coitus t concnn1
Robert Williams Has Wrong Approach
Perhaps history has dulled our
memories but for some reason, we
fail to get excited over the plight of
Robert Williams. We have no doubts
that Mr. Williams sought refuge in
foreign countries during a time
when it was important to certain
white leaders to keep Blacks in their
place.
It was the safe thing to do, we
suppose. However, we are also
somewhat leery about Mr. Williams
alleged actions during his flight.
With that in mind, we’d like to ask
several questions of Mr. Williams
and his supporters.
Where was this gentleman during
the time when most Blacks were
involved in the civil rights move
ment? Was it necessary for Mr.
Williams to run all he way to Cuba,
China and Tanzania?
We do not agree that “there is still
no justice in North Carolina.” Nor
that “all Blacks face unfairness in
this country.”
The Post acknowleges that North
Carolina has a long ways to go
towards the improvement of racial
justice. We also have firm opinions
that improvement of racial justice
will not come about as long as the
people of this country continue to
think in terms of the color of one’s
skins.
We believe that true justice will
come only when we start thinking in
terms of what is right or wrong
rather than in terms of what’s white
or black.
Calling attention to the wrong
doings of one race or the other as
M\ Williams did so eloquently here
Sinday afternoon is not the answer.
agree with Mr. Williams that
“we really have to get together.”
Togetherness is vital to the spiritual
and the physical growth of this city,
as well as the state of North Carolina
and the United States of America.^
The togetherness we’re calling
attention to is a blending of both
white and blacks in meaningful,
constructive approach to the imper
fections in our communities,
whether it be white or black.
Perhaps in his return to the south
Mr. Williams will immediately rea
lize that this is not the 1960’s where
raving, ranting and marching were
popular. Mr. Williams has confided
that when he left this country the
black youths "were talking about
revolution,” but when he returned
he found the youths involved in drug
problems. Mr. Williams dumps the
entire blame on the White commun
ity, stating that “they (the whites)
want us to devour ourselves in our
own community.”
Perhaps if he had stayed and
fought in the middle of the battle
fields as so many Blacks have done,
Mr. Williams would be more aware
of the fact that his talent as a
community organizer is more need
ed now than it was in the 60’s. )
Maybe the fact that only 50 people I
were interested enough to show up
for the meeting is an indication that
history may have dulled the memor
ies of most Charlotteans.
This is a new day and the Post
believes the area Black leaders,
Rev. Coleman W. Kerry Jr., Lewis
C. Coleman, Rev. Howard Camp
bell, Robert Davis, Kelly Alexander
Sr., Kelly Alexander Jr., Rev. Nor
man E. Kerry, Mrs. Carries Graves
and all of the other dedicated citi
zens who are making a tremendous
effort to improve the Charlotte
community and the plight of blacks
in the area, would be more than
happy to have a man of Mr. Robert
Williams talent to join the move
ment.
Thoughts On Civil Rights Movement
Several events in the news recent
ly calling attention to the Civil
Rights Movement of the past two
decades remind us of when t,he
Movement received front coverage
on a daily basis.
Twenty years age, Rosa Parks sat
down on that bus in Montgomery,
Ala., and challenged the entire sys
tem of segregation of public trans
portation facilities that placed
blacks in the back of the bus. This
slightly built, mild mannered black
woman’s action put America on
notice that a new day was not only
coming, by had arrived in race
relations.
Headlines recently were also full
of stories of the sordid treatment of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the
abuse, harassment, and tactical
warfare that was waged against
him and his family personally by the
late J. Edgar Hoover, head of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This compounded by the reported
colloboration of an effort to destroy
not only Dr. King and his associates,
but the entire Civil Rights Move
ment.
f ■ ■■■
Wiretapping, invasion of privacy,
running roughshod over individuals’
constitutional rights and infiltration
of respectable and even moderate
organizations with the intent to dis
rupt and discredit them was the
order of the day.
We also witnessed, this month, the
10th anniversary of the establish
ment of the United Stated Equal
Employment Opportunity Commis
sion, an agency that folks look to as a
resource to eliminate discrimination
and racism in the labor market,
Although many dedicated indivi
duals have labored hard and tire
lessly, one doesn’t have to scratch
very far below the surface to see
that racism in the job market is
alive and in our nation.
These facts demonstrate how
complex the problem in America
really is along with how much more
difficult it is for racial and ethnic
minorities to really overcome. In
retrospect, the problems of the
1960’s that the Movement focused on
although symbolically important
and necessary to address, actually
were characteristically simplistic in
^natur^^
'REPORT FROM
J^^Wcfshingtqa^^,
Angola-What Is Our Commitment?
Congressman Jim Martin
9th District, North Carolina
Angola - What Is Our Commitment?
In recent weeks the civil war in
Angola, to establish political control
among the hostile tribal fractions in
that freshly liberated land, has be
gun to dominate the news. What role
if any should United States play in
it?
Certainly, the best solution would
be for everyone else to let Angolans
decide. No one else is justified in
sending foreign soldiers there to do
the fighting for them. And yet the
dominant military force there is the
7000 or so Cuban troops brought
there and armed by the Soviet Union
to fight on behalf of one political
group that represents a minority of
Angolans. The other factions have
troops from South Africa and Zaire,
but in much smaller number^.
Our first objective in Congress is
the same as that of President Ford:
to get foreign forces out of Angola
and let them resolve it however, they
choose. That will take the cooper
ation of Russia and Cuba, and if we
unilaterally cut off weapons aid to
the factions resisting the commun
ist-backed group, as the Senate has
done, the Cubans will probably
sweep Angola in short order while
we debate the niceties of Congress
ional perogatives in foreign policy.
I do not want the United States to
send troops to fight in Angola. But if
the Russians and Cubans continue
their activity there, I do not want the
United States to abandon the other
side and leave them unarmed and at
the m^ov of the communist-backed
minority.
I continue to believe that we
should provide weapons for any free
people to defend themselves if they
choose to resist having communism
imposed on them against the will of
their majority - “regardless of race,
creed or color,” by the way.
If we turn from that responsibility,
no country in Africa, Asia, South
America and perhaps even Europe
will rely on us in a showdown. If we
let our yearning for isolationism
turn us away from the world’s
troubles, we will find little comfort
in sitting here watching the parade
of falling dominoes crash in succes
sion, closer and closer to our own -
the Last Domino.
Some say a loss in Angola would
not give communism a foothold
there. Some said the same thing
about Castro’s agrarian reformers
in Cuba in 1958.
Food Policy
At the same time as this is devel
oping, we are shipping billions of
dollars of grain that our agricultural
businesses have sold to Russia. So
the question naturally arises as to
whether we should use our grain
surplus as political leverage to get
Russia out of Angola.
As a practical matter, to cut off
grain sales to Russia abruptly would
suddenly dump too great surplus on
our own markets, This would have a
disastrous effect on the economic
stability of farming operations and
shippers. It would cut off the billions
of dollars of natonal income from
agricultural exports that helps to
offset the dollar out-flow of buying
foreign oil.
TO
BE
EQUAL
Failure Of Angola Policy
Washington’s efforts to intervene in Angola's
civil war, through a massive infusion of arms,
money and training support, is doomed to
failure.
The reason lies not in the rights and wrongs of
the contending factions but in a history of neglect
of black Africa and indifference to its para
mount concerns.
Our government has little influence in Africa
today because it supported the European colon
ial powers up to the bitter end, and even today 4
follows a conciliatory policy toward the racists
South African government that maintains an
apartheid system and oppresses its black major
ity.
In Angola, despite putting some nationalist
leaders on the CIA payroll, Washington poured
military aid into the old Portuguese dictatorship,
aid that was quickly funneled into Portugal’s
African colonies, including Angola, to fight
rebels battling for independence.
What makes the Angolan mess even worse is
the presence of the South African army fighting
in support of the faction we are backing.
Yes, the Popular Movement forces are sup
plied with advanced Russian weapons, Russian
advisors, Cuban combat troops, and, it is alleg
ed, with white mercenaries from Katanga. None
of these groups has any business being there.
But from the African point of view, bad as
these outsiders may be, they can’t compare with
troops from a South African regime that cond
emns its black majority to sub-human living
conditions and strips them of basic human
rights.
ao in Angola, me u.S. is allied with South
Africa against a black movement that has been
recognized by many nations while the side we
support has very limited support.
The point Americans ought to consider is
whether we want to be in a position in which we
are allied with an internationally-abhored coun
try and intervening in an African civil war that
could become another Vietnam.
The lesson that must be drawn from American
impotence in Angola is that our historic neglect
of African liberation movements and support for
colonial powers has left us bereft of the natural
reservior of goodwill that should have been ours,
on the Continent. Many African leaders were
educated here, and many more admire the
principles of democracy. But that potential
goodwill has been thrown away by one Adminis
tration after another that refused to recognize
African rights to independence and necessary
economic aid.
The Russian and Cuban intervention should be
condemned too. It holds the threat of turning the
Africans themselves, not by the new imperialists
in Moscow or their hired guns.
The near-hysteria surrounding the prospects
of Russian domination of Angola’s resources in
the Popular Movement wins is impractical from
many points of view. The nationalist fervor that
led freedom fighters to resist the Portuguese for
so many years will also operate to frustrate the *
Russians in any power they may attempt.
An American policy of non-involvement, as
sistance to African groups seeking a political
solution, disavowal of South African interven
tion, and open diplomacy to establish ties of
mutual respect with the government that emerA
ges from the fighting is bound to do us a lot more
good in the long run than being drawn into an
affair that is none of our business.
By Gerald O. Johnson
The Charlotte City Council
recently voted against an out
of court settlement in job dis
crimination cases. Two blacks
have filed suits against the
city in its hiring practices.
The Equal Employment Op
portunity Commission was in
strumental in drawing up an
out of court settlement which
included a meager sum of
money and a minority hiring
plan
The council members in a
vote of 4 to 3 voted to take their
chances in court. The ration
ale behind this was that the
council doesn't want reverse
discrimination By employing
minorities by a plan would
discriminate against whites.
The council in concluding
with this decision has acted on
r
emotional impluses instead of
logical thinking. Regardless of
the court outcome the city will
have to face either more suits
or a minority hiring plan Why
waste time and money in
courts when you can do what's
right. .
The cities hiring problems
exist as I see it in the indivi
dual departments themselves
Most of the cities departments
are staffed with unqualified
personnel in management po
sitions. As we all know poor
management leads to a poor
state of affairs for everybody.
Let me give you an actual
instance that happened to me.
In 1973 I moved back.to Char
lotte after an eight year exper
ience in Philadelphia, I return
ed to Charlotte with a mast
er's degree in Mattematics
- %
Gerald 6. Johnson
and a wealth of experience in
Comparer Science. I had
worked as a system's pro
grammer with a leading com
puter manufacturer, as a sys
tern's analyst with a leading
electronic firm, as a staff
consultant for myself. I was
hired by the Director of Char
lotte's Municipal Information
System (MIS) as a junior pro
grammer with a salary within
four figures. Unfortunately for
me I had purchased a home
here before I moved and I had
to take the job. Of course I
spent all my time while em
ployed by the city looking for
another job. The Director of
the MIS was an unimpressive
white male by the name of
Steve Watts who had worked
his way to the top I was told
he started with some city de
partment and impressed a few
people and "ppesto" when the
new MIS department was
I
formed he got the job. The
trouble is he wouldn't know a
computer if he tripped over it.
He had no formal training and
no degree I was told. This is a
classic case of municipal mis
management if f ever saw it.
If a study was taken of the
managerial personnel of the
city many cases such as the
one mentioned above would be
unveiled Your tax dollars are
neing squandered because of
bad decisions being made at
the top. You would be shocked
at the number of non-trained,
non-educated people at the
top
It is the non-trained. non*'
educated people at the top
causing the hiring problem the
city is now facing A non
educated white is twice as apt
to discriminate against a min
ority as an educated white.
The reason being, an unedu
cated white feels threatened
by everyone and discrimina
tion is his only tool for keeping
him on lop. He used-minorities
to give himself power and
security.
So you see discrimination is
ingrained into the hiring pol
icy of he city, not because of
the cities personnell depart
ment, not because of the city
council but because of the
departments within the city
structure Without a face lift
where unqualified people now
reside the city council will be
fighting or switching for an
eternity. It wouldn't bother
me so much except they are
fighting or switching with
some of my money.
THE CHARLOTTE POST
1 THE PEOPLES NEWSPAPER’’
Established 1918
By A. M. Houston
Published Every Thursday
By The Charlotte Post Publishing Co.. Inc.
2606B West Blvd.- Charlotte, N.C. 28208
Telephones (704) 392-1306 - 392-1307
Circulation 11,000
57 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS SERVICE
Bill Johnson .....Editor-Publisher
Gerald O. Johnson_Business Manager
flex Hovey..Circulation Manager
Second Class Postage Paid at
Charlotte, N. C. under the Act of March 3,1878
Member National Newspaper Publishers
_Association
National Advertising Representative
Amalgamated Publishers, Inc.
45 W. 5th, Suite 1403 2400 S. Michigan Ave
New York. N Y. 10036 Chicago, III. 60616
489-1220 Calumet 5-0200
I
BLACK “X RACE IS LIKE A MANUNTIL
IT USES ITS OWN TALENTS,
lUCV/\t%W TAKES PRIDE IN ITS OWN HISTORY.
HI9TURY AND LOVES ITS own memories.
IT CAN NEVER FULFILL ITSELF
COMPLETELY.“
JOHN W. VAHDERCOOK
VERNON K. JORDAN JR.
_Give Them A Sense Of Pride