Page 4 . The Chronicle. Saturday, January 19, 1960
view JM
Ernest H. Pitt
bBBBMBU Editor/Publisher
Yvette McCnDoag
HkI Pnhikhfi-*f AMMtadM City Editor
I Article X, Section 2 of the By-Laws of the
I Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Company, Inc.
The Winston-Salem Chronicle shall strive, as far
8 as possible, to be a fair, objective and independent
newspaper. It shall stand for the oppressed, to bring
Profiles in
The howl&of politicians have been heard from coast to
coast in response to the news that some of the public
assistance recipients receiving special energy assistance
do not Actually pay their utility bills.
'.?! 'It's a waste, a giant rip-off, the government is
throwing away tax dollars,' they chanted in unison.
Ac a 11U r\f tkn. J!J ? * * * '
- >v?un vi mai wuuwiusiun, mcy oia say mat nao
regulations been drafted more stringently, those persons
actually paying utilities might have been able to receive
: more assistance. Instead they said, "Let's get rid of the
program altogether
Memories are very short. Had those who have been so
quick to shoot off their mouths paid attention recently,
they would have learned about the recent rent refunds
settlement for Section 236 apartment complexes.
Persons who lived Section 236 housing duirng a
three-year period are getting the money because the
U.S. government declined to pay appropriated funds to
apartment managers to cover rising utility costs.
The rationale behind the payoff is that managers had
to pass along rent increases To meet the costs, meaning
that whether the residents actually paid the utility or not,
they had to pay more because of increased energy costs.
In the same way, the cost of housing, transportation,
food and everything else poor people have to buy has
/ Genie in
A glass at\ tim$ or a sip at a time, alcohol seems
harmless, but cumulative effect of alcohol on
individuals and sddety represents one of the greatest
' mental health problems facing the state of North
Carolina. \
Alcoholism costs S7(Xk million, or S135 for every man
woman and child in the\state. Just at the tip of the
iceberg is $15.5 million spent for direct rehabilitation and
treatment services by state government.
Add to that funds spent by local governments and
private agencies, ine cost or law enforcement services
and courts for the Overwhelming number of domestic
offenses and assaults which stem from liquor doing the
thinking, instead of brains.
Incalculable is the human costs which the 150,000
alcoholics or problem drinkers levy on their family,
neighbors and co-workers.
Pregnant women who drink may be creating birth
c
?Ret
With all the unrest in
I the Middle East includl
I II <and the Soviet incursion
i|||K ? into Afghanistan, there
3 ' 1 k- IP has been increased talk
Will ffi reinstating the mili
jftflj ,|?h Jetway Shopping,Center
H g*Cf SE H ~^e way it stands we're
K Mw& wH going to end up with an
IB H *U black, all poor Army.
law. The people who
couldn't afford to re?r?-v..
... ^ locate to Canada had to
go or go to jail.
Mkheal Ray Moore -As
blacks in America,
V
y ^ ^
<p
?ints
rnixied W4 VlSwf 3
, ..... Coxfc*
Ndubfsl E-craony?
_ Presid c nt John W. Temple ton
Executive Editor
h Robert EOer L. Pitt
Sports Editor Office Manager
hope to the forsaken and be an advocate for good and
noble causes. It shall use its might to bring hope to
the hopeless and light where there is darkness.
A -.-J i ? J.! A.1. _ t A- * ^
/miu in ooing uns, nope id contriDute to tne general |
well-being of humanity.
MMMMMMMMMMMNMMMNMNMMMMHMHMMNMMMMHMMKai
Piousness
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risen because of the energy crunch.
But, AFDC payments, for instance, have only risen
once in North Carolina in recent years, a five per cent
increase enacted in the current budget.
f? t. * -
in as mucn as tne people receiving automatic
assistance are all on either AFDC or SSI, or both fixed
income programs, it takes a particularly narrow-minded
person to begrudge them a couple hundred dollars, just
because of the particular hole their money is being
sucked into.
There is a valid issue involved with the supposed
mixup. Congress simply waited until the very first day of
winter to approve a bill that would provide energy
assistance to the poor.
Agencies involved from the federaf government down
to local public and anti-poverty agencies had mere days
in which to put together procedures for distributing
millions of checks before the winter would be over.
There was nSsvay every possible contingency could
"have been plannedTorlrTsuch a snort time^
Considering the impact of energy policy on the pootf is
the way to address the problem in a timely fashion.
Demogoguery will not bring that about, ^wjironly
deepen the divisions in our society.
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a Bottle
Cb
defects for children yet unborn.
Fortunately, most people who drink are able to use
good judgment, finding their limit and sticking to it.
It is the one in ten who do not who pose such a problem
for everyone else.,
January 20-27 has been proclaimed Alcoholism
Awareness We$k in North Carolina. The week is a time
when you should evaluate whether your family and
friends are beginning to make use of alcohol as a crutch.
Watch whether .that "just one last drink" gets
repeated over and over again; watch whether there are
abnormal shifts in behavior.
If you defect such signs, refer your loved one or friend
to the excellent alcoholism program operated by the
Forsyth-Stokes Mental Health Authority or one of the
Employee Assistance Programs operated in several of
the citv's largest firms.
It has now been recognized that alcoholism is a disease
that needs treatment, the sooner the better.
A
turn Draft?
what i are we going to
fight for. That, Shah,
who's the cause of the
hostages being taken,
. I'd send him, back just
like that., Don't draft us,
just let the two presi* J N Mm
dents go out there and
fight. They either put a
black woman on birth
control or send a black mk
man to 41
. 4. , Farmer
Anthony Fanner - 1
don't think they should
reinstitute the draft because
the draft itself
pulls someone against
his will and there's nothing
he can do about It.
That defies some of our
constitutional guaran- -s. -^ V
tees.
Evelyn Andersen - I m
don't think they should
they say at one time that
the war was over? We
dent did. It's his jnis_
take or whoever's mistake.
Anderson
J
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: k
Congress' calculated insults to blacks and minorities
are becoming more frequent, the latest being its
rejection of the proposal to make January 15, Martin
Luther King Jr.'s birthday, a national holiday. .
Passage of the bill in the House of Representatives
seemed possible, but then, when the bill hit the floor, a!!
sorts of phony excuses were invented for hot v oting for it.
? After a counterproposal to make the holiday one of those
Sunday non-events was introduced, the sponsors of the
bill rightly withdrew it.
Making the King Birthday a Sunday holiday would put
it on par with other routine "Days0 ignored by all. Martin
Luther King Jj., black people, and all believers in the
message of nonviolence and racial equality deserve
better.
in fact, the nation would be well-served by making
January 15 a national holiday.
It would be an act of homage to the greatest American
of modern times, a symbolic assertion of the vast
contributions blacks have made to America, and a
substantive commitment to the humane values that
inspired Dr. King and, for a brief time at least, his fellow
^.citizens.
King's stature is indisputable. His moral leadership
inspired the nation. His courageous non-violent
strategies toppled the institutions df segregation.
His contributions to the entire world, a world hungry
for spiritual and humane leadership, was recognized by
his 1964 award of the Nobel Peace Prize.
There are those who object to a national holiday in his
honor on the grounds that he was an ethnic leader and if
Dr. King is so honored, other groups will come forward
with parochial claims.
That's the kind of argument that"'can't be taken
seriously, even if its adherents are temporarily in the
majority on Capitol Hill.
The very fact that he led black people, the nation's
largest and most influential minority, through a period of
peaceful revolution, is a strong claim for honoring him.
This America that has treated its black citizens so
Hs
Rep. Charles Diggs, D -Mich., and Rep. Louis $tokes,
D -Ohio, are probably more interested in the outcome of
the 1980 Census than the average American.
The?e two members of the Congressional Black
Caucus have the dubious distinction of representing the
districts which experienced the second and third greatest
population losses between 1970 and 1978. Diggs'
constituency, for example, .dropped a whopping 28.7
percent.
Four other black members of Congress-from Michigan,
Illinois and MarylaricU-also made the ji$t of
representatives whose district population declined in the
first eight years of the 1970s.
Black legislators are well represented on another
list-that of the smallest-population districts among the
435 members of the lower house.
Ohio's Stokes has the fourth-smallest constituency*>
Housing
Nothing is more important for black families' survival,
than the continued existence of decent, liveable and
affordable housiflg in the urban environment. Whether
within the all-black ghetto or in an integrated or largely
white community, black families cannot hope to build
viable neighborhoods without access to houses or
apartments at reasonable rates. Unfortunately, a
combination of factors conspires against this pursuit oi
decent housing.
What is the reality of black housing in urban areas
today? * The statistics speak clearly for themselves.
About 40 percent of all blacks live in homes that are over
40 years old. Blacks' homes are over twice as likely to
have non-working plumbing, poor construction or other
structural flaws than whites' homes a situation created
by speculators and real estate brokers, and perpetuated
by a racist economy as a whole.
Black families are forced to exist in smaller and ,
smaller areas, segregated through zoning patterns on
the basis of race and class. According to a recent
newspaper account, a recent study by the Regional Plan
Association of New York City shows that two thirds of the
total black population of that city live on only 1.35
plj I
Overdue J I
harshly needs to make a strong symbolic gesture that I
reaches across Jhe troubled past with new hope for the I
future. A Martin Luther King Jr. Day would do just that.
Through such a gesture, the nation would be striking a
great blcAv for the pride of all its, neglected people.
!t would t staying in the most effective way, that it too
honors and venerates the memory of this great black
leader. I
But Martin Luther King Jr. belongs to all Americans.
His efforts to free black people from the vicious heel o?
segregation resulted in freeing all Americans from, the ^ I
economic, social and moral wounds it ii^licted on the
nation. ? ?_ j~ I
The South especially, should exalt Dr. King and
support a national holiday in his honor. For the changes
he helped bring about provided the impetus for the
enormous and healthy changes that have taken place J
there.
In fact, Dr. King belongs to the world. His
commitment to non-violence, his moral leadership, and
his inspiring message of faith penetrated into every
nation on the globe. His name symbolizes the best in
America even in places that proclaim their dislike of our
^vuvivs auu jjaai.
It's hard to think of another American in our history
who has meant so much to so many people at home and
abroad. His life and his work inspire everyone who
believes that all mankind is bound together in a chain of
interdependence and mutual need.
In a world torn by terror and destruction, in a world
torn by violence and oppression, he showed that by !
following a nobler, more moral path, people could free
themselves from hate?and?complicity with evil.
Our America still needs to learn his lesson; it still
needs to heal its racial wounds and become whole again.
And an important step toward that wholeness would
be to make January 15 a national holiday honoring the
birthday of a true national hero - Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.
When 1 4
iyuu IVU I
347,000. Shirley Chisholm, D-N.Y., represents only
372,000 souls. William Clay, D-Mo., serves only 378,000
ci&ens of the "Show Me" state. Charles Rangel,
D-N.Y., has only 380,000 Manhattanites in his district
and John Conyers, D-Mich., has only 389,000 Detroiters.
' The Census Bureau emphasizes that these figures are
estimates only, mandated by federal election laws which
require publication of population figures for campaign
spending purposes.
But whether accurate or not, they add up to difficulty
for the Congressional Black Caucus and are a serious
threat to the limited representation of blacks in
/s -
L0flgf?5. ?
The "provisional estimates" also present a quick look
at where America is growing and going.
Three-fourths of the .nation's 435 congressional
See Page 6
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H H
J w
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percent of the total land area. Tfyose geographic
proportions are worse than the restrictions placed on
African blacks who dwell in the Bantustans of South
Africa. |
Part of the reason for the urban housing crisis rests
squarely on the pattern of racist politieaand policies of
the federal government. In 1950, the TtVpartment of
Housing and Urban Development initiated atid complet
i r a . .. ? - *
ca ou sxuaies criticizing racist housing practices.
Since 1954, H.U.D. has conducted only one study dealihg
specifically with racist housing market patterns.
According to a recent report of the U.S. Civil Rights
Commission, H.U.D. has seldom been aggressive in
attacking discrimination in public housing., The Fair
Housing Act, passed by the Johnson Administration in
1968, conspicuously does not cover any discrimination
for owner-occupied dwellings with four units or less I_
one single category that includes millions of apartments
and houses in cities throughout the country. As Civil
Rights Commission director Arthur Fleming stated
recently, "the federal government must accept most of
the blame for the lack of progress in this major civil
See Page 5
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