iciiiorifii) v common r
Commissioners Lack A Sense Of Priorities
oy Hoyle H. Martin Jr
WAen Pete Foley and Bob Walton,
aided by Bill Booe, voted themselves
% into the chairmanship and Vice
t chairmanship of the Mecklenburg
County Commission on December 5,
we suggested that they had won a
hallow victory.
Our suggestion of a “Hallow vic
f tory” was based on the questionable
\ manner in which fellow Democrat
■ Liz Hair was ousted from the chair
I manship and our belief that the
f entire episode would undoubtedly
! serve to further divide the board and
• thus diminish the quality of avail
I able service to the citizenry.
Now, less than four months later,
I chairman Foley has decided after
[ getting the most time-demanding
position on the board of county
tj commissioners, he no longer has
! time for public service. On the other
hand, Vice-chairman Bob Walton is.
engaged in another verbal war with
r; a new opponent, Republican County
I Commissioner Ed Peacock.
}■ Foley announced on Monday, Ma
I rch 20, that he will not run for
reelecfion because growth in his
business beyond expectations and
the accompanying demands upon
histime for management would
■ leave him little time for public
service.
5 Host Of Problems
;r
v All of this appears reasonable
’ except for one thing, Foley failed to
: withdraw his January 12 filing for
reelection before the deadline for the
Z Commissioners’ primary on Feb
ruary 6. Failure to make this
timely decision is creating a host of
problems that in the long run will
create some cost and inconvience
for the electorate.
While much has been said about
Mr. Foley’s sincere desire to get off
: of the ballot, we believe his
Congress and how the bad timing for
getting off of the May 2 Commission
er’s primary, reflects a selfish quest
for personal advancement and show
a callous disregard for the needs and
concerns of the citizenry of Mecklen
burg County.
County Commissioner Ed Peacock,
a Republican , was one of at least
two commissioners who criticized a
$402 travel expenditure that fellow
commissioner Bob Walton used to
defray part of his expenses for a trip
to West Germany sponsored by the
U. S. Youth Council for public
officials under the age of 35.
Peacock, who indicated that he
thought the trip was unrelated to
county business, reportedly said
; Walton was “stretching reason when
he expects the people of this county
, to pay for a trip to Germany.”
$ Walton reacted to this by saying “I
feel sometimes Commissioner Pea
cock is bordering on racism.” Fur
thermore in a 5-page statement
defending his trip and explaining
what he learned, Walton said “Com
missioner Ed Peacock, who is a man
of low principles and believes in this
kind of low-level politics.”
Walton’s Reaction
Peacock’s criticism and Walton’s
reaction appears to indicate some
hostility between the two commis
sioners that goes beyond the use of
$402 for partial cost of a trip abroad.
We believe therefore, Peacock’s
criticism should have been directed
towards the system under which
commissioners can receive money
for travel. We further believe Wal
ton’s labeling of Peacock as one
“bordering on racism” and a “man
of low principles and...low-level pol
itics” was hardly justified in this
case.
Finally, we believe that the citi
zens of Mecklenburg County can and
will benefit from commissioner Wal
ton’s European trip, however, it will
be up to each voter to determine the
extent of that benefit. Unfortunate
ly, the benefit we may receive will
be clouded by the Peacock-Walton
feud over the use of a mere but
properly used $402.
Underlying all of this is our
concern with the affectiveness of
county government. Pete Foley has
made himself a lame-duck chair
man before fully settling into the
position. In addition, we’ll probably
have a continuing three-man verbal
war involving Bill Booe, Ed Peacock
and Bob Walton.
We hope that through a renewed
maturity in public service, through a
renewed commitment to the kind of
■' leadership the voters have a right td
• €xpe€t from our elected official* andr
through a reordering of priorities,
the Mecklenburg County Commis
sioners can begin to devote its
energies to the needs of the electo
rate now and in the future.
Victory In Defeat
In the weaning seconds of the
NCAA Basketball Championship
Game on Monday night, Kentucky’s
coach Joe Hall had taken some of his
top players out of the contests
However, as Duke’s Blue Devils
stormed to within four points with
only 12 seconds left to play, Hall sent
his star wildcats back on to the floor
to protect a victory that might have
slipped away. That incident is just
one of many that tells why Duke can
and should be proud of its trip and
participation in the NCAA Basket
ball Championship Finals. Their
effort was truly a victory in defeat.
' I #•
The Refug CCS “Do Not Forget Us!”
by Bayard Rustin
Special to the Po6t
A new “invisible man" has
been bom within our midst -
the Southeast Asian refugee.
Shunted from country to coun
try, over 150,000 of these “in
visible people” cling to a
precarious existence in scores
of refugee camps which do
non-communist Asia. They
have a simple and solitary
message for the international
community: “Do not forget
us!”
Some well-meaning people
have said to me: “The black
community suffers from re
cord high unemployment.
Why should blacks be concern
'd about Southeast Asian ref
ugees? They’ll only take jobs
and housing which black peo
ple desperat*Jy, . JJuch
an attitude is undetstpitdable,
but allow me to describe the
enormity and urgency of the
refugee problem.
Two months ago while serv
ing on a delegation organized
by the International Rescue
Committee (an organization
which has provided much as
sistance to the victims of
apartheid and repression in
Africa), I had an opportunity
to speak with many refugees
currently living in Thailand.
They all told the same stories;
they all had the same fears. If
they return home, they said,
the Communist regimes will
almost certainly kill them.
Many complained about the
lack of food in the Thai camps,
yet they fear their own gov
ernments more than they fear
starvation.
Of all the refugee groups I
encountered, the Cambodians
were the most determined to
resist returning to their now
desolate homeland. When the
brutal Khmer Rough forces
seized control of their country
over two years ago, more than
15,000 people fled to Thailand,
frequently with only the cloth
ing on their backs.
At present, thousands of
Cambodians are crowded into
four camps in eastern Thai
land. Most of these destitute
people have lived in these
poorly equipped camps for
two years or more. Resettle
ment programs have advanc
ed at a snail's pace; few
foreign countries have any
interest in “undesirable” and
semi-literate Cambodians.
Moreover, recent border clas
hes between Thai and Khmer
Rouge troops have made the
Cambodian refugees suspect
in the eyes of the Thai govern
ment.
T*t •»
cambodm’s jMMWflr,to, the
east - Vietnam -^ipavfrochKr
ed thousands ofTSoWn refu
gees, many at whom have
taken to the high seas in
dangerous little boats. These
courageous “Boat People”
have suffered heavy losses in
their quest for freedom. Ac
cording to several reliable
sources, as many as half of
these people perish at sea
(about the same mortality
rate suffered by black slaves
crossing the Alantic from Afri
ca ), either through starvation,
drowning or exposure. Mer
chant ships which pass these
imperiled human beings rare
ly, if ever, offer assistance.
And the Thai government has
become increasingly reluctant
in granting them landing rig
hts on Thai shores.
Vietnamese “Boat People”
who somehow survive the ri
gorous sea journey presently
live in two temporary camps
has risen to over 2,000. Anoth
er inland camp serves 1,900
Vietnamese who escaped thro
ugh Laos.
I talked to several Vietna
mese and they all described
the “New Vietnam” as a
harsh and oppressive society.
Common people, they told me,
have been uprooted and forced
to re-locate in areas far from
friends and family. Others
have been sent to the so-called
New Economic Zones. And
still others have been compel
led to change occupations.
Trade unions, religious groups
(both Buddhist and Christi
an), and student organizations
- all of which once flourished
in South Vietnam - have all
but disappeared.
Two ethnic groups from La
os — the Lao and Hmong
peoples - have even more
r refugees’ •''
Vietnamese
combined. __r_’
72,000 Laotian refugees live in
nine densely populated camps
in the northern sections of
Thailand. The refugee com
munity includes urban and
rural people, as well as a
contingent of former military
gnd government officials.
Conditions in Thailand’s re
fugee camps, at least the ones
I visited, are far from uni
form. Certain camps have
better facilities than others,
but none of them deserve to be
called "homes.” Given its
limited resources, the Thai
government has, I believe,
made an honest effort to pro
vide deceit facilities. Yet,
most refugees lack toilets,
adequate food and clothing,
and even personal privacy. All
of these amenities, which
most of us consider indispens
able, have become highly-pri
zed luxuries. Indeed, life it
self has become a costly luxu
ry for these people.
——— Bv Vernon E. Jordan Jr.pHBSBSSs'fl
, TO
BE
l
EQUAL
Polls Need Careful Reading
Even public opinion specialists Will admit that
public opinion polls are delicate items, subject to
misinterpretation and vulnerable to all sorts of ;
misreadings. !
A number of recent polls results that have been
widely publicized have led many people to the
wrong conclusions about important issues affect
ing race relations. For example, a national news
magazine recently published the “results of. a •
nationwide poll conducted for US News and
World Report” that asked the wrong question,
and thus got a misleading answer.
The question: “Companies should be requfted
to hire a quota of minority members, by race and
or sex, regardless of their qualifications compa
red with other potential employees.” A whopping
84 percent of respondents disagreed.
And well they mighiirFor the question appears :
to have been specifically designed to elicit a
negative response. It’s a phony - no one
“requires” companies to hire “a quota” of
minorities, nor is there any affirmative action
plan in existence that requires such hiring
“regardless of their qualifications.”
A nunta ic a ricrirl anH fi yaH nnmKat Mnot
affirmative action plans use numerical guide
lines as targets to aim at, with no penalty if good
faith efforts fall short of the target.
And I’ve never heard of any kind of plan that
totally disregards minority qualifications. Plans
do assume more flexible guidelines in assessing
qualifications so that arbitrary standards won’t
screen out minority applicants. But minorities
hired under affirmative action plans meet the
requirements for performing the job or can do so
with some additional training.,
So that question is a red herring, bearing no
relation to reality. Another question in the poll
was similarly worded, but applied to college
admissions. Again, by misstating the real
workings of affirmative action it distorted the ■
responses and helps lead observers to
statements that peopleware opposed tb “trtM
-• /nonv<< ^iBrooe?- .,.
- Tmt'ttfas ii^biaiarft $xampie afiihe nustfsesttfi j
polls. Sometimes poll results demand ihore *
subtle analysis. For example, widely publicized
poll results indicate that Americans are becom
ing “more conservative.”
inat was based on people identifying them
selves as “conservative” or -“liberal,” and
comparing the results with past polls. But larger
numbers of people identifying themselves as
conservative now doesn’t mean there’s a swing
to the right.
The same individuals wound up supporting
federal job-creation and job-training programs '
and other steps traditionally associated with
liberal attitudes. Both the Harris and Gallup
Polls report support for food stamps, racial
equality, welfare reform and other measures >•
cutting across the ideological spectrum of
respondents.
Often polls will show support for general
principles, such as racial equality, while at the '
same time showing opposition to specific steps
designed to achieve that equality. But even then,.•
such attitudes are not fixed in stone.
| THE CHARLOTTE POST
“THE PEOPLES NEWSPAPER”
Established 1918
Published Every Thursday
By The Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc.
2606-B West Blvd. - Charlotte, N.C. 28208
Telephones (704) 392-1306, 392-1307
_Circulation, 9,915
60 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS SERVICE
Bill Johnson.Editor-Publisher
Bernard Reeves. .General Manager
Hoyle H. Martin Sr.Executive Editor
Julius Watson.Circulation Director
Albert Campbell.Advertising Director
Second Class Postage No. 965500 Paid At
Charlotte, N.C. under the Act of March 3,1878
Member National Newspaper Publishers
Association
North Carolina Black Publishers Association
Deadline for all news copy and photos is 5 p.m.
Monday. All photos and copy submitted becomes
the property of the POST, and will not be returned.
1 National Advertising Representative
Amalgamated Publishers, Inc.
45 W. 5th Suite 1403 2400 S. Michigan Ave.
New York, N Y. 10036 Chicago, 111. 60616
(212 ) 489-1220 Calumet 5-0200
asisec i
Spears’ Comments Off Line
By Gerald O. Johnson
We at the Charlotte Post
took exception to the recent
editorial comment made by
Mr. Rufus Spears, National
Alumni President of Johnson
, C. Smith University.
Mr. Spears bom basted the
| communications media in ge
neral, WSOC in particular for
not giving Johnson C. Smith
University proper exposure
(or shall we say, equal expo
l sure) in comparison with local
white schools. He further sta
ted that WSOC was prejudice
in not covering the champion
ship game of the CIAA.
Our comments concerning
Mr. Spears' statement are
numerous.
First, we feel It is not the
responsibility of WSOC or any
other media to give Johnson C.
Smith University exposure or
coverage This responsibility
is soley the instutition’s. Pro
per exposure is a delegated
duty of the public relations
department of the Institution.
The people in public relations
have to service the media and
in turn the media releases
t information that has been coll
ected PR people.
It is unfortunate that Mr
Spears, as do a lot of other
black individuals, feel that the
media exposes particular in
stitutions This is absolutely
not true Institutions are expo
sed by public relations depart
ments.
Moreover, it is unfortunate
that Mr. Spears’ comment;
hinted at racism. From the
article we felt Mr. Spears was
implying that because John
son C. Smith was a black
institution, white media failed
to give them equal treatment
We say to Mr. Spears and to
others involved with the black
educational scene that if you
want to be treated like the
white institutions then you
should start functioning like
one
The means to this end is
money. This money could be
used to build a public relations
department with qualified Jo
urnalistic personnel, who
would spend their days gath
ering information about the
school and their nights distri
buting It to the media. Fur
thermore wining and dining
people of the media is a
PR function. Your PR people
must play up to the media
because the exposure helps
you not the media. Not a day
goes by when this office does
not receive news releases
from UNCC. The information
covers all aspects of UNCC’s
campus life. The white press
works on a similar basis
Reporters are not delegated
the duty to go to Johnson C.
Smith and dig up some news.
PR is Mg business! Until
black institutions understand
this, then they will always
receive second rate exposure.
But, the main issue here is
that the obligation of exposure
is the institution’s and not the
media's.
We take exception to Mr.
Speers’ comments, also beca
use it points out another falla
cy we as black people have.
That fallacy is we continue to
run to the white man for help
without an attempt to first
help ourselves WSOC didn’t
show the CIAA for two rea
sons One it was not economi
cally feasible to show Hamp
ton playing Norfolk State. No
advertiser would pay for it.
Since the game was a local
broadcast it would have had to
have local advertising sup
port. Secondly, the game had
no local appeal. We would
estimate the black viewing
audience locally is about 12
percent. Out of this 12 percmt,
a program director could est
imate only 20 percent of these
people would watch H. This
low viewing audience wouldn’t
merit showing the game. Even
if Smith had made it to the
finals, it wouldn’t be economi
cally feasible to show the
game locally.
Why then, we wonder, would
a black person complain to a
media that is 100 percent
owned; 100 percent supported;
and 88 percent subscribed to
by whites, for equal coverage?
It is completely irrational.
What makes the situation
worse is Johnson C. Smith
does not have 100 percent
campus support in all of iU
efforts, let alone 100 percent
Black community support,
yet the white media is Hdicu
led for not giving equal cove
rage. To look at it in another
light, we ask you to attend a
JCSU event and count the
number of white people in
attendance. Go to a UNCC
event and count the number of
blacks In attendance. You will
find that UNCC's appeal goes
beyond racial barriers, while
JCSU’s does not. This can be
attributed to servers 1 factors
which go beyond the intent of
this article consequently, ft is
not feasible to think in equal
terms with other local schools
when it comes to public expos
ure. The Inequality is not
racial. It’s economical.
Before ridicule and blame is
dished out, we think that the
school should go through a
three phase process. I-commi
tment; 2-programs; 3; mans
gement.
the Comitment phase
deals with attitudes. If all
phases of the institution are
committed to a goal then it
becomes unachievable. Stud
ents, faculty, staff, adminis
trators, and alumni should
commit themselves to certain
goals and then work like hell
to achieve them. But to have
the alumni interested in one
thing, the students interested
in sometlfng else, etc. , will
result in spinning your wheels
and going nowhere.
Once s goal is detetmined
then programs to realise those
goals must be develop.
without a firm commitmew
from the university as a whole
the program phase will fail
The management phase is
the carrying out of the develo
ped programs.
We think that one of the inst
itution’s goals should be that
of a top notch public relations
department. The beauty of >
this goal would be that it ia self '
supporting if set up properly.
The PR would stimulate inter *
est campus-wide, city-wide, >
and state-wide. This interest -
would result in high gate {
receipts at athletic events. 1
With this type of stimulation of ;
interest then there would be :
grounds for equal exposure i
In conclusion we feel that as L
national president of the alum 4
ni association, Mr. Spears 4
should be aware of these f
problems and therefore should ‘
be addressing them appro
priately. His comments gave i
ua the impreaaiea that the j
institution is not a cohesive unit
and as a unit does not under- u
stand its problems or Is incap- y
able of solving them. It would :
seem that an institution of ,
higher learning that has been
in existence for over 100 years
could stand on its own. 3
.Polion Prevention _ ?
The Mecklenburg Pharme- J
cortical Society will sponsor a §
Poteon [Prevention Campaign 4
Saturday, April l, at Char i
lottetqwn Mall at a public >*
service to the citizens of Char- ]■>
lotte And Mecklenburg Coun- -
Bootths will be open frppa 10 3
a m. (o e p.m. On Saturday,
April l. Stop by Charlottetown
Mall/..