ediiofifiij d common j'
Mayor’s Veto Lacks Vision
By Hoyle H. Martin Sr.
Post Executive Editor
By a four to three vote, the
Charlotte City Council endorsed dis
trict representation last Monday.
However, in a surprise move Mayor
John Belk used a little-known veto
power to defeat the measure.
Council member Betty Chafin,
author of the district representation
proposal, and Neil William, who
added a provision for a public vote
| on the Plan next May 17, were both
‘ shocked by Mayor Belk’s veto action
Ms. Chafin said after the council
i meeting, “I was shocked at the
r mayor’s action. I maintain that a
. majority of our citizens are in favor
: of this. We’d like to develop a plan to
* present to the people,”
: Council members Pat Locke and
: Harvey Gantt joined Ms. Chafin and
: Williams in voting to pass the
: measure. The general concensus of
| these supporters of the district plan
proposal was that the plan would not
! hurt the relatively long way off
i consolidation effort and they would
;■ maintaining their campaign pled
I ges to support district representa*
: tion.
The opponents of the plan, council
members Jim Whittington, Joe
Whithrow and Lou Davis took the
view that the action was too hasty
for a major change in government, it
would set consolidation back five
years and it might, in the words of
Whittington, “be eroding the good
local government we have.” Mayor
Belk’s veto action was in support of
these views expressed by the minori
ty. * -r
The POST believes that Mayor
Belk was wrong in vetoing the will of
the majority on this issue. Charlotte
needs district representation to al
low those sectors of the city that
never has any voice in government
to finally gain some political influ
ence. For far too long seats on the
City Council, the Mecklenburg Coun
ty Commission and the Charlotte
Mecklenburg School Board have
been filled almost exclusively by the
residents of southeast Charlotte.
This has occurred because such
people have the financial means to
support a city-wide campaign. Dis
trict representation would give peo
ple in other parts of the city a better
chance to seek an office in local
government. Furthermore, district
representation would (l) give blacks
and poor whites a greater chance for
representation (2) make local go
vernment more responsive to com
munity needs, and (3) set the stage
for a smoother transition to consoli
dated government.
We hope that those council mem
bers expressing the minority views
on this issue will see the wisdom in
this suggestion and support Ms
Chafin’s proposal because it shows
vision and a committment to prac
ticing democracy in good govern
ment.
ixmg Denied Justice
wees we saia in mis column
that Ronnie Long, the 20-year-old
black youth convicted by an all
white jury of first-degree rape and
first-degree burglary of the widow of
a prominent Concord textile execu
tive, had little or no chance of
getting a fair trial. Our conclusion
was based on'the fact that the
all-white jury simply found it impos
sible to accept the testimony of
Long’s mother and girlfriend over
that of the alleged rape victim,
54-year-old Sarah Judson McKinley
Bost who has been described as one
with “distinguished gray hair...re
fined mannerism (and) an upper
class tinge.”
The apparent denial of even the
in os i elementary appearance of jus
tice in this case is abundantly clear:
the four prospective black jurors
were dismissed, the assistant Dis
trict Attorney’s objectivity was limi
ted because the victim had been his
baby sitter as a child, over half of
the jurors and two alternates or
their spouses are employed by Can
non Mills, the jurors admitted hav
ing read about the trial at the time of
their selection, and the victim’s
conflicting statements in identifying
the accussed. Is there any wonder
that Long’s mother asked upon
hearing the quilty verdict, “Do you
call this democracy?”.
Let us hope that delayed justice
will at least prevail in the granting
of a new trail for Ronnie Long.
Alonzo MacL/is Sets Example
The recent death of Alonzo Mack
ins Sr., was a great loss to the
supporters of small business as well
as to his family.
Beginning as a small loan mer
chant for neighbors and friends, and
ending as a prominent County Bail
Bondsman, Mackins overcame a
limited formal education, the barri
ers of racial discrimination and the
absence of capital for minority
business ventures • as is now avail
able - to achieve a position of
eminence among small business
men in the Charlotte area.
The POST salutes Mr. Mackins for
his commitment and dedication to
helping make Charlotte a better
place for all to live and work.
Charlotte and the nation needs more
“Alonzo Mackins.”
” i
i tin, LHAKLUTTE POST
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u.gH.«u,an». vuugieranien, ana countless local officials.
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• ___ ^
District Election Concept
n.. o_< j a > . *- _
By Gerald O. Johnson
Possibly you’ve read or
maybe heard some talk about
setting up districts for electing
council members for this
great metropolis, Charlotte.
Moreover, it is possible that
you did not quite understand
what the "district election
concept" was all about. Well, I
don’t either but I am going to
tell you about it anyway.
. Currently, we elect city
council memberts non-dls
trictly. This simply means
that candidates for council
seats file with the city to run
for the vacant seats. We go to
the polls and vote for whom
ever we desire to fill those
teats.
The "District Election Con
cept” would divide the city
into districts and representa
tives would be chosen from
each district. That is, candi
dates for council seats would
be chosen from districts. Only
a person living in your district
could be chosen to represent
your district. Moreover, you
would only be allowed to vote
for people in your district.
I
The idea is much like repre
sentation in state and federal
legislative bodies Only people
BLACK COMMUNITY
SELF HELP -MUTUAL AIP
SELF IMPROVEMENT -COOPERATION
mrnmrnmmmmm & m mm
LETTERS TQTHE EDITOR
How To Make A Child A Criminal
RALEIGH-Want to make a
criminal out of a child?
Here’s how.
While there may be other
ways to do it, this formula is
fail-safe, according to psycho
logists who work with children
in North Carolina state train
ing schools.
To make a criminal out of a
child, they say, have him grow
up in a poverty area - prefer
ably a city - because this is
where an estimated 75 percent
of them come from.
Next, give him a fractured
family, especially a father
who split before or soon after
the child was born. Then give
him a mother who is pre-occu
ni A/I unfli aiimrlunl nn<l
cupied or trained in mother
ing. Add a brother or sister or
two who have already had
trouble with the law.
Be sur^ that the family
makes barely enough money
to make ends meet, or less, so
that the child can receive no
private psychological help or
counseling. Make sure his
community has no or few
helping resources available
without charge.
When he’s five or six, put the
child in a public school acade
mically designed for children
with totally different cultural
backgrounds and vocational
aspiratons than his.
When he begins to experi
ence failure in school, keep
promoting him along, so that
he can become increasingly
aware of how inadequate his
school performance is, corn
oared to his classmates.
Allow the child’s frustra
tions to simmer until they turn
into hostility, then punish him
if he expresses his feelings.
When he is academically
two or three years behind his
classmates and he increasing
ly skips school because he
can't handle the day-to-day
frustration, label him a “bad
kid.” Have the teachers and
principals expect trouble from
him. He’ll soon sense what
they expect and give it to
them. By now, causing trouble
is the only thing he can do well
in school, except maybe
sports. But since his grades
are low, don’t let him partici
pate in sports. This will help
tremendously in increasing
hostility and its subsequent
“bad behavior.”
If he should try to meet his
own needs, by stealing a base
ball in the dime store so he can
play ball; or a can of spaghetti
from the grocer so he can have
something extra to eat; or by
breaking into a house with
several friends so he can have
some status with his friends
(because status through anti
social acts is better than no
status at all, the psycholo
gists have discovered) or if he
refuses to go to school, be
cause he can’t handle the
feelings that his failures there
produce day after day, be sure
that he comes before a judge
with very limited choices.
Have the judge say “don't do
it again’’ and send the child
back home, or else have the
judge send him straight to a
state institution - out of sight
and out of mind of the folks
back home, away from his
family and away from his
friends.
If the judge’s decision is to
send the child back home, be
sure again, that there are no
community resources, such as
alternate schools, counseling
programs, recreational or so
cial programs for the child to
attend. Be certain that mental
health resources in the com
munity are not staffed to serve
the number of adolescent teen
agers who need their help.
If the judge’s decision is
training school, make sure
that the school operates on a
budget so tight that it has no or
few qualified people able to
meet the individual child's
special needs. Keep psycholo
gical, recreational, education
and vocational programs to a
□are minimum. Keep staffs
underpaid and overworked.
Be sure that the kid has hoi
chance at catching up acade
mically, or. learning an in
come-producing skill or get
ting help with his basic pro
blems.
If the training school has
few enough programs, the
child will have enough time to
learn more about crime from
the more hardened offenders,
those who have already climb
ed the ladder to armed rob
bery, larceny, and even or
ganized crime. Give the child
enough time there to succeed
at refining his criminal arts.
When the child is released
from training school be sure
there are no follow-up pro
grams. Send him back to his
troubled family life; his trou
bled school life; and his trou
bled friends with no better
understanding of himself or
how to cope with his unchang
ing nrnhlems
TO
BE
EQUAL
. Vernon E. Jordan Jr. :
Getting Out The Vote
It is very likely that the next President of the
United States will get the votes of only about a
quarter of the adult population. Nearly a quarter
of the electorate will vote for the loser and about
half of those eligible to vote won’t even cast a
ballot.
This is something that should concern every
one of us, not just the campaign managers and
the politicians. The fate of democracy is
-dependent upon citizen participation in the
electoral process, and everyone loses if a handful
of people wind up choosing our leaders.
One big reason for the small turnout is #
structural - the system is rigged to make it
difficult for people to register. Some states have
simplified postcard registration, but most throw
obstacles in the way of citizens trying to register,
making it especially difficult for working people
who may have to lose a day’s pay to travel to the
The case for a simplified national automatic
registration system is clear. In some European
countries, you’re automatically registered and
simply drop in to vote at convenient polling
places whenever there’s an election, without red
tape. Last month, for example, over 90 percent of
Swedes turned out to vote.
Many people claim that low voter turnouts are
attributable to alienation and mistrust of govern- -
ment. If that’s true, the parties are at fault. If
both parties attempted to open their structures
to include all people, if they reached out to the
community to involve people in party activities,
there would be far less alienation.
And if the candidates dealt with issues that
really concerned the people and adequately
imparted a vision of the kind of government they
ujo ntoH IKaka tiiAul#] ___i _i
-wv muit iiucicoi auu
involvement. So far neither candidate has
managed to frame the issues in a believable way
that would inspire support and trust among large
numbers of the electorate, and the constant
harping about how awful “those Washington
bureaucrats” are only turns people off. After all,
if candidates and officials say government is so
terrible>>yhy get involved,, even if to vote. liJio',:
The tragic element in all this is that non-voting
is most prevalent among those who are most in
need of exercising political muscle. Black gains
are being threatened and a really large black -
voter turnout is needed to protect those gains
through a display of political power. Poor people,
whose numbers are growing, and young people,
for whom few jobs are available, have the power
to vote for those who pledge support for the
programs needed and to vote against those who
stand in the way of change.
But blacks, the poor, and the young all vote in
smaller numbers than do the satisfied and
complacent. That should surprise no one, since
groups largely excluded from society can’t be
expected to lead in political participation.
But for black people, voting is of absolutely
vital importance. A large black turnout this year
will make both parties sit up and take notice of
black needs and aspirations. The black vote may
provide the margin that elects the next Presi
dent, a number of senators, over a hundred
rnnffrP5Cm*»n QnH nntintln^r< _• i
HI veivuua tail vuie
for whom they want to repre
sent them in the senate. Fur
thermore, the person elected
must be a resident of North
Carolina.
So, this is the meaning of
District Elections. Now the
question becomes is there any
merit to subdividing Charlotte
into districts and holding dis
trict elections. The answer is,
No. This No is not a blanket
No. There are good points
about district elections, but
none worth changing our cur
rent system.
First, let us examine the
purpose of district elections.
District elections are used for
large areas. Ideologies change
somewhat drastically as di
stance comes between people.
The lifestyles of people in
Charlotte are quite different
from the lifestyles of people in
New York City. This is mostly
due to the difference in envi
ronment and conditions of the
two cities. Consequently, a
person's thinking in New York
would be quite different from
the thinking of a person in
Charlotte. We can bring this
point closer to home and say
that the same is true about
Charlotte and Boone. North
Carolina. Therefore, in a go
Gerald 0. Johnson
vernmental system district re
presentation affords one in
these consequences better re
presentation than open elec
tions.
On the other side of the coin,
a town like Huntersville is
entirely too small to even
consider district elections.
Why?
Because the wants, needs,
and priorities of the people in
Huntersville would not vary
enough to make district elec
tions worthwhile
So then the question be
comes where does one draw
the line as to what is big
enough to warrant district
elections? A very difficult
question to answer. But I say
whenever there are more poli
tical factions than a council
can deal with effectively, then
it is time to break the city up
into districts.
Charlotte is far from being
big enough to be broken into
districts. My personal opinion
is district elections would be
nefit the candidate and not the
voters. A candidate would
benefit both financially and
politically by district elec
tions. As far as spending
creased. As far as you and I
are concerned the district
elections would restrict our
choices. 0 we didn’t like our
district representatives we
are stuck. Plus, this method
could conceivably leave, us
without the beat council. It is
not inconceibable that the best
candidates for city council
money on his campaign, a
candidate need only concen
trate on his district, not city
wide. Thus, advertising cost
are cut tremendously. Need
less to say that since dhe-sisth
of the cities population would
be voting for a candidate his
chances for victory are in
could come from the tame
district. Under the district
election concept only one of
these candidates would end up
on the council. Charlotte is not
ready to change over to this.
However, I do not agree
with Mayor Belk's tactic of
vetoing the action to bring to
the public the opinions of thoee
council members pushing
for district elections. I think
a good dog fight over the
matter is in order. Both pros
and cons should be brought to
T*
the publics attention and then
let the public decide.
RESERVED VALUES
It never ceases to amaze me
how we let certain things
happen. The Watergate scan
dal has come and gone and
those people convicted of the
scandal are becoming rich.
John Dean, Spiro Agnew, Hi
chard Nixon, and the group
are becoming rich off of a
political scandal and we art '
letting it happen Where hav< •
all our values gone?
jimmy barter Steering
Committee To Meet
M^.lL ^1 mm _ t..
'»■* «iin« jimmy car
ter Steering Committee mem
ber* State Senator Fred Alex
ander. Atty. Julius Chambers
and Rowe Motley are expect
ed to attend the annual Demo
cratic “Vance-Aycock" week
end, with guest speaker De
mocratic Gubernatorial No
minee Jim Hunt on October is
and 16 in Asheville
According to Ms Betty Mc
Cain, chairman of the State
l>emocratic Executive Com
....lire, mini will be the fea
furwl speaker at the fund an<
will give his address at
oi clock p.m. on October 16 ir
the Asheville Civic Center. '■>
The •Vance-Aycock-' week
h*W ‘n moat *
mi.l L hf Great Smokies -
Hilton Hotel, is a fund raising
affair involving democrats
throughout North Carolina •
and named after two distin
guished Democratic Cover :
nors.
• I