PAGE 4 ' " :,t WINSTON-SALEM
CHRONICLE
NDUBISI EGEMONYE CHARLES T. B^RD, JF
* * ' " ' * * V
Publisher - - ?^ . Business Editor
t'
ERNEST H. PITT
. Editor-in-Chief ' / " -A V
ISAAC CARREE, II CHRISTOPHER BENJAMIN
Advertising ' Circulation Manager
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. ' r" "" *' V
Impact Of The Black Vote
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It is clear from past experience that election ahalysits will
deduct a lot from the recent North Carolina primary election.
One only hopes that the impact of the black vote in that election
is given the attention that it rightly deserves.
Whatever anybody may think or say, one thing is very clear:
no one who is seriously considering elective office here can
afford to ignore the black vote. It just may well happen that the
black vote will be the difference between a win or a loss in all
future "elections.
It is with this in mind that all black people must register and
vote in all elections. Until those seeking public office realize
wbat impact the^ black vote has on-tbe4*^prospect-to winv very
few of them will care to address themselves to the issues that
concern the interests of black people.
Up until now. some office seekers have handled the issue of
the black vote like a young man dating an ugly girl: sneaking
behind the back door and refusing publicly to identify w ith the
issue. What the black vote or lack of it will do in an election will
soon force some office seekers to come out into the open and
court the black vote. Like everybody else, black voters will then
demand that their interests be protected, that issues that
concern them be openly discussed, and vote seekers come to
them like they go to every other voters.
But until black voters register and vote like they are supposed
to do. let no OHP pvnprt It n/vt r\
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handlers* and everybody else will continue to be seen and talked
to before we are considered. The point is that those other people
register and vote. We too can do the same. And our votes make
a lot of difference.
Sudden Exit Wilson
The sudden resignation of Mr. Harold Wilson as the prime
minister of Britain was not as unexpected as some will have us
believe. The barometer of British opinion w as clearly reading a
sign of danger for the Labor Party and Mr. Wilson in England.
A week before his resignation the government w hich he headed
was defeated in a maior debate in the RritUh
--- w > i% IUII A Ul IIUlllVIIll
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, Ordinarily, this kind of defeat would have meant the resignation
for Mr.'Wilson's government according to British parliamentary
-v procedures. But d vote of confidence &dfed him from that
^ embarassment the next time. That Mr. Wilson chose a week
after that vote to resign is not probably without reason.
True. Mr. Wilson ruled Britain longer than any other prime
; minister inthe post World War England. He had involved in the
politices of Great Britain for about 30 years and for eight years
< had been the prime" minister of that* country. As the leader q1
British Labor Party, he led his party to election victories at a
trying and difficult time for his country. He was a strong
; advocate of the Common Market and stood for a greater tie witfi
the rest of Europe^ < .>
. But there are observers who see Mr. Wilson's recenl
, resignation as that of a captain abandoning ship in the middle 61
a storm. The British pound is at all time low. British economy is
7.'at a low ebb. It was during Mr. Wilson's primership thai
?
See EDITORIAL Page 5
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do not necessarily represent the policy of this
ig newspaper.
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To Be Equa
Perhaps the most insistent (
of all the demands for t
government subsidies comes
from the arts community. r
From theatre groups to I
symphony orchestras, the
well-documented financial
pinch causes performers and
administrators to look for
r
oufside funds to keep culture ^
alive.
F
Few people would argue p
against more public support t
for cultural institutions, but t
many would suggest that such c
institutions, devoted as they a
are to humane instincts, have s
a special responsibility to c
overcome racial discrimination
in their ranks.
>
f Among the most blatant
t offenders in this area arc
r America's symphony Qrchcs,
tras. A recent study by the
f' %
National Urban League and t
the Symphony of the New
p. World', an integrated orches.
tra,. reveals a pattern of
t persistent exclusion of black
musicians.
if
The poll of 54 orchestras,
j including all of the major
ones, revealed only 67
:{: minority musicians out of a
total of almost 4.700.
;|r Nationwide, - minorities probably
account for less than
fa one-half of one percent of all
fa musicians employed by the
:j: country's 110 major and
fa Metropolitan orchestras.
1
This is a disgraceful record,
especially when one considers
fa that many of these minority
SATURDAY MARCH 27,1976
uses I
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S TO AN
?ST . ' FORP WS6C
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ihl 6 AN OCCASIONAL- 8
APPEAL TO
?G5 tN THE MAtNaTKC*
AN \c, JU ST TOO
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MAi VJY'OF VTS t^CT AS P
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I By Vernon Jord
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>erformers were hired relaively
recently.
And the question of
ninority hiring also goes
>eyond matters of equity -- it
s an economic issue as well.
The top 28 major symphony
orchestras spend over $75
nillion each year, much of it
or salaries. If only ten
percent or orchestral salaries
vent to minorities v a smaller
percentage than the proporion
of blacks in populations of
he cities served by those
orchestras -- it would mean
lmost $5 million dollars in
aiaries to the minority
(immunity.
i ? * . t
These major orchestras
totalled about 58 million in
government support and
played before nearly 11
million people Clearly they
qualify as public institutions,
that ought to be serving all of
the people, not only the
majority community.
' \
# <
Discriminatory patterns in
this field have been under
attack for years, but change
has been slow or nonexistent.
One major orchestra that
faced anti-discrimination suits
1 .
a few years ago still has only
one black membeK
i /
i. ' ;
The recent rise to prominence
of a number of fine
black conductors helps illustrate
how, even in the face of
rigid discrimination, black
musicians prepared themselves
for the most. difficult
and demanding of positions.
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There are black associate
conductors of some major
orchestras and Henry Lewis is
music director of the New
Jersey Symphony and a star at
the Metropolitan Opera.
Blacks are not newcomers to
the classical music scene. In
the mid-Nineteenth Century
blacks were regularly seen as
r ? - -
penormers and as soloists,
and after Jim Crow took over,
blacks were often prominent
in European musical circles.
The Symphony of the New
World is an example of an
integrated symphony orchestra,
with almost half of its
members drawn from minorities
and performing under the
leadership of a talented black
conductor Everett Lee. Incidentally,
Lee, like some other
black conductors, has led
concerts in Russia, while
American orchestras were
importing Europeans to conduct
them.
Discrimination in the concert
hall is no longer
conscious. Most orchestra
managers sincerely believe
they are "color blind/' but
they^have yet to understand
the importance of overcoming
the effects of blatant discrimination
of the past.
Orchestras, no less than
steel companies and banks,
have to inaugurate affirmative
action programs that will
, make their organizations more
representative of the communities
they serve.