4A
EDITORIALS/The Charlotte Post
February 22, 1996
Cfjarlotte
Published weekly by the Charlotte Post Publishing Co.
1531 Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. 28203
Gerald O. Johnson
Publisher
Robert Johnson
Co-publisher/
General Manager
Herbert L. White
Editor-In-Chief
A call to stand
for children
This has been a tough year for our nation's poor children. Their
welfare has been teetering like a seesaw on the edge of congres
sional rhetoric and political expediency.
Millions have almost lost their health care, their school lunches
and food stamps and the much-needed dollars which their unem
ployed or under-employed parents have received.
After several months of political games and stalled budget nego
tiations, no one is quite sure yet what the Governors' proposed
solutions to the welfare and Medicaid stalemates will actually
mean for the poorest of the poor or whether those proposals will
actually be accepted by the Congress and the President. While
President Clinton had seemed to hold the line against the harsh
est welfare and Medicaid "reforms," both the President and
Congress are under increasing pressure to solve the budget prob
lems and get on with life as usual in
Washington,
Meanwhile, those who are concerned about
children - about poor children and not-so-
poor children are taking our children's future
into their own hands and calling for a
National Day of Commitment to Children.
This day, to be held on June 1, will be a day
of family and community renewal, celebra
tion and commitment to our nation's children
all of them. Called Stand for Children, it will
be held in Washington, D.C. at the Lincoln
Memorial, the site of the historic 1963 March Edelman
on Washington.
"This will not be a partisan or political day," said Marian
Wright Edelman, President of the Children's Defense Fund, in
announcing the day. Rather, it will be "a day for all Americans to
transcend our differences and affirm what unites us as a people:
a sense of fairness, a loving desire to raise moral, healthy, and
educated children; a belief that in the richest and most powerful
nation on earth no child should be left behind."
This massive day of commitment for children and with children
is also designed to send a message to Congress and the President
that the fundamental moral principle of doing no harm to chil
dren is a line which must not be crossed. It is designed as a day
to hold ourselves and our elected leaders responsible for putting
children first.
This national day of commitment will be a day for parents,
grandparents, aunts and uncles, advocates and providers, educa
tors and students to come to Washington and participate in this
historic day. It is being sponsored by a number of national, state
and local groups who are hoping that thousands of their members
will participate. If you care about our children, then be prepared
to take a stand for them. Be prepared to come to Washington on
June 1.
For more information, contact Stand for Children, 1832
Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009, (800) 233-1200.
BERNICE P. JACKSON is executive director of the Commission
for Racial Justice in Cleveland, Ohio.
Ruby’s cooking - we will sure miss it
"Ruby's cooking."
It is an invitation. And for
more than 20 years those
words have been the most wel
come invitation anyone can
get in Raleigh. It usually
comes late on some afternoon
while the General Assembly is
in town.
It is always given by
Representative Jack Hunt of
Cleveland County.
With a grin, he says those
words - "Ruby's cooking." He
trys to look humble - sort of
He pretends to anxiously
await some word from you
about whether or not you
would like to eat with him and
Ruby.
But he knows he is offering
something that nobody can
turn down.
And that grin always turns
into a broad smile - like Santa
Claus letting you know that
you are going to get exactly
what you most want for
Christmas.
It is a style of inviting that
isn't used very much anymore.
I don't know how to describe
it, but Jack Hunt tries to
make you feel that it would be
his and Ruby's highest honor
if you would join them for sup
per.
Then, when you get there,
their Raleigh home is full. His
colleagues in the legislature.
The governor. The chief jus
tice. The president of the uni
versity. Their fnends from
Cleveland County. And
always some of their family.
Daughters, sons-in-law, and
grandchildren who happen to
be in Raleigh help Jack and
Ruby make everybody feel at
home.
How do I say this? How do I
explain how special Ruby's
cooking really is? In Raleigh,
meals at the fanciest restau
rants are a dime a dozen for
legislators and top political
leaders. There is always some
body who wants something
and will take them wherever
they want to go. For most of
them that fancy living gets old
a week or two after they get to
Raleigh. But home-cooked,
home-served meals are a rare
treasure.
What is Jack Hunt trying to
sell with this invitation to
Ruby's cooking? What is his
agenda? Mostly, it is this. He
and Ruby like people. They
enjoy the fellowship that goes
along with legislative service.
They like to make friends.
And then they want to enjoy
their friends. But there is
more to it than that. More
than just the joy of getting
together and making other
people happy.
Jack Hunt has always been
one the "peacemakers" in the
legislature. When there is a
tough, mean problem that
divides people, it is often Jack
Hunt who gets the call to try
to bring them together.
Getting around factions, petty
jealousies, and partisanship,
he tries to find out what it
would take to resolve the dis
agreement.
"What's keeping us from
working this out?" is the ques
tion people count on Jack
Hunt to ask, then listen, and
move everyone towards the
answer.
He thinks the people's repre
sentatives make better deci
sions when they are not angry
with each other. When every
thing else fails to bring people
together. Ruby's cooking can
work magic.
It is hard to be angry with
anyone when Ruby Hunt is
serving com from her garden,
frozen minutes after it was
picked last summer, and now
offered with six or seven other
vegetables, ham, chicken, bis
cuits with sourwood honey
and molasses, and more than
you could remember.
There are so few of these
informal institutions left. But
they are so important in keep
ing our leaders functioning on
a healthy, human scale.
After this year, things will
have to get worked out with
out the magic of Ruby's cook
ing. Jack Hunt didn't sign up
for re-election. He won't be
back in the legislature next
year. When the legislature
gets together in 1997, Ruby's
cooking will be a memory of
the way things used to be - in
a better time.
It will be a big loss. Not just
for those who miss those won
derful meals together - but for
all North Carolinians. In the
future their problems will
have to get solved without
Ruby and Jack Hunt's help.
I'll be sad too. But in the
meantime, for the rest of this
year, I'll be waiting by the
telephone, hoping somebody
will be on the other line say
ing, "Ruby's cooking."
D.G. MARTIN is vice presi
dent for public affairs for the
University of North Carolina
system. He can be reached by
e-mailing:
dgmartin@ga. unc.edu
NCAA continues with narrowing
view of scholarship athletes
By Leland Stein III
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
“In our particular society, it
is the narrowed and narrow
ing view of life that often
wins.”
-Alice Walker
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif
- The annual NCAA conven
tion in Dallas concluded
recently and again the hopes
of the Black Coaches
Association and numerous
other concerned groups and
advocates for fairness in inter
collegiate athletics were left,
. with a "we know what's best
; for you" conclusion. What
,, will it take for the people at
the top of our educational sys
tem - College Presidents
Commission - to get in the
\ business of educating and out
, of the business of eliminating?
It must be noted that no one
is saying education isn't
^ important and shouldn't be a
focus for continual enhance
ment. It's just the elimination
methods used to improve the
process with which I and
many others differ.
The holier-than-thou
Presidents Commission is liv
ing Alice Walker's words.
They are continuing with
their narrow vision of how the
real world works and their
non-recognition of the very
real trials and tribulations
that many youth encounter as
a result of their socio-econom
ic and living environment.
That's the point of contention
for the BCA and others. The
BCA, Mid-Eastern Athletic
Conference and many others
supported a proposal that
would qualify freshmen if they
graduate high school with a
2.25 GPA in 13 core classes
and receive a score of either
800 (SAT) or 19 (ACT). NCAA
standards requires a 2.5 in
the 13 core classes and either
890 (SAT) or 18 (ACT).
Leading the charge that
defeated the BCA proposal
was University of Southern
California President Steven
Sample, who hung his hat on
"we are letting partial quali
fiers in." But, partial quali
fiers — students who can prac
tice but not play - must have
a 2.0 in 13 core classes,
sounds like opportunity, but,
each school can accept only
four a year. And they must be
two women and two men and
only one can be accepted per
sport.
"The MEAC plan provides
more freshman with the abili
ty to earn the privilege of
playing collegiate sports," said
Rudy Washington, BCA exec
utive director and head men's
basketball coach at Drake
University. "Expanding, not
restricting the opportunity for
a student to receive a college
degree and participate in
sports should be the goal as
educators."
Sample, whose school is
located in an impoverished
area, should know better than
what he claim. Still he defend
ed his narrow position saying:
"I five and work in the county
of Los Angeles that has 10
million people. We no longer
have an ethnic group that is a
minority. There is nothing in
the current standards that
prevents a student from
becoming a partial qualifier."
Sounds good, but with 10 mil
lion people and only one par
tial qualifier per sport and
two men and women total,
that's not much of an opportu
nity.
Khalid Channel, 22, a
Stanford medical student and
member of the student-adviso
ry committee, retorts: "Does
he five in L.A. or does he live
in Brentwood? When you live
in certain circumstances, it's
ludicrous to say it doesn't
have an effect on a kid's (acad
emics)."
A 1995 Profile of SAT
Program Test Takers figures
agree with Channel. Students
with annual family incomes
less than $20,000 have aver
age scores of 769 to 813 on the
SAT. And students with fami
ly incomes of $70,000 or more
average 1,004. "We are con
cerned about the use of the
standardized test...not to say
that it shouldn't be used, but
its misuse is a concern," said
Georgetown University Coach
John Thompson. "Even educa
tional testing services have
acknowledged the NCM uses
the test incorrectly.
"With all the crime, drugs
and social unrest going on . . .
it's the worst time in the
world to do what we are doing
(eliminating scholarship
opportunities), and one of the
purposes of our educational
institutions should be to have
a direct affect on what's going
on in our society."
Said Temple University
coach John Chaney: "We are
saying education is important,
but so is athletics. They (the
Presidents Commission) are
depriving youth of an aspira
tion level they need to have.
All the studies show very
PHOTO/WADE NASH
Current NCAA rules could
restrict the access black ath
letes would have to college
scholarships.
clearly that through higher
education the youth gain
entry into society and become
viable contributors into that
society. And sports may be the
vehicle to get them there.”
The college presidents are at
the top of our educational sys
tem, but the only method they
can come up with that
improves the process is elimi
nation, and by a culturally
biased test method - SAT and
ACT - that even many of their
peers, including a special com
mission the Presidents
Commission appointed last
year, acknowledged should
not be used as the ultimate
judge as to who can perform
adequately in a college envi
ronment.
Although many colleges are
implementing multi-cultural-
ism in curriculum and are tai
loring their environments to
accept the diversity that is
America, the lordly Presidents
Commission is holding fast to
its narrowing view of potential
scholarship student athletes.
No matter that within their
schools, each body of study
[English, math, engineering,
etal] is embracing the ethnic
and environmental differences
of their students.
I work in areas college presi
dents never visit or see, teach
ing and cajoling high school
students to look past their
environment, family problems
and peer pressures. Many get
the message, but it's not
enough to right 15 years of
wrong. Still if given an oppor
tunity, the facts clearly show,
most rise to the opportunity
and improve their lives with
the opportunity a college ath
letic scholarship can bring.
To this aim, I say the SAT
should be used as a gauge
toward determining the defi
ciencies and strengths of a
prospective student athlete.
LELAND STEIN’s column ori-
gianlly appeared in the Black
Voice News in California.