OPINION
Winston-Salem Chronicle |
Ernest H. Pitt
Publisher/Co-founder
Elaine Pitt
Business Manager
Ava Pecues
Administrative Assistant
/
Ndubisi Egemonye,
Co-Founder
Kathy Lee
Production Manager
TJ. Wills
Copy Editor
^ North Carolina Ama^amated X
National Newspaper P?Aa?*a*cn Of Circutattons Putl?h.,s .nc
Publishers Association
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First Aid for RHC
Our nation's health care system shows little sign of reform.
The government currently finances 40 percent of health care
costs in the United States. The health care industry represents
nearly 15 percent of the U.S. economy. Yet, the country lags
behind several developed nations in key indicators of health.
The chief reason for this trend is that the poor and working
poor lack access to affordable, quality health care stressing
preventive medicine. Ironically, President Clinton's 1992
health care reform proposal was pronounced dead on arrival,
derailed by awesome lobbies and partisan politics.
Though reform floundered in Washington, health care con
tinues to concern all American citizens. And the health care
issue is hitting close to home in East Winston. The fate of
Reynolds Health Center, formerly Reynolds Memorial Hospi
tal, hangs in the balance. Next month, Forsyth county commis
sioners must decide whether to continue county control of the
center or to accept a $5 million proposal from Baptist Hospital
to take over the facility.
Some black leaders regard county control as an insurance
policy that East Winston will continue to have a primary care
facility. Others fear that without Baptist Hospital's support, the
operation, which received $4.6 million in county funds last
year, may eventually fold.
A Reynolds advisory committee plans to reduce the cen
ter's reliance on government funds by increasing preventative
care. By 2001, that would save more than $1 million annually.
But can the county hold on that long?
President Clinton advocacy aside, government seems to
shun, rather than embrace, the health care business. By all indi
cations, the Department of Health and Human Services is get
ting citizens off the public dole. The government is offering
Band-Aids when health care really needs a transfusion. And a
transfusion is just what Baptist Hospital is offering Reynolds
Health Center: capital, a new patient-friendly facility, and unri
valed expertise. Baptist Hospital, however is not just bringing a
proposal to the table; it is also reaching out and inviting input.
What's not to like?
Health care is changing in the United States. Patients navi
gate a sea of health care options and benefits. Meanwhile, the
government is jumping ship, getting out of health care admin
istration. East Winston's best bet is to seize the opportunity
Baptist Hospital's proposal presents. The African-American
community should accept the proposal, get involved with the
commission and insist upon a community advisory board. Bap
tist Hospital is not going to invest $5 million in a facility unless
it plans to make it work.
How long can we expect the county commission to con
' tinue funding Reynolds Health Center? Granted, the facility is
a lifeline for those it serves. How many times have we seen
federal, state and local governments value dollars over human
lives? Experience tells us that if Reynolds is not financially
viable, government funds will dry up sooner or later. At least
for the moment, there is an alternative, and a rather attractive
one at that.
"U.S. News and World Report's" 1996 guide to America's
hospitals ranked the Bowman Gray/Baptist Hospital Medical
Center as one of the best hospitals in the country in six special
ties: cancer treatment, geriatrics, gynecology, neurology, ortho
pedics and rheumatology. Who better than Baptist to breathe
new life into Reynolds and minister to our community's
health?
Motherwit & History
Motherwit comes natural, and it speaks to heart and soul.
Heed this simple, yet profound, wisdom.
"You were born God's original. Try not to be someone's
copy," says Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's
Defense Fund. The African-American woman is a marvel.
Behold her dark beauty, shining intellect, amazing strength and
rich legacy.
? Poet and essayist June Jordan does not dwell on the past.
;v'History don't stop to let nobody out of it," she attests. "So go
:* ahead, get into the facts. Then we can move on."
Let's start at the beginning. If, as anthropological finds
suggest, Africa is the cradle of civilization, an African woman
was the mother of all mothers.
So, how does one go from being the first female ancestor to
being a double minority? That's a long story. Super model
Naomi Sims prefers looking on the bright side. "One great
i advantage," she says, "of being both black and a woman was
that I started off with nothing to lose."
Combined with healthy optimism, that harsh reality
emboldens daughters of Africa to take risks and compels them
to rely on each other. "Sisterhood," says Rachel Bagby, "is a
; gift." Cherish it.
With all the African-American woman has had to endure,
is it any wonder that she is just now hitting her stride? She's
got a right to sing the blues. Instead, she sings praises and
keeps the faith. "No more pleadin'. No more cryin'," sings
Linda Tillery. "Cuz I believe that I do hold up half the sky."
'Deed you do, sister; 'deed, you do.
?
The Chronicle Mailbag
Our Readers Speak Out
Faircloth N.C.
Embarrassment
To the Editor:
Lauch Faircloth. Like Bill
Turner in his last column, we,
too, found ourselves in D.C. the
day the Washington Post ran its
piece on Faircloth's plan to dis
mantle democracy in the District.
What an embarrassment to all
North Carolinians! To have to
defend the state and its percent
age of good people before break
fast. And when we can't claim he
is an aberration, what with Jesse,
Burr, Coble, Myrick and the rest
of their kind.
Democracy just does not
come naturally to Lauch. A
poorly educated man, he is much
more at home running things
from his hip pocket. Maybe if we
swapped him a small Central
American country for D.C., he
could sit behind a big desk and
not have to answer to any kind of
elected body at all, just like in his
pig farm empire.
We have to turn out Faircloth
and the rest of these mean and
arrogant right wingers. The
Charles Taylor-types may be ?
smarter than Lauch, but they
never saw a tree or a social pro
gram that didn't need cutting. Just
because they don't look like
bumpkins doesn't mean they're
not as dangerous in their own
way as Faircloth. We have to root
out the ones that are dug in. As
Mr. Turner pointed out, we owe it
to the rest of the country.
Hayes McNeill
Report Child Abuse
To the Editor:
I am a social work major at
the University of North Carolina
at Greensboro, and 1 am currently
doing an internship at Exchange
SCAN, a child abuse prevention
agency in Winston-Salem. I was
wondering if people truly know
the growing, horrible problem
child abuse is. Child abuse is a
cancer in our society.
Last year across the nation,
3.1 million children were
reported as abused. That does not
include the cases never reported.
"Two thousand of those children
died from abuse" (Krupinski,
1996). More children die each
year from abuse than they do in
car accidents. Accidents are just
that ? accidents, and only hap
pen once. Abuse is repetitive; it
happens often and yet we can't
seem to stop it. In North Carolina
last year alone, 57,907 reports
were made involving 96,175 chil
dren.
My concentration is on
young children and abuse.
Through my research I have
heard astonishing stories. The lat
est is a book I read called "Death
From Child Abuse and No One
Heard," written by Eve Knipinski
and Dana Weikel. I highly recom
mend that everyone read this
book. It is truly an eye-opener. It
tells a true story of a five-year-old
little girl who fights for her life
her last seven days of pure tor
ture, but fails. The saddest part of
her story is people saw ? her
own mother saw ? people knew,
and no one told.
There are so many other chil
dren who fight for their lives
every day, lives that can be saved.
Society has an obligation to our
innocent children to report sus
pected abuse. If you have good
reason to think a child is being
abused, he or she probably is. It
doesn't matter if you are a neigh
bor, friend, teacher, student.
I
passer-by in the grocery store,
you can report abuse, anony
mously if you so choose.
Child Protective Services has
a legal obligation to investigate
physical abuse, within a maxi
mum of 72 hours, when reported.
Don't sit around and wonder if a
child is being abused, let the
Child Protective Services find
out.
Abuse is an action or series
of actions inflicted upon a child
that causes harm and leaves scars.
These can be physical, emotional
or sexual and may not be evident
to a casual observer. Abuse dam
ages bodies, minds, self-esteem,
relationships and family systems
(Krupinski, 19%).
If the child lives through it.
Micheie B rod beck
Blue Bandages: Now There's Equality
Guilt is a bad thing. How
many times have we heard that
one? There's often a bit of wis
dom in what "they say," yet I'm
prone to wonder. In doing so, I
recall my first reading of Peggy
Mcintosh's essay on white privi
lege. I was most struck at the
time by her example concerning
"flesh colored bandages," proba
bly, because it involved an issue
that seemed so trivial. (If racial
injustice consisted of the fact that
black people can't get bandages
to match their skin tones, what a
lovely world we would live in.)
I'm fascinated by those blue ban
dages worn by players in the
NBA. Justice personified: they
look equally awful on everyone!
Frankly, I don't feel much
(read: any) guilt when it comes to
bandages, but if I'm truthful with
myself, I must admit that I do
feel certain pangs every now and
then with regard to white privi
lege. Sometimes I'm a bit afraid
to relinquish those feelings
because without them I'm not
sure what I might fail to do.
Guess I need my guilt. Before
you decide that I'm a prime can
didate for psychiatric help or,
worse yet, that I'm spiritually
bankrupt, please let me explain.
There is no virtue in feeling
guilty for things I don't do. I'm
not representing all white people
or apologizing for everything that
anyone might happen to do at any
time. Not me. Neither do I feel
guilt concerning things that I
once did, but that I am making a
genuine effort not to do now. I do
not expect perfection, even from
myself. Let's face it: theologi
cally and literally, I believe in the
forgiveness of sin. I'm clean.
That's not wh^ I am talking
about.
Perhaps there are readers
who will take issue with my
choice of words. 1 have deter
mined (after many years of expe
rience) not to argue about words.
If the word guilt weighs heavily
upon you, please, feel free to sub
stitute one that will make you
feel more comfortable. I am
interested in concept above term.
White people (even, maybe
especially, those of us who have
made a commitment to strive for
racial justice and equality) know
that without something to keep us
going, we can stop struggling for
this justice anytime we choose.
It's a part of the privilege we
inherited when we were born
white: privilege that we must
consciously and continually
reject for it will not stay gone.
This privilege returns every time
we sleep ? or whenever we let
down our guard ? so we must
reject it anew every morning.
Rejection requires a conscious
decision before it can become an
action. And herein is the danger:
forget (just once) ... and you are
someone you do not want to be.
It seems that for black people
to stop struggling is to give up.
ONE STEP BEYOND
By HELEN LOSSE
but for white people to stop
struggling means only to stop
struggling. When we reflect on
this insane inequality, we do feel
guilty. We can stop; others can't
We enjoy unmerited privilege
even as we struggle for equality.
For this reason, I think white peo
ple know that some little bit of
guilt is absolutely necessary to
keep us from lapsing into com
placency. We need that twinge to
keep us sensitive to the injustices
that daily confront those who do
not enjoy a privileged status. We
need reminders so we will make
the conscious rejection of privi
lege that we know we should
make.
Pangs of conscience cause us
to look into the face of another
human being and to see his or her
pain. And the twinges remind us
that we have much to lose, for if
we give up the struggle, we may
well lose ourselves in a welcom
ing, but wickedly consuming,
cloud of whiteness where we
cannot find (or help) ourselves or
others. It is a fearful thing to me
to consider that in the eyes of
many I am a generic white per
son. We often feel that stereo
M. W
types are less destructive when
they are applied to others than to
us. Human nature? Yes, and stu
pidity.
Guilt can serve as a badly
needed wake-up call. Our failure
to advance in the area of race
relations in our country will have
dire consequences for everyone,
not just for blacks who have (his
torically) borne so much of the
brunt of our failure to implement
equality and justice, but for all
Americans. My destiny, and that
of my children and grandchil
dren, is, indeed, a part of our
common destiny. King was right
... is right. Maybe guilt keeps me
from living my life so selfishly.
Maybe it's the push 1 need when
1 get out of bed each day. Maybe
it's the catalyst for change (when
heeded).
Or maybe that small twinge
that I feel is not truly guilt at a)l
... maybe it's an angel pulling op
my heart strings, reminding me to
reject a privilege based on a false
superiority, challenging me to
strive to become someone more
than just a generic white person
... maybe it's God hoping that 1
will dare to go beyond the decla^
ration that the color of bandages
is trivial (to whom?) ? on to a
more inclusive understanding of
just whose needs are significant
? on to a stand that acknowh
edges all human beings as God's
children ? on to struggle for jus^
tice and equality for everyone.
Perhaps guilt is not a bad thing.
Sometimes I wonder...
;
(Helen Losse is a student 0
Wake Forest University.)
f