cdfwis c corns |
Blacks On Brink Of Disaster
by HOYI^E H. MARTIN SR.
Post Editorial Writer
‘‘It is our grim duty to inform you
that the state of black America
today verges on the brink of
disaster. 1979 promises to be a year
of crisis for America’s black
people."
These disturbing words were
uttered last month by Vernon E.
Jordan, president of the National
Urban league, as he released the
results of a comprehensive study of
the health, educational, economic,
political and social welfare of the
nation’s black citizens.
Ironically, the study, which is
titled, the State of Black America •
1979,” was released just one week
before President Carter made public
the Federal government’s "lean and
autere” budget for fiscal year 1980.
In fact. Carter’s budget cuts so
deeply into the traditional
Democratic party’s domestic social
programs — built up over the past 45
years - that the study’s documen
tation and predictions of a declining
life style and a growing economic
plight for blacks is even more
evident.
Jordan stated categorically that
black Americans can’t afford a
recession, a recession that most
knowledgeable economists say will
surely happen by the fall of 1979.
While reacting to the same basic
concerns expressed by Jordan,
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass)
severely criticized the budget cuts in
health, jobs, housing and aid to the
cities. He has argued that Carter
has placed the burden of the anti
inflation fight on the backs of the
poor, the elderly, the blacks and the
unemployed. Furthermore, Ken
nedy has suggested that the budget
cuts should have come in defense
spending requests and from
reductions in programs and tax
benefits benefit the business com
munity and the wealthy.
Economic Priorities
What Jordan and Kennedy have
said is nothing new. Throughout the
history of this country, every time
some adjustment, some re-ordering
of economic priorities has to take
place, blacks are brought to the
"brink of disaster," if not disaster,
and poor whites and the elderly join
them in having to carry the burden
of the economic changes taking
place.
Ironically too, is the hard fact that
inflation is harmful to blacks too, so
much so that during the summer of
1978 a New York Times survey
revealed that blacks too felt that
inflation was the nations number one
problem.
Rioting in the streets of America,
as Jordan suggests may occur, is
certainly not the solution to thcbrink
of disaster" that Black’s face. What
blacks and whites too must un
derstand is that America is in need
of a new economic order, an order
committed to an equitable tax
structure, welfare reform, a sen
sible defense budget and the absence
of discrimination in the market
place.
An economic order with these
characteristics, and a new definition
for the term “profit,” will avoid the
nged_for__blacks to live with the
threat of the “brink of disaster,” or
to resort to rioting in the streets to
draw attention to their plight.
With the continued eroding of the
dollar by a nearly uncontrollable
inflation, the newly emerging gas
crisis and the growing in ability of
our government to administer its
financial affairs, we need to look to a
new economic order to save us ail,
and we don't mean a form of war-,
med over socialism.
Recently released reports by the
Civil Right Commission stating that
nearly half the nation’s minority
children attend segregated schools
and that most segregation occurs
outside of the South should come as
no surprise.
Segregation Patter
There are in fact clear political,
social and economic reasons for this
development. First, because of the
historical record of known and
boasted about - “segregation
forever” rhetoric - segregation
patter of the Southern states, the
federal government tended to zero
in more heavily on the South to
achieve desegregation ttian it did on
other regions. x
Secondly, and particularly in the
past 15 years, the rise of the in
dustrial South led many to see the
economic waste associated with
segregation in school and other
public facilities.
Thirdly, even in a segregated
southern society blacks and whites
maintained a better sense of com
munication between themselves
ujcui uiu umwAB tuiu wmies in uie
alleged integrated North. Thus,
when desegregation came,
Southerners, both black and white,
were able to more adequately adjust
after some initial conflict.
On the other hand, thousands of
Blacks were {migrating into the
industrial north, that is, they moved
into urban center as whites were
moving out to the suburbs, thus
creating new forms of segregation in
schools and other facilities. The
courts largely ignored these con
ditions in the North and instead
made the South - with the help of
people like George Wallace • the;
focal point for school desegregation.
Thus, whenever people thought
about success in school
desegregation they thought about
the South while the North was
quietly becoming more segregated.
Black History
On our pages in our special Black
History Edition we have singled out
only a few of the Black men and
women who were true chronicler’s of
Black history.
Today’s Black newspapers are still
dominating the Black market with
news-news of community events and
services, advice to homemakers, tra
vellers, the weekend do-it-your
seller’s as well as what’s for sale in
the marketplace. It is in this climate
of total editorial involvement, that
the Black press is celebrating Black
Hi History Week (February 11
through the 17fhj This year’s
theme is “History of Blacks In
^^gusiness/'
ABOLITIONIST I0»«.irt5 'I
ORATOR, ADVISER BOOKER T. *
TO PRESIDENT Washington what w.E.B.OUBOts
. LINCOLN. IS THE ANSWER.. I i860 PHILOSOPHER
_ UHtTEACCONAODATlOn' EDUCATOR
ECONmjCtHpE- j PUBLISHER
KHOENCEXmTNk / AUTHOR
BLACK COMUNITY. ORGANIZER*
MARCUS GARVEY '
BLACK NATIONALIST ,
A RACB WITHOUT J
AUTHORITY AND POwTLL _ DR. MARTI)
POWER IS A RACE WE MUST (WE OUR CHILDREN A * HE DID NOT EMBRACE NON
WITHOUT RESPECT."SENSE QPPRJDE IN BS1NGBLACN. VIOLENCE OUT OF PEAR
THE GLORY OF0UR PAST AHD OR COWARDICE,HE
. THE DIGNITY OF Out PRESENT MUST CHALLENGED INJUSTICE
LEAD THE WAT TO THE POWER OP WITHOUT A GUN."
" • HLIOiJAMIH MAYS
Planning Of The Future Generation
by Maggie Lamb Nicholson
Now that the competency
test is over for this time let us
get on with the planning of the
future generations, our
children. I have tried to get
every one to see that cross
bussing has faded, and since
Charlotte does not want in
tegration few our children
throughout the system it
certainly ought to lets its little
ones have a fair chance.
I feel that those persons who
think of themselves as a
minority did very well
because they had been taught
that being beautiful was
enough and they did not ham
to coraoete. They knew tdtt
the quota system would gfct
them a token to look up to and
others didn't matter. So quota
and cross bussing over
powered the ability to strive
for perfection.
It was proven a few years
ago when the majority and
minority were placed together
and both made similar grades.
This brought on the
desegration law in fifty-four.
No sooner the minority began
to think they had it made
because the quota system was
instituted, which was an
added evil to cross bussing.
The children are not all to
blame but the whole system
all of us who have given in to
gossip and prejudice. When I
began to tell people where
they were headed I was
ignored because I was colored
and they would not vote for
me.
Charlotte has never had
neighborhood schools. Yes,
separate schools, but never
integrated. This is the
Dr Nicholson
salvation of the minority races
in this multi-race world, there
>is oo such thing as a black and
' white world.
Our pulpits, schools, homes,
news media all teach an in
ferior and superior race. Two
kings can not rule one throne
but both can see to it that the
proper rule is made. Let’s see
to it that cross bussing and
quotas are thrown out and
teach blacks that they are
Americans and they can be
whatever they want to if they
apply themselves.
The proper time is while
they are young. Their minds
are open and one child can do
what ever the other can do.
Guidance is so important.
Let’s spend more time with
them while they are little.
Keep them in your prospective
churches and all the
organizations like YWCA,
YMCA, Boy Scouts, Girl
Scouts, and ydur home
training should be healthy so
whet they go to school they
wiD be receptive to learning,
knowing that all people are
created equal. God our
Father and Jesus Christ, our
elder brother. From one man,
Adam, the seed of life came.
1 nank You77 Sincerely For Article
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Mr. BUI Johnson
The Charlotte Post
Charlotte, N.C. 28020
Dear Mr. Johnson :
In recognition of the
newspaper article featured in
the Charlotte Post on Thur
sday, January 11, 1979, about
my class and me as we
Prepared our newspaper about
Martin Luther King, Jr. in
honor of his birthday, may I
say "Thank-You” most sin
Jcerely.
It is good to know that the
local news media consider
children’s school endeavors as
newsworthy.
The children were very
pleased and have shown even
greater motivation toward
research work to gather in
formation about famous •
people that many of them
knew little about previously.
There are other projects
that the children will endeavor
and we would appreciate your
contact occasionally.
Again, may I say thanks to
you.
Most Sincerely,
Lionel O. Brown
and Class
r——— By Vernon E. Jordan, jy. —
TO
BE
EQUAL
I --I
Ford Foundation’s New Head
When the Ford Foundation went into the
closing weeks of its intensive search for a new1
President, rumors circulated about the identities
of the short list of finalists.
They were, as might be expected, an unusually
distinguished group of people. And on that list
was the name of Franklin Thomas, a prominent
black lawyer who became nationally known
through his successful leadership of the com
munity-based Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration
Corporation. ^
Skeptics said Thomas wasn’t a serious
possibility. The Ford Foundation, a mainstay of
America’s elite establishment, would never turn
over its reins to a black man, they said.
Well, they were wrong. The Foundation did
indeed choose Frank Thomas to be its next
President. And that move has enormous im
plications for our society.
The first of these is that it signals to all black
people that our aspirations are indeed at
tainable. Black people have never been satisfied
with tokenism in any of its forms. As blacks
made their way into middle management
positions, they continued to aspire to the top.
Frank Thomas’ appointment as head of a
major bulwark of American Institutional life
heralds a new era of black inclusion, not only as
soldiers in our society, but as generals com
manding its heights.
That’s a message that needs to be absorbed by
all our young people. Doors are not merely open
now, but black people are beginning to go
through them. The Thomas appointment means
that blacks with the intellect, experience and
talent can aspire to the top. And it means that
black youngsters now have the positive exam
pies and incentives to make the full use of their
abilities in the knowledge that they too, can
make it to the pinnacle of our society.
It would be hard to exaggerate the importance
of Frank Thomas’ new position. The Ford
Foundation is at the center of power in America.
It not only controls several billion dollars, but it
wields an influence far beyond the monetary
value of its grants. And its board is drawn from
the cream of America’s elite. They - and the
Foundation they administer - frequently set the
tone for other leadership groups in America.
Herein lies a4Mbr important message'hr the
choice of Frankllri Thomas. The leaders of the
Foundation are signalling America’s leadership
that the time for blacks at the top is now. The
implicit meaning of the Thomas appointment is
that there is a cadre of skilled black leaders 9
capable of heading any of our important in
stitutions, including major leadership roles in
the private sector.
The appointment is also eloquent testimony of
how much America has changed. Blacks moved
from near-total powerlessness to a stage of
moderate gains. Their relations with major
power blocs in our society though, remained
marginal. Real power remained concentrated in
other hands.
Now, at the Ford Foundation at least, a black
man controls money and policy to a degree
unprecedented in our history. And since Ford is
a pace-setter, other institutions should not lag
far behind.
A word is due both Frank Thomas and his
distinguished predecessor, McGeorge Bundy.
Frank Thomas grew up in the streets of Bedford
Stuyvesant. He knows what it means to be poor,
and he knows what it takes to renew urban
communities. At a time when many Americans
have reached an ugly consensus of Indifference
toward cities ana minorities, he can be expected
to act with compassion and with hard-nosed
initiatives to revive our communities.
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
Circulation, 9,915 ■
, 60 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS SERVICE
BILL JOHNSON...Editor Publisher
BERNARD REEVES...General Manager
SHIRLEY HARVEY...Advertising Director
_HENRYALAKSA . Business Manager
Second Class Postage No. 965500 Paid Af
Charlotte, N.C. under the Act of March 3, l$78
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.
Natlona 0
Representative
Amalgamated Publishers, Inc
45 W. 5th Suite 1403 2400 S. Michigan Ave.
New York, N Y. 10036 Chicago, II). 60616
(212) 486-1220 Calumet 5 0200
" - *
The Impart Of Black Voles
Black Candidates Suffer Some Major Losses
Washington, D.r - The
impact of the Black vote in
last November’s elections was
clearly seen in key races
throughout the nation, ac
cording to a survey by the
Joint Center for Political
Studies.
Black candidates suffered
some major losses with the
defeats of Senator Edward
Brooke in Massachusetts and
of Lt. Gov. Mervyn Dymally
i and Attorney General can
didate Yvonne Burke in
California, but scored gains in
statewide races in Wisconsin,
Illinois, and North Carolina.
Wisconsin voters elected
their first Black statewide
official, a woman, Vel
Phillips, who will become
Secretary of State. Roland
Burris was elected state
comptroller In Illinois.
Richard C. Erwin was elected
to the North Carolina Court of
Appeals by a margin of 200,000
votes, thus becoming the first
Black North Carolinian to hold
a statewide position since
Reconstruction
Other statewide office
holders were re-elected
Richard Austin as Secretary
in ouiw in ivucmgan: nenry
Parker as Treasurer in
Connecticut and Wilson Riles
as Superintendent of Public
Instruction in California.
The Joint Center survey
showed that the Black vote,
though for the most part
remaining Democratic, did go
to Republican candidates in
significant numbers in Penn
sylvania, Illinois, and
Michigan. In 10 wards, that
were 80 percent Black or
mop, in Philadelphia, Blacks
gave 52 percent of their vote
to '^winning Republican
gubernatorial candidate
Richard Thornburgh.
In 4 wards In Chicago, In
cumbent Republicans Senator
Charles Percy and Gov.
James Thompson, received 33
per cent and 24 per cent of the
Black vote respectively.
Sample Black precincts in
Detroit showed that Blacks
gave 29 per cent of their vote
to incumbent Republican Gov.
William Milliken, who was re
elected
Blacks also provided
significant support to
Republican congressional
candidates Paul Tribble In
Virginia, and Ed Bethune in
Arkansas. Trible drew 29 per
cent of the vote in sample
Black precincts; Bethune, 44
percent. Black Republican
candidates running for
congressional seats, however,
did not fare well. Although 14
ran for office, 13 lost by lop
sided margins, and one won in
the Virgin Islands.
All 12 members of the
Congressional Black Caucus
who sought re-election won
their races. In addition,
William H. Gray, D*Pa., was
elected in Philadelphia to
replace Robert N.C. Nix;
Julian Dixon, D-Calif., was
elected to replace Yvonne
Brathwalte Burke; Mickey
Leland, D-Texas, was elected
to replace Barbara Jordan;
and Bennett Stewart, D-IU.,
was elected to replace the late
Ralph Metcalfe. Dr. Melvin
Evans was elected as the non
voting delegate to the House of
Representatives from the
Vlrjtfn Islands. Evans is a
Republican who formerly
served as Governor of the
Virgin Islands.
Although most incumbent
Black state legislators across
the country won re-election,
the total number was reduced
from 2M to 284. The change
came as a result of in
cumbents being defeated,
retiring, or running for other
offices. A total of 13 states lost
Black state legislators.
However, legislatures In
Alabama, California, Florida,
Maryland, New York, Penn
sylvania and Tennessee,
added Black members.
Although precise overall
Black turnout could not be
measured, overall voter
turnout In congressional
districts with Black majorities
ranged between 13 and 48 per
cent. Nationwide, in all 438
Congressional districts,
turnout among all voters was
estimated at 34 percent.
In hotly contested races,
Black turnout was very high
In Philadelphia, a proposed
change in the city charter to
allow Mayor Frank Rizzo to
seek re-election next year,
was defeated. The proposed
change was opposed by Black
leaders In the predominantly
Black Pennsylvania Second
District in Philadelphia,
turnout of the voting age
population was 49 per cent, 17
point* higher than in 1974 and
virtually equal to the turnout
In the 1975 presidential race.
In Mississippi’s 4th
Congressional district, in
dependent Black candidates,
Evan Doss and Charles Evert.
Evan on the ballot for the
local congressional seat and
the U.S. Senate, respectively.
The result was high turnout in
a congressional district which
la 43 percent Black.
Most Home Fires
Start At Night
According to authorities,
most home fires start at night.
At that time, smoke and
poisonous gases can overcome
and kill members of a sleeping
family before they become
aware of fire, say specialists
with the North Carolina
Agricultural Extension Ser
vice.
A smoke detector is a small
investment, but it can save
your family's lives.
If you limit yourself to one
detector, the best place to
install it is on a hallway
ceiling in the bedroom area
UNCC
Establishes
Lectureship
A lectureship has been
established at the University
of North Carolina at Charlotte
In memory of Dr. Dale Arvey,
former chairman of the
Biology Department, who died
Jan. 39.
The first lecture, which had
been scheduled before Array's
death was held Feb 3 +»d
named in Arvey’s memory, u
featured Dr. Harriett Barclay,
a profees or emeritus of the
University of Tulsa.
The lectukrship is sponsored
by the UNCC Wildlife Club and
is expected to be an annual
event. Dr. Arvey was a widely
known ornithologist.