:cdiMU o commcnn:
^ing Symbolizes Confederacy Too! _
nation and poverty was a hurricane
of fire that opened a new era of
struggle for freedom.” It has been
because of these qualities that mo
numents have been erected across
this land in honor of King. He has
left a legacy and a heritage of how
good men of courage and conviction
can and do arise in times of chaos
and hatred to bring about peace and
understanding.
It is in truth, a historical fact that
King symbolizes and reflects the
heritage of the soldiers of the
Confederacy too. What we mean is
that without slavery and without the
Civil War and its aftermath, there
might not have been a need for a
Martin Luther King to rise to the
heights to puncture the conscious
ness of evil-doing men so that they
might begin to perform more hu
manly. King’s contributions are in
essence reflected in the words of a
historian who said, “There are no
great men, but simply great events
that demand great deeds from hum
ble people.’/'^
The POST, therefore, believes
quite strongly that the City Council
was wrong in its decision on this
matter and we applaud Councilman
Harvey Gantt’s comment on the
issue when he said, “The symbolic
effort of a City Council in 1977..,glo
rifying a war that was fought to deny
civil rights to a part of the citizenry,
cuts deeply. I’m afraid I’ll have to
vote against this monument.”
The POST hope that the City
Council and the citizenry will think
carefully about Mr. Gantt’s words
so that in the future we might erect
markers that reflect the good that
comes, from the -past since that
best helps to build a prosperous
future.
iime 1 o siop -me Dance
“It is time for black sororities and
fraternities to stop dancing, pool their
monies, and BUY (the buildings)
what they are dancing in!” said
Lillian P. Benbow in Ebony maga
zine recently.
“Funds realized from moratori
ums on the annual dance for just one
year could actually save numerous
black businesses that fail annually,
could feed thousands of pot-bellied
babies who die each year, and could
purchase some of that real estate
that is being subsidized through
rental fees and food costs for a
four-hour fantasy,” she added.
Having quoted liberally from Ms. t
Benbow it would appear that nothing
else needs to be said. However, as
we look around in our community,
the state and the nation, we must
become consdoasofthefact that too
often we as black people are not
lifting ourselves by our boot straps.
even when we can.
We must encourage our youth to
enter the legal profession, patronize
black businesses to help create jobs,
support black elected officials, co
operate with the police and help the
poor.
As you read this column we
suggest that you ask yourself, what
am I doing to assist the Martin
Luther King Memorial Statue drive,
what am I doing to aid the cause of
district representation, how am I
expressing my support for commis
sioner Bob Walton and councilman
Harvey Gantt, how much of my
income is spent with black-owned
businesses and what am I doing of a
positive nature to improve the quali
ty of education and police protection
in our community?
Think about what Ms. Benbow has
said, then think about the questions
we have asked, then do something.
J _
THE CHARLOTTC FOOT
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- - — - ;-executions
THE VIEW FROM HERE
Our Sifencefe Eloquent?
- - • 1‘ li_=— . 50 anartmentc -- .. —
By Gary Gregg
i One has to often wonder
about our dedication to our
; selves. We talk a good fight
! about progress, about free
dom, about moving into the
mainstream of this society but
often when it comes time to
put up or shut up our silence is
eloatmt
* / / * / I
we're especially noncom
mltal when it comes time to
put up some money.
Consequently, we’re still
struggling with problems that
should have been solved a long
time ago. Problems such as
inadequate housing, abnor
mally low wages, spiraling
unemployment and attitudes
of defeat and despair should
not plague us now. But they
do
We’re still wrestling with
this problem, I contend, be
cause we don’t look out foi
' ourselves first, and because
I we’d often rather shut up than
put up.
Let's consider a hypotheti
cal situation.
j There are roughly 100,000
black people In Charlotte. For
t the sake of my point, let's
assume that 35,000 of those
blacks are employed adults,
making between $5,000 and
118,000 annually. If each at
these persons would donate gl
a week to the Black n—must
ty Development Fund, that
' fund would gensrate M,M a
week, or tl,ta0,000 annually.
It is my contention that this
fund, were it established,
could become a catalyst hr
improving the Mack rnmiaa
nity.
First of all, let me say that
this idea isn’t mine. It was
first voiced nationally by East
Graves, publisher of BLACK
ENTERPRISE MAGAZINE.
Graves envisioned JLMflteM.
al fund to which more than one
million blacks would contri
bute regularly, producing the
kind of funds that can rebuild
both the ghettos and our
minds.
Just think what could be
done in Charlotte to erase
many of the devastating con
ditions which stalk our com
munity. Housing, medical
care, supportive educational
programs, support for our
cherished institutions, econo
mic and political progress
could be greatly enhanced by
such a fund.
Can it be done?
First of all, I’m sure that the
local association of Mack ac
countants can develop a sys
„ tern of collecting, reporting,
and using the meoey that
would meet our approval. Ev
ery payday we exchange our
wages for a bank receipt only
because we believe that the
system can be trusted whether
individuals can be trusted or
not. Each pay period thcee
who’ve signed up for their fair
share give one dollar or more
to a system that functions with
very little accountability to
individual supporters.
Certainly, if we can find the
will to trust the banks and give
consistently to the United
Way, then we should be able to
develop our own system, sup
port it and trust it._
If the accountants will deve
■m* ■ a 7 a win. ■ ■■■ aiiiiuni
certain that N.C. Mutual Life
Insurance Company can deve
lap an insurance plan for the
aaw system for developing the
Mack community. It further
stands to reason that Mechan
ics and Farmers Bank could
Bad a way to be the depositing
and issuing bank for the Fund.
In other words, I contend
Mat we have the resources
errantly available in the
esaamunity to develop, im
ptamant and utilise such a
plan to our advantage.
What could be done, for
anample, with 1600,000 a year
in the area of housing7
Access to a half million
dollars annually could pro
duce about 500 units of multi
family housing a year in Char
lotte, according to Ernie Al
ford, Executive Director of
MOTION, a non-profit housing
development corporation.
Alford says that a Black
Community Development
Fund (BCDF) that would allo
cate 5500,000 a year to housing
could mean that the Fund
could guarantee 25 percent of
a lender's investment in, say,
a $1 million project. Since
apartments in Charlotte are
running about $20,000 par unit
now, according to Alford, a $1
million project would be about
“On an average,” Alford
said, "a lender will invest
about 73 percent of tbs project
cost and this is covered by the
worth of the project. What we
could then do with the Fund is
insure g percent of the pro
ject. But instead of putth* up
$350,000 cash, we could find an
insurance underwriter that
would provide the imurance
and the Fund simply pay the
premium, which might run as
high as $40,000, or $50,000 But
if by investing $10,000 of the
Fund’s money, we can pro
duce 50 units of housing, then
ioiiows mat na vtnjj a gun
rantesd $100,000 a year means
900 units of new housing for
low and moderate income pso
ole in Charlotte ”
It is Alford’s opinion that the
advantage of havit* such a
fund is that it provides an
extra selling point when it
comes to interesting investors
in putting up the money for
housing.
“If black people in Charlotte
could develop such a system
and support It,” Alford con
cluded, "having that kind of
capital establishes a cash flow
that makes a lot of positive
things possible in the black
community.” „
While I chose housing as an
example to explore, there are
many inner areas wnicn would
benefit from such a fund, the
guaranteed money it would
produce.
For example, such a fund
would have produced the 9M,
000 needed for the Martin
Luther King Jr. statue in one
day.
On a national basis, such a
fund would have easily balled
out the NAACP when it faced
bankruptcy because of a Mis
sissippi Judge’s decision.
Not having the Fund meant
that two-days in Marshall
Park a couple of weeks ago
reaped about 94.000 in pledges
for a memorial to a man who
has done so much for Ameri
ca, who believed the dream
when for everyone else it had
long ago turned into a night
mare.
Not having a national Fund
sent the NAACP scurryii* to
the Labor Movement for sur
vival. We all should hang our
heede in shame!
While this Idea of a Black
Community Devolopmont
Fund sounds good in theory,
how do we know if iti practl
cal?
By Hoyle H. Martin Sr.
Post Executive Editor
The Charlotte City Council’s deci
sion on Monday to retain a Civil War
monument which it had not previ
ously authorized is an insult to all
black people and many white people
in our city.
Furthermore, the POST believes
that to keep the 6-foot-high monu
ment on the front lawn of City Hall is
to tarnish the Council’s contribution
to the Martin Luther King Memorial
Statue effort and to cause anyone
with a knowledge of American histo
ry to wonder what our local govern
ment’s views are with regard to
peace and justice.
Larry Walker, organizer of the
drive to erect a Civil War monument
in honor of 2,700 local confederate
soldiers, said his aim is to preserve
“our cultural heritage.” This is a
heritage characterized by institu
tionalized racism, violent physical
attacks upon black people and dis
franchisement. Walker’s monument
is simply a reminder of the sectiona
lism that divided the nation; the
dehumanizing Institution of slavery,
and its aftermath of segregation and.
discrimination; and lingering psy
chological, wounds of war, hatred
and confusion.
It was these kinds of conditions •
created in America over 100 years
ago and their continuing impact that
has given rise to the need for men!
like Dr. Martin Luther King.
Thus, in spite of the hate-produc
ing forces that Walker’s monument
symbolizes, Martin Luther King
preached racial tolerance, non-vio
lence, love-thy-neighbor and peace.
Furthermore, the late civil rights
leader’s closest associates said “his
indictment of segregation, discrimi
nv m . //pm
BLACK'OM+CACH /
cxmti zxplodshv
*UHYHAVE MURDERS,
RAPES, AND ASSAULTS .
BECOME SO COMMON N>
IN BLACK COMMUNITIES- \
BOTH IN THE FREQUENCY '
AND PAiTTERN-THAT
THEY HAVE BECOME
WUTINEAND THE
ONLY PEOPLE CON
CERNED ABOUT THEM
ARE THE RELATIVES
OF THE VICTIMS.0
HOUSTON SOHUAKD Tines
I #s. •
I TO
BE
i
EQUAL
i
7
Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
• \ — *
Republicans9 Future
The Republican Party, stung by the role black
voters played in electing President Carter, is
engaged in an internal debate between those who
would seek additional black votes and those who
want to write blacks off and go after the Wallace
legacy.
Former Nixon aide Patrick Buchanan is
spokesman for the latter view. He actually
believes that deceptive programs like Nixon’s
“black capitalism” and the bloc grant urban aid
programs that benefitted suburbs represent 4
concern for black aspirations. Thus, he sees
blacks as ungrateful for all Nixon and Ford did
for them. Significantly, he doesn’t mention
astronomical black unemployment rates, ero
sion of economic gains of the ’60’s and other
legacies of misrule.
Fortunately, other leading Republicans recog
nize the hollowness of Buchanan’s argument and
__1_1 *_A._1 Xl * • A A • . . .
^ ^ w
' - • • . —_.
Crime Must Be Curbed
-1-;___I___
United Presbyterians Face
Long Agenda In Assembly
“OVC uiuitatcu UJCU tmcuuun tu WOO DiaCK votes.
No one thinks they ean win a majority of black—
votes in the near future, but all it would take to
put a Republican candidate in contention for the
White House would be a small shift in black votes -
in key states.
So, wisely, the Party is funding an effort to
recruit black candidates and enroll black voters.
But just opening the Party’s doors a crack isn’t
enough. If blacks are to believe that welcome
mat is real, they’ll have to see other blacks in
visible positions of real power within Party
counsels.
The lack of blacks in policy-making positions,
helped lead the framers of the 1976 election
campaign into conducting a national effort that
all but advertised “no blacks need apply.”
Leading Republicans npw recognize this lily
white campaign helped .elect Jimmy Carter by
—alienating blaek voters.--—:
ik Wooing blflcjfcs into the Republican ranks will
not be an overnight process, and it will depend on
concrete actions, not rhetoric. The Party’s
image is projected by its acts, and its Congres
sional delegation had the opportunity to demon
strate that it can act in the interest of America’s
economically disadvantaged.
Will Republican Congressmen choose to sabo
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Is
sues ranging from a study of
the federal tax system to the
ordination of avowed, practic
ing hombsexuals will be deci
ded next month when the
highest policy-setting body of
the United Presbyterian
Church meets here.
Commissioners (voting de
legates) from throughout the
country will debate on these
and scores of other issues in
the 189th General Assembly
(1977) which opens in the Civic
-Center .lime 21 Amnnfl pl^
questions due to be dealt with
by the Assembly are:
How should the 1.6 million
member denomination inten
sify its work in evangelism?
Should the whole mission
policy of the church be rede
fined?
What actions should the As
sembly take on behalf of the
needs and rights of children?
Should the church approve
proposals toward aligning the
work of its national agencies
with similar work in the sou
thern-based Presbyterian
Church UJS. as a step toward
the reunion of the country’s
two largest Presbyterian bo
dies?
What, if any, changes should
be made in the raising or
administering of the denomi
nation’s sometimes-contro
versial legal aid fund?
Shall new church structures
be designed to make special
provisions for handicapped
members?
Is it time to consider chan
ges in the regional organixa
tton of the church, or to move
its headquarters out of New
York Qtv?
Should the regional units be
asked to support the rights of
employees in the stormy dis
pute between members of a
union and a large Hnttiing
manufacturer?
Is it time to hold only
biennial meetings of the Gene
ral Assembly?
Reports from several coun
cils and agencies, as well as
overtures (petitions for act
ion) from regional church u
nits will go first to committees
and potentially to plenary ses
Sinn of th» «m CflmmlMkMBa
at the General Assembly.
The Task Force to Study
Homosexuality, with specific
reference to the ordination of
avowed, practicing homosex
uals, was authorized by the
General Assembly last year
but does not plan to present its
Anal report until 1978. Two
overtures to this year’s As
sembly, however, ask that the
church declare itself now as
against such ordination, and
that the work of the committee
be curtailed.
A Special Committee on
Federal Tax Reform, while
not advocating a General As
sembly position on the sub
ject, calls for widespread stu
dy in the church and asks that
local and regional units of the
church make their own deci
sions on what action should be
advocated.
A paper entitled “The Needs
and Rights of Children” urges
that the church give high
priority to such needs and
proposes ways that programs
could be carried out.
Set up two years ago. a
Special Committee on the The
nlntrv n# UhdpgHfwi o«wi n
wal will make its final report
at the Philadelphia Assembly.
It deals at length with under
standings of theology that
have grown out of work by
Christians in developing coun
tries and in racial minority
settings, emphasizes the im
portance of lay participation,
and proposes that a perma
nent Committee on Theologi
cal Reflection be established
to help the whole church un
dertake new Ways Of thinking
about God.
New approaches to the na
. ture and practice of the Turd’s
. Spppe* will be suggested by,
another committee'*'* risdort,
made after an extensive en
quiry into the meanings of the
sacrament and Presbyterian’s
practice of U.
Increased cooperation with
the southern-based Presbyte
rian Church U.S. will be sou
ght by the Joint Committee on
Union, which suggests that the
national agencies of the two
churches do all their work
together except that which is
barred by church constitu
tions or legal restrictions.
Several resolutions will be
presented before the Assem
bly. Among them are: A re
quest that the Assembly call
upon the United States govern
ment to support the United
Nations formula for Namibian
independence and end any
further loans or investments
from the United States Gov
ernment or private Arms to
South Africa.
A request that judicatories
and members of the United
Presbytartian Church work to
abolish the death penalty and
mge juu-creauon leRisiauon or win iney cnoose
to expand and strengthen Administration propo
sals for putting people back to work? Will they
come up with a welfare reform package that
establishes a minimum income floor beneath
which no family will fall, or will they just fight
whatever reforms others propose? Will they take
the initiative in devising ways to aid hard-press
ed urban areas with large poverty populations,
or will they remain indifferent?
So the Republican desire to attract more black
voters will mean a serious drive to make its
policies responsive to black needs. Black voters
are sophisticated and know that they can’t
benefit if one party takes them for granted while
the other ignores them. They want a choice, and
the fate of the Republican Party is dependent
upon Its ability to change enough to give them a