eiondU tconcnuj
Thank You Jesse Jackson
By Hoyle H. Martin Sr.
Po6t Editorial Writer
Be active in your schools, avoid
the “politics of indifference” and
set meaningful priorities for your
self. That was the underlying
'message of the Rev. Jesse Jackson,
keynote speaker for the 34th Annual
WBTV Convocation for local high
school students at Ovens Auditorium
last week.
Jackson, president of the PUSH
(People United To Save Humanity),
a national human rights organi
zation and an associate of the late
civil rights leader, Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., has been traveling
across the country telling youths,
especially black youths, to become
more active in their schools, more
disciplined and thus more able to
take advantage of today’s opportu
nities.
The articulate 34-year-old native
of Greenville, S. C., said today’s
- challenge to youth is “to move up.
By law, we have civil rights, but no
way to economically fulfill them.
You can move into anv neighbor
hood, attend any college, but you
can’t afford them.”
In summary, Jackson told many
of our local high school youths that
it’s time to express their self
awareness in a new way. The
dashiki look, the “Superfly” life- ‘
styles and the “do your own thing”
mentality of the immediate past
must be exchanged for the pursuit of
excellence in our personal and aca
demic lives.
Jackson noted also that his cha
llenge to the pursuit of excellence
does not stop with school children.
He said teachers, parents and mini
sters must work together to create
WT 1 v-w. • —
an optimum learning environment.
He encouraged teachers to deal with
students with patience, care and
understanding. He phaliBngxj pa
rents to visit the school more fre
quently, create a home environment
conducive to good study habits and
to require that their children study
more and look at television less.
On specific educational matters,
Jackson criticized the state’s com
petency test as a condition for high
school graduation. He said the test
simply reveal in an after-the-fact
fashion what a student doesn’t know,
thus he suggested giving the tests to
eighth graders and use their results
to clarity deficiencies in the-high
school_ years.
Finally , Jackson told the more
than 2,500 students to shout “I am
somebody” and to accept the cha
llenges necessary to make that
statement true.
For these and similar words of
encouragement that the Rev. Jesse
Jackson has offered to thousands of
youths and particularly black
youths, the Post offers a sincere
“THANKS.”
We say “thank.vou Jesse Jackson”,
because too many have amnimpH
that desegregation means automatic
integrated quality education. This is
not true and this has not happened,
thus the pursuit must become an
individual challenge to each youth
supported by every adult involved,
with and having an impact upon that
.youth’s life, values and ambitions.
Parents, teachers, ministers and
other adults, you too say thank you
Jesse Jackson for a job and a
commitment well done,
pagess, then show your hopefulness
voteiess i'eople are Hopeless Fecme
Among the many relevant obse
vations made by the Rev. Jesse
Jackson as the speaker for the 34th
annual WBTV Convocation recently
was that black voter participation
has taken on a new image. Specifi
cally, he said black voter participa
tion is “based on vested interests,
more important than party solida
rity.” Thus blacks can and should
look carefully at both the Republi
can and Democratic parties and
should use political leverage for the
change we seek.
Talk about “political leverage” or
the change for the better we seek is
meaningless unless people are re
gistered to vote, study the issues,
analyze the candidates’ interpre
tations of those issues and then vote.
What we are suggesting here is
what we have said so often in this
column, black people must register
and vote in much larger numbers if
they expect to see positive changes
in their own lives as well as that of
their offsprings.
Thus, our appeal and concern in
the May 2 primary election is not
with who the candidates are but
”, rather that you study the issues and
vote for the candidate or
who best respond to those issues in
terms of your needs and desires.
It is this kind of political aware
ness and behavior that can and does
create positive change and can
make a hopeless people a hopeful
people.
Black people were for many years
a legally voteless people and thus a
hopeless people. Today, however,
we can and should be a hopeful
people because we are a voting
people. You must decide, you must
vote. Read the stories about the
candidates and the issues on these
pages, then showy our hopefulness
by voting on May 2
Remember, a voteless people are
a hopeless people.
Vote May 2.
WHITEY COULD, FOR ALL
INTENTS, AND PURPOSES PUT
HIS SUNS AWAY.WEVE ALWAYS
DEENABLE TO HILL OUR
SELVES BETTER THAN HE
NOW WE SEND EACH OTHl
DEATH IN SMALL BASS.
CLAYTON RILEY
LIBERATOR
~W%sFj
Time For ACTION In The Black Community
Letters To The Editor
Retired Teacher Is Concerned ?
Young People Being Brutalized
Dear Sir
1 am a retired teacher, a
product of the Chariotte
Mecklenburg School System,
and am a proud graduate of
Second Ward High School.
When I was in elementary
and junior high school, I
never heard about Johnny,
who couldn’t read, nor did I
hear about children who did
not know the fundamentals of
arithmetic. I didn’t know
about social promotions, but
I did know that if one could
not read, write, or do
arithmetic, one certainly did
not get promoted. I think that
the schools need to refern to
the basic fundamentals which
should be taught in the early
grades instead of waiting until
Johnny gets into high school
to talk about his inability to
function on certain levels.
We have problems in the
schools now which need to be
remedied. George Battle, Jr.
has the prescription for this
tragic illness. He has
organized a program using
this prescription involving
500 children. This program,
which is the Gcthsemane
Enrichment Program, uses
and is living proof that
something can be done to help
children get off on the right
foot to get a head-start on life.
He has been working on
children’s problems for three
yean and is getting positive
results. A lot of talk is ’’cheap”
but action is the key word.
Let’s put somebody on the
school board who is an
educator, one who knows that
the job can be done, one who
is already doing something
about serious problems facing
our children. George Battle is
a man of action, accomplish
ment, experience, intelli
gence—young and energetic
enough to get the job done.
He is thinking about his own
two small children while
pushing forward so hard to
make sure that good teaching
is taking place in all areas
under his control.
I was asked to run for the
school board, but as a senior
citizen, even though I am not
65, I fed that I can better
utilize my time by .getting
more people to register and
vote in order Ip rfjwIBified
people on thievery important
board. Thave great respect
for the aged, but there comes
Sorority Expresses
Appreciation
Editors
The Charlotte Post
2604-B West Boulevard
Charlotte, N. C.
Dear Editors:
We, Eva J. Shadd and
Daisy S. Stroud, Co
chairpersons of Public Affairs
for the Charlotte Alumnae
Chapter of Delta Sigma
Theta, Inc., would like to
publicly express appreciation
for the fine coverage your
paper gave our 14th annual
Debutante Cotillion.
Our sorority is dedicated to
public service and the
Cotillion is our major fund
raising event.
a time when youth prevail*
and during these times, it
takes youth to cope with the
rising, new problems that are
facing this school system
problems that we senior
citizens are not accustomed to
nor can adequately find
solutions for. This is a new
day, and a new kind of child
has emerged with special
problems and “p^iil needs.
Put George Battle on the
School Board and let him
the vast skills needed to deal
with such problems on such a
large scale. He definitely has
the skills which are needed.
Aiean^ct^kle
lf39 Mulberry Avenne
Charlotte, N. C.
Tele: 334-0642
Thank you for the part you
played in its success.
Sincerely yours,
Daisy S. Stroud
Box 16027
Charlotte, N. C. 28216
Enjoyed Visit
Mr. William Johnson
c/o The Charlotte Post
2606-B West Boulevard
Charlotte, N. C. 28208
Dear Mr. Johnson:
I appreciate the oppor
tunity to visit you at the
office, and I enjoyed reading
the article you printed about
my candidacy shortly
theceaftcT. You were very
kind to give me this opportun
ity
Very truly yours,
Frank B. Aycock, III
1 Inflation Vs. Jobs
j Inflation’s back again. That’s the word from
the President, from the media, and from
>. shoppers. The big question now is what are we
2 going to do about it? And the next question is who
t will make the sacrifices made necessary by the
effort to control inflation?
If past history is any guide, the fight against
inflation will take the form of relatively ineffect
ive economy-wide measures, and the burden of
the battle will be borne by poor people in the
form of higher unemployment.
1 But past history need not be repeated. The
I traditional concept that you control inflation by
letting unemployment rise has been proved
wrong. We’ve had both high inflation rates Sid
1 high unemployment rates,
i It is questionable whether Congress has
absorbed the lessons of the recent past. While
likely to go over health, housing and job budgets
with a red pencil, it is also likely to give defense
spending a blank check and to pass some sort of
farm bill that will raise food prices.
A grossly inflationary farm bill lost in the
House, but some form of farm aid will probably
go through this year. And it win come at a time
when farm prices are beginning to turn higher,
raising doubts that more federal subsidies are
needed at aU.
Farmers’ protests were weU publicized, but
the real reason for their distress was not low
prices. It was the mistakes many made during
the last boom in farm prices. Some farmers went
heavily into debt buying land and equipment at
inflated prices, figuring that the boom caused by
heavy Russian wheat-buying would never end.
Of course it did, and many were left with huge
debts. __ _
But that’s .no reason for consumers to pay
higher prices in order to bail out the farmers who
speculated and lost. Huge agricultural busines
ses now get most of those federal subsidies and
will benefit most from higher prices. Family
farms should be helped where necessary, farm
credit aid expanded, and poor shoppers shield
get price relief. Instead, blanket subsidies zne
proposed, and inflation will be fueled if farm
prices keep going up, ! • .bfcu'Hira nn'in-omir>
Congress also wants a tuition tax credit,
supposedly to relieve the middle class of the
burdens of higher college costs. The result of a
tuition tax credit would be to lessen college
opportunities for the poor, subsidize some
middle class families at the expense of others
and increase inflation.
There are plenty of other proposals from both
Congress and the Administration that would
wind up boosting the inflation rate. But there
are plenty of ideas to control inflation without
engineering another recession that would cost
working people their jobs.
If both Congress and the Administration are so
intent on cutting taxes, why don’t they shift funds
into a national pool for distribution to states that
cut or eliminated sales taxes?
Ending state sales taxes would immediately
bring down the cost of living. The poor pay a
higher percentage of their incomes in sales taxes
than do the affluent, so ending reliance on sales
taxes would also help poor people and make state
tax systems more equitable.
THE CHARLOTTE FOOT
“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 OF1 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.
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
Competency Base Testing Offer No Surprises
»y ueraid U. Johnson
Now that the tabulations are
in and the first results have
been reported, the compe
tency base testing offered no
surprises.
The majority of tenth gra
ders failing the test were
Black. This happened in spite
of the fact that Blacks are in a
minority in the system. There
are approximately 2S00 Black
tenth graders out of nearly
6700. 1420 Blacks failed the
competency test. That's 57
per cent failure rate for
Blacks. This figure compares
with a 20 per cent failure rate
by Whites
Though the results were
expected they still were quite
alarming The thought that
CMS allows 1 out of every 2
Black students to enter the
world unprepared.
The system is not directly at
fault for the high failure rate.
It is to blame tar the social
promotions that allow a per
son to receive a diploma with
out the ability to read what's
on it. _
The political pressures bro
ught on the system by individ
uate who feel that Blacks are
victims of the system and
should not be held back are not
justified and should be igno
red The school system can
not be held responsible for all
the social ills confronting this
country. It’s only responsi
bility should be the education
of the country’s youth. In its
attempt to be all things to ail
people it has turned out to be
few things to hardly anyone at
an exorbitant cost. If the
system would set' minimum
requirements for graduation,
allow only those students at
taining such requirements to
receive a diploma, then It
would have served its func
tion.
The high Black failure rate
is not genetic A similar
outcome could have been pre
dicted if the results had been
broken down by income levels
instead of by race. Out of the
2,300 students failing the com
petency test I atn willing to bet
they all fall within an income
range It just so happens that
the majority of Blacks are
poor.
From this we can conclude
that the school system fails
the poor
The poor are not incapable
of learning, however George
Washington Carver, Booker T
Washington, just to name a
few came out of poverty.
What is more they had no
formal education until college
Yet, they became great men
inspite of hartSKTps and diffi
culties. What they had was
determination and motiva
tion.
It is these two ingredients
that are lacking among many
high schoolers. Without the
two you are destined to fail. It
is the responsibility of the
community at large to stress
the importance of education.
Thus we all are obligated in
helping CMS improve the
competence of Black youth.
WELCOME TO WILEY
HARRIS
I was overjoyed by the fact
that JCSU finally contracted a
football coach. At a time when
moet schools were winding
down Spring practice. JCSU
was Trying to recruit a coach.
Now that they have one let
me say to Mr. Harris, welcome
to "Bull Country ”(that can be
taken anyway you see fit).
Also, the best of luck in your
endeavors.
I
Let me hasten to add that
Mr. Harris will have little
success in the immediate fu
ture and only time will tell
how he will fare in the long
haul. His immediate problem
Is a late start. It would take a
miracle worker to organize a
team this late in the year and
field a winner by Fall. So,
don’t expect it, Bull fans.
More seriously, though, is
the fact that we doubt if Mr.
Harris will have much success
atJCSU. This is by no means
a reflection on Mr. Harris but
rather a comment on the
ATHLETIC PROGRAM. A
few of the top candidates
interviewed for the Job indi
cated that the school was not
committed to a strong ath
letic program. Consequently,
they refused the position. We
do not know the terms of Mr.
Harris' contract, except that it
is annual. But if he is
responsible for teaching class
es as well as coaching, recrui
ting, and the like, then he is
destined to fail. The man will
be overworked. To have a
winning team requires dedica
tion, a knowledge of the game,
and time. It requires a
coaching staff obligated to do
nothing more than coach. It
requires money. Until the
school decides that this is
_ .1C ' •
what it is going to do, then
there is no hope.
I’m saying ail this before the
season starts to cut down on
night clijb cussing when it
does start. ~~ '
telephone Kates Will Increase
Residence telephone rates
for Southern Bell’s North
Carolina customers will in
crease 10 cents a month and
business rates 25 cents a
month, beginning April 26, as
a result of an order issued
April 17 by the North Carolina
Utilities Commission.
In Charlotte, the basic
monthly rate for residence
telephone service will in
crease from $8.70 to $8.80,
according to Royce Angel,
Bejl’s local manager. The
monthly business rate will in
crease from $22.15 to $22.40.
Service connection charges
also are being revised to more
closely reflect the work the
telephone company must per
form to establish the service.
As an example, Angel said,
the service connection charge
for residences where all wir
ing and jacks must > inst
alled will increase from $25 50
to $31.10.
For residences in which tel
ephone wiring and jacks in
p-ce-ano the customer picks
up his or her telephone at a
Southern Bell Phone Center
More-- the service connection
charge will be $15.00.
The installation charge for a
business telephone will in
crease from $33.40 to $40.00
Savings for business cus
tomer®. similar to those for
residence customers, on wir
mg and jacks/can be realized
if these facilities are in place
Angel pointed out that basic
monthly rates have been ad
jttfted for some local service
items. Rates for Touch-Tone
*ervtce were among those
restructured and some cus
tomers who have this service
may experience additonal
increased. .
The monthly rate for bus
ness extensions will increase
nightly, from $1,$0 to $1 05 per
month *
Today s order by the Util
ues Commission resulted •
rom a request by Southern
lei in August, 1077 for $53 7
million in additional revenue