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EDITORIALS/ The Charlotte Post
October 24, 1996 -
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®f)e CI)arlotte
1‘uhlished weekly by the Charlotte Post Publishing Co.
1531 Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. 28203
Gerald O. Johnson
CEO/PUBLISHER
Robert Johnson
CO-PUBLISHER/
GENERAL MANAGER
Herbert L. White
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Looking back over Columbus Day
Million Man
March didn’t
maintain focus
The Million Man March of
October, 1995, was the largest pub
lic demonstration of African
Americans in U.S. history. Despite
the controversies surrounding the
event, including the exclusion of
black women from the mobilization,
most black Americans felt an incredible sense of empowerment from
the March. Many hoped that this demonstration would mark a
renaissance of black male activism and a commitment to black unity.
Hut even at the March itself, there were signs that these goals
would bo difficult to achieve. Farrakhan’s keynote address at the
March was widely recognized, even by many of his supporters, as dis
appointing at Ix’st. More than two hours long, it was rambling and
occasionally nearly incoherent. Unlike Martin Luther King Jr.’s “1
Have A Dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington, which suc
cinctly captured the political mood of the times, Farrakhan’s address
lacked a political strategy which could bring together the broadest
democratic forces within our community. 'The emphasis on “atone
ment” tind personal responsibility seemed to parallel the conserva
tive. patriarchal rhetoric of the Christian Coalition and the
Republicans’ Contract With America. This is why Republican vice
pn -idential candidate Jack Kemp, a white conservative, extends
pcai-e and support to Farrakhan, a lilack nationalist: both men
e-ent lally agree on self-help and private enterprise.
The principal political instrument which could have expanded the
tremendous popular support sparked by the March was the National
Afri an American Leadership Summit. The Summit had been estab
lished by Benjamin Chavis when he was still executive director of the
NAACP. In June, 1994, Chavis called together over 100 prominent
African Americans to the NAACP headquarters in Baltimore, to
e.suiblish a process which would build a national coalition of black
organizations.
Two months later, Chavis was fired from his NAACP position
under charges of financial and sexual impropriety. He quickly found
f defender and patron in Farrakhan. With his support, Chavis was
able to maintain the Summit, which evolved into a non-profit coali
tion of more than 200 black groups. Many of these organizations
retleeted the black nationalist orientation of a significant segment of
the African-American middle class: black sororities and fraternities,
black professional organizations in medicine, social work, law and
.Migiiieering, and business associations such as the World Africa
1 hamber of Commerce. Largely missing, however, was representa
tion from black trade unions, progressive groups, black feminist orga-
I!' ilioris, civil rights formations and black elected officials.
In i.he national mobilization for the March in 1995, more than 400
c! .. orgtmiziiig committees were formed. 'Thousands of black men
r- ' id never Ixien actively involved in political organizing stepped
. ird. Till' historical stage was set for the construction of an
anibentic black united front, similar perhaps to the National Negro
Clin ,11 ,s;,, founded by A Philip Randolph in the Great Depression
during the 1930s.
But history did not repeat itself. Randolph was a democratic social
ist, and the militant leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters. His vision of politics was based in the activism of the black
working cla.ss. Even as NAACP leader, Chavis had alienated many
prominent black trade unionists by endorsing NAFTA He displayed
little interest in organizational details or management skill. Neither
Farrakhan nor Chavis have had much experience in building broad
(-iialilions with groups who hold widely divergent beliefs and philoso
phies. Moreover, because Chavis apparently believes that his own
political destiny is tied to Farrakhan’s, he has been unwilling or
un.nble to define a truly independent role for himself 'This contributes
to the perception, unfairly or not, that Chavis has become merely a
mouthpiece for Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.
In a city like Detroif for example, there were more than one dozen
different local committees which were created by the March. As one
local activist explained to me, these new leaders were “ideologically
all over the map.” Some have long histories of struggle and practical
1 vj.i rienre as community organizers, while others were inexperi-
( ni il a~d virtually unknown. A similar situation existed all over the
country. These organizational weaknesses in the structure and
admimstration of the Leadership Summit contributed to a lack of
direction tmd focus, driving away many young African Americans
who htul Iteen inspired to activism by the Million Man March.
MANNING MARABLE is Professor of History and Director of the
Institute for Research in African American Studies, Columbia
University in New York City.
New York City, Columbus
Day 1996:
Old friends from law school,
20 of us, have gathered around
a single table in one of this city’s
finest clubs.
With understated elegance the
waiters serve a creamy bean
soup followed by the best rack of
lamb I have ever eaten. Then,
as is proper, the salad. Then
dessert. Then coffee. Brandy
and cigars.
Thirty years ago we ate
together every few weeks. But
not like this. We called our
selves the Ladies Lunch
because members ate bagged
limches prepared by their wives.
But no women came to the
Ladies Lunch, back then. And
tonight, as well, there are no
women. No wives or significant
others. No questions about that.
After dinner, the smoke of the
cigars, the brandy and the
absence of guests helps bring
back the memories of why we
have come together on this
Columbus Day - 30 years
afterwards.
On Columbus Day in 1966
the men of the Ladies Lunch,
acting under the name of “The
Society for the Preservation of
Christopher Columbus” took to
the streets and gained one
moment of attention and glory.
Yale University had acquired
and put on display in its rare
book library the Vinland Map.
Supposedly, it showed “conclu
sively” that Vikings were the
first Europeans to discover the
American continents - not the
Italian, Christopher
Columbus.
On that Columbus Day, the
Ladies Lunch marched around
the library carrying pickets
asserting that the map was a
forgery and that its display
was an insult to Americans of
Italian descent. Then, with
great ceremony, we burned a
copy of the map.
It was for us a lark. But it
was a “slow news day” and we
made the local TV evening news
and the newspaper’s fiont page.
A report even made its way into
the Congressional Record. For a
few moments we were heroes to
some Italian Americans who
thought the Vinland map was
part of a conspiracy to down
grade their hero and their her
itage.
Earlier today, I remembered
these events with a smile as I
watched New York City’s
Columbus Day parade make its
way up Fifth Avenue.
Parade? It is really a day long
walking reunion of old friends
and old memories of glorious
struggles and victories over dis
crimination.
Hundreds of Italian American
groups pass by. Veterans,
Masons and Shriners, college
and school heritage clubs, beau
ty queens, community organiza
tions. Interspersed are a few
military units and marching
bands. But they only show by
contrast the happy informality
of every other group of
marchers.
If, in earlier times, there was
assertiveness or any degree of
militancy in this parade, it is
now gone. Italian Americans
swim comfortably in the main
stream of American culture.
All is not happiness and good :
feelings. Only yesterday, anoth
er parade on the same route cel
ebrated the Spanish Columbus.
More numerous than the
Italians, Hispanics are newer,
less powerful, less confident and
more assertive in holding on to
their language and traditions.
I think there is hope for all of
us in this Italian American
walking celebration of
Columbus Day.
It is a demonstration of
America’s great capacity to
absorb, gain strength from and
give power to the people of its
diverse groups. The Italians are
only one group of “outsiders”
who have claimed and con
quered and changed what
Columbus discovered.
D.G. MARTIN is vice presi
dent for public affairs for the
University of North Carolina
system.
Why a Republican supports Gantt
By C3mthia Robinson
SPECIAL TO THE POST
I am a 33-year-old black
woman working in the medical
field and a recent transplant to
North Carolina. I am a
Republican and I am not voting
for Jesse Helms on November 5.
I became a Republican
because I believe in conserva
tive economic policy, state’s
rights and a very limited role of
government in business, among
other issues. This is a choice I
made on my own; my family's
political background is not a
Republican one.
I moved to North Carolina in
1989. North Carolina is a beau
tiful state and a great place to
live. 'The people I see everyday
in the medical field are warm,
friendly, intelligent and educat
ed. Yet I still find myself defend
ing North Carolina when speak
ing with nut of-state fnends and
family. When asked “Where are
you living now?” as soon as I say
North Carolina the negative
comments begin to fly. “Isn’t
that where President Clinton
was told not to visit because he
might get shot?” or “You’re liv
ing down there with all those
good of boys like Jesse. With aU
the historical, cultural and edu
cational sites North Carolina
has to offer - Jesse Helms is all
they see.
Jesse Helms became famous
in the 1950s and 60s as ari out
spoken radio commentator rep
resenting the Old South. Racist
remarks, religion and segrega
tion were all a part of his night
ly radio show. He made it no
secret that he did not support
equal rights and that he sup
ported segregation then;
“Unless our negro citizens sub
mit more easily than we predict
they will. North Carolina does
not have the simple choice
between segregated schools and
integrated schools. Our only
choice is integrated public
schools and free choice private
schools..the decision will have to
be made by a very small minori
ty of people who are hell-bent on
forced integration.” (1955 about
public school desegregation,
Raleigh News & Observer, Oct.
31, 1990; and now: “I think bus
ing is the worst tyranny ever
perpetrated on America.” (News
& Observer 6-17-81). Everybody
going to school together is not a
partisan issue.
Jesse Helms knows how to get
people excited over “moral”
issues. He spends much of his
campaigns talking about issues
that do not regularly come up
on the Senate floor. He uses
homosexuality, abortion and
other issues that do not really
govern the state as an election
wedge instead of saying how he
is going to lead us. 'This is the
New South. Are we going to
allow Jesse Helms to lead us
into the 21st century with a
1950s mentality?
North Carolina houses sorne of
the leading educational institu
tions in this country. It would be
a shame to deny any citizen of
this state the opportunity to
attend one of these institutions.
Jesse Helms has voted to cut
federal financial aid for college
students, denying many stu
dents equal educational oppor
tunities. Education is not a par
tisan issue.
Harvey Gantt is a possible
solution for North Carolina. He
is a self-made man, the first
black to attend Clemson and he
went to graduate school at MIT.
He is a successful architect and
was elected as the first black
mayor of Charlotte.
Just because I am a
Republican doesn’t mean I have
to vote for Jesse Helms. He does
not support equal educational
opportunities for all regardless
of economical background. He is
an embarrassment to the state
of North Carolina. We need
someone to stand up and repre
sent North Carolina in the New
South. That is not Jesse Helms.
Cynthia Robinson is a medical
technician in Raleigh and a vol
unteer with Republicans against
Helms.
Attention Deficit Disorder unfairly labeled as a disease
B> Fivd Baughman MD
'PKCIALTOTHEPGST
Few understand the power of
research funding. In an editorial
appropriately titled “The
silencer: Gun lobby kills
research funding” (San Diego
Union-Trihune July 22), we are
told how House Republicans
joined by a third of the cham
ber's Democrats, voted to strip
$2.6 million from the Center For
Disease Control’s budget-the
.imount spent in 1995 for
n'.n arch on firearm ii\juries and
deaths.
Blocked at the behest of the
National Rille Association, the
grim statistics of gun-related
injuries and deaths would no
longer reach the public; guns
would no longer appear so dan
gerous and death-dealing. The
CDC, a federal agency, tax-sup-
ported by you and me, would no
longer be able to share the sta
tistics of this — one of the worst
epidemics that afflicts us. Stop
the funding, stop the research
and presto! The epidemic of
maiming and deaths due to
guns disappears from the radio,
TV and newspapers, where the
reabties of our everyday life are
portrayed. No funding for the
(’DC ri'.soarch on gun death and
dismemberment, no such CDC
research statistics at scientific
conferences, in epidemiology
journals, no news releases on
gun and death and dismember
ment and ipso facto, the reality
of gun death and dismember
ment has disappeared from the
media and thus from our minds.
What we have is a public per
ception of one more epidemic of
gun death and dismemberment,
or, at least of an epidemic that
must be near solution, and no
longer worthy of comparison to
other epidemics.
The public can hardly imagine
the politicization and fiir-profit
perversion of medical research
that goes on.
The most common “disease”
and most rampant of “epi
demics” of the moment in the
U.S. is that so-called attention
deficit disorder - ADD (aka
attention deficit disorder with or
without hyperactivity -ADHD).
It was unheard of prior to 1980,
affected 500,000 by 1988,
900,000 by 1990 and is said to
affect 2.5 to 4.4 million today -
90 percent children. And yet
there are strange things about
ADD and the ADD epidemic.
Ninety to 95 percent of cases.
and of Ritalin usage to treat it.
are in the U.S. and Canada,
some states having a 3-5 times
greater case rate than others.
(Michigan, Ohio, Idaho and
Maryland being among those
with the highest per capita
rates). Some schools and class
rooms have a 50 percent afflic
tion rate, while others, usually
private and parochial schools,
are untouched, having no ADD
and having no learning disabili
ties of any sort.
Billions of dollars are spent on
ADD research, 70 percent of it,
benevolently, from the pharma
ceutical industry. Dr. Peter
-lon.sen of the National Institute
of Mental Health has declined
to teU me how much exactly, the
NIMH, supposedly tax-support
ed by the people and for the peo
ple, gets in research funding
from Ciba-Geigy.
This is the message tens of
thousands U.S. parents and
their children this very day.
And all of it for ADD, never
even proven to be a disease, a
syndrome or anything biologic,
neurologic, pathologic or organ
ic, as is regularly claimed by the
multi-billion dollar industry.
FRED BAUGHMAN M.D. is a
clinical physician.