ctiimij t conrnicnu
City Needs District Representation
By Hoyle H. Martin
Post Executive Editor
During the municipal elections '
last year there was considerable
agreement among the candidates of
both parties that some form of
district representation is desirable
for the City of Charlotte. In fact, the
election of seven council members,
who compaigned in part on a pro
mise of supporting the districting
concept, was_in reality a public
endorsement of the idea.
Considering this background, it
was therefore surprising that in
mid-October the council had a 4-3
split vote in favor of a proposal
calling for the development of a
districting plan to be submitted to
the voters for approval on May 17,
1977.
However, in a surprise move,
Mayor John Belk used a little-known
first-time-used veto power to defeat
the measure. This action was subse
quently over-turned on a legal tech
nicality over whether the action was
an “ordinance” or a simple motion.
Many supporters of district repre
sentation viewed the vote against
the concept by councilmen Jim
Whittington, Joe Withrow and Louis
Davis as a failure to keep their
campaign promises. Withrow and
Davis contend that they favor dis
frirtino hut that it chrvulH fnllmu nnf
precede, city and county consolida
tion. Whittington said district repre
sentation might result in “eroding
the good local government we
have.”
View Lacks Merits
Both of these arguments for op
posing district representation are
weak and lack merit. The let’s-wait
for-consolida tion point of view lacks
merit because there are too many
“if,” “buts” and “whens** involved -
to know when in fact the two local
governments will actually merge.
While in fact consolidation is grad
ually taking place through the in
creasing merger of public services
and through the city’s continuous
expansion via annexation, the mer
ger of the two governmental bodies
that districting is being delayed,
that is, those in positions of power do
not want to share that power,
want to share that power.
The second reason for opposing
districting, Whittington’s “ero
ding...good local government” sim
ply does not coincide with the facts.
Charlotte’s history of district repre
sentation dates back to 1851 when a
ward system was instituted that
continued until 1917. In that year the
city developed a three member
commission form of government
that resulted in the ending of the
ward system. In 1929 city govern
ment was again re-organized in
favor of a council-manager format
(as currently exists). By 1935 when
the council was enlarged from five
to eleven the ward system was
revived.
Quick Abolishment
Local history records that the
ward system worked well with little
or no evidence of any corruption
from its inception in 1851 until 1945.
In that year Bishop Dale, a black
political leader, nearly won a coun
cil seat from the Second Ward. That
“scare,” according to many long
time black residents of the city,
resulted in a quick abolishment of
the ward system. Thus, it was not
corruption but racism that led to the
demise of the ward system.
Fortunately, it appears that as a
city we have matured beyond ra
cism at least to the extent of
recognizing that power must be
shared if the community at large is
to have any power at all. Proof of
this is in the fact that after consi
derable foot-draging the City Coun
cil may take some definite action on
the districting concept as early as
next week. This move has been
brought about by community group
petitions favoring some form of
district representation.
We hope that the Council’s actions
will be the beginning of the end of
political decision-making power be
ing concentrated in southeast Char
lotte. Furthermore, we hope their
actions will be the beginning of more
than tnkpn rpnrwa»nfoHnn in 1/vnol
government for blacks, beginning
representation for other geographic
areas and socio-economic groups,
and finally, a meaningful start
toward a smooth transition to conso
lidation.
To this end we hope that those
council members who expressed the
minority view will now see the
wisdom in supporting the concept of
district representation. It will only
be through such support that Char
lotte can be a true example of what
democracy is all about.
Something On Your Mind
Something on your mind is the
name of a column devoted to our
readers of this newspaper-as long
as it relates in some way to young
people, regardless of age.
It will be written by you and about
whatever is on your mind!
So, if you have something to
say...WRITE ON!
Some subjects that may be of
special interest to you are: Drugs
Generation Gaps, Welfare, Gangs!
School, Going Steady, Police Revo
lution, Whites, Blacks, Integration,
Busing, Draft, God, Negro churches,
etc.
THE CHARLOTTE POST
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gree that low expectations on nothing right. They soon ac- it’s own prophsey. joblessness and discrimination. f
I
l
Crashing, Not Flying, Bothers Our Columnist
By Gerald O. Johnson
It is no secret that one of my
favorite traveling modes is the
automobile. Hence, it took no
one by surprise when I acted
like a fool about flying to
Orlando, Florida for a confer
ence recently.
But after all was said and
done I ended up flying. Note
that I only ended up flying
after I was literally dragged to
the plane by my traveling
companions. Don't get me
wrong though. I am not afraid
of flying. Crashing is what
bothers me.
However, I am an infre
quent flyer. I think I have
traveled by plane 20 times in
my life. I might add that I am
not anxious for my 21st flight.
Each time that I fly, once I
get above the clouds I start
seeing angels. The hoot of
angels gather around my win
'dow and start singing "Nearer
My God To Thee " I've always
wondered why I thought like
this since the plane would be
headed towards hell if it
crashed.
But the funny thing is when
you fly no one wants you to
know that they are afraid.
Crystal Ball Gazing
Centuries of trying to take a
peek into the future has led
man to discover a certain
truth about forecasting. He
has discovered that once the
human mind believes in a
certain thing; it proceeds to
make that thing happen. It is
the belief in the forecast which
causes it to come true.
This fact about the way a
person’s beliefs can influence
events has been stated in
many ways, and now we have
it documented in a study by
Robert Rosenthal and Lenore
Jacobson and presented in a
book entitled PYGMALION
IN THE CLASSROOM (Holt,
1968). This study was an expe
riment in which some teach
ers were led to believe that a
certain group of children were
Tate bloomers’ and had high
potential to achieve. Nothing
of the sort had been indicated
about these children, but since
the teachers were made to
believe that the children were
‘smart’, the children’s I.Q.
scores actually went up as a
result. The study concluded
that teachers’ expectations
have a tremendous influence
upon children's achievement.
Thus, if children are expected
to be smart, they become
smart; and if children are
expected to be slow, they
berome slow.
While many educators a
gree that low expectations on
(he part oT teachers may
indeed be the cause of poor
academic performance in in
ner city schools, the big ques
tion has been - how do we go
about turning those expecta
tions around? But perhaps
instead of asking, how can we
change teachers’ expecta
tions, we should be asking -
what causes teachers to hold
low expectations of some
children in the first place?
Expectations come from
many sources, but the great
est shaper of expectations is a
modern kind of crystal ball
called testing. From the re
sults of tests administered to
children almost immediately
upon their entry into school,
the children receive various
labels describing their intelli
gence. Those children who are
labelled with such positive
words as ’smart’ ‘intelligent’
and ‘bright’ are expected by
their teachers to shine in just
about everything - and they
do. They carry such s positive
aura about them that they can
literally do no wrong, and they
are chosen for every good
thing which the school has to
offer in the form of praise and
rewards. On the other hand,
children who are given the
highly negative labels such as
‘slow’ or ’low’ begin to move
within such a negative light
that they seem to be able to do
nothing right. They soon ac
cept for themselves the sam<
low expectations which theii
teachers have for them, anc
they gradually grow to believe
they are intellectually inferioi
and begin to performuiccord
ingly. This often lead* child
ren to direct their energies
into such non-creative, non
productive pursuits that, ii
addition to being labeller
‘slow’ or ‘dumb’, they alsr
become labelled ‘bad’, a ‘pro
blem’ or a ‘troublemaker.
Thus, they fulfill the expecta
tions decreed by their label)
not only in the academic area
but also in their behavior.
The negative results of pre
dictive testing have beer
keenly felt by Black communi
ties, since the tests are baser
upon the White, middle-clas)
culture and therefore place)
Blacks and other minority
children at a severe disad
vantage.
Many educators have pro
tested the practice of predic
live testing because of thr
serious damage which it does
But it is an extremely difficult
practice to stop, not onlj
because it is so firmly en
trenched within the educa
tional system, but also be
cause many teachers believi
they can’t teach without it
they can’t. Thus, the crysta
ball continues to work will
complete accuracy, fulflllini
it’s own prophsey.
When you board the plane
everybody la to friendly. Even
the bigots act friendly. Every
body is talking and having a
good time. Then the plane
taxi to the runway. The
engines roar, the wings ex
tend, and like a bat out of hell,
zoom, you areairborne- If you
look around you all the talking
has ceased. Everybody is pre
tending to be asleep. As soon
as the plane levels off and
everything appears to be O.K.
there is a mad rush to the
bathroom. The reason for this
is taking-off scares the .... out
of you.
Now everybody is gay a
gain; laughing. Joking having
a good time.
All of a sudden you hit an air
pocket. The plane Jerks,
Jumps, and then sputters. Si
lence enters the cabin again. A
few people get up and go back
to the "John." Then somebody
lets out a sheepish grin and
the fun starts up again.
I think I know how a pair of
"fruit-of-the-loom" feels when
it gets washed. Hitting an air
pocket must be synonymous
with that.
Anyway, everybody contin
Gerald O. Johnson
ues to have a good time until
the plane is ready to land.
Then everybody starts yawn
ing and immediately falls off
to sleep. Once on the ground
everybody returns to
his original character and
starts pushing and shoving,
ignoring and the works. It is
like Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Your entire flight takes 30
minutes and now you have to
wait an hour for your bag
gage
The most disappointing as
pect of the entire trip has to be
the stewardesses. The com
mercials paint such a lovel;
picture of the stewardess, t
lovely, shapely, creature wtv
is there to make your tri|
more comfortable. Untrue 01
both accounts. *
On my flights the stewar
desses were frightening. The;
looked like casualties of i
plane crash. I mean looking a
those young ladles was enougl
to make me want to go to tb
“John."
I asked one young lady if
had to change planes in Allan
ta after the pilot had jus
announced that they would b
continuing on to Los Angele
from Atlanta. She looked a
me coldly for about a minut
as if to imply “no fool you cai
stay on and go to L.A." An
then she shook her head in tb
affirmative.
Seriously though folks, ther
is probably no safer and rv
more efficient mode of tram
portation than flying com
mercially. If you think about I
for awhile you will soon res
lize like I did that the fears ar
based on limited exposure.
We know about automobiles
TO
BE
EQUAL
w•
Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
Amnesty Issue Revived
President-elect Carter has indicated that one
of his first acts of office will be to issue some
form of pardon for Vietnam draft resisters as a
step toward finally burying the searing divisions
of that unwanted war.
My experience on President Ford’s Presiden
tial Clemency Board helped convince me that
- such a step is right and is long overdue. .
Reviewing the cases that came before ^the
Board, I found that many of the draft evaders
and resisters and deserters were not pampered
middle class kids seeking to evade responsibility
but that they fell largely into two categories. The
first was made up of large numbers of young
men whose personal problems and experiences
were such that they should not have served at all,
while the second group consisted of persons
whose convictions should have enabled them to
win conscientious objector status.
Not enough people took advantage of the
Board s existence, borne were distrusting of any
official group, thinking it was a trap. Others
were put off by the requirements attached to
clemency. Still others had a multitude of
personal reasons for refusing to apply to the
Board.
So the Clemency Board really didn’t do the job
of burying the Vietnam divisions. Nor did it
begin to tackle the big hidden problem of the
Vietnam era - the more than 350,000 veterans of
the Vietnam era who got less than honorable
discharges.
The real losses to individuals holding such
discharges are enormous. A less than honorable
discharge means its holder is disqualified from a
wide range of veterans’ benefits ranging from
G.I. Bill educational and employment aid to
Veterans Administration medical care and civil
service point preferences.
Since so many of the less than honorable
discharges are held by men who served for
, significant periods of time in the armed forces,
i and many who saw combat duty, this is a sad
1 situation. But it is made worse by the fact that
such discharges are often administratively
imposed, the fruits of personality conflicts with
superior officers, minor frictions that would be
meaningless in civilian life, and - too often -
racism.
How else to explain that in the Vietnam era
blacks were twice as likely as whites to receive
less than honorable discharges? Just as black
GI’s were more likely to find themselves in
PfiTnHaf mnro 1 ilralv fn Ko ufAnn^A^ nn/4 mam
likely to die in action, so too did being black place
a man in greater jeopardy of being separated
from the service with the stigma of a less than
honorable discharge.
Recognizing the serious injustices of many
such discharges the Army has begun outreach
programs to grant hearings reviewing such
. discharges, but such a piecemeal effort itill
leaves many untouched.
Any amnesty program should include provi
\ sion for dealing with the larger problem of
| veterans holding less than honorable discharges,
! and it should also spur changes in the way we
t treat those who fought and returned to find
joblessness and discrimination. *
because practically everyone
owns and operates one. But
only a limited few get a
chance to travel by plane.
Consequently, our fears are
more lack of knowledge than
fear.
For example, deaths caused
by automobile accidents far
exceeds those deaths caused
by commercial Airplane cra
shes.
Only well qualified people
are licensed to fly airplanes,
whereas any and every fool
can and does operate automo
biles. i
Automobile mechanics are
for the most part improperly
trained. Moot learn from ex
perience with no formal train
ing. Commercial airplane me
chanics must go through for
mal training before they are
allowed to work on airplanes.
Moreover, airplanes are us
ually checked out on a daily
basis to ensure that the ma
chine is operating properly. It
is probably true that every
automobile on the road has a
mechanical flaw in them.
Most people will not bother to
have their cars checked year
ly, let alone daily.
Furthermore, automobile
engineering is not as a sophis
ticated discipline as aerial
engineering. The reason is a
lot of money haa been poured
into the aero-space program
md the research findings are
lirectly applicable to com
mercial flying. Hence, the
most modem equipment is
currently being used by air
lines.
Last but not least is the
iensity problem. There are
nany, many, many more cars
>n the roads than there are
>lanes in the air. Consequent
y, there is a much greater
:hance of accidents occuring
>n U>« ground than in the sir.
So you see. If you can afford
to fly - then fly. Your chances
In the air are far better than
four chances are on the road
i* not a rational excuse
for not flying.
•!!-of this if you still
»ren't convinced that you
ihould fly then I just hope I
happen to be going your way
when you crank up for your
»ext trip.
Rock Easy!