cmm tcomMn
Events Worthy Of News Coverage
by Hoyle H. Martin Sr
Poet Editorial Writer
* Late last year banner headlines
- were given to a relatively insignifi
cant local news story about a house
allegedly used for prostitution. More
recently, many major newspapers
asked and quoted the views of a
young man on Israel, Libya and the
price of oil, yet the young man has
no background, particular know
ledge or ever an interest in these
* important issues. Furthermore, a
5 front page Associated Press story
j earlier this week in The Charlotte
| News dealt with a married couple
5 that forfeited a $20 bond by failing to
■ appear in court on a disorderly
3 conduct charge. The charge? Dis
2 turbing the peace by playing a
z harmonica in a restaurant after
* being told to stop,
Il.appears evident that neither of'
tnese events was worthy of any news
Coverage, and if so, certainly not of
front page value. Nevertheless, be
/ CHuse of a common denominator
rr name Identification-each of these
x events was viewed by the media as
a worthy of news-print.
1 The presumed house of prostitu
2 tion was given considerable atten
| tion by the news media because the
8 property happened to be partly
g owned by former Charlotte Mayor
p Brookshire. a point made very
5 dear in the news story. On the other
; hand, little was said abofit the fact
2 that a real estate agent was respon
| sible far renting the property and
* Mr. Brookshire had no knowledge of
who thetenants were in the rental
units. In a similar situation, compar
atively little news coverage was
«- given, presumably because the own
*sj er of the latter building is not a noted
civic personality ?.
The young man quoted on inter
national affairs was Billy Carter and
the woman involved in the $20 bond
forfeiture was Mrs. Gloria Spann,
the brother and sister of the nation’s
President, Jimmy Carter. To re
peat, the activities of these people
were allegedly considered to be of
news value because of who they
were identified with, not because of
the events that took place.
Billy Carter is a tragic case in
point. “It has been obvious for a long
time...,” wrote Mike Royko, “that
Billy has problems. Among these
problems, apparently, is the
(whiskey) bottle.” Yet, Royko con
tinues, “the press keeps goading
Billy into his foolish outbursts.“Un
derlying all of this is the implied
assumption that somehow Jimmy
Carter is responsible for his bro
ther’s actions or that the President
is at fault by association.
While we are pointing an accusing
finger at the press, the real culprit
here is the reading public because of
its failure to object to such trite or
trivialities.
“Billy Carter is a tragic example
of a* young man,” Royko states
further, “sadly competing with an
older brother who is far smarter,
better disciplined and enormously
successful. A man of _ previously
modest means being tempted by big
money ifheTTjust permit himself to
be made to look silly.”
Surely, if we in America continue
to believe in the rights and dignity of
the-individual, we should demand a
better accountability for such values
by our free press. To do less is to
endanger the existence of the free
Press and_onr own rights as iodii
yiduals. It’s your America, lete make
it better, not worse7
£ JUan Has Rights, Too! /
During a recent attempt by the Ku
Dux Klan. to display an exhibit in a
Winston-Salem, library, a confronta
■ } don dayelnppdjM^igepsome blacks
the Klan and its supporters. Because
of the near violent nature of the
^confrontation, the exhibit was closed
I and. the library administration is
h reportedly reviewing its policy on
f public dm hits.
This week.it was announced that
as a part of a rebirth movement of
tee white, supremacy organization,
““ in grand.wizard David Duke will
Visiting Charlotte to .recruit new
Ihelncident in Winston-Salem and
the Klan membership drive in Char
•otte hWre resulted in an outcry from
i? Ae local branch of the »AACP and
9}the Charlotte Equal Rights Council.
£ Speaking on behalf of CEKC, e,ueen
W. Hanson reportedly has said, “Our
£ position is that the Klan should be
5 outlawed. The same should, go
=5for...any other group whose pro
. claimed goals are to eliminate cer
tain groups of people." CERC plans
to hold a meeting tonite (Thursda y)
at the Main Library to organize a
protest to the Klan’s activities in
Charlotte.
this response to the Klan’s proposed
activities bringb td mind the essence
of the true meaning of democracy.
Furthermore, it should cause us to
re-think the words of Thomas
Jefferson who said,T‘democracy has
init the seeds of its own defeat.” Eric
Fromm said it even more clearly,
“the right to express our
thoughts...means something only if
we are able to have thoughts of our
own...” which we can freely
express.
Therefore, as despicable as many
of us may believe the Klan is, to
deny that group free expression is to
threaten the free expression of us
all. Does CERC have any more right
to use the public library to express
its ideas, no matter how noble or
humanitarian, than does the Klan?
If we (and who are “we”?) outlaw
the Klan today, will we outlaw the
NAACP, the Baptist, a free press
and your individual liberties
tomorrow?
ARE WE GOING TO SIT AND LET SLACK COM
MUNITIES CRUMBLE AROUND US? GRASSROOTS,
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, MUST EMERGE TO
WORGE A UNITED EFFORT AGAINST CRIME.NARCOTtCi
TRAFFICKING, BLIGHT AND DECAY. ,
I Crime fa A Prewing Problem In The Black Commnnhy
Getting Most For Your Food Dollar L
WASHINGTON-Are food
shoppers doing what they can
to save on their food bills?
To find out, the U.S. De
partment of Agriculture con
ducted three national surveys
of major food shoppers in
about 1,400 U.S. households,
excluding Alaska and Hawaii,
from 1976 to 1978. About 85
percent of the shoppers were
female.
“Half or more of the main
food shoppers are fighting
food price inflation,” said de
partment social science
analyst Evelyn Kaitz, who
! studied survey results. “They
do it by always or almost
always comparing prices,
checking food ads and maHng
out a food list before shopping
and reading ingredients on
labels before purchasing a
food product for the first
time.”
More than 60 percent of. '
major food tVmrw diirt time
mSSffSmm BBmI
pared prices when shopping.
Only about 15 percent said
they seldom or never did.
Proportionally more females
than males admitted to cwn
paring prices. Hie surveys
showed the Ukeunood increas
ed with household sire. Kaitz
said, but decreased with high
er income. The 1978 survey
showed shoppers aged 35-49
were more likely to compare
prices than those over 64.
“Significantly, in the 1976
survey, shoppers in the North
Central Region were more
likely than those from the
Northeast or South to say they
always or almost always com
pared food prices. In the 1977
survey, shoppers employed
part time compared prices
more than fulltime workers
did.”
About 60 percent of the
shoppers responding said they
always or almost always
made out a food shopping list
Shoppers who were not em
ployed prepared lists more
often than those employed.
Female and better educated
shoppers used lists most,
Kaitz said.
Again, about 60 percent of
shoppers responding to tbs
1977 and 1978 surveys said
when food items were lower
priced, they bought an extra
quantity to store at home,
Kaitz said.
“Volume buying increas
ed with family size and was
more likely among respon
dents 35-64 than those 65 or
older. According to the 1977
survey the probability in
creased among female
shoppers bgt decreased
among apartment dwellers,
perhaps because of lack of
storage space.”
Southern shoppers were
less likely to buy more when
the price wasJowwr than those
of the North 'central * and
^oruieasi area, two surveys
-Jit over' half the re
spondents checked food acta
before shopping, the 1976 and
1977 surveys showed, with the
number declining between the
1976 and 1976 surveys.
Reading food ads increas
ed with family size and the age
of the shopper. In the 1976 and
1978 surveys, food shoppers
not employed used food ads
more than their business
counterparts. Generally, fe
males used food ads more
than males. But use of food
ads dropped with increased
income and education.
"The 1976 and 1977
surveys showed only about
half the shoppers always or
almost always read the labels
for ingredients the first time
they purchased a food product
but the number increased to
almost 60 percent by the 1978
survey. The probability of
reading ingredient labels in
creased with family size, ed
ucation and income," said
Kaitz. Females read the labels
more often than males.
The number of shoppers
claiming to read the label for
nutrition information the first
time they bought a new pro
duct increased significantly
during the three surveys, from
29 percent in 1978 to more than
40 percent in 1977 and 1978.
This likelihood increased with
education, family size and
children in the family, Kaitz
said.
About 30 percent said they
planned their menus before
shopping and this likelihood
decreased with age, smaller
household size and lower in
come.
“About half the shoppers
responding generally used one
food store to get bargains.
Those employed full time
shopped around less than
those not employed, and the
smaller the household, theiess
bargain hunting they (fid hi
'haor# than one store,” said
Kafix. *
CMPC Cited
For Award Of
Excellence .
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Planning Commission has
Deceived an award of ex
cellence from the American
Society of Landscape Ar
chitects for a presentation
called the “Uptown Pedest
rian ” . ..:
The award was presented
for design excellence in a
printed report hnd 20-minute
slide program prepared by the
Planning Commission and
staff coordinator Bob Ballou is
now associated with planning
activities in Highland Park
HUirfs.
f ■" ■* By Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. ——
TO- I
BE j
Curbing Cope' Use Of Deadly Force
News reports of deaths and serious injuries
inflicted by police officers on suspected felons
occur with depressing regularity. Throughout
the 1970’s an average of almost one person per
day was slain by police officers.
This is a festering sore that undermines
effective law enforcement, subverts community
cooperation with police, and endangers the lives
of civilians, especially those in minority groups.,
Disproportionate numbers of the victims of
police use of deadly force have been minorities-^
roughly half are Black and Hispanic. And there
•
J&evidence that whu* victims most often have..
.been armed ami facing the officer, while
•minority victims have been unarmed and shot in
„the back.while fleeing.
' in almost every case, the officer doing the
shooting has been white. An examination of
deadly force in New York City reveals that no
black officer has ever mistakenly shot a white
youth whom the officer thought was armed. The
reverse though, has been all too common.
Incidents have been piling up in recent
months. In Texas, the Hispanic community him
demanded federal investigation of persistent
police abuses. -Over the past two years, 15
Hispanics have been killed and there have been
more than 150 instances of police brutality
charged.
In New York, a policeman shot and killed a 15
year old black youth whom he said had pulled a
gun on him. Other officers present at the scene
testified it was not true-that the youth had not
threatened the officer. Until the courts interven
ed it looked as if the officer would be released
from confinement in a mental institution. He was
also trying to get a disability pension.
At the very momeht you are reading these
Unfia, somewhere jn the U.S. a community is
being shaken by an incident of police use of
deadly force—it is that common an occurence.
The pattern too, is pretty well established. A
killing is followed by an investigation which
often clears the officer. If the case is too blatant;.
to cover up, the officer may be brought to trial,
often clea . If the case is too biatanty
ends wit! ir; <<*b- Iwttr a immr
sentence s often suspended, i^r
many ponce departments are setting strict
rules on the use of weapons. But in many
the rules are flexible enough to allow continued
incidents. Even mild rates are often fought l>y
ponce oft icers who charge they are exposed to
threats to their own lives if they are not given
greater leeway in using their own judgment on
“"■ffiiS&SS&pobii care captivated by the
myth that policemen use their guns because
their own or other people’s lives are threatened
or because they are trying to capture a
dangerous armed criminal.
But the facts are otherwise. The Police
Foundation studied seven major cities over a
two-year period. It found no relation between
police shootings and serious crimes. In fact,
about two-fifths of the police shootings occurred
(hiring routine traffic stops and disturbance-of
the-peace calls. v
So self-defense is no explanation for the use of
deadly force, nor is the need to capture a
dangerous criminal a valid explanation for many
shootings. ~ •
THE CHARLOTTE POST
, “THE PEOPLES NEWSPAPER”
Established 1918
L Published Every Thursday
c, By The Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc.
1S24 West Blvd.-Charlotte. N.C 28208
• i Telephones (704)376-0496-376-0497
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___60YEARS OF CONTINUOUS SERVICE
s’ j BILL JOHNSON...Editor Publisher
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___HENRY_ALAKSA...Business Manager
' _ Sefond Postage No 965500 Paid Af
Charlotte, N.C. under the Act of March 3.1878
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Association
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I ^_
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' ■ Monday. All photos and copy submitted becomes
Ui the property of the POST, and will not be returned
" —■1 ' ' "i —
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3 Representative
Amalgamated Publishers, Inc.
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(212)489-1220 Calumet 5-0*o0
I Leadership In Education
Today, on all sides a great dfeal is
be ng said about leadership. In
politics, Industry, science, religion
and in every other field of human
endeavor. In particular, education
has come In for its share of attention
lately and most of it has been un
favorable. People are saying that
the education establishment is ar
Z1*,? lo#t ,ts PurPO*e and has
I failed to live up to its promise. This
is despite the very present fact that
students are mastering more of the
knowledge needed to live more
technically and efficiently than in
the past.
leadership actually comes in all
sizes, ages and colors and trying to
define leadership and identify those
who are in fact leaders is an
> amazingly difficult task. A leader
today may not be a leader
tomorrow. As simply put as
possible, a leader Is a person with
authority and influence. The person
can be good or bad in the usual sense
of the words and still be a leader. ,
Where does the authority of the
leader come from?it can issue out a
position of power that provides for
administrative control over people
and the jobs that they perform.
Because of this, the person holding
the position has authority and In
fluence to the extent that salary,
promotions, and job tenure are part
of the administrative responsibility.
However, leadership abilities do not
spring out of the position although
the opportunity to develop these
personal traits are present.
This brings us to whether
leadership is ascribed or conferred.
Ascribed leadership resides in the
position and assumes that the person
who holds that position will display
leadership behavior. Conferred
leadership comes as the result of
people recognizing that a person has
the qualities needed to help them
realize aspirations, meet immediate
needs and approach the satisfaction
of needs. A leader manages to
always be keenly attuned to the
feelings of his publics and- must
necessarily run the risk of being
supplanted by another person
because needs do change. Needs
may change to demands and this
may rtiodlfy the entire “game plan.”
According to James McGregory
Burns, leaders emerge during
conflict and that the great function
of conflict is raising consciousness.
Burns goes on to say that conflict
involves basic differences of opinion
regarding social and political pur
podss and all that they imply.
Readers are able to use conflict
in such a way that basic issues are
clarified and controversy is
claimed.
4et us take the state of public
education in North Carolina. At the
present time the school districts are
engaged In a raging controversy
.over the competency test hoping
that It will result finally in im
proving the educational level of all
students. The leaders in this effort,
both black and white, are in
disagreement over all present plans.
We must ask: Are they the kind of
people who have the abilities to
' make an improved TB8T program
for all children palatable'to the
consumers of that educatlon-the
children and parents?
Notwithstanding this, is the pill
too big to swallow? And If not, will
the medicine be effective to the
extent that an illness of bitter
recrimination will not ensue?
Usually an educational leader lacks
one of the qualifications for being a
true leader-a favoring consensus of
his public. lacking this, can the
practical demands be purposively
met? Probably not In a situation
such as is found in Charlotte where
so many different voices are heard.
There are some ugly precedents.
On the other hand there Is some
real hope in the fact that most people
have a desire to be morally
respectable. And all of us had better
believe that the value of competency
testing wherever-it takes place must
be approached soberly, and morally.
There are some blacks and some
whites who stand four-square
against Competency testing
although for different reason*.
However, the result is the same.
_ It seems to us that competency
test plan is going to be a'real op
portunity to test educational
leadership in this city.
Maybe the major media outlets
will examine their souls and come
up yitli some substantial aid and
comfort.
READ
l ->'> •
THE
POST
EACH
WEEK _