Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Nov. 23, 1978, edition 1 / Page 2
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I eiMis t comchiî W YRAJKHj fljQfjq jl by Vernon tl. ioH&tytr. BE EQUAL Meaning Of Walton's Defeat by Hoyle H. Martin Sr. Post Editorial Writer Last week's issue of THE AFRO AMERICAN carried an editorial entitled "The Brooke Defeat." With the exception of a few words and phrase changes, and the substitution - of the name "Bob Walton" for Edward W. Brooke, here is the major portion of that editorial: "We could see, the defeat of Commissioner Waltot coming - but we never got fully prepared for its The handwriting was on the wall in Mecklenburg County. We saw him drowning in a rough seas of trouble stemming from his split with Com missioner Liz Hair and the messy involvement with Peter Foley and Bill Booe which led to many Hair supporters turning against him. This was quite evident in the Nov. 7 pWHnn We recognized this richt off the bat. Yet we could not get ready for it. We could not get ready for the hard, cold fact that a Walton defeat meant that not a single black face will be among the five commission ers when they convene in December. There was also real difficulty in bringing ourselves around to the realization that the defeat meant that we were not moving ahead - but losing important, hard earned ground." Then came the most agonizing question: Would we have to wait as long for the election of another black commissioner as we waited for the election of Walton and his immedi ate predecessor Rowe Motley? The rise of Motley and Walton took a long, time. They didn't make it until 1973 when Motley became the first black member ever of the Mecklen burg Board of County Commission ers. Yet, as hard as it is, we must confront some hard facts and learn a lesson from the tragic Walton defeat. First, we must admit that it was Commissioner Walton who largely defeated himself. This fact should serve as a strong reminder to our other political leaders. That reminder is that they - if they are to remain afloat- must learn and prac tice the art of compromise. waiton s apparent failure to initi ate a compromise with Liz Hair, a proven vote-getter among both blacks and whites, gave him a short-term victory as vice chairman of the Commission but a long term loss to those desiring his public office leadership and contribution. However, Commissioner Walton's outstanding record as a fighter for justice and fair play should not be forgotten by the citizens of Mecklen burg County. In particular, we should be thankful for the courage ous positions he took on many highly controversial issues. Walton's arti culate and skillful presentation of the issues will be missed, but we hope for not more than one 2-year term. The People Speak Last week, the City Council con ducted two days of Public Hearings to allow citizens of the nine Com munity Development Neighborhood Strategy Areas iNSA) to express their concerns and interests in the CD preliminary plans for the next three fiscal years. In addition to requests from about 20 social services agencies for near ly $1.4 million in program funds, numerous requests were made for public improvements such as street lights, the opening of some cut through streets and storm drainaσρ Considerable concern was also expressed about the poor and unsafe housing conditions of many resi dents residing in City-owned proper ty. Residents, particularly from the West Morehead NSA, were very vocal in their conerns about the slow pace of their relocation into better housing. Particular concern was expressed about the Community Development Department's housing relocation program. Of the approximately 225 relocations made each year, CD administrators pointed out that it takes 120 days to relocate 60 percent of these and 240 days to relocate 40 percent. Council members as well as Other speakers, numbering about 22, told the Council they wanted more in the Why of job training programs, employment for youth, assistance for the battered women's program and more economic deve lopment activity particularly in the Third Ward NSA. The degree to which these services were made available would determine crime rates, some said. The concerns stated at the Hear ings will be reflected in the 3-year preliminary plan being prepared by the CD staff. The people have spoken and chall enged the City's Community Deve lopment Department to develop a creative plan that will reflect their interest, concerns and needs. We wish them well in this effort. Something On Your Mind? "Something on your mind" is the name of a column devoted to you the young at heart readers of this newspaper-as long as it relates in some way to young people, regard less of age. Or any other subject you want to write about, let us hear from you. THE CHARLOTTE POST "THE PEOPLES NEWSPAPER" Established 1918 Published Every Thursday By The Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc. 1524 West Blvd.-Charlotte. N.C. 28208 Telephones (704)376-0496-376-0497 60 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS SERVICE BILL JOHNbON...Editor Publisher BERNARD REEVES.. General Manager ι SHIRLEY HARVEY...Advertising Director HENRY ALASKA ...Business Manager 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 â p.m. ι 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 New York, N.Y. 10036 (212) 489-1220 2400 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, 111 60616 Calumet 5-0200 $>cvi US ΝΟΝΕ ARE MORE HOPELESSLY EN SLAVED THAN THOSE WHO FALSELY BE LIEVE THEY ARE FREE." €0*TMË ■F!" "liqfttWAMr· ^ WA Blacks' Destiny In Own Hands In Heart Disease Risk Black, White Children Differ Special To The Post DALLAS-Inherited bioche mical factors may account for white American men being more likely to have coronary artery disease and a heart attack and black men being more likely to have high blood pressure and suffer strokes. According to two reports to day to the American Heart Association's 51st Scientific Sessions, these differences re late to body chemistry and they begin to be expressed early in childhood. Three UNC scientists-Η. Al fred Tyroler, M.D., Gerardo Heiss, M.D., and Richard Mo wery, M.S.-were involved in research reported by Charles J: Glueck, M.D., professor of pediatrics and medicine and director oT the Lipid Research Clinic, University of Cincin nati College of Medicine. The other scientists were Bobbe du r» * " —_ .. viuTCioiljr of Texas; Peter 0. Kwitero vich, Johns Hopkins Univer sity; and Ida deGroot, University of Cincinnati. Working with the collabora tive Lipid Research Clinics (LRC) program in Chapel' Hill, Baltimore, Houston, and Cincinnati, they matched 740 black children from LRC pre valence studies in these cities by age, sex, and total cholest erol levels with 740 whites 1480 in all. These children were further divided into two groups: 412 pairs randomly selected from pediatric popu -lation groups, and 328 pairs of children selected from pedia tric population groupe byvir tue of elevated blood levels of cholesterol or triglycerides, two types of blood fat. Cholesterol is not soluble in water; therefore it is carried in the bloodstream within three mainr "iwrlretc" are called high density lipo protein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and very low density lipoprotein (VIDL). Triglyceride is prim arily carried by VLDL. HDL is believed Ό mobilize choreste rol, includ ng that deposited in arteries; LDL and VLDL are associated with deposition of cholesterol in arteries and the development of coronary heart disease. Each pair of children was compared for levels of trigly ceride and for cholesterol con tained within the three lipo proteins, statistical measure ments that Dr. Glueck and his associates designated HDL-C, LDL-C, and VLDL-C. The difference between black and white children was marked in those whose total cholesterol was elevated. The black children in this ktoud L._ .had higher HDL-C levels (a difference of 7.9 milligrams per 100 milliters for boys and 7.6 for girls), and lower levels of VLDL-C <4.6 less for black boys, 4.9 for girls). Triglyce rides were also much lower in this group (a difference of 23.4 for boys, 23.5 for girls). The differences for the ran domly selected group were not quite so pronounced, but showed the same significant trends: black children had higher HDL-C levels and low er triglyceride and VLDL-C readings. Dr. Glueck said that the LDL-C levels were slight ly, though not significantly, lower among black children. These differences were similar to those seen in adult males. Dr. Glueck said, and "may by related to the higher incidence and prevalence of coronary heart disease in white males than black males, which may be mediated through higher HDL-C choies· terol in blacks and higher triglycerides and VLDL-C cholesterol in whites, op both. The collaborative LRC pro gram using identically stand ardized laboratories allowed the pooling of data from child ren having broad demograph ic diversity." In the second report, A.W. Voors, M.D., D.P.H., associ ate professor of preventive medicine at Louisiana State University Medical Center, explained that all the school age children of the biracial community of Bogalusa, La., were examined as part of tbe Bogalusa Heart Study, a large epidemiological survey. A sample of 278 children, divid ed iota groupe hy blood pres sure level and matched by age, sex. and race, was re-ex mined a year or two after a first observation. ΤΚλ pociiUb AV-4 iU. kidneys of blacks and whites handle chemicals in slightly different ways, at least among children in the higher blood pressure group. For instance, among black children in this group, there was a positive correlation between blood pre ssure and sodKun in the urine. That is, the higher the blood pressure, the more sodium was excreted. White children with high blood pressure did not have increased sodium excretion. At the same time, the black children excreted less potassium than did whites, though both groups apparently took in about the same amount. Both sodium and potassium influence blood pressure. Hie Mack children also had lower levels of renin activity. Renin, an enzyme released in the kidney, con trols the activity of angioten sin, a hormone that constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure. ι ; = ! Election Drifts To The Right The 1978 election shows that, seen in the long perspective of history, much has changed. In 1963, Medgar Evers was murdered in Mississ ippi. In 1978, his brother won a fourth of the state's vote for the Senate seat held by an old-line segregationist. In 1963, Strom Thurmond was riding high as the champion of Dixie racism. In 1978, he was an equal opportunity employer and he was kissing black babies and campaigning in black districts for votes. But black voting power is still more of a potential weapon than a real one. The black vote elected Jimmy Carter in 1976, but in 1978 it demonstrated its effectiveness in only seve^.1 contests. It is absolutely imperative to maximize black political participation. Low voter turnouts de prive us of one of our basic weapons of self-defense. At the same time, candidates who lost because they expected black votes to help them should I not complain about low turnout. In many cases, they did very little to excite the black commun ity, to campaign in it, or to make a real effort to get out the black vote. z oo oiien liberal candidates refused to go after the black vote for fear of alienating more conservative white districts, and the inevitable result was that black voters could not believe that the professed liberal who ignored them in the campaign would suddenly become interested in their problems after the election. Where blacks had a major stake in the outcome of the election, they voted heavily, as in Philadelphia where they were instrumental in destroying Mayor Rizzo's plans for a third term. Black voters again demonstrated that they are not wedded to a single party. They demonstrated that the Democratic Party could not count on their votes when the Democratic candidate was perceived as being against black interests or when the Republican candidate had a track record of fighting for civil rights. This was most obvious in Massachussetttt wheré black',1/dtërs sitfptxirted ttètidbtf&in S&tft or Émvard^r^^^SW^^irffDrt'tο keèρ his'èeât and also voted in large numbers for a liberal Republican running against a conservative Democrat. And in Illinois, Republican Senator Charles Percy was re-elected with the help of many black votes the Democrats counted on. Elsewhere in the nation, black either voted for Republican candidates perceived as being more LI- -â. - »* · . « - - - luiviauic ιυ uicu uiieresis, or simpiy abstained from voting for Democrats who refused to actively seek their ballots. The most disturbing thing about the election of 1978 was that the political cento* of gravity appears to have shifted slightly to the right, a shift that was evident not only in the results of the election, but in the campaign itself. The boundaries of the .electoral debate were set by those who wanted to cut taxes, cut government, cut social programs that help the poor, and cut programs that enhance equal opportunities. Supporters of an activist, socially responsive government wereon the defensive. Mast ofthem muted their liberalism. They accepted the wrong ground rules, and joined in the attack on government spending and inflation without also stressing the need for full employment and for urban revitalization. • —— -—J»· ΜβνΛνιο WIIIUI Our New Day Begun Black Education Progress by BenjaminL. Hooka special To The Poet In recent years, reports the National Advisory Committee on Black Higher Education, black college attendance has been outstanding. The com mittee, however, at the same time warned that this pro gress has been "insufficient" and "fragile " For those who have been abreast at civil rights pro gress over the years, from time to time, received infότ ι mation about the increasing number of blacks in higher education. Indeed, we have also been aware that even J before Allan Bakke's chall I enge to the special admissions program at the University of California, Davis Medical School, a decline had already started in the number of blacks in such programs as medicine and law at white institutions This observation, of course, is not in any way meant to I diminish the importance of the work that has been started under the chairmanship of Dr. Elias Blake, Jr., the highly respected president of Clark College On the contrary, the commission's first annual rtport which was prepared for the Federal Office of Educat Benjamin L. Hooks ...NAACP executive director ion signifies the beginning of a long overdue, detailed analy st* of black achievement and the immense hurdles that are yet to be overcome in black higher education One reality that the report helps to make clearer is the abysmal gap that exists in the participation of blacks in technical and natural science fields. This is a problem that every black organization and institution must keep to address immediately In a highly technological ioc ι et y such as ours, no group jf people can reasonably ex pect to progress without a serious involvement in these ν areas. Such an involvement must include not only the teaching of science-related discipline· but also profess ional pursuit of careers in such areas as computer scien ces, aerospace, electrical, petrochemical engineering, biology, chemistry and mathe matics. Even among technicians, however, we find an absence of blacks. Yet, these are areas where large numbers of jobs are to be found, even in this day of high black unemploy ment. The committee underlines the historical reality of black higher education: "There is litUe diversity in the majors selected by black students." In 1974, for example, 19 per cent of undergraduates and SO percent of graduate students chose education as their major fields of study. What has been happening is that an unusually large portion of these students, upon compet ing undergraduate studies, have been switching over for varying reasons from such fields as business manage ment and the hard sciences to education Although the report does not make this point, we have known all along that many graduates of black colleges have had difficulty gaining acceptances outside of these institution· on the graduate level. So, in reality, they have ? Admissions Pro# been pushed into education increasing competition tor teaching Job·, woeciallv in nam For Whites tue large urban cernera, edu cation would aeem to be one of the few area· In which an enterprising student would want to specialize at this time. Black Lawyers Approve Rutgers Special To The Post WASHINGTON (NNPA) - The National Bar Association has announced its support of the recommendation made by the Rutgers University Facul ty that the Special Admiasiom program be retained and ex tended to include economic ally disadvantaged white stu dents The Rutgers University faculty voted 54 to 3 for the retention of the Special Ad- ' misa ion program. The pro gram will extend its special admission population to 90 percent from 2S percent. "The vote culminated months of cooperative effort between Rutgers' students, faculty and concerned citizens from the Newark community. We hope this joint effort is evidence of the direction other university communities can take aa they attempt to re solve affirmative setup ouest ions in this post Bakke, era," ■aid Junius William*, Presi dent of the National Bar Asso ciation. I_ NBA recognizee the dear constitutional legitimacy and necessity for the continuation of affirmative action pro grama. These programs attempt to incraaae opportuni ties in education and employ ment for victims of past dis crimination. In light of the ongoing judicial question of how to be more equitable in the enforcement of admission criterion, the Rutgers decis ions Is a giant step toward the resolution of this issue However, the NBA will re main vigilant to the imple mentation of the extended admissions program to aasure that the inclusion of disadvan taged whites will not be to the detriment of minorities who historically have been dispro portionately excluded from educational and economic opportunities, William points out. "We will look to the admini strators of the Special Admisn ions program (or evidence that they will not ipe the extension as a means of letting more white students into the university, while at the same time reducing the number of blacks and ether minorities admitted," said Williawp. Subscribe to the Charlotte Postl Your support helps!
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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