WINSTOI
CHROl
_ ndubsi
Pa
- CHARLES T. BYRD, JR.
Business Editor
ERNEST
EdltOrWinston-Salem,
N.C.
V4/ T
Perhaps among the last -=^
black Americans who would
^ be wished to be dubbed o
"a leader"- at least in
the traditional sense of the
term of a hand-picked intermediary
for black Ameri
?? canr - is the ReverendTurd?
Honorable Benjamin L.
Hooks designated to succeed
Roy Wilkins as National
,director of the NAACP.
The 51 year old Dr.
Hooks serves presently as
the first black member of
the Federal Communications
Commission where his
outspoken and~ formidable
presence has brought about
the beginnings of immense
* n ?- - ?- A*
uiuige lur DiacKs in me
^ communications industry.
While to many Iwhite
Americans, the name of
Benjamin, Hooks is relatively
unknown, his writings
for the black press
upon a variety of subjects
has made him almost iikea
friendly and most helpful
weekly visitor in millions
of black America's homes.
Yet, in his new position
which holds 'unpar- .
ailed possibilities for enabling
and empowering
blacks to enter America's
mainstream, there are many
who will wonder what his
directorship will hold in
store.
By - way of response*. .
might recall the remarks oj^
Jesus where questioned^
about the qualifications of
John the Baptist, to whom
large numbers had gone to
his wilderness home to see. ?.
IpKIIK cftih' <4who* u/onf
? ?<T t<?? fTVIiV JT C
out in the wilderness to
see? A reed shaken by the
wind? A man used to the
easy life of the rich?
"But went ye out to
see? A prophet? Yea, I say
more than a prophet.0 .
T **
Now, much the Same
paraphrase may be made .
concerning Benjamin
Hooks: preacher of the
word of God, jurist, essayist,
entrepreneur, trustee of
colleges, leading member in
the National Bar Association,
ranking member
among black fraternal
groups, civic leader, civil serr(
WINST0N-SALE1
The Winston-Salem Chrc
Thursday hv tVm WinctAn c#
? ? ? ? j j v*i v f itti3 L VJ11 kj c
Company^ J[nc. Suite 603 Pep
St.,Mailing Address: P.O. E
N.C, 27102. Phone: 722-86:
i _ paid at Winston-Salem, N.C
Subscription: $8,32 per ;
(N.C. sales tax included).
Opinions expressed by col
do opt necessarily repres
Paper
\'
V-SALEM
NICLE
EGEMONYE
blisher
ISAAC CARREE, U
Advertising Manager
H. PITT*
In-Chief;
Saturday February 5, 1077
For NAACP
... and now directordesignate
of the National
office of the NAACP.
Dr. Hooks brings a broad
and rich experience to the
work the NAACP. While
the choice by the National
board of one of its own
members was unanimous,
no person in the NAACP
should be more pleased
than the present director,
Hoy Wilkins.
When a man's life and
work have been almost
synonymous, nothing could
~be more~rewarding than to
see one's work being placed
in the finest hands. This
deliciously rare experience
has come to Mr. Wilkins;*
and there could be no more
finer tribute and farewell
.to the current chapter of
Mr-Wilton's life.
During the years of racial
turmoil in the late 1950's
ana tn rough out the 1960's,
Dr. Hooks served faithfully
and aggressively as pastor
of churches in Detroit and
Memphis.
Not content with the
avenues for service afforded
by the pulpit/ Dr. Hooks
became a lawyer and, in an
almost phenonmenal way,
became a southern criminal
court judge, a banker, a
founding member of a
quick-food chain, a journ
ali^t of excellences ami
presiding officer of several
major black fraternal
groups.
Soft spoken yet firm
and aggressive, he promises
almost certainly to regionalize
the programming and _
outreach of the NAACP
a muve sumewnai away
from the rather doctrinnaire directions
of the past.
r*
The poet has written:
''New occasions teach
new duties;
* Time makes ancient
good uncouth."
In Benjamin Hooks, who
has been a part of the
best of the ancient good,
the new duties required
by new occasions will not
necessarily reflect negatively
upon the NAACP's revered
and worthy past.
MCHR0N1CIE I
inicle is published every
ilem Chronicle Publishing
>?er Building.JLQ2JWL 4th i
*ox 3154, Winston-Salem,
14., Second Class postage
27102.
/ear payable in advance
?
umnist in this newspaper
ent l the policy of this
%
Hum
The recent gains in employment
following the
"white ?recession"?"blackdepression"
in the national
economy have reflected yet
another major set back for
black Americans.
The current employment
figures indicate what,many
involved in affirmative action
for minorities have suspected
or feared would happen.
This has been a relatively
high rate of female
re-employment and a proportionate
loss in re-employment
by blacks.
* * *
What is implicit here is
the much-heralded myth ~
that women must often suffer
the double indignity of
being women and members
of racial, religious or ethnic
minority groups. The
implied conclusion is that
their circumstance is much
worse than that of black
males.
We need to disabuse ourselves
of such folly?which
is a costly twist, no matter
how one may look at it?that
black mates, incTudTng_especially
younger adult
males, are not the nation's"
most hard-pressed and hard
core unemployed.
Affirmative action programs
for fair hiring, rehiring
and upgrading cannot
i* '
uc ictuisuc wnue nnKing or
bumping women's needs?
>
7
r
. ___________ 0
*
MAI HMIHIV
r. Nathaniel Wright
an Rights Activist?
BLACK EMPLaYMENT LOSSES
whether black or white?
with those of black males.
This in no way suggests
that women are not victimized
sorely Jjy^emplo/ment
and upgrading^ discrimination.
What is at issue here is
the relative acuteness of the
problem.
Some years ago, both
John Dollard (who authored
Caste and Class in a Southm
* ~ ~
ern l oum) and Uunnar Myrdal
(of An American Dilemma
fame) suggested that the
discriminatory problems of
whites could be attributed
to class feelings which are
relatively flexible. Caste
feelings, by contrast, are
strongly inflexible and have
a kind of a "middle wall of
partition" between the insiders
and those kept out.
Black males are, then, in a
caste-like position. In any
assessment of the nation's
economic woes, we must be
clear about the type of
position in which blackmales
of all age categories
find themselves.
* * *
While the federal government
may not be in, a
position presently to hire
any relatively large number
^>Lthe most beieagured unemployed;
it should be evident
that whatever jobs that
arc available may be directed
toward th^se whose
?? " \ry?
I
i
i
>*"*
.
I
+
- - K
->
^ #>
'*
i
(
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmrnmi
(ERUGIT
t? Jr. ^
' ,
lack of employ .ent adds
most greatly to r he nation's
social costs.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation,
for example, is
conducting currently an extensive
job advertising campaign
for clerks and clerktypists
aimed at "all high J
school youth who may be"
willing to come to Washington."
A sound sense of the
nation's good, in terms both
pf lessening the taxpayers'
social welfare and criminal r
justice costs and of increasing
the possibilities for
urban peace, would suggest
that black media be utilized
to focus this appeal on our
most tragically alienated
citizens so far as the job
market is concerned.
jOn-^? ? -? *
" ? nivjuu training lor
file clerks and for clerk
typists would not be any
major problem. What is of
more immodiatc importance
is that the Washington,
'
D.C.-Baltimore-Wilming^ton-Philadelphia
area has
, more than enough unemployed
and discriminated
against black males to fill at
least the F.B.I.'s Rationally
advertised needs.
* * * *
# _ ... f.v - ?" -< "
\
J