Newspapers / The Carolina Indian voice. / Sept. 2, 1976, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page 2, The Corolino Indian Voice EDITORIAL AND OPINION PAGE Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its lights. AS I SEE IT Bruce Barron REMINISCING by Lew Barton Council on Aging Planned for Robeson RANDOM THOUGHTS ON RACE AND REASON AND PEOPLE IN GENERAL ] must have hit a sane point last week. I did not, as usual, receive any nasty letters no abusive phone calls, no arched incredulous brows. Just a how do you do and 1 agree with you and we don’t talk about things like that out loud, etc., etc. We have been taught To think and act funny, all of us- Indian. Black and white, THAT EVIL DISEASE OF THE MIND AND SOUL- DOUBLE VOTING Now that the courts have outlawed double voting, I wonder if anyone of us really realize how sick double voting made all of us. Double voting created a white controlled board of education which has not ever been responsive to the Indian people living in the county school unit. This white board of education (and it will remain in power until Dec. 1976) has always hired white administrators to formulate policyf for a school unit which is 80% non- white. Who are these people who have been “educating” Indian and Black children for the last seventy years? HERE IS WHAT THEY THINK OF YOU AND ME AND OUR CHILDREN AND WIVES AND HUSBANDS ETC In their application for a federal grant to establish the Education Resource Center (the planetarium etc.) you can find the following illuminating passages; “Caltarally, they have a second-rate version of white coltore, with no vestige of an Indian culture as It is thought of among the Plains Indians or the Indians of the Southwest.Never In the reser vation category, they endeavor to follow the patterns of the white cultore althongh they had little, If any contact with the whites for so long. They are handicapped with speech problems, poor back ground, little interest In education, some quiet resentment against the powers that be, yet they desire to reach the level of the people they resent...Today many of the Indian teachers arc those who graduated from Pembroke State College In a period when its education was no more than adequate... There is still a large segment untouched by modernity, a segment totally unfit to face the challenges of the modem world. Many recognize their lack and have a resentful attitude toward the whole situation. Others are apathetic with little hope of Improve ment and with a defeatist attitude on life.’' And here is what they think of themselves and mint julip and magnolia blossoms, etc. So much for what these “educators” think of Indians,here is their opinion of themselves: “The whites have an upper stratum [that’s a fancy word for high society folks] of old families with farm property and with some de gree of wealth, and living for the most part in town, of which only one lies within the bounds of the Robeson County School System...” And the clincher is that... well. I’ll be damned if they didn’t get the grant. You see the planetarium everyday on your way to Lumberton. It seems that the thinking of the administrators of the coun ty unit is rooted in the pre- Civil War South with all its attendant prejudices. They speaketh with a fork tongue, with a "Hey you, boy!” articulated by an 1860 Demo cratic Party mentality. Is it any wonder that little James Lock lear’s reading is not up to the North Carolina average? strong and resilient and, metaphorically speaking, like the Mighty Oak. Friday afternoon, the new courthouse in Lumberton will be the setting for the swearing in of two new Indian attorneys, Sandy Dexter Brooks and Earl Strickland, For eons and ages, Indians (nor Blacks) could attend law school. As soon as the barriers were lowered, as soon as the racists were pushed from the door, Indian lawyers became part of the landscape. We now have at least 10 Indian lawyers from Robeson County that 1 know of. They are becoming so common place that 1 probably over looked one or two. Pembroke State University is the.Lumbee Indian’s gift to the world at large. The school was created for and by Indians initially. Indians have given more to the Robeson County society than they have receiv ed, PSU is a thriving school, a school that is a vibrant part of Southeastern North Carolina and beyond. PSU is a show piece of Robeson County. Dr. English E. Jones, the Indian chancellor, is a man of vision who can talk from a book as good as any man 1 know, What was their gift to us? DOUBLE VOTING!! And the vestiges of double voting •remain. What other rhyme or reason could explain the fact that Shirley Britt and Rev, Bob Mangum (2 whites) finished third and fourth in the recent voting. I can understand Bob Mangum’s election but Shirley Britt’s leaves me in the double vote quandary. Mrs. Britt has consistantly voted against just about every Indian- orientated measure that has ever come up before the Robeson County Board of Education. How to you explain her election? Did the school teachers put her in? Did some of our Indian and Black heros engineer her election? Were we psychologi cally taken in by the name Britt? Did the Indian, magna nimous and forgiving, assuage his or her collective guilt? God only knows. But it should be pointed out that the top five vote getters in the November election will receive four year terms. The next four high vote getters will receive two year terms. As it now stands, whites will have two of the five four year terms up for grabs. Is that what we broke double voting for? Is that what the struggle is all about? No, my friend, that is the vestige of double voting. That is the result of a mind set created byandnurtur- ed by double voting. We are products of what they have taught us. We are creatures of double voting still to a great extent. Other Indians are talking about voting just for the nine people on the Democratic side. That includes Shirley Britt. Some of the Indian candidates are looking for a way to protect their own political hides. They don’t want to take a chance on getting bumped themselves. But Carnell Locklear, an In dian. is also running for election to the Robeson County Board of Education, He is listed as a Republican. CARNELL LOCKLEAR IS AN INDIAN IS AN INDIAN IS AN INDIAN Carnell Locklear is an Indian. 1 am sure of that. Carnell, who played the popu lar ‘Boss Strong' in the successful outdoor drama Strike at the Wind is an Indian to his bootstraps. His activism is one of the reasons double voting is now broken, He is a good man who spends a great deal of time just helping people, with food stamps, medical attention, get ting jobs, just helping people. EDUCATORS WHO CAN’T DO SIMPLY ARITHMETIC? NOT HARDLYl Some people in Robeson County, including principal’s organization and those deter mining the editorial policies'of a century-old newspaper, seem to be having serious difficulties with even simple, elementary arithmetic this election year, especially where the enumeration of Indians is concerned. Both recently made a strong political plea for 3 whites, 3 Blacks and 3 Indians on the 9-member make- up of the so-called Robeson County Board of Education, disregarding the fact that this school district is conprised of 65% Indians with the other two ethnic groups making up the rest. Now 1 was taught in my youth, in this same misnamed school district, that 65% of a whole equals two-thirds in stead of one. How, then,, do these learned educators and dispensers of the truth, the Gospel truth and nothing else but the truth, figure that it takes 65 Indians to equal 33 and a third whites or 33 and a third Blacks? I’ll tell you how they figure it. They don’t. They figure, instead, that even one-third civic representation for Indians is a lot more than they deserve. And if they had their way, we Indians wouldn’t even get that. Yes, I can tell you how they figure it, along with their Indian cohorts. The same way they figured for decades that they were entitled to two votes on school matters in this county while the Indians were entitled to only one. And 1 can tell you some thing else they figured. They figured that they could palm off on us this masterpiece of deception, and that we Indian parents and grandparents were justtoodumb to know the difference. Or that we were just too meek and sheep-like to make any objections, even if we did know the difference, or both, They figured it the same way they figure that a man from Anson County with an M. A. Degree is superior to and better qualified to be superintendent of the pre- doninantly-Indian school dis trict than an Indian with a Ph. D. Degree or even an LL.D., so long as the color of his skin is to their liking. ’Now,, even fourth-graders know that 65% is more than one-third. They know, as a matter of fact that it lacks but J and a fraction of 1 of being two- thirds. Yet those high- flown, politically- minded ed ucators (and a good many of them Indians themselves, mind you!) tried to palm off on us in this district (and some of us even kinfoid, mind youl) this masterpiece of deception without even batting an eye lash! Is it any wonder that most uneducated Indians mistrust educated ones, often referring to them as “educated fools”? That isn't the way I think of Indians, educated or other wise, who would sell out the best educational advantages of our own children for personal considerations, or personal advantage. I think of them as tyrants and traitors to their own people. They measure up shabbily, not only as members of the Indian race, but also as members of the HUMAN race. 1 am deeply ashamed of them, and thank God most fervently that there are as few of them as there are. If all of our educated people were of this stripe, Indians in Robeson County would become extinct within a matter of a very few short years. There must be a special place reserved for such people in the Miserable Land Below, and their attitudes and activities must often be a stench in the nostrils of the Almighty, even as they walk the earth. Follow these rules and avoid heat stroke QUESTION: What is heat stroke and how can it be avoided? ANSWER: Heatstroke,or sunstroke, occurs when the body can no longer rid itself of excess heat. It is caused as a result of exces sive sweating and a conse quent loss of body fluids and potassium with a re sulting salt and chloride imbalance in the blood. To avoid heatstroke work gradually into heavy exercise such as football I’t'mbroke L)ruK Center. OdonTand V practice and steer clear of continuous potassium-de pleting perspiration. Eat fresh fruits for potassium, take salt tablets only with a doctor’s okay, drink 6-^ glasses of liquids daily, and refuse “quick energy’ sugary snacks which may lower hlood sugar. /. 3rd, Pembroke. NC, Dial 521-4805 Is it any wonder that any of We need a bare- knuckled us are up and about and well? Indian on the board of educa- Well, we are. We are a tion. Not a politician but a marvelous people, strength pure-bred Indian who will look ened by adversity, steeled by out for the best interest of the evils of our past. We are children period. r know many who will berate me for speaking forcefully in Carnell Locklear’s behalf. He might even lose a few votes in the process, but it is one of those times to speak up and be counted. 1 know the power boys, the Ben Floyd Raiders, are going to be talking up a straight Democratic ticket. I want to cut them off at the political pass if 1 can. You can vote for who you want to on the board of education. You can vote for eight Democrats and Carnell Locklear, if you want to. The world will not come to an end. We will not fall into the sea. My personal choice is to vote for eight Democrats and Car nell Locklear, 1 honestly be lieve that we need a Carnell Locklear on the Robeson Coun ty Board of Education. Until Indians can vote freely and clearly, we are still victims of double voting. 541-4848 PCXISHING-BUFFING SATIN FINISHING SCOTCH BRIGHT 8 TAMPICO BRUSHING BEAR TEXING JOB WORK • SMAU PROtlUaiON RUNS ^ LET US BID YOUR WORK AL DEMERY - OWNER - OPERATOR OYFfiOtEAllS EXPERIENCE , Dear Mr. Barton; Out of our concern for the welfare of all Senior Citizens of Robeson County, we are inte rested in coordinating and expanding services to Senior Citizens by bringing together representatives from public as well as voluntary sectors of our county. We need to create commun ity awareness and support for the elderly. We are providing an oppor tunity to do this by organizing a County Council on Aging. As a prelude to organizing this council, we are bringing to gether people from all over the County to discover some of the things other counties are doing and to stimulate our thinking concerning some of the things we might be able to do for the elderly. On Thursday, September 9 at 3:30 p.m. at the 0. P. Owens Auditorium, you will have an opportunity to hear Ms. Mary Brugger Murphy from the National Association of Counties Research Founda tion in Washington, D. C. share “What’s Happening in Other Counties.” This is highly important and significant meeting in the life of our county for the elderly. Therefore, please mark this date on your calendar and make every effort possible to attend. If you are the contact person for your agency and are unable to attend this meeting, please send a representative from your agency, club or organiza tion. Sincerely Ruth H. Mundy Aging Sendees Specialist The Honorable James E Lt. Gov. of NC Raleigh, NC James r\. Suggs Resigns OS Chairman of Store Democraric Ex. Comm. given them. I appreciate your allowing those who elect to stay to do so until January 1 in accordance with their contract and am grateful that every consideration and assistance will be given those who desire to make other arrangements. The party has made great progress in the past four years and I hope it will continue to be the instrument for good government in North Carolina. Our party is in good financial shape and all the approxi mately $90,000 from the “Check Off” bill awaits dis bursement at the direction of the Campaign Finance Com mittee. Extensive plans are under way for more fund raising that should prove to be of great assistance in the November election. Dear Jim: I appreciate your seeing me yesterday. This will confirm our conversation at which time I requested to be relieved of the Chairmanship of the State Democratic Executive Com mittee. It is difficult to spend four years in such a position, devotina uij and energy that this requires without having soms strong feeling in departing; however, as of August 24 I have served two full terms as chairman and feel that the time is now to make way for new direction. Jim, it was a great victory for you in the primary I hope the new chairman will contin ue with the effort for Unity among all fractions of our party. Time is of the essence. The election is upon us and we should move to make the transition without the slightest sign of hesitation or division. The staff and headquarters await a new chairman. The records are in excellent condi tion. Hopefully, the State Democratic Executive Com mittee will move to schedule a meeting no later than Septem ber 18 for the purpose of accepting this resignation and for whatever other action it deems desliable. Your commitment to the well being of the Staff and to keeping it intact is greatly appreciated, They have been simply great over the past four years and deserve to be treated with the same respect and dignity that -they have treated the trust that has been I’m grateful for the oppor tunity to have made some contribution to the good of this great State and Nation. I have had to make some hard political decisions in the past four years, but I sincerely felt that these decisions were made on the basis of what was good for the Democratic Party and were not for any personal gain or good. Jim, under your leadership North Carolina can move for ward again after four years of total stagnation under this Republican administration. I pledge to continue my active participation on behalf of the Democratic Party and its nominees. My position re mains that of standing ready to be of any assistance to you or your staff at any time. Warmest personal regards, James R. Sugg Educational Views By Dr. Do Iron Brooks YOU HAVE TO ACT TO HAVE SUCCESS What is true with success is that students should be willing to make a few mistakes to suffer a little pain in order to get what they want out of education. Don’t sell yourself short, or allow other people to. The actual truth of the matter is that students don't know how brave they really are. In fact, many students live out their lives in self doubt. It is 1 ture that they have resources; however, one never knows until he acts. Many of the students that 1 knew in high school had success in education. They will tell you that you have to act. Dr. Gerald Maynor. back in 1960, would travel from Pem broke to Appalachian State Teachers College on a Satur day to get four hours credit on a Master’s Degree. Appala chian State is 250 miles one way, requiring an early morn ing start to get up there to attend an 8:00 a.m. class. Dr. Martin L. Brooks has gone without food to have success in the medical field. (1 know because I lived with him.) Mr. Jack Lowry, who is now a lawyer, left Pembroke, quit his job at Magnolia High School and started out for law school. All of these men have dared to act and find success in their areas of interest. One of the most impressive events that has affected my life is the book I Dare You. This book was brought into the Agriculture Department at Pembroke High School in 1952. Dr. English E. Jones says, “Boys, I dare you to be a doctor-just any kind of doc tor.’ What a challenge! I remember that I looked around in that room there were Jimmy Jones. Gerald Maynor, Wally Maynor and myself. All have gotten their doctorates and are working in universities throu ghout North Carolina. To obtain this tool of educa tion you have to act. It does not come by chance, but rather by design and much action. ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE Romans 2:1 “Therefore, thou art inexcusable, o man.” God said we are without excuse when we sin and claim we don’t know if it is right or wrong. You know and I know if it is right or not, whether we are Christians or sinners. When you do something good, you tell everyone and when you do something bad, you try to hide it. God created man in his own image. And he gave man a mind. In doing so , he would have understanding and de- scretion so that in his life now he can acknowledge his sins and be forgiven through the blood of Jesus. If man did not know, how would he know what to confess? Paul said in Romans 1:19 “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them.” Then why is sin so strong today in people’s lives: Because God has given them up to vice affections of their own desire or lust of their heart. I was at a store the other night. I have been there several times, making a pur chase and leaving. But this time as I was standing at the counter, I saw some young people gather at the book stand in this store. As I looked at such filthy, rotten trash, I was shocked at the books on display. I even asked the other person with me had I seen what I thought I had seen. Before 1 would go into a place like that again, or let one of my children, I would perish. You people who sell such filth to these young people, you are going to stand before God Almighty. Before I would sell such trash as that for a living, I would dig ditches. I heard the old saying, if I don’t they’ll go some place else and someone else would will sell to them. Well, let some one else be the one to answer to God. If we get enough of these someone elses, we’ll soon have this trash off the book shelves. You older people, it is never the young who sell this mess, beer liquor, it is always the older people. Then when you see these young people drunk, or locked up for a crime, you turn your head. You should take a good look and see what you are doing. I use to wonder when a. young person got killed in a wreck and it was reported he was under the influence of alcohol, if it ever bothered the people who sold it. But it doesn’t. Because it is greed, the love for money. You say, one day I’ll change. Have you ever though that you could be reprofated: Because of your unbelief. In Romans 1:24 “Wherefore God gave them up.” I believe we have people t^ay who God have given up because the word here says so. The word tells me one day we will all come before God and all the things we did here on earth wrong will have to be accounted for. It will be bad enough when you leave here for your own sins, but having done something to cause some one else to go before God unprepared. You better check now and see if you have enticed or sold things to cause someone to go to hell. The Bible says that children are his heritage and to offend one of his little ones it is better if a mill stone were tied to your neck and you were dropped in the sea. (Luke 17:2) These young people don’t enjoy sin. They are caught in Satan’s ring. They were bom in sin, but theyarelooking for a way out and they won’t find it as long as you add fuel to the fire. We, who are Christians, can help by living a Christian life, not by joining them. Some of you ministers would do well to preach some of this in your church. Some of you can’t for fear of losing what few you have and fear the people will quit (tithing. Well, they should. If my children were out there in sin and lost on their way to hell and you showed no more interest than I have seen, I wouldn’t pay you either. Nor would I listen to your sermon. We have many today who are as Amos said in 6:1. “Woe to them who are east of Zion.” There are many who are east of Zion. Everything is alright- see nother, hear nothing, say nothing. You sit in your sofa recliner which is self adjusted, you get relaxed, two cars in the garage, the church paying all the bills and people dying and going to hell.And you can’t see for the air condition er is wide open and the whole house is clouded. If in your church, the young people are not your concern, then you have not waged a war on sin. Then ye rejoice in nothing, A thing of nothing. Sing all the songs you want, preach all you want, except the Lord build the house, it is in vain. Psalms 127:1. Yours in Christ EvangelinTed Brooks Thursday, September 2, 1976 an excepnon ro rhe rule -AN EDITORIAL OPINION- There will be three interesting run offs September I4 in Robeson County. Two of the races concern the voters of the Rowland and Fairmont Commissioner Dis tricts only. In the Rowland Commissioner District . Thomas McCallum, a Black, is challenging top vote getter, J.W, Hunt, an Indian. The incumbant, George Reed Pate, was toppled in the August 17 primary. The Carolino Indian Voice would be remiss if we did not say, editorially, GOOD RID DANCE! Mr. Pate, for his own reasons, according to our observations, did not re flect the thinking of the minorities in the Rowland Commissioner District . The Rowland Commissioner District will elect a commissioner of their choice, one that they feel will reflect their thinking. That is as it should be. The incumbant, although losing in the primary, garnered enough votes in the Fair mont Commissioner District to challenge the front runner, Thomas Jones. That race will pit Jones against the incumbant, Carl Britt. Minorities Con Moke A Forceful Statement In The Race For Register of Deeds J. Earl Musselwhite has called for a run off against long time Robeson County Register of Deeds, D.G, Kinlaw. Minor ities hold the key to victory and can choose the man of their choice, if they want to. J. Earl Musselwhite finished second to Kinlaw in the recent primary. An Indian, James B. Locklear, finished out of the money although he secured a sizable num ber of votes. Now it is between two Whites. D.G. Kinlaw and J. Earl Musselwhite. Musselwhite, a veterans affairs officer, served as mayor of Lumberton for eight years. He was a mayor for all the people, not just for one segment of the citizenry . Musselwhite is popularly referred to as “the housing mayor." He brought, with help from man> quarters, low rent housing to Lumberton. Low income Indians and Blacks, mostly in Precinct 6 (predomi nately Black) and Precinct 7 (predomi nately Indian) benefitted tremendously frorH'his years in office. They became part of city government. Precinct 6 & 7 became integral parts of Lumberton proper under Musselwhite’s administration. Musselwhite appointed Indians and Blacks to Lumberton city boards, organi zations, and commissions. Indian and Black policemen were added. He made Lumberton a city for all the people. I sincerely believe that J. Earl Mussel white is an exception to the general rule. He is a White who has attempted to make Indians and Blacks a part of democratic government in Lumberton. I believe he would do the same county-wide. One indi cation of his committment to government for all the people is the fact that he was front runner in precincts 6&7 in the recent pri mary and lost to Kinlaw in his own Liim- berton precinct. That is interesting and worth noting. It seems that Indians and Blacks can make a statement in this particular race. If they support Musselwhite. the statement will be that a White who treats Indians and Blacks decently can be elected to public office. If he loses, the exceptions to the general rule will he wary ot invoh ing minorities in coiiif ty denwcracy. Musselwhite's loss would say. quite clearly, that it does not pay to be fair and honorable to minorities. Let us stale, unequivacably. in the run off September 14. that it is good politics to treat minorities with respect and consider ation. Whites will watch rhe race for register of deeds closely. They will find out whether or not the \otcs of Indians and Blacks are necessaiA to achic\e \ietory in this or an\ election f
Sept. 2, 1976, edition 1
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