cmm d com
“Big Brother** Settles Bus Strike
t$y Hoyle H. Martin Sr.
Post Executive Editor
As bus riders, the striking drivers,
downtown merchants and city offi
cials rejoiced over the ending of the
36-day long bus strike, lingering in
the aftermath is the fact that the
Charlotte community could not, on
its own, find a solution to the dispute.
Following the latest in a series of
breakdowns in negotiations last
week, which, according to one
source, reached the lowest point as
tempers flaired and suspicion arose,
federal mediator R. Hunter Phillips
took the initiative to find a workable
settlement. Pl>illips, who was ap
plauded by both disputing parties for
his efforts, offered a compromise
proposal that finally moved each
side from their previous inflexible
positions.
The compromise settlement gave
the bus drivers and mechanics less
than their original demand but
considerable more than the bus
company (the city’s agent) had
offered. Specifically, the compro
mise settlement gives the drivers
and mechanics an immediate, and
retroactive to October, 50-cent per
hour wage increase, plus an addi
tional 35-cents an hour raise in
October of 1977. This means that
Charlotte bus drivers and me
chanics are now paid $5.06 per hour
and this rate will be increased to
15.41 an hour in October of next year.
It is important to note that these
hourly wage rates are equal to, but
not greater than, the rates paid bus
drivers in other cities in North and
South Carolina and at the same time
compatable with the rates paid other
public employees in the Charlotte
area.
Equally if not more significant
than the settlement agreement, is
the fact that Charlotte, like so many
other communities, constantly com
; plains about federal intervention in
local affairs. Nevertheless, thd
city’s failure to take the initiative to
end the strike that was affecting
U—over 10,000 Charlotteans resulted in
a federal mediator doing what our
public officials should have had the
courage to do.
While we recognize that federal
law prevents the city from offering
alternative transportation during a
bus strike and state law prevent the
signing of collective bargaining a
greements, the City still has a
responsibility to offer the kind of
leadership that will keep the com
munity from having to face the kind
•' of agony and inconvenience it expe
rienced these past 36 days. If we
must wait for the federal govern
ment to solve all our problems, what
do we need local officials for?
Community Action SpetriMMb Dktrieting
ine Charlotte City Council’s slow
pace in drafting a plan for district
representation has led to their re
cognition of a citizen’s plan having
the same objective.
A petition filed with the City
Council on Monday by a coalition of
neighborhood groups and organiza
tions calls for a vote on district
representation. The plan proposes
an 11-member City Council, with 7
district representatives and 4 at
large-representatives. The Council’s
own plan, considerably more con
servative with regard to the number
of district representatives, has bean
deferred until action on the citizen’s
plan has been completed.
With all the rush to get district
representation it is very easy to
forget or take too lightly the real
purpose of districting. The purposes
of districting, or more accurately,
district representation, are to (l)
enable council members to better
represent their constituents by hav
ing greater knowledge of a more
manageable geographic area, (2)
reduce campaign cost so that mare
people can run for public office, (3)
insure greater accountability of the
representatives to their voters and
(4) to break the near-monopoly of
any one geographic area and eco
nomic group in dominating local
government as currently exists with
5of^the current Citj^CmmciWnem-^
bers living in the southeast section of
the city. (An equally large or great
er number of the CM School Board
members and County Commission
ers also live in southeast Charlotte.)
In the final analysis, district re
presentation means that the citizen
ry of Charlotte will have a greater
chance to participate in the ideal of
democracy. However, it is impor
tant to note that with this opportu
nity goes the responsibility to get
involved in civic affairs to insure a
meaningful representative form of
government. District representation
in and of itself means nothing unless
citizens are interested enough to
participate in the political process
and demand that those who are
elected be accountable to their
constituency.
If the kind of political apathy that
is still quite evident among ap
proximately 46 percent of the Ameri
can voters, and an equal percent of
blacks in the Charlotte area, is not
ended quickly district representa
tion will mean very little.'
To continue to be a relatively free
people we must carry out those
responsibilities that add to freedom.
Citizen responsibility in a district
representative form of government
is io the end, the foundation of the
freedoms we possess, cherish and
must have if black Americans are to
reaize full equality as we approach
the end of another decarip
I nr. LtiAKU/i riS Kirr
“THE PEOPLES NEWSPAPER”
Established 1918
Published Every Thursday
By The Charlotte Poet Publishing C#., Inc.
2606-B West Blvd.-Charlotte, N.C. MOM
Telephones (704) 392-1306,392-1107
Circulation 11,000
57 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS SERVICE
Bill Johnson...Editor-P^faher
Sidney A. Moore Jr.Advertising biractor
Rex Hovey..Circulation Manager
Gerald O. Johnson.Business Manager
Second Class Postage Paid at
Charlotte, N.C. under the Act of March 3,1878
Member National Newspaper pgbliahari
Association
North Carolina Black Publishers Aiiociation
",^^adIinefOTaI^newscc^aI^dphet«■^Tp,lr^,
Monday. The Post is not responsiVe for any
photos or news copies submitted for publication.
National Advertising Representgtive
Amalgamated Publishers, Iv*
45 W. 5th Suite 1403 2400 S. Michigan Ave.
New York, N.Y. 10036 Chicago, 111. 90616
(212 ) 489-1220 Calumet 5-0W0
By Gerald O. Johnson
It is Christmas time again
and everyone is going through
the hustle and bustle of shop
ping. To most people this is
what Christmas is all about. It
is not the people's fault. The
society is a capitalistic one
whereby stimulating the eco
nomy takes precedence over
everything else. This fact has
caused Christmas to be more
unbearable than merry.
I would like to say though
WGIV and other organizations
are doing a fine job in helping
those people who can’t afford
the hoopla of Christmas. I am
one of them.
Anyway we have gotten so
wrapped up in trying to ap
pease those people on our
shopping list that it makes
shopping a chore rather than a
joy
Asking everybody what they
want for Christmas takes the
element of surprise out of the
entire event. I mean, knowing
what you got before you get it
is "Merryless."
Who ever said that "It is not
the gift but the thought that
counts" should have my shop
ping list
14tll‘ *WE'VE MET THE
V " ENEMY-AND HE IS US"- TURNING OUR CHILDREN
INTO JUNKIES, INTO THIEVES
AND PROSTITUTES, WHO
PREY ON THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
Factor In The Increase Of “Black On
Black” Crimes Working For The System
Working For The System
Human relations courses,
sensitivity training, and work
shop sessions on teacher-pupil
relations are all a part of an
effort being made by many
school boards to correct the
attitudes of school personnel
toward Black children and
other minorities. Such efforts
are certainly to be applauded
because the need is great, but
the attitudes of individual tea
chers and administrators are
only a small part of the
problem. The larger and more
prevasive problem often lies
with the institution itself. Po
licies, practices, standards,
and organisational structure
all provide a certain setting in
which failure is inevitable,
and those who work within it
can only move within its con
text, regardless of how they
may personally feel about the
children.
An example of how the
institutional setting can stea
dily but forcefully change a
teacher around is detailed in
an article by Estelle Funchs,
"How Teachers Learn To Help
Children Fail" which appear
ed in the September, 1968 issue
of TRANSACTIONS. The arti
cle describes a study in which
new teachers were told to
tape-record accounts of their
experiences in a New York
school. In the reports of one of
the teachers who was sent to
work in a school serving Black
children, we can see that the
teacher was very positive in
her approach to children. Her
attitude was warm and friend
ly ; she respected and admired
the abilities of the students
and she was puzzled as to how
they could grow up to be fifth
and sixth graders and still be
reading on the second grade
level. But she soon got an
explanation for this from an
'experienced' teacher, who
gave her a list of children’s
’deficiences’ by telling her
that some of the children
never see a newspaper, have
never been on a subway or
visited a museum. She was
also told that the children’s
parents were so busy having
parties that they have no time
for their children and that the
parents are the ones who have
to be educated. A change in
the new teacher's attitude can
be detected as she records
that it is a shame that the
children suffer from these
things. But she still does not
blame the children and their
parents totally, as she worries
about her own deficiencies as
a teacher and the fact that she
has not had any real training
in the teaching of reading.
Next, the account shows an
administrative upheaval tak
ing place which is common to
inner city schools. The
school’s enrollment drops, but
this does not mean smaller
classrooms and a better pupil
teacher ratio. It means that a
teacher has to be dismissed
and that an entire classroom
will have to be ‘dissolved’ by
assigning the students to other
classes. It is the new teacher’s
class which has to be redistri
buted, and thus we get an
insight into how children who
were judged to be of ‘average’
intelligence when they entered
school are now judged differ
ently because of the need for
school reorganization. The
children are shifted according
to a plan which would give the
other kindergarten teachers
an equal class load. As a
consequence, some of the
children have the good fortune
to be reassigned to the very
‘top’ class, which is described
by the teacher as ‘the only
class you would term a ‘good’
class,’ but other unlucky stu
dents are assigned to the very
bottom class.
as i see ic
* //
Christmas Just Ain’t Christmas
I think if foolish for people to
force themselves to shop for
items that someone said they
wanted. If you don't like what
I will give you this year, then I
can remedy the problem for
next year. I will give you my
prayers.
As I said last Christmas,
Christmas will not be Christ
mas until we put "Christ”
back into it.
WBTV BIASED IN AIRINGS?
If you've noticed lately that
you don't see that popular
television program, "The Jef
ferson's," anymore. The rea
son is WBTV does not show it.
"The Jefferson's” was swit
ched from Saturday night to
Wednesday night by CBS.
However; WBTV, our local
CBS affiliates, unfortunately,
was showing “the Andy Wil
liams Show" at that time slot.
Consequently, “The Jeffer
son's" is not seen at all.
I personally can not under
stand why a nationally rated
TV show like “The Jeffer
son’s" has to take second
bill to a show like the "Andy
Williams Show”. I am fortu
nate because I can get channel
7 from Spartanburg, another
for determining a nationally
rated show not being seen over
an unrated one, then there is
no justification for such an
act.
Whatever the reason, I sug
gest you get cablevision so
that you can tune in on chan
nel 7 from Spartanburg. Then
you will not have to be sub
jected to the hangups of the
local stations in Charlotte.
WHAT S IN AN EDUCATION
A lot of people have been
misled by the fact that a
college education prepares
one for the job market. No
thing could be further from
the truth. A college education
prepares you for nothing. If
you can not be content with
knowing that you know, then a
college education will not be
nefit you. If you are consider
ing being rich, then a college
education is not for you. A
college education does one
thing. It provides a means of
evaluating your learning ca
pacity in an array of subject
matters as compared to your
peers.
The most educated people in
the world can be found on a
By Gerald O. Johnson
CBS affiliate.
The programming director
for WBTV must not be aware
of ratings because this isn't
the first time such a stupid
situation has occurred. Re
member "The Great White
Hope?"
I am refraining from accus
ing the station of biasness, but
it is quite strange that the
highly rated shows that get
abused by WBTV are black
oriented.
If a survey of the Charlotte
area was not used as a basis
—'ll I III .
;v I* -■i-'UJtiAh
TO
BE
•v
EQUAL
college campus. The poorest
people in the world can be
found in the same place. QED.
What going to college will do
for you is make you accessible
to the Job market. It is still
the place where businesses go
to select prospective candi
dates. But there is a big
difference between being pre
pared and being pooled for the
Job market.
The former indicates that
you are able to perform im
mediately whereas the latter
indicates an aptitude to be
able to learn to perform.
All of this seems simple
enough yet it is precisely this
difference that has caused
turmoil in the education com
munity.
This is the primary differ
ence between a trade school
and an institution for higher
learning.
Many students graduating
today and not finding jobs are
blaming the schools
The schools are only to
blame because they tend to
give people this impression. It
is a drawing card; to tell
people that you get a better
Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
r
Ban The Death Penalty
Strange, isn’t it, that the approach of the
Christmas season should be the setting for a
revival national debate on the death penalty?
Last July the Supreme Court issued a set of
rulings that tried to make legal and constitution
al sense of state executions. Some kinds of death
sentences were approved, others barred. Every
one knew more cases would follow, and that the
Court’s refusal to ban the death penalty as an
unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment
would lead to confusion and unfairness.
That has come about, and the Court is
becoming even more deeply entangled in the
results of its July decisions. Within a period of
days it overthrew the death penalty where
citizens opposed to the penalty were barred from
juries in capital cases; issued stays of execution
in some nationally publicized cases, and moved
to reconsider some issues it thought it settled
back in July.
Meanwhile the Death Row population grows -
overt-500 people have been sentenced to death.
Lurking behind the sensational cases of Gary
Gilmore and Robert White is the real threat of
mass executions.
The Gilmore case is an example of what we are
in for if the death penalty is not done away with
unce ana ior an. uonviciea oi particularly brutal
murders, Gilmore says he committed the crimes
and wants to be executed. This made him a hero
overnight with sensational stories about him
appearing in all the media.
Without going into all the tawdry details about
the Gilmore case, there are two aspects of
special interest to the question of the rightness of
the death penalty. One is whether the state
should set aside its moral scruples by executing
one of its citizens, even if he requests it.
Gilmore’s wishes are irrelevant to state
action; The nature- of hia crime* - justifies
removal from society through incarceration. But
the state has no responsibility to fulfill the death
wish of a citizen.
A second aspect concerns the death penalty as
a deterrent. One of the big guns in the pro-death
penalty arsenal of arguments is that the prospect
of execution will deter potential murderers.
But in fact it seems as if it acts as an incentive
for suicidal personalities consumed with violent
impulses. The history of crime is full of instances
where people murdered in order to be executed.
The death penalty is no deterrent to the Gilmores
of this world.
The possibility is very strong that an inno
cent person would be murdered by the state, that
a life would have been snuffed out not by fate or
illness or chance, but by the premeditated action
of the government. That’s not something we can
square with the image of the society we would
like to become.
Perhaps those suggestions about televising
executions are right - let people see the actuality
of what state-sanctioned killings are like and the
likelihood is that the public will be overwhel
mingly against the death penalty.
But a wiser course is for the Supreme Court to
reconsider its muddled decisions on the subject
and to finally ban the death penalty as a cruel 4
and unusual punishment that is unconstitutional
and unfit for a Twentieth Century democracy.
Job if you are well educated.
This does not guarantee a
better Job.
For example, a student ma
joring in Black Studies will be
hard pressed for a Job upon
graduating. I mean who needs
an expert on Black Studies?
This is a case of a well
educated person who can not
do anything. The school did its
part. So who is to blame? This
and other points about what is
in an education will be ex
ploited in future articles.
Public Library
To Exhibit
Puppet Shows
Children’s Services is pre
senting a series of Christmas
puppet shows December 13-22
at all fifteen branches of the
Public Library of Charlotte
and Mecklenburg County.
The shows will include dra
matizations of “Little Red
Riding Hood” and "The Three
Billy Goats Gruff” as well as
Christmas songs and activi
ft sate