5A
OPINIONS/ The Charlotte Post
Thursday, October 30, 1997
Remembering Marcus Garvey’s impact
Brr^^omas C. Fleming
N/inONAL NEWSPAPER PUBUSHERS ASSOCIATION
iMarcus Garvey, the leader of the “Back to Africa”
movement, arrived in Harlem in 1916, the same year
I did. He was 38, an immigrant from Jamaica, and in
a short time he became one of the most famous black
men in America.
T was eight years old and living on 133rd Street in
Hatlem, right in the middle of where the Garvey
movement started.
In my neighborhood, there were probably more
West Indian than American-born blacks. They wanted
to succeed in America, and were very industrious,
always trying to start small businesses. They were
looking ahead, with the goal of attaining naturaliza
tion so they could vote.
There was some antagonism between American-
botn blacks and the West Indian immigrants. The lat-
teF used to say they were subjects of the king, and
wojild tell you that back there they could get jobs that
blacks weren’t getting here. Well, the first thing we
asked them was; “If you could do all those things, why
did you leave?” I never heard of any American-born
blacks wanting to go there.
Garvey never became an American citizen,
although he lived in New York for nine years. He start
ed the Universal Negro Improvement Association,
which at one time might have had over a million mem
bers. But in New York, I think the only ones who con
sidered him to be a leader were West Indians.
I heard a lot about him, and then I started seeing
him. His organization used to have parades along 7th
Avenue frequently. Garvey would always be standing
up in a big open-top car with his immediate aides rid
ing with him. He dressed like an admiral. He wore one
of those cockade hats that admirals wear, and a uni
form. There were marchers in front and behind him,
carrying banners. The women were in white dresses,
and the men wore suits. They probably started at
about 125th Street, and marched up to 135th and 7th
Avenue.
I didn’t understand why they marched. But I think
it was all part of trying to attract more members. The
dues weren’t very much.
The first thing Garvey did was take all those dollars
and form a steamship company, the Black Star Line.
The first ship was leaky and unseaworthy, and barely
made it out of New York harbor. He sold people on the
idea that the ship was going to take them back to
Africa and carry on commerce between Africa and
here. He later added two more ships, but not one of
them ever landed in Africa.
His idea was to set up a colony of American blacks
in Liberia. The Liberians first went along with this,
but then changed their minds and wouldn’t let him in,
because they were afraid he would take over political
power.
Internal Revenue in need of an overhaul
By Lauch Faircloth
SPECIAL TO THE POST
Listening to story after story
of how the Internal Revenue
Service took advantage of inno
cent American taxpayers, I
became increasingly irate. The
IRS has consistently targeted
vulnerable taxpayers and used
unethical tactics to collect
money from them that often
was not even owed.
Unfortunately, the recent over
sight hearings by the Senate
Finance Committee revealed
what most of us already knew:
the current practices and proce
dures of the IRS need to be
changed. Congress needs to
“clean house” and make the
IRS. an agency that can be
trusted, and not feared.
One story that I heard
involves Katherine Hicks. This
innocent woman’s life was com
pletely violated by the IRS.
Because of a billing problem, at
the fault of the IRS, Mrs. Hicks
was told that she owed nothing
on an out-of-court settlement
she made with the IRS.
Believing that an error must
have occurred, she made
repeated attempts to rectify the
obvious mistake and take
responsibility for the money
she owed. However, without
independent records or access
to IRS files, she was forced to
rely on the professional integri
ty of the IRS and believe what
they told her.
After a prolonged silence,
the IRS filed a tax lien against
her. Mrs. Hicks had tried des
perately to settle her debt with
the IRS, but was told repeated
ly that she owed nothing and so
she paid nothing. Because of
this mistake by the IRS, which
they refused to admit, and their
inability to track her account,
she has been subjected to tax
liens against her house and
levies against her husband’s
wages. Trying to escape the ire
of the IRS, she even filed for
bankruptcy and divorce. Mrs.
Hicks clearly attempted to deal
with her problems in good
faith, but the IRS made little
effort to resolve this easily
avoidable problem, thereby
inflicting financial and emo
tional damage on yet another
innocent victim.
Small business owner Tom
Savage also endured unde
served hardships put upon him
by the IRS. His problems began
not with an administrative
error, though, but with deliber
ate targeting of his company for
taxes owed by an unrelated
company. Mr. Savage now faced
the decision of whether to fight
for his rights or save his busi
ness. Fearing a drawn-out and
costly legal battle and the con-
Faircloth
tempt of the IRS, Mr. Savage
chose to settle the case and
move on with
his life. This
decision per
mitted the
IRS to keep
$50,000 in
taxes that he
did not owe.
But Mr.
Savage knew
that the pro
tracted legal
battle necessary to challenge
the IRS would have required
tremendous personal resources
that he, along with most tax
payers, do not have.
The oversight hearings also
brought out testimony of for
mer and current IRS employees
who told the Senate committee
of the increasing decay of pro
fessional ethics v.'ithin the IRS.
One employee’s account of
abuse includes occasions when
a taxpayer simply failed or for
got to submit one or two items
on a long list requested by the
revenue officer and then the
officer responded by issuing a
paycheck or bank levy on the
taxpayer.
Furthermore, while the
Internal Revenue Manual says
that reasonable living expenses
must be allowed, one employee
witnessed several occasions in
which the IRS punished a tax
payer by not allowing reason
able living expenses because
the revenue officer not believe
the taxpayer followed his
orders sufficiently. He even wit
nessed Collection Division
Branch Chiefs, Assistant
Division Chiefs, Division
Chiefs, Problem Resolution
employees, and an Assistant
District Director, violate or
ignore Internal Revenue
Manual procedures and
Treasury regulations in order
to personally punish a taxpay
er. As an American citizen and
a taxpayer, I am embarrassed
by this branch of our govern
ment.
While these cases bring to
the forefront the many prob
lems related to the IRS, I real
ize that they only touch the tip
of the iceberg. Numerous North
Carolinians have told me their
own personal horror stories of
IRS intimidation and abuse.
American citizens are being
treated as guilty until proven
innocent by the IRS. This arro
gant and indifferent attitude of
many IRS employees leads to
threats, assaults, and a general
lack of cooperation. Immediate
action is needed.
I believe that there are a few
changes that the IRS should
make to benefit the taxpayer.
Eric Smith: New Houdini of public education?
By Gyasi A. Foluke
SPECIAL TO THE POST
Last week (Oct. 15), I had the
opportunity, along with other
members of the NAACP, to
meet with Dr. Eric Smith, to
discuss the recent removal of
Kenneth Simmons as principal
of West Charlotte High School.
It was an experience by no
means surprising or unprece
dented, since I have been
involved in the black liberation
struggle for over 45 years and
have witnessed multiple forms
of political or bureaucratic
“games,” including pseudo-
sophisticated rationalizations,
as a “cover” for racist behavior.
The above factors notwith
standing, this recent meeting
with Smith has reaffirmed,
from my perspective, that the
present struggle against
racism, most notably in public
education, has reached such a
high level of “sophistication”
that it is best described as
somewhat magical — “now you
see it, now you don’t.” For this
phrase best depicts the “art” of
the practitioner, perhaps some
what similar to he renowned
magician, the great Houdini.
During our recent meeting
with Smith, we could witness
Houdini-tjqje behavior on the
first question posed to him by
our NAACP leader - to wit:
Was there an official investiga
tion conducted at West
Charlotte to ascertain relevant
facts before Ken Simmons was
removed from his job?
Unfortunately, apart from
Simmons’ support goes up in smoke
meaningless rhetoric or skillful
circumlocution (Houdini-type
behavior), this question was
not answered for over 30 min
utes or until I had asked a
series of follow-up questions,
with the superintendent finally
conceding that no such investi
gation was ever conducted.
Indeed, in view of this major
concession, additional follow-up
questions are now in order - to
wit:
If Smith did not have all rele
vant facts before removing Ken
Simmons, what was the basis
for his removal? Did Eric Smith
fail to support Mr. Simmons
because of racist politics, as
usual, including Smith’s failure
to confront that alleged small
racist “gang” of anonymous
white dissident teachers at
West Charlotte, with the relat
ed probable support or political
pressure from Mr. John Tate, a
school board member?
Did Smith violate a funda
mental principle of good man
agement — “authority should
be commensurate with respon
sibility” — in failing to support
Ken Simmons with appropriate
authority against this alleged
racist “gang” of anonymous dis
sidents at West Charlotte?
Since Ken Simmons was seek
ing to provide equity for black
students at West Charlotte,
does his removal suggest that
Smith could “care less” about
the genuine education of black
students, especially in contrast
to maintaining his personal-
professional position and/or the
racist status quo “tradition” in
the CMS sys-|
tem? If John
Tate and others
- including]
some negro
“leaders” - did
pressure Smith
to remove Ken
Simmons, why]
is it that “our’
black
school
Simmons
board members
did not fight for
Ken Simmons and those black
students that he was attempt
ing to rescue from a racist edu
cation system? Did “our” black
school board members vote to
extend Smith’s contract and
provide him with a financial
bonus — and for what reasons?
Since Smith has not solved all
of the problems in the CMS sys
tem, why was Ken Simmons
removed in the context of
remaining problems at West
Charlotte High School? Were
“our” black school board mem
bers guilty of racial “treason”
as alleged by an articulate
female member of the NAACP?
Why should blacks vote “yes”
for school bonds, when black
students are not receiving a
genuine education under the
CMS system?
Smith
In the context of these ques
tions — and many others with
serious adverse implications for
blacks — it is distinctly clear
that the time has come to make
major changes
in the educa
tional system
in Charlotte.
And I have
proposed a
“Modified
Neighborhood
School Model”
and/or
Supplemental
Educational
Centers as
alternative measures, in part,
for the existing system. Please
note the words “in part,” for
there can be no genuine solu
tion for “race relations,” includ
ing black miseducation, apart
from addressing black socioeco
nomic conditions in the larger
society, most notably through
reparations. For the present
system of miseducation has not
only failed to provide justice for
Kenneth Simmons, it has failed
to provide genuine education
for virtually all black students.
And Eric Smith’s proposals to
upgrade test scores for black
students, while commendable,
is clearly superficial —mostly
“smoke and mirrors” — and
“too little and too late” to
address this serious problem of
black miseducation in the CMS
system.
Finally, within the past five
months, I have had the oppor
tunity to work with Kenneth
Simmons, as a professional and
personal friend. And I have
found him to be a profoundly
spiritual person, with impecca
ble character, professional
demeanor and exemplary per
sonal behavior. And although
Smith, irresponsibly through
silence, has permitted the pro
fessional reputation of Ken
Simmons to be viciously and
maliciously assassinated
through the public media,
Simmons - like others
Afrocentric blacks who have
been similarly emasculated
publicly - is a genuine hero in
the black community.
Moreover, since this assassina
tion or “lynching” of Ken
Simmons is, in fact, a “lynch
ing” of the black community in
toto, this issue will not magical
ly disappear - like Houdini’s
tricks, “now you see it, now you
don’t.” For some of us, irrespec
tive of the treasonous behavior
of some negro “leaders,” will
continue to fight the good fight,
“until victory is won,” as James
Weldon Johnson has written so
beautifully in “Lift Every Voice
And Sing.” Therefore, let us
proclaim, here and now. “wake
up,” Black Charlotte, “you have
nothing to lose but your
chains.”
GYASI A. FOLUKE MA, DD
is an author, non-traditional
minister and CEO of the
Kushite Institute for Wholistic
Development.
More than barbecue
at Mallar(i Creek
The U.S. government wanted to break up the move
ment because it saw any movement of black people as
a threat. The U.S. Department of Justice thought he
was trying to start a rebellion, so they accused him of
bilking poor working people, and arrested him on sev
eral fraud charges for collecting the money to buy the
steamers and to start other commercial businesses.
He was tried in federal court and jailed in Atlanta,
then later deported to Jamaica.
'Two of Garvey’s biggest enemies were W.E.B. Du
Bois, editor of the NAACP’s magazine The Crisis, and
Philip Randolph, editor of The Messenger, a socialist
weekly paper, and founder of the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Porters. They thought the “Back to
Africa” movement was a harebrained idea - just as I
did.
Garvey had a dream, but I don’t think going back
to Africa was ever possible. How would he have gotten
enough money to move all blacks back to Africa? And
nobody wanted to go over to Africa anyway.
But Garvey still has a lot of supporters today. There
are Garvey societies throughout the United States and
in other countries, and the biggest park in Harlem has
been renamed Marcus Garvey Park.
THOMAS C. FLEMING, 89, recently retired as exec
utive editor of the Reporter Publishing Company in
California. Born in 1907, Fleming writes for the Sun-
Reporter, San Francisco’s African-American weekly,
which he co-founded in 1944.
First of all, the IRS should cre
ate a much less complicated tax
code so that taxpayers can
clearly know what they owe.
There shouldn’t have to be any
guess-work on the part of the
taxpayer. Second, we should
have a national debate about
newly suggested ideas such as
a national sales tax or flat tax.
Also, some have suggested a
citizen board to oversee the
IRS.
The bottom line is that hon
est, law-abiding taxnavers
deserve better. The current sys
tem is 100 percent indefensible.
I believe that if is extremely
important that this agency
operate with efficiency and fair
ness. However, the policies and
procedures of the IRS will not
change on their own. Their
actions must be scrutinized to
ensure that the rights of
American citizens are not vio
lated. Reform should not be
prolonged by further govern
ment studies. Action must be
taken, and the time is now. IRS
reform should be a high priori
ty in Congress, and I will not
rest until we see genuine
change. Please write to me and
share your ideas and comments
about this important issue.
LAUCH FAIRCLOTH is the
junior U.S. Senator from North
Carolina.
It is Mecklenburg County’s
fall folk gathering — where mod
ern life can stop for just a
moment and people can go back
in time and live for a few minutes
as if it were 50 or 75 years ago.
For many years, the members
of the Mallard Creek
Presbyterian Church have
cooked b2u-becue on the night
before the fourth Thursday in
October and then sold plates to
fnends and neighbors the next
day to raise funds for church pro
jects.
Lots of other churches and vol
unteer fire departments and
schools and other good communi
ty organizations have fundrais
ing barbecue sales - and they are
almost always good.
But the Mallard Creek
Barbecue packs them in like no
other. How it became such a pop
ular event is another story. But it
must have something to do with
the talents of Mr. “June” Oehler,
who has directed the cooking of
the pigs as long as anybody can
remember.
The weather helps too. Late
October is almost always mild
and pleasant—just right to enjoy
the outdoor eating at the long
tables set up by the church mem
bers.
It helps that word got around
the downtown Charlotte busi
ness community that the
Mallard Creek Barbecue was the
place “you had to be.”
Wherever crowds eather dur
ing the times just before election
day, you’ll find candidates.
Mallard Creek welcomes them.
“It adds to the color of the event,”
someone told me. “They use us.
We use them—for decoration.”
The folks from downtown eat
quickly, visit among themselves,
and go back to work.
Others linger. Returning for
mer church members and
fiiends. Some come back each
year just to see those folks “that
we only see at Mallard Creek.”
And they talk. Ninety-nine
year-old Elizabeth Millwee
assures us she will be back next
year when she is a hundred. She
tells us about growing up on
North College Street in Charlotte
(now in the middle of the city)
and that her maiden name was
Overcash.
“But it is not right to say it the
way most people say it. It should
be said like ‘Over-car-sh.’ It was a
German name. But nobody but
me says ‘Over-car-sh’ anymore.”
Mrs. Millwee gets me thinking
about the Oehler family and how
that family with its German
name have been such leaders in
the Mallard Creek Presbyterian
Church.
One day, a few years ago, Jime
Oehler’s son, Donnie, took me
aside and showed me some of the
family history papers. His
German ancestor came up from
Charleston or Wilmington some
time in the last century - walk
ing, speaking little English, and
looking for a kinsman who had
settled in nearby Cabarrus
County.
Not much time later, he fell in
love and married a daughter of
one of the original Scotch-Irish
settlers. The children took up the
language and the Presbyterian
faith of their mother. Of course,
they kept the father’s German
name. But they turned it into a
brand name for Scotch-Irish,
American, Southern,
Presbyterian, Mallard Creek
barbecue.
There is something different
about the barbecue this year for
me. The quiet visiting at the long
tables continues on in to the
afternoon. 'The big crowds are
gone, but the cars keep coming.
Cars are everywhere, but they
are not parking.
Former Charlotte attorney and
Davidson College graduate D.G.
MARTIN is vice president of pub
lic affairs for the University of
North Carolina. He can be
reached via e-mail at:
dgmartin@ga. unc.edu