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/ ~ ? Page A4 Winston-Salem Chrc Winston-Sal Found V.<\V ' : . ERNES Pub NDUBISI EGEMONYE Co-Founder ELAINE L. PITT Office Manager MICHAEL A. PITT Circulation Manager EDITORIALS Support VOtl WITH the scent of state activity ^already in the air, tto minded individual, church, b organization to support a seri increase the number of Afri important 1988 and 1989 elec And if ever there were t our political clout can and m two areT . In 1988, besides the raci races for governor, U.S. Hous Senate and House seats, thn ?andTour seats for the city/con The 1989 elections are cei Winston-Salem for mayor and \6ter registration alone, h accompanied by a heavy turn< al election days. But recen Americans, when motivated, heavily, increasing their polit nationally. In 1984, the biggest polil American community was the scientists Joseph P. McCorn Howard University attribut African-Americans in 1984 range of problems that confrc nity in the context of conventi itics." In the months leading up t American voter registration 21,878 in 1982 to 27,909 ii 6,031, according to data con Elections. Unfortunately, African-/ Winston-Salem dipped to 2( Mazie Woodruff narrowly 1 Commissioners. With the Rev. Jackson inc decide on an '88 candidacy o to think of the local political community can gain from another Jackson presidential r An intensified voter reg leaders in every responsible c nal group, could help our con political excitement generate arc tne potential political t African-Americans? First, an increased voter could also help the campaign ning for Forsyth County Co; -?ning for iht School Board a? Senate and House. Second, if the momentum surely benefit someone runnir \bter participation is a pri stitution. Demonstrating anc however, is guaranteed only b awareness and political educa for our social, political and e< all must share the load. As we await our favorite c dent, governor, mayor, count] other imnortant nffi^c ??-? vaaavwo jiaiw years, remember that we all h local organization prepares its ing year, let voter registratio be high on the list. Our community's future i your decision. ABOUT LETTERS The Chronicle welcomes le columns. Letters should be as < printed legibly. They also shoul telephone number of the writer. reserve the right to edit 1 Columns should follow th published if we feel that they a ership. ... b i * c micle Thursday, August 20, 1987 em Chronicle ed 1974 TH? PITT Jisher DENNIS C. SCHATZMAN Managing Editor JUUE PERRY Advertising Manager VINSON DEWBERRY Production Manager ^registration i i ? j ;, totai ana national election e time?is ripe for every civi<^_ lock club, social and fraternal ous voter registration drive to ican-American voters for the tions. wo important elections where \ust be demonstrated, the next e for president, there are the >e of Representatives, the state 5e county commissioner seats nty School Board; ???r tain to feature spirited races in L the Board of Aldermen. owever, means nothing unless Dut on both primary and genertt studies show that African, will register and vote more ical leverage both locally and :ical motivator in the Africani Rev. Jesse Jackson. Political lick and Robert C. Smith of ed Jackson's success among to "his ability to address the >nt the national black commuonal presidential electoral pol 0 the 1984 campaign, African- , in Winston-Salem rose from , 1 May. 1984% an increase of \p\led by the covmty Board of American registered voters in 5,309 in 1986, the same year ost her seat on the Board of licating, last week, that he will n or near Labor Day, we need benefits the African-American the momentum generated by un. istration drive, conducted by :hurch, civic, social and fraternmunity take advantage of this d by the Rev. Jackson. What >enefits for Winston-Salem's turnout for the Rev. Jackson s of an African-American run nmissioner, two or three runid "^ergflrunning for the~staie ~ carries through 1989, it would ig for mayor. vilege guaranteed by the Coni maintaining political clout, >y hard work, continuous voter tion. This is a job so necessary conomic advancement that we :andidates' intentions for presi/ commissioner, alderman and 1 for election in the next two ave a role to play. When your i activities agenda for the comn, education and participation may be greatly influenced by tters from its readers, as well as :oncise as possible and typed or Id include the name, address and letters for brevity and grammar, e same guidelines and will be re of interst to our general read j r- . * Cashing "Hope you're smiling. And, if not, remember: Every day above ground is a good one!" 1 reflected on that nice thought from a nice lady named Carla Yamile Valentine. Nice thoughts, of course, associate with one another I thought about Hispanics. After centuries of America's attempt to kill ethnic pride and confuse cultural pluralism with segregation (unless it crea ?i 1 - v aitu a puuucai ur a saies opponunuy;, the Hispanic population has dealt the American myth of cultural assimilation a great blow. Over the last few weekends, swarms of moviegoers, mostly Hispanic, have packed theaters across the country to see "La Bamba," the story of the late Ritchie Vales, the late Chicano rock star. "It is a film that might make a few Chicanos proud because one of their brothers was a vanguard force in the new and exciting music of the 50s," wrote one Hispanic reviewer. Hispanic ethnic pride put SI,005,695 into 85 theaters the first week in New York alone. It beat bigCoalitiofT Throughout Black America, progressive leaders and activistpolitical organizers, social workers, community mobilizers-are debating one fundamental question: where is Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition going, and what should be our strategy for 1988? The political strategies advanced to date fall into three categories. The smallest and least significant group adheres to an "antiRainbow" posture. Some of these activists have been burned by Jesse in the past, during his Operation PUSH stage, and they still don't trust the "Country Preacher's" judgement and motives. They argue that the Rainbow mobilization is taking place inside the Democratic Party, which is still dominated by white, corporate interests. Thus, we should steer clear of Jackson. This islTpurist annrnarh urhioh r?Armi?c prima -rr? wwvii *iiv?? ^vi iiiiij jviiiv African-American radicals to take a stance strictly in line with their ideology. But it is also a position which will isolate us from the majority of African-American working people and the poor. Others in this trend advocate an "abstentionist position"-that instead of committing ourselves to another national presidential campaign, we should instead be working in local progressive struggles outside of the electoral process. This approa&A, which implicitly rejects the electoral arena as a relevant or appropriate place for progressive activities, could be favored by some who are heavily involved in local social welfare work, and also in some African-American nationalist organizations which have never fully trusted Jackson. But few African-Americans will take these arguments seriously, since the net result would be almost identical to casting our support to the Republicans. We would throw way an effective tool to reach and mobilize mil? - ^ lions or people. A second group of AfricanAmerican "realists" and pragmatists also condemns Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition, but for very different reasons. These big city mayors, like Coleman Young of Detroit and Andrew Young of Atlanta, fm?? \ ^ ^ ^39[3l B^n*. > in on ethi TOMV RDn\A/KI ^ 1 ?/l\W If II Syndicated Columnist budget "Superman" at the box office. " 'La Bamba' Rhythmic," said "Variety." It hit the top of the charts in Los Angeles. Hollywood and white Americaexpend excessive energy attempting to convince non-whites that their respective cultures are not commercially viable, that they can only survive artistically if they "crossover." Crossover, of course, means that you must ignore the art forms and the people who made your "crossover" possible. ' . ' . It seems that African-Americans will never get that straight, but the Hispanics are certainly on the path to realizing it. Simply put, there is and will always be a thirst for what you are. An African-American couple on the movie screen - boy and girl fall in love; boy and girl break up; boy and girl get back together ? has to be more believable if you are an AfricanAmerican. Strategyr A I TUP AAI AR I IMP nhvnsy inc vvlvk lime By MANNING MARABLE argue that Jackson will never win; therefore, African-Americans must support a white liberal or even a moderate centrist who shares some of our beliefs, because he will be . able to win the general election. So these apologists for Gephardt, Biden, Simon and maybe even Sam Nunn will advocate not just a "lesser-evil" political position, but an odious political ploy which has us capitulating even before the electorate even has a chance to select a presidential nominee. Many African-American elected officials and most of the leadership of national civil rights organiza1 ITI5THe OPINION OF THIS I STATTOM,WAr^we F# I - ' jm JffmSwmSftSmi. uutwm**MiJF tions will be inclined to favor essentially this "realistic" response to the 1988 race, because all want to obtain political IOUs with the eventual Democratic party nominee. Their central dilemma is that Jackson's candidacy is endorsed by an overwhelming majority of their own constituents,their own marginal legitimacy vis a vis the African-American electorate. The third group, which represents the sentiments of the overwhelming majority , rejects the first two arguments. But we are obliged to point out the benefits, as well as risks, inherent in the Rainbow strategy of working inside the Democratic presidential primaries. One major plus to the electoral effort is that thousands of farmers, the unemployed, working people, the elderly, % 4 lie pride Since brown has turned green on the screen for Hollywood, the movie moguis win soon discover Uiat black turns green at the box office also. And while the $50-million "Ishtar" with "superstars" Dustin -Hoffman-and-Warren-Beatty-disap? Ipeared from the screens in four or five weeks, little old inexpensive (SI00,000) "Hollywood shuffle" is going strong in its 20th week. When African-Americans are accurately portrayed, it will create a new movie genre that will capture the group that buys 50 percent of the tickets to movie theaters. When Hollywood discovers the African-American market the way it is discovering the Hispanic market, without exploiting it, Hollywood will make 500 African-American movies for $50-million that will gross $15million each, rather than one white dud. Tony Brown is a syndicated columnist and television host, whose series, "Tony Brown's Journal," can be seen Saturdays at f:30 locally on channels 4 and 26. Part Two women, and people of color who have never oarticiDated in the noli tics of social change will become energized and involved. This means that thousands of new activists will be trained, and most will continue their progressive involvement in local affairs long after the 1988 campaign. Although Jackson's lieutenants r still insist that Jesse can win the Democratic presidential nomination, I think we have to be honest with our constituents who could one day feel betrayed or disillusioned at the Atlanta convention. A Rainbow campaign is absolutely necessary to deepen fundamental social reforms inside the U.S.- but we should take part in this effort while recognizing IN ENPWS THeifc police ; OF A FAIftAiesS VOCTRtHe, that Jackson personally will never be elected. The Democratic party's leadership is prepared to do everything to destroy Jackson's campaign if it climbs above the 20 percent popularity rating in national polls. The Democrats would rather lose the 1988 presidential election to Dole, Bush, Kemp, etc., if the only way they could win would be to adopt the Rainbow's entire policy agenda and accept Jesse as their candidate. What the Jackson campaign is really about is a struggle over the very nature, ideological direction and future of the Demo wiauw rany. Dr. Manning Marable is chairman of the Black Studies Department of Ohio State University in 1 Columbus, Ohio. 1 i . " VERNON ROBINSON The church and entrepreneurship The African-American Church has a great responsibility to foster economic development and entrepreneurship in our community. This charge stems from several perspectives. First, we have made the church our storehouse of wealth. Fully 75 percent of African-American charitable giving goes to the church. Second, because of its financial strength, the church is one of the only entities with financial clout in the community.* Third, the boycott of African-American entrepreneurs by consumers cuts deeply into potential church revenue. Further, the failure to address the roots of economic devastation of our com munity forces the church to invest resources in programs that treat symptoms such as unemployment, drug abuse and other family problems. There is considerable speculation about whether the Africanpercent where does that leave Robinson the church? The church is its membership, its pastors and its deacon boards. And if it is a collection of human talent who gathers together for social and spiritual bonding, then that group can change the role of the church in thet community. ? The lack of support of African-American businesses is basically a cri* sis of spiritual bankruptcv. We hater ourselves and cannot love one another:. I This is the cruel legacy of racial oppression. Whites do not oppress us,we oppress ourselves and each other. The church membership can play, a central role in meeting this spirinul. challenge. It must start with the young ' and insure that they understand their proud history, a history they will never learn in public schools. The church membership must insure that youth as well as their parents understand economics by taking the pledge to support Freedom businesses, those businesses reinvesting in the our community. Congregations must induce their clergy to abandon the gospel of poverty and adopt one of wealth. God gave our folk 200 billion dollars to help ourselves and each other in 1984. The fact that we chose to spend 94 percent of that money with people who did not invest in our community is not his fault A Freedom businessman can get to heaven with greater ease than a camel can go through the eye of a needle and can help his brothers and sisters escape a hellish existence in this life. Airican-American church members must demand accountability from those who maftage their money. Those who insist that the church's money go to institutions which do not support the African-American community's economic development must be replaced by those who will support freedom financial institatibhsT About 10 percent of our churches do business with Mechanics and Farmers bank. Just think of what 50 percent of church business would mean in terms of loans and services to our community. For those of us who have been critical of the bank in the past (including myself), 50 percent of the cash from over 200 churches demands service, can change boards of directors, can change policies or establish a second viable AfricanAmerican financial institution. Our churches must use freedom businesses when possible, particularly when contracting for services. The Church mUSt also hft aoorMBiv# in -oo* ' " " seizing business opportunities to help create new businesses to serve our community. The church must be involved with economic development Its long term survival depends on it Vernon L. Robinson is chairman of the 21st Century PAC of North Carolina. - ... i \
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Aug. 20, 1987, edition 1
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