
have our work cut out for us
before the 1996 election.
Bennettsville, S.C. native
MARIAN WRIGHT EDEL
MAN is president of the
Children's Defense Fund, and
a leader of the Black
Community Crusade for
Children.
UNC-Chapel Hill gift from black
publishers is a step in right direction
By William Turner
SPECIAL TO THE POST
The N.C. Black Publishers
Association, representing
owners and publishers of some
14 black newspapers in the
state, has pledged $100,000
towards the building and sup
port of the Sonya Haynes
Stone Black Cultural Center
at UNC-Chapel Hill.
The center’s new director,
Gerald Home, was presented
the pledge by NCBPA presi
dent, Winston-Salem
Chronicle publisher, and UNC
grad Ernie Pitt. Mr. Pitt and
his associates have experi
enced a little opposition and
controversy for this risky yet
noble decision.
The amount was quite gen
erous in light of a recent Wall
Street Journal article that
highlighted the finding that
the black professional class “is
indifferent” when it comes to
charitable appeals - even
when “black causes” are the
recipients.
Even more than its liberali
ty, the gift was unprecedent
ed, pressure-packed and com
plex because it reflects the
decision of black business peo-
ple-who sell their products to
blacks, but must .chiefly
obtain their. ddvBrtising
. monies from white businesses.
, On top of that is whete their
money did not go:, to the hard
, strapped black institutions in- •
N.C; Giving $100,b00.to.
UNC-Chapel Hill was a risky
move. What with all their
readers who went to Winston-
Salem State, N.C. A&T,
Fayetteville State, and among
others, N.C. Central and
Johnson C. Smith University.
Risky, maybe, but, in my
view, absolutely bold and real
istic.
For its bountiful and
unprecedented contribution,
the association will have a
resource room in the Cultural
Center designated to black
print journalism and broad
cast media issues.
Undoubtedly, archival materi
als and roots of North
Carolina’s black press will be
displayed. Not only will this
be a resource for all students
to leam about the history of
the black press and the spe
cial drive of black print and
broadcast journalism; in addi
tion, the NCBPA Media Room
in the center will add to the
rich organizational mosaic
that is the very life fabric of
an institution like UNC.
UNC is the place where
many of the big players play
and where serious and
weighty decisions are debated
and rendered into the public
domain. UNC is one of
America’s oldest and most
prestigious public universities
- up there with Michigan and
UCLA. Its board represents
some of the premier partici
pants in the business, civic,- -
political, and.^ucatipnal cu
ture of Nocth^Qarojina, the- •
.Southeast the natioaand th
world.
UNC - "this white school” —
not only lures some of the
nation’s best (black) basket
ball players, it appeals to
some of the country’s creme de
la creme black faculty mem
bers and researchers. UNC
has more black endowed pro
fessors that any other college
in the nation, including Chuck
Stone, one of the deans of
black journalism. The new
head of the Black Cultural
Center - historian Home -
recently of the University of
Califomia-Santa Cmz - has
published nine books, two in
the last two years.
The gift is also defensible -
for those who need to be con
vinced - because, truth be
told, many graduates of his
torically black colleges get in
line to send their kids not to
the colleges they attended, but
to “white schools” like UNC. I
suggest to the N.C. Black
Pubhshers, who are scorned
by some blacks for their gift,
ask the naysayers: Who’s kid
ding whom?
According to the Wall Street
Journal article (Jan 29, 1996),
"Black Charities Say Growing
Black Middle Class Isn’t
Giving Enough,” only 4 per
cent of the 60,000 alumni of
Howard University gave
money to their alma mater
last year.
. 'To. be. sure, middle class arid
well-to-do blacks do give.
•'rhey«give to-their extended
families,’and, to a'lesser
extent than they should, to
groups such as the NAACP
and Urban League. Blacks
give more of their charitable
offerings to their churches,
especially those seemingly
endless “building funds.”
Many blacks, like me, can
relate to the many impelling
sources to which they are
asked to give. Many of us -
including the publishers - are
just three missed paydays and
a car note away from slipping
from the middle class. We got
no home down.pa3mients and
stock folders from Ma and Pa.
But, times, have changed and
we must do more for our peo
ple and our total society than
our parents, even when it
hurts our purses and some
one’s warped feelings.
Bottom line: I extend my
kudos to NCBPA. Their action
speaks to the idea of change:
Black America cannot change
unless it survives, but black
America will not survive
unless it changes. And, black
folks gi-ving $100,000 to UNC
is a good change - small
change - since they still need
$7 million. Other blacks giv
ing to this cause will change
the influence equation needed
to effect even more change at
UNC and the entire educa
tional system in North
Carolina, of which historically
black colleges are a part. It
takes something to the table
other than an outstretched
hand and hot air criticism.
God’s speed to NCBPA. As
your predecessors did, you
have set the-pace for change
in the African American cqir
munity, Ybu put your monej
where your pen isj
.WILLIAM TURNER lives in
Winston-Salem. - -
Alexander Hamilton, "but
through the process of amend
ment, interpretation and court
decision I have finally been
included in We, the people.'"
Barbara Jordan will be
remembered forever for her
integrity and her ability to
call the nation into account.
Most recently, as chairperson
of the Commission on
Immigration Reform, she
spoke out against a proposal
to deny automatic citizenship
to the children bom in this
country to illegal immigrants,
saying, "To deny birthright
citizenship would derail this
engine of American hberty."
In 1979, after serving only
three terms in the House of
Representatives and stricken
wdth multiple sclerosis,
Barbara Jordan announced
her retirement and plans to
return to Texas to teach at the
Lyndon B. Johnson School of
Public Affairs at the
University of Texas. Her
courses were so popular that
students had to enter a lottery
to take them and her students
remember her always having
a copy of the Constitution in
her purse.
Barbara Jordan once said
that she never intended to be
a mn-of-the-mill person and
clearly she succeeded in her
goal. The daughter of a
Baptist minister who worked
two jobs to pay for her college
tuition, she recently visited
the elementary school named
for her in Austin. She told the
students, "Study hard in
school, and don't let people
put you in a box and close it."
Barbara Jordan didn't let any
one put her in a box.
Had her health held out, she
may have added the vice pres
idency or even the presidency
to her list of firsts. Barbara
Jordan was a black history
maker who lived in our time.
She was, indeed, a legend in
her own time.
BERNICE P. JACKSON is
executive director of the
Commission For Racial
Justice in Cleveland,
We can’t afford to slip on
slippery budget banana
By Charles E. Belle
- NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
When everyone is mnning about and shouting above your head,
not only do you not know what is going on, but you are probably
the only sane person in the area.
The general public is wondering what the devil the whole fuss
is about the budget. "To balance or not to balance" - that is not
the question. Whether it is better to be without some food for now
or pay more for all of it later.
A 1994 Columbia
University homeless
study estimates 12 .5 mil
lion people are actually
homeless, but have stayed
off the streets by moving
in with friends and family
or short
period of time.
fi
No problem, raise taxes! But
whose taxes do your raise?
All around the world, devel
oping nations are facing a
basic problem. The number of
people who work and pay
taxes, relative to the number of
people who do not work and/or
do not pay taxes is shrinking.
The flight of low-skilled jobs to
foreign, low-wage soils is
beginning to take an effect.
Thus, the welfare arid social
service programs put in place
after World War II, back when
America had an abundance of
skill and unskilled jobs, are
being scmtinized for cutbacks.
Clinton is trying desperately to downsize with dignity. Democrats
developed most of the plans. Practical and not so practical
Republicans are ready to reduce the plans rather than raise taxes
from a shrinking working population ratio. The failure of these
two forces to find common ground can mean a catastrophe for the
country's future. The nation must be careful not to let its future
slip away during a stalemate.
'The U.S. budget must be balanced by providing the necessary
social welfare services more efficiently, by cutting their costs, not
their services. There are 34 million plus people 65 years of age
and over in our cormtiy. It is true that elderly Americans have
the highest discretionary income of any age group. A small third,
a mostly white group, control most of their $14 trillion in assets.
Their funds are not equally distributed among gender, racial or
ethnic groups. Another growing problem is the 85 million baby
boomers who will become old, but not affluent, in their later
years. To remove or deplete Medicare and Medicaid would ensure
an impoverished aged, ill cared for U.S. population in the 21st
century. The signs of the time reflect itself already in the home
less today. A 1994 Columbia University homeless study esti
mates 12.5 milhon people are actually homeless, but have stayed
off the streets by moving in with friends and family for short
periods of time. This winter time of year finds hundreds of people
spending the night in such places as the nation's busiest airport,
O'Hare Airport in Chicago. These places would have an overflow
if Medicaid payments going to nursing homes were cut, sending
patients into the streets.
The call to cut Medicare is shown on the surface as equal say
some hy cutting entitlements to all Americans, but it in fact
affects the poor more profoundly. President Clinton is correct in
his stance to stop Medicare and Medicaid cuts. However, the
need to review and revise all social revenues must be undertaken
at this time. The nation has little choice but to cut costs and mod
ernize our social welfare system. The election of a Republictm
Congress is a calling from those working that they are not pre
pared to pay an increase in taxes to maintain the current out
moded system. The Republican-controlled Congress is demanding
twice the amount of cutting in Medicare and Medicaid as the
President. The $150 billion difference is too much and too soon.
Neither the President nor the Congress can cut entitlement pro
grams for the poor, the sick and the elderly without watching the
harsh effects of their cuts on people. President Clinton appears to
be watching the Congress and Congress appears to be watching
the president. We hope neither loses sight of the public and slips
down.
CHARLES E. BELLE is a National Newspaper Publishers
Association columnist based in Washington.
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