OPINION
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The Chronicle
I 'Ernest H. Pitt
Ndubisi Ecemonye
Elaine Pitt
Fannie Henderson
Jeri Young
Publisher! Co-Founder
Co-Fotmder
Business Manager
Advertising Manager
Assistant Managing Editor
Tradin' the nude for a John Deere
i
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For the most part, black farmers haven't asked for
: much.
For years, an adequate balance of rain, sun and wind
have been just about enough to ensure the survival of
thousands of small and large black farms.
Now, however, with the advent of farming technology,
rain and sun don't matter as much.
New fertilizer, growth agents and supplements have
taken some of the worry out of farming. And new mega
farms systems, with.multiple crops, highly effective crop
rotations and irrigation systems have replaced small one
crop farms - the essence of black farming.
But for black farmers, technology has been as much a
: source of contention as it has been an aid.
They've found that as farming has gone high tech, it's
also gone high dollar. And when you're dealing with small
crop yields, money simply doesn't grow on trees.
When black farmers did head to banks and to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture for help, they were met with
stern faces, lost applications and outright refusals.
So now as black farmers struggle to survive, they've
? begun to ask for help. First they went to the courts to seek
! redress for years of discrimination. ?
Then they went to the USDA for an apology and more
importantly a financial settlement.
They've also come to black people with a plea - buy
? black.
It's not much to ask. Next time you head to the farm
ers market, look for other brown faces from which to buy
your beans and corn.
- When you're at the supermarket, ask if they have any
^minority suppliers. If they don't, it's not hard to figure out
iwhat to do next. Fire off an angry letter to the store's cor
porate office or call the nearest complaint line.
? For more than 400 years, the soil has been the source of
?African American pride. Whether we tilled under the hor
Jrors of slavery, under the yoke of sharecropping or as
I small independent land owners we recognized the power
lof the soil.
J We tilled because it was the only way we knew to get
Zahead.
0
r We don't have to till anymore but it is our responsibili
ty to keep alive our longest standing tradition.
: Black farmers are not asking much - a little rain; a lit
?jjtle sun; a little help from the rest of us.
?
Tht Chronicle n elrnnisii toners at we# a* gunt wtoiwt from its read
ers. Uner* shoidd be ae concise as posstte and sfrowid be typed or togtoly
jwfceeil b amura tfre authenticity if die toner, yew mutt indudo Ifr# name,
address and lahfitoni number of tfre writer. Columnt mutt
frdtow die game puhlofc.es and wU be puUthod it thoy am of mtorott to
our general roadorthip. Ilie Oeenide wf tier pubdth any burnt or columnt
that arrhm without Mt information. Mto reserve tho right to odh toners and
columns for brevity and clarity. Submit lottori and columnt to:
Oironido Madbag, P.O. Box 1636, Wintton-Salom, NC 27102. f-ma#
addteeat esthwibiefri<iMtoil.iiet
To the Editor
The writer is a retired district
court Judge.
Every year when Legislature is
in session, proposals are made to do
away with the election of judges
and to substitute an appointive sys
tem.
At one time the reason given
was that very few voters knew who
the judicial candidates were; now
the additional reason given is that it
costs too much money for judicial
candidates to run for office
The proposed appointment
method would create a worse prob
lem. Voters would lose their right to
choose judges and the process
would be turned over to the Gover
nor and the Legislature for "merit
selection."
The suggestion may sound
good in theory. In practice it has
never worked. The Governor and
the Legislature are politically elect
ed and they think and act political
ly
Despite its faults, the elective
system for judges is the fairest and
keeps the electorate involved,
Instead of throwing the baby out
with the bath water why not insti
tute reforms that address the prob
lems?
One solution could be initiation
of a voters' pamphlet, interested
candidates would contribute a pro
portionate share of the cost to pro
duce and mail to each voter. Each
candidate would be given equal
space to address the voters.
On the issue of judicial election
cost, judges could be required to dis
close in each case all contributions
received from any interested party in
that case This would reduce the
number of those eager to contribute
to judicial campaigns, would also
reduce the eagerness of some judi
cial candidates to seek those contri
butions.
Stephen Franks
VOHEM W1UU He REAUZE
L. VfW'foitf!? *0
Another view on vouchers
Recently the Wisconsin
Supreme Court ruled that the state
could support private religious
schools and not be in violation of
constitutional language requiring
the separation of church and state.
Many Catholic, Protestant and
other religious schools may bene
fit from this ruling if it can with
stand the scrutiny of the U.S.
Supreme Court. But the theme
that ought not be lost in this case
is the larger battle between vouch
ers and public education. Vouch
ers must not be allowed to replace
public education. There are some
things that should not be turned
over to the private sector and edu
cation is one of them.
The ostensible motive of many
supporters of voucher systems can
be found in the words of one of
the callers to my radio talk show.
In his words, voucher systems are
needed to "give poor children the
same choices that rich kids have."
My response to him was "hog
wash!" Anyone who thinks that
the staunch proponents of the
voucher system came up with the
voucher idea to affect the quality
of education for poor children,
doesn't have both oars in the
water. Wisconsin's voucher sys
tem, as with many other states, is a
thinly veiled attempt to subsidize
the private school tuition pay
ments of middle and upper-mid
dle class parents.
Any first year public adminis
tration student can tell you that
for many local governments, the
largest revenue item is property
taxes and the largest expenditure
item is education. So, if middle
and upper-middle class Americans
are funding public education with
their property taxes, but sending
their children to private school, it
stands to reason that they want
their tax dollars to fund the edu
cation of their children as well as
the children of poorer families.
But if that's the case, and I think it
is, why don't they come out and
say that and stop hiding behind
the skirt of "school choice?"
They've concocted this "school
choice" position based on the
' notion that any private school is
superior to any public school. This
idea is ridiculous at its core. Any
school is as good as its teachers,
administrators, parents, students
and fiscal resources will allow it to
be. To assume that freedom from
state policies alone xyill promote a
greater learning atmosphere,
inspire administrators, make
teachers more caring and nurtur
ing and make parents better tutors
and educational partners with
their children is, again, hogwash.
What we need in America's
public education systems is a com
whatever the cost.
If the voucher system becomes
the law of the land - God forbid -
the rich will prosper and the poor
will perish. The first tell-tale signs
Jones Street *
Val Atkinton
. h.'. .
mitment to quality education at
any cost; that's right, I said at any
cost. For too long the proponents
of public schools have not tackled
the issue of cost in public educa
tion bead-on. Some politicians
have us trained to believe that any
thing associated with higher taxes
is bad. Sometimes I wish they
would apply the same yardstick to
the Defense Department, agricul
tural subsidies, and multi-national
corporation advertising funds. If
we want a good education system
in America that educates ALL of
our children it must be under the
control of the public sector, and
we must be willing to pay for it,
of the prosper/perish dichotomy,
will be the skewed racial and eth
nic enrollment figures. Don't be
surprised that minority children -
even with state vouchers in hand -
find it difficult to enter the pre
mier private schools. The second
Tell-Tale sign will be the partial
funding of vouchers. This will
require a co-payment on the part
of poor folks and rich folks alike.
The question is who will be able to
afford co-payments for their chil
dren's primary and secondary edu
cation?
VA LA TKINSON is a Triangle
Tribune columnist.
j Voices from the community...
3
Recently, the W-S/FC School Board has been wrangling over the
issue of multiculturalism in education. Do you think there is a need for
more African American history in public schools? Why or why not?
BRYANT MeCORKLt
The need is a necessity, because right now our
kids are failing to learn African American history,
the only person they know about is Dr. King. They
have to be taught about African Americans at
school and they have to be taught at home. The
only way we are going to continue our history and
pass it on is for our kids to become more educat
ed Once our kids find out where we came from, we
wouldn't have so much violence. We'll start loving
each other instead of hating each other, they'll
Jcnow that all of us are kings and queens from
Africa
i
f RICA LiOOtTT
Students around here need to know
where they came from and about their
ancestors and the things they did so they
can look up to them as role models. And
maybe try to do some of the things that
they did
KilTH OKttNLll
They need to know something
about themselves in order to have pride
in what they do in the future, If you
don't really know anything about your
own past you aren't going to be produc
tive in the future.
? <
DARYL NAPPtR
Kids need to be aware of where
they come from and their heritage.
They need to know what we repre
sent, and once they know what we
represent we will have better kids in
the community.
v
NICOLE ALLMAN
There is a crucial need for more
African American literature and his
tory because there's so many negative
influences such as the media. Some
times the parents can't teach the chil
dren, some kids don't have parents,
the school system should enforce the
need for African American history.
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