cmm tconcnu
To Save A Generation
linn. _i_A.a_ " ■ i ~ ' ■ _
• • cuuvaviun placing sutll d
well-known and important part in
the lives of many people, a single
look at the average school educating
young Blacks today shows some
indication of the depth of our pro
blem. In most instances. Black stud
ents are finding themselves educ
ated in spite of the public schools,
rather than because of.them.
..There are unbelievable problems
of wine, drugs, violence and racism
confronting our children. Add this to
the well documented mis-orientation
of most public school curricula and
one is led to seriously ponder
whether or not such a situation could
r even in the wildest dreams pass for
^ an educational one.
f. ..The present public school system
has failed to play a constructive
-aJupatlnnal rnl^ in the livtMt of Black
i; youths. The growing imprison
f. ments, renewed gang warfare, in
creased dropouts and continued
\ "disciplinary problems”- young
«* ” »
V
macK nupeiessness-eviuente uwi.
It is time for a change.
. .The call for community control is
not a new one, but it still has its
relevance. It offers to the Black
community an opportunity to ser
iously and constructively fashion a
curriculum and program which
makes sense to our reality and
speaks to the problems we see be
fore our children
.. But it will also force us to come to
grips with ourselves, taking respon
siblity for trying to create among
our own a kind of system which will
show the seeds of solving the many
social problems faced in our
community.
..Simply installing black faces,
black books, black holidays, and
black talk will not eliminate drugs,
dope, wine and gangs. The school
will have to be made part of a
broader community seeking change.
. .That is the challenge to all Blacks.
« •
t
Don’t Be Fooled That Blacks Are Middle Class
•' . .The news media has, from time to
i time, published articles that give
: many people the idea that the black
■' middle class has moved over the
f hump. Well, you had better get
another thought coming.
ji ..E. James Forrdyce, a University
f of Utah sociologist, has published
some sobering information. He
found that over‘the past 25 years, the
infant mortality rate for black
babies has worsened in comparison
with that of Caucasians.
i
—— „This is true, he indicated, even
though the United States has the best
developed medical technology in the
world. And, may we add, that this
fine medical system costs to much
for poor people . to get adequate
health care. And Dr. Forrdyce
placed great emphasis upon family
earnings.
..The study indicated that once
families reach $7,000 to $10,000 in
come levels, the difference between
infant mortality rate disappears.
But, millions of black families are
below the $7,000 income bracket.
.. Blacks have endured, for a long
time, a debility in standard of living
status. As long as we have this
condition, our health and medical
system will-fall. shortjQLthf mark it
ought to reach in being responsive to
the health needs of black people. -
(guest editorial from the Carolinian).
The NAACP Puzzle Are Most Blacks Uncle Toms?
. .One of the most complex puzzles of
the past 60 years in why blacks,
including part of the so-called elite
and the intellectuals, do not in larger
numbers, join, and support the out
standing work of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP).
..Since 1910, a relatively small
group of blacks and' whites-never
more than 450,000—has made up the
membership and support force of
the NAACP. Though 64 long years, it
has been the main prong of the civil
rights thrust, knocking down the
barriers to first-class citizens for
black Americans.
..The NAACP knocked out white
primaries and housing covenants in
the 1940’s, killed dining car segreg
ation in the early 1950’s, landed a
bombshell in 1954 with its school
desegregation victory, and played a
major role in the legislation of 1964
and ‘65 which abolished segregation
and discrimination in places of pub
lic accommodation and also opened
the way for blacks to vote in the
South where racist registrars had
t
frustrated out’right to register.
. .And on Capitol Hill, where impor
tant legislation affecting the lives of
blacks in enacted, the only contin
uing safeguard for our people is the
NAACP’s dynamic lobbyist
Clarence Mitchell Jr., often referred
to as the 101st Senator.
.TBut, in spite of its enormous
contribution to the advancement of
blacks, the NAACP’s membership
represents only a little more than
one percent of the 25 million black
Americans. Why? Why? Could it be
that most of us are Uncle Toms?
This is a real puzzle.
..A great many of us talk boldly
about civil rights and our own
militancy, but it’s mostly talk. Ask
one of us to show you his NAACP
membership card. That’s the shib
boleth — the proof of where we really
stand. Get your proof today! Join the
NAACP. Arid for Christmas, instead
of giving your friends neckties and
earrings, give them a $4 or $6
NAACP membership.
. .How About it!
Guest editorial from the Carolinian)
THE CHARLOTTE POST
' ’1
Serving The Black Community Since 1918
The Charlotte Poot Publishing Company. Inc. 9139 Trinity Hoad. P.O. Bo* 97. Charlotte,
N.C. 28216 .
Bill Johnson. Publisher
Gerald O. Johnson.Business Manager
Connie Jamison. Secretary
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I
" rrs TIME FOR BLACKS TO DO SOMETHING
-_ ABOlFT CRIME IN THEIR COMMUNITY_
i
..United States citizens,
especially members of so
called black extremist groups,
woke up one morning to find
that the Internal Revenue
Service was keeping watch
over them.
..Authority for the special
unit came on July 2, 1969, from
a suggestion from the White
House, then under the ad
ministration of President
Richard M. Nixon. Those who
belonged to or supported M
various groups, such as the
National Council of Churches,
the National Urban League
and the Americans for Demo
cratic Action, found that their
interests suddenly became the
intpr»«ts nf ihp IRC
the hundreds of million dollars
this country invested in the
rebuilding of Europe.
..American Negroes know
that at the very time the
administrative machinery of
former President Nixon was
keeping a dossier on the Ur
ban League, other parts of
that machinery were giving
out contracts to the League for
projects requiring its special
expertise.
. .The information on the other
black organizations is not as
clear as, it is on the Urban
League, except for the Black
Panthers. Since the IRS list
was started in 1969, the
Panfhprc nf Oakland f'alif
..The special investigative
unit within the IRS called
these 99 organizations "ideol
ogical, militant, subversive
and radical." The White
House is alleged to have asked
that the IRS “move against
leftist organization." and the
IRS documents refer to the
organizations on the list in
such terms as "subversive
organizations of all kinds.”
The word “revolutionary" is
used repeatedly.
. .Few people know for certain
just what the National Council
of Churches did. or just what
trend in the organization was
•noted to warrant its listing.
People have b£com<used to
chargefc\^J*veled against
Americans for Democratic
Action, but no one has accused
the ADA of being subversive,
of selling out America. J
..To a great many American
blacks, the inclusion of the
National Urban League is both
an indictment of the whole list
and a warning of special in
vestigation by Big Brother no
matter How clean one's re
cord. The Urban League was
organized in 1910 to minister
to the needs of thousands of
black people who were part of
the migration from the rural
areas to urban centers. It has
both white and black officers
and staff, both natinally and in
its 100 local offices.
..One does not wish to take
anything from the League at
this point, but it has pretty
much stuck to its knitting. It
has asked equal opportunity
for people. In fact, it adopted
and made popular the equal
opportunity slogan. As the
second oldest - (by a year)
national Organization given
the needs of the black popul
ation top priority,- it has
worked closely wi^fa the feder
al government. A favorite
speech theme bntVhitney M.
Young, late executive dir
ector, was a Marshall plan for
America's blacks, based upon
have run a candidate for
mayor. Bobby Seale, who got
40,000 votes. This was their
experiment with “ballots not
bullets.’'
..The Nation of Islam, popul
arly known as the Black Mus
lims, was also listed. They
have been known for minding
their own business, except
when stepped on, and for
setting up retail shot>s of every
kind.
..The Student Non-Violent
Committee (Snick) is listed,
although it has gone out of
business.
...A warning, if any were
needed, is sounded on the need
for protection from our
government, the Big Brother
scrutiny of every letter. If
black citizens were inclined to
think of the Nixon plan as
'‘white folks' business,” the
naming of a conservative
black group as “subversive”
will teach them ihat Water
gate included them too.
• •
The Job Market And Black Colleges
Bv Gerald Johnson
..With the current recession
B this country is presently
“ facing and the job market
squeeze which is a direct con
sequence of the recession, the
college graduate is confronted
with a serious problem. A
J.O.B.
.. In a recent release by the
Southern Regional Education
Board it was reported that a
• survey taken by theJB'estern
College Placement Associa
tion of the leading industrial
and governmental firms re
garded fine arts, humanities,
education ethnic studies, and
social sciences as the least
desirable backgrounds for
employment. The survey went
on to indicate that the college
graduates will far exceed the
available jobs produced
through 1985. •
This fact places most Black
colleges and the students who
attend them In a predicament.
Namely a very high percent
age of the graduates from
predominantly Black schools
gp jobless.
The particular economic
climate this country now faces
puts a strong challenge right
on the shoulders of these In
^ stltutions. a challenge which I
to agree that course emphasis
should be placed on those
courses which are most
desired by the job market.
This means that Instead of
requiring college students to
take one year of French, or
one year of R'eligion, or the
like; you make courses
optional and require them to
take accounting, communica
tions or the like. The worst
thing that could happen is
your students are better pre
pared to step Into a position.
With employers no longer In
demand for employees It Is
mandatory that the college
take over the role of training.
The days of hiring a human
ities major and giving on the
Job training for a technical
position are probably forever
gone as well as the opportun
ity for a humanities major to
find decent employment. That
is unless he Is given some
background on Job demand
courses. To ensure that he
gels this background It Is up to
the college to make job
demand courses a require
ment.
Many Black colleges al
ready have started making
preparations In this line. But
most are doing to little, too
late.*
feef has an easy remedy. The
remedy lies In a shift of em
phasis on the curricula at such
institutions.
..Referring back to the sur
vey, it was reported that
communication is the only
course of study traditionally
grouped with liberal arts that
received a favorable rating
from employers. Other
courses that were* preferred
butTbnsidered more technical
w«re engineering, business,
computer science. and
mathematics.
/N * *
/Obviously, if you consider
the fact that most colleges are
used as preparatory basis for
the job market then you have
TO
BE
EQUAL
&
VERNON E. JORDAN JR.
Blacks And The Tubes
.The ambiguous relationship of black people *
vith the television industry continues.
.In many areas blacks made up a majority or
arge minority of television viewers. Nationwide,
Slacks form a disproportionate market for
products advertised on the home screen. Most
blacks rely on television broadcasts for their
prime source of news.
..But within the television industry and related
businesses, blacks are few and powerless.
"Studies Indicate that a fifth of all television
stations have no minority employees, a third of
all stations have no minorities in higher salaried
positions, and four out of five and none in
managerial positions.
. .It is clear that the television industry, like so.
__— A1_— L._t_ I__I_1 Sa_
iiiniij uuiti uuoiucasca, lias, i cia acu us imuai
push to recruit, train and hire black employees.
The difference though, is that television stations
operate under government license and their
hiring practices should be taken account of when
the Federal Communications Commission re
views license renewal applications.
The FCC Has Been Noticeably Lax
. .The FCC. has been noticeably lax in this. FCC
denials of license renewals were unheard of until
this fall when Alabama’s state educational
network was reportedly denied renewal of its
license for its blatant discrimination in hiring
and programming practices.
..License renewal time is the period when .
minorities and other citizens’ groups have
maximum leverage in pressuring stations to
fulfill their stated obligation to substantially
meet the community’s needs and interests. Now
Congress is about to extend license periods from
three to five year¥T~ariff ir- will also ease
qualifications for such renewals.
.. This will put the industry further beyond the
reach of citizens seeking changed policies and
greater access. It remains to be seen whether the
FCC will continue its all but automatic renewal
of license applications or whether it will apply
the new, looser standards, with more zeal.
. .The Commission should adopt a strong affirm
ative hiring policy, and it should also be more
aggressive in assuring that stations carry out
their obligations to the public by providing
educational and quality children’s program
ming, in addition to its entertainment broad
casts.
..The FCC recently adopted a new policy
statement on children^ broadcasting, after a
long fight by concerned parents’ groups. It cut
the allowed advertising time on children’s pro
grams and, without getting very specfic, says
that broadcasters “have a special obligation to
serve children.” ,y *'
I**
. .Advertising directed at children is a live issue
not adequately dealt with by the FCC. Cutting
commercial time by a few minutes still doesn’t
deal with the high pressure tactics used in selling
to children, who are not capable of under
standing all the nuances of ads.
..Advertisements are often unscreened for
health and safety factors, often make exagger
ated claims and hook kids with offers of free toys
or gimmicks. Children thus demand products
that have little nutritional value and are bad for
their growing bodies.
. .Most vulnerable to these pitches are minority
and lnw-inrnm» vrmndetom ml,n
vision more^ften than others. The average
first -grader has already spent more time in
of the tube than he later will in a college
classroom. Along with high pressure commer
cials that make them want to buy things their
parents can’t afford or are not good for them,
these kids are also learning distorted values. In a
few years, thrir realization that they’ve been
exploited will breed cynicism and mistrust of
adults.
..In its hiring practices, its stereotyped pro
gramming. Its influence on children, and its
commercial messages, the television industry
has yet to merU the trust of the people it
supposedly server. This is something that should
concern the industry itself, the FCC, and you, Ihe
viewer.