V
Rev MARTIN LUTHER
KING. Jr.
1929 1968
"FREE AT LAST. FREE AT LAST.
THANK GOD ALMIGHTY
I'M FREE AT LAST
What Of The
"And they said one to another, behold, this
dreamer cometh.
"Come now therefore and slay him .and
we shall see what will become of his dreams."
-Genesis 37: 19-20
The anniversary of the birth of Reverend
Martin Luther King, Jr., will be observed in
many places, in many ways, by many people
on Saturday, January 15, 1977. What will be
come of his dreams?
Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in
Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. After
completing an outstanding academic career at
Morehouse College and in universities in
Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, he went to
' pastor Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in
Montgomery, Alabama.
It was in Montgomery that Martin Luther
King, Jr., gained national prominence as a
non-violent civil rights activist. The Montgo
mery bus boycott is still regarded as the
catalyst in the ;.eivil rights -struggle of the v
'60s. " .
From Montgomery, King went on to
form the Southern Christian Leadership Con
ference and led numerous civil rights marches
across the' south and eventually to Washing
ton D. C, where he delivered his memorable
"I Have A Dream" speech in which he cast a
gauntlet before us, individually and collec
Foodstamps An
The Department of Human Re
sources has announced that $145.2
million in Federal funds was brought
into the state of North Carolina by the
Food Stamp Program during the 1975
76 year. The money was spent in gro
cery stores throughout' the 100
counties of the state.
Many people do not realize what a
boost the Food Stamp Program is to
the state's entire economy. Sometimes
we only see the very few people who
may be securing Fpod Stamps ille
gally. All welfare recipients are eligible
for food stamps, but only about one
half of them actively participate in the
program. The majority of the recipients
are low-income people, NOT ON WEL
iliingj You
MATZaiGER...
nr.
VENTIONHEREFUSD AN OFFER OF $ 1000. & YEARS LATER
ON MARCH 20f 1883, HE PATENTED A gW ONE -A SHOE LAST
ING MACHINE THAT REVOLUTIONIZED THE INDUSTRY ALL AROUWDi
THE WORLD I
j ,
iijiiiiiijitiiftijtiiiHiwinjmui
Dream?
tively, to remove man's inhumanity to man.
He was fatally gunned down in Memphis,
Tennessee in 1968 by the very violence he de
plored and long before his dreams were to be
realized.
Those who so loudly did and still do pro
claim King's greatness must ask, nine years
later: What has become of his dreams? Much
has been accomplished, but far more remains
to be accomplished. The fight is not over. The
gauntlet waivers perilously today. It is impera
tive that King's legacy not drift into oblivion
for such would spell doom for all mankind,
not just the black and poor.
On this Saturday, January 15, 1977, may
we. each rededicate our efforts to the peace,
freedom and justice for all mankind for which
Martin Luther King gave his life. We can do
more than "see what will become of his
dreams." We can and must work and fight to
their fulfillment, to hasten "the day when all
of God's children will be able to sing with new
meaning:' -
v . If , ;,- . ,. f .
' m .S jr': a " " ' ..4 '. '
'My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Oftheelsing:
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountain-side
Let freedom ring.' "
Economic Boost
FARE.
During fiscal year 1975-76 recipi
ents in North Carolina paid $78.3
million dollars for $223.5 million
dollars worth of Food Stamps.
The $145,2 million in Federal
funds stimulated three dollars for
each one dollar in the overall boost
to the economy, according to a recent
study. ' '
Families who may be eligible
should investigate the Food Stamp pro
grams in their county. This will assure
more of the basic foods needed for well
balanced family meals.
Without a doubt, good nutrition
is basic to productivity and accom
plishment in schoofaftdn the job.
S Wd Kno;?
, . Hk CAME TOTHE j.FR0M
DUTCH GUIANA IN THE EARLY 1870
WENT TO WORK IN A SHOE FACTORY
IN LYNN; MASS. AT AGE 25 AFTER 5
YEARS SPARE-TIME WORK ON AN IN-
iV"fr ltnf
I am strongly in favor of making Martin
Luther King, Jr's birthday a national holiday
but net for the reasons that are often given
to justify such a moment -us, indeed radical, .
departure from tradiLVm. ,
. The arguments I have Jteard from count
less Blacks ; are all based tqcn Dr., King's
' extraordinary contrbT.Y 10 his " people. .
There is also reference made ta the psycholo
gies! and symbolic significance of creatir g a
national holiday in. honor of a leader J ft ..." v
' minority that has suffered so many centuries '
of oppression and disoiirrination. , "
I find these arguments competing, but in
the end they are not sufficu': V: x t what is to
Np;.!v.f :m Italian or J2yf.j x. Irishman from
demanding similiar recognition? One could
arguo, I think correctly, that these minority
. groups of Americans have rot suffered nearly
as much hardship as have Blacks, and that,
therefore, creating a national holiday for Dr.
King would be a form of just compensation
for a people so sorely denied.
But douV hat the majority of Ameri
cans could be convinced that it is fair to single
out one minodty group above all. others for
special treatment. Nor do I think that creating
a national holiday for Dr. King would be an
adequate form of compensation. It would be
important as a symbol, but it wodd hardly do
mv..:b o end discrimination ird poverty. We
mould be wary of purely symbolic gains be
cause they may be taken h many people as
a substiution for the real thing: namely, thf
To Be Equal by veo:i t Jordan
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHNtllllfflllllllUU
Clacks and Carter's Cabinet Selections
Executive Director, National Urban league
In general, the response to Jimmy Carter's
Cabinet appointments has been favorable, with
some grumblings about some cf the designees
and considerably more than that about one of
them.
That's about par for the course; it's impossi
ble for any President to - satisfy everyone in
naming a Cabinet. The group assembled by Presi
dent elect Carter is at least as good as previous
Cabinets and a lot better than some of them.
The black presence in Cabinet-level posts
was limited in two - a bit less than what many
blacks ithoughtvould happen. But if the quantity
is less than expected, the quality is very high in
deed. Some people have attacked the appointment
, of Patricia Harris as Secn tary of Housing and
; Urban Development on the flimsy grounds that
4 slifcfs flat aiihpusing special But few of her pre- 'r
ls decessoh have been, and fq can match her com- '7
petence. She can be counted on to provide,
leadership in the fight to revitalize the cities.
The appointment of Congressman Andrew
Young to visible and critical 'J?f post has been
rightly; well received as evidence both of the
Carter Administration's determination to
conduct foreign policy on a more moral basis and
to reach out to the TT.'rd World. But few have
commented on the unique symbolism of this
outstanding appointment; twenty years ago there
Benjamin 1. Hoofis
imiiiiimiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiH
ft
"The myth and reality" of Big Government
charges are explored with a surgeon's scapel by
Senator Gary Hart (D., Colo.) in a ftpecch he de
livered before the Western Electronic Manu
facturers' Assn., earlier to 1976.
And I agree with most of his findings.I am
however, troubled that he did ' not emphasize
more the fact that individuals not corporations
now bear the brunt of current federal taxation.
But I found rome findings absolutely
astounding as I am certain you will. For exam
ple: "The Federal Bureaucracy, of course, is
people - federal employees In 1974, the Federal
Government employed about five million per
sons. But . . . . that was almost exactly the same
number of federal employees on the payroll 13
years earlier, back in the year 1961."
Moreover, Hart points out, not only has a
huge expansion in federal employment not
occurred, a significant numbe of important
government agencies are noticeably smaller.
For example, three major agencies are
smaller now than they were in 1961 - the
Department of Defense, Department of State
ana the Agency for International : Develop
ment (AID). The Departments of Interior,
Agriculture and Postal Service were also small
er in 1975 than in 1970.
, So while critics point out that new agencies
are created and others grow, they faQ to
mention an important'act: agencies also cut
back. Hart is relentless. He goes on: "One
statistically sound way to measure the size of the
bureaucracy is to compare it, year by year, with
the population. ;; ;
This tells he w many of each 1,000 citizens
are now working in government. In 1950 13 out
of every 1,000 persons were civilian government
employees. In 1955, 14 out of every 1,000 were
federal employees. Jumping 20 years later -. to
1975 - we discover the statistic is exactly the
same: 14 out of every 1 ,000 citizens nre civi-
lian employeis." '-..- : '---v .c v .;.
. The same with pirrcll. In 1950, the payroll
amounted to 16 per cent of the federal budget.
In 1960, it was 14 per cent, in 1975 it was 13
per cent. Sixty four per cent of the five million
federal employees in 1975 woiked in just one
huge agency: Department of Defense.
This amounts to 3.2 million - civilian and
citizens in uniform. But the next giant agency ;
is the U. S. Postal Service with about 700j000
kind of social, poli'ical, and ' economic
equality that was the objetfte of Dr. King's
struggle. - """";
There is a much more basic reason for '
, henoring Dr. King. More than any single in-,
dividual, he was L'r symbol of racial reconcili
ation, and if 'he races in America are not
reconciled with each- other this nation will
not survive: The division between Black and
white throughout American history forms the
core of our national drama ail,-as Gunnar
Myrdai points out long ago, is the .Ventral
dilemma of Ameri an life. Dr. King's life,
work, and dea'Ji demonstrated the way to
resolve that dUemma, and he should there
fore be honored bv the entire nation.
Dr. King was able to maintain a balance
in his life that is absent in the romantic and
often suicidal notions of many so-called re
- vuliitionaries and in the narrow world of :
.rvatives as well. He saw that democracy was
not a sham but a precious and fragile form of
government, and Iiat American society,
despite its terrible injustices, could be changed
through democratic struggle. His tremendous
achievements restored the fsiith of millions
, in the democratic process.
CHANGE FOR BETTER
He also saw that nonvkfo .-e was not
only morally necessary, but the only form of
social struggle that could clunge the society
for the better. If offers a way for the victims
of society to be truly free, for it is at once art
effective form of struggle and a guarantee that
were few places in the South were blacks could
vote and now a black southerner is America's
spokesman to the world!
The most controversial appointee is Griffin
Bell, Carter's selection for Attorney General
The attacks on Bell center on his personal friend
ship with Carter, (many believe the Attorney
General should be totally independent of ties
with his chief) his appeals court decisions, his
endorsement of Harrold Oirswell for the
Supreme Court, and his memberships in private
clibs that exclude blacks and Jews from
membership.
Some of these criticism are valid. T! e onus is
en Judge Bell to prove their implications wrong
through forceful action on enforcing civil rights
laws, cooperation with minority communities to
cut crime, and by appointing blacks arid women
to policy making posts in the Justice Depart-,
ment. . '
That Department has trad'tionally demon
strated a shameful neglect of blacks, even in the
days when professed liberals ..were running it.
Only a bare handful of blacks held high posts in
Justice even in the days of the Kennedy-Johnson
Administrations.
The focus, on private clubs' discrimination
is useful. The controversy over Judge Bell's club
memberships finally put a national sportlight on
such discrimination. These clubs are more than
Big Government"
employees. The Postal Service is three times
larger than any other agency, except Defense.
HEW - the welfare giant - has only 139,000
employees and Treasury, a total of 126.000.
Sc most of "Big Government" is em
ployed largely in Defense and delivering the
mail. "Big Government" charges apply more
accurately to the state and local governments
than to the federal. Hart points . out that in
"1960 there were about 5.5 million state and
local government n ployees. By. 1975 thnt had
more than doubled to 11.7 mulioii'. tlds growth
occuned not in distant Washington, but in the
government closest to the peope$"
Most local government workers (nearly half)
were employed as teachers or in outer support,
roles in nur educational system. About one
million &t police and another million are fire
men. ,
So the majority of local and state govern
ment employeees are ii the educational and se
curity systems of local governments. A much,
smaller number is employed in the delivery of
welfare and other social services. .
-
Gary, takes a whack at charges of "Big
Govemiaent" spending. In 1952, federal bud
giX was about 19 per cent o'the nation's gross
national product. In 1973, the percentage
amounted to 20.9 per cent of the national
budget, or just about the same. V
l In 1951 the Federal Government collected
about 20 cents of every dollar of . goods and
services produced in the US. A deca'le later,
the collect.'on percentage was the same. In 1973,.
however, the government took 21 cents in every
dollars. ...
But in concrete terms federal tax burden has
not changed significantly in 25 yean. Only the
burden h? been shifted from corporations to
Individuals. In the three critical areas, then hi un-
masks "Big Governnwnt" charges as unfunded.
The "federal bureaucracy is not an ex
panding octupus,"vhe says, applying facts and
figures to my stubborn beliefs. "On the con
trary it Jh.is remained about the same size.
Federal spending'Tias grown in proportion with,
th ecnemy and inflation - maintaining a '
' the victims will not become the new .;.
' ors. '
; And Dr. King maintained his faith in in
tegration throughout his life. The ideal of in
- tegraticn has been attacked from many sides
' in recent years,' and yet the vit.'erce and the
; hatred that have been associated with these
attacks have only proved how vital inte
gration reg ains as an objective . Racial barrie 3
'jiii ttever lead to ra:? ! pace but only to
6 endless conflict. Building a single society is
net a choice but a necessity. 1 f ' r;
' ' Dr King was a rr an of love, and for that
he was loved, hzted and mocked. We should
appreciate the spiritual side of his nature
withoursentimenta'izing itr for-hevas also
acutely aware of the economic context in
which people live. He believed not only in
brotherhood, but also in the redistribution
of wealth, and he engaged in struggles toward
that end. He recognized the need for a social
and eoon iriuc program, withou: vhich we will
never solve the basic problems of our society.
Dr. jfing was a man for all of us. He
challenged what is worst in our society by
appealing to what is best in our natures.
Though he is no longer with us, he still sym
bolizes our hopes and our ideals, the ideak
of equality,, freedejn, and peace. By
honoring him America would f; t doing justice
to itself, for it would be creating a symbol -a
day of national obswvitce - of how we
must beluive toward one another if we are
ever to realize the principals upon which this
nation was established.
just social; they're the place where
e elite of
industry "meet and shape policies..
'Minorities
boned from membership find their
career pros-
peas iirrutea oecause tney re cut o
from con-
tacts with their white peers.
The real focus should not be on Judge Bell
he's resigning from his cluSs. The real issue
should be the continued existence of discrimina
tory practices by private clubs whose "social" as
pects also involve informal decision-making that
affects many areas of our lives.
It should be recognize that many people
who i thinj; of .themselves as libera! and as
enlightened or. race belong to clubs that bar Jews
and blacks from membership. I know lots of pro
minent people, among them many I count as
friends, who- belong to clubs that are segregated.
New York and Washington are full of such clubs
' and it might be more graceful for some of Judge
' BeiTs critics to resign from their own clubs be
fore 'cistfnjr' stories. .umnn.
Perhaps ths 's an issue that should be on the
Attorney-General's agenda - an investigation of
segregated clubs with a view to determining
whether any of them benefit from governmental
concessions in violation of laws that bar dis
crimination. Such an investigation might help keep the
harsh glare of publicity on the undemocratic
practices still common to the higher echelons of
our society.
FCC
Commissioner
(
13
7
roughly constant share of our output of goods
and services. ,
I have always felt, as does Senator Hart, that
the problem of "Big Govemmert."' really is the
expectations of our citizens. Big Government
promises so much, it raises our expectations it
cannot deliver, thus the public is highly dis
llusioned. For a liberal Senator, Hart is taking a con
servative stance: people in a society that no
longer has an unlimited frontier must begin to
rely more on hemselves. I share ihat view. I
cb not believe, however, that the burden of
federal taxation should be shifted from cor
poration who are best equipped to pay, to in
divldajils, who may not be so well equipped.
LEXUSTIN-
Editor- PubiUher, 1927-1971'
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