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cfliiMii c coucmj Affirmative Action, Which Way? BY HOYLE H. MARTIN SR. Post Editorial Writer The 1968 report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Dis order- better known as the Kemer Commission - said quite bluntly, “This is our basic conclusion, our nation is moving towards two socie ties: one black, one white - separate and unequal.” Today, more than 10 years later, many are wondering whether there has really been any change away from the “two societies.” The report itself causes continuous wonder ment as it says further, “race prejudice has shaped our history decisively in the past; it now threa • tens to do so again ” Oned such threat has been in the uncertainty of the Allan Bakke reverse discrimination’ Supreme Court decision. Another has been in the high court’s refusal to rule on an alleged racial discrimination suit brought by blacks against J. p. Stevens and Co., even thought the court agreed the textile firm had violated civil rights laws In yet another case, Brian Weber, a white worker at a Kaiser Aluminum plant in Louisiana, is suing to remove the plant’s affirmative ni«n by alleging it’s a form of ‘reverse discrimination.’Furthermore, White House attempts to cvreate a single job-bias agency to enforce all equal employment laws and regulations has been strongly resisted by most federal departments and agencies °n the other hand, many-both bUck and white - have begun to see the charge of ‘reverse discrimina tion’ as the fraudulent charge that it is. For example, a U. S. District Judge has dismissed a Sears Roe buck and Company lawsuit challeng ing the federal government’s autho rity to enforce laws against job discrimination. And recently the Supreme Court upheld the 10 percent ‘set -aside’ for minority contractors under the Economic Development Administration’s local public works projects. These differing views expressed by the federal courts might lead to the question, ‘Affirmation Action, which way?’ Nevertheless, the Post does not agree with the view of the. recently formed National Anti-We^ ber Mobilization Committee that if the Supreme Court upholds Weber’s ‘reverse discrimination’ charge, ‘U could signal the end of affirmative action programs affecting of workers.’ uur point is that as significant as the Brian Weber Case is, likewise the Bakke Case before it, the stru ggle for equality and justice will continue no matter what the out come of Webser is . This is evident by the fact that the Bakke Case, and all the civil rights and voting rights laws and executive orders before it, did not reduce the need for a strong civil rights movement rooted in community organizations of largely minority populations. Therefore, no one law, executive order or court decision, even if in the affirmative, can serve as a panacea for all the efforts to deny blacks nn<1 other minorities their equal rights. Thus, the struggle for equality will continue for an eternity or at least until all mortal men begin to realize that in the sight of the Almighty God all men are equal. Blacks Criticsm Of Blacks The Post was pleased to run a story (May 24) about City Council man Charles S. Dannely h^tng k. lected ‘Man of the Year* by the Sixth District of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity at a recent meeti^ in - Charleston, S. C. A spokesman for the fraternity said Dannelly was chosen for his ‘outstanding record’ in the fraternity on the local, district and national levels, civic and public school affairs and his total commit ment to the Charlotte-Mecklenbura area.” ^ While reading this good news about our District 2 councilman, we were also reminded of a very sad state of affairs. This indicates a j growing movement by blacks to oust black elected officials from office. This is being done by political apathy - failing to register and vote, failing to offer moral support on crucial issues by attendance at council meetings and failing to keep abreast of current political issues. Furthermore, black elected offi cials and other political leaders are often accused of being unresponsive to community needs when too often they^^giveiMinrealisticdema^b^ For example, Carl Stokes, a former mayor of the city of Cleveland, has said that while serving in that city’s highest elective post many blacks assumed that he had unlimited powers to do anything. When this, does not occur many blacks becomd disillusioned. Ironically too, some black leaders contend that when a white leader is unresponsive the black constituency remains silent. Is there any wonder that blacks still comprise less than one percent ot an , the elected officials in the nation? This phenomenon was very evi dent during the city’s last mayoral election when an influential black political leader endorsed a white candidate with a questionable city council voting record over a black candidate. We are not suggesting that black candidates should be endorsed just because they are black but we are saying that they should be given just as much oppor tunity for service as anyone else. Another example of a black leader put-down occurred when the Rev. Jesse Jackson began his ‘Operation Push for Excellence’ among high school students. 1 ■ THE NvKIvxKlanlSWMM I2-T0/7-YEAIMJD , CHILDREN INTO CUH'TQTNS, CLOD ■ WIELPINCRACISTS % IN ITS OHM VERSION Of ADOLF MTLBR9 INFAMOUS TOOTH MOVEMENT •WEDON'T HAVE TO TEACH Then TOHATE NIGGERS-HANYOP ThEM DOANYmr, SAIOtikK IMPERIAL WIZARD BILL WILKIHSOnSiT OBYHJOSOh. WE WANT TO BRAINWASH AND TO INDOCTRINATE THESE KIDS TOr* CARRY ON 608 WORK? WILKINSON, WHO SOLD HIS ELECTRICAL CON TRACTING BUSINESS TO RUN THE KLAH FULL-TIME FROH ITS HEAD— QUARTERS IN DENHAM SP*INOS,LA, SAID KLAH YOUTH CORPS ALREADY EXISTHIS STATES-Bl/TA MASSIVE RECRUITING CAMPAIGN IS HOW UNDER W-lVf**?6** TMHK THEY CAN TAKEOVER?SAID 15-YEAR OLD {££&&*}!& *f° MNEO THE CORPS WITH HER MOTHERS BLESSING ^ SCHOOLS ANDSWP^ AND, THROW UPTHEIRiHANDS N HORROR AT WHAT WE RE DOING, HE GRINNED?BUT WE P£EUTS THE ONLY HOPE FOR THE I -- ■ 1 ^ WV»< Hack Leadership Will Not Let This Go Unanswered Down To Business Curbing Inflation uy ur. Berkeley G. Burrell President National Burin— League Special to the Post Problems with inflation have become common-place in the American economy in recent years. Just a few years a jo, we were told that infla on seemed hopelessly stuck at 9.9 percent. Now we’re being warned that inflation may be frozen at 7 .2 percent. Bringing current inflationary patterns under control Is es sential if we are to address such major problems as un employment, urban revitali sation and minority economic development. Important fede ral initiatives cannot be imple mented so long as the rate of inflation continues its upward movement. President Carter and him AdrniniatratiotMleve recogni zed the Importance of control ling inflation, and have eleva ted that issue to a top econo mic priority. We applaud the President for confronting this issue, and pledge our support to a sound anti-inflation fight. Those of us in the minority community, particularly in the minority private sector, know full well the immediate dangers of continued inflation ary pressures. Real disposal incomes shrink, and consum ers find themselves struggling simply to cover essential ex When that happens, busines ses find out in a hurry which of their products or services the people consider essential. For a large number at minority firms, that spells trouble. The reason is simple. Most minor ity firms are sngaged in retail trade and the services. Their livelihood depends, in no small measure, on the level of dispo sal income in their market area. If the level is low, their products don’t move from the Dr. Berkeley G. Burrell shelf, and their services go unused. Consumers And ways to cut comers by either pro viding the services them selves or going without them, in either case, business suffers. While Americans of all in come braek*a have become accustomed to higher prices, they have also developed an instinctive sense for limits. There is a limit to their willingness to pay higher prices for what they consider less than essential products and services. Unfortunately, for many minority firms, that limit is reached even in good economic tiroes. During high rates of inflation, they teeter on ruin. That is why in examining the President's options in con trolling Inflation, we do not find imposing wage and price controls as objectionable as many have labelled it. The alternative is voluntary con trols on business and labor. Pkst experience has proven this system to be unworkable. Wage and price controls are no long-term solution to infla tion. At best, they are tempo rary, stop-gap measures. But they have proven to be the only effective measures for halting the inflationary spiral and stabilizing prices. ine last point is critical. If we do not stabilize prices, we cannot hope to achieve the other important element in any anti-inflation program: public confidence. The con suming public is perhaps the single most important ele ment in any anti-inflation pro gram. The public must have confidence in the integrity of our Government leaders and in their ability to devise pro grams that are equitable for all segments of the nation. Without that confidence, the fear of inflation will nullify even the most imaginative anti-inflation program. Thus, if we are to turn our economic policy around, we must not only fight inflation, but inflationary expectations as well. This is not a new .message. Many of us have goffered the samquadvice to .^previous Administrations. But it should carry weight for many minority business firms if they remember that the higher the rate of inflation, the less essentia] their products and services become to a skeptical public. It is in that light that we should get down to the business of joining the President in the anti-inflation MAA Raffle The Metrolina Athletic Association will hold a raffle and membership drive on Saturday, June 9 from 11 a.m. - S p.m. at the Try on Mall. A 13Vi gallon Ice cheat will be raffled off to benefit a Police Athletic League foot ball team. Raising money for youth sports is the purpose of the two-year old Metrolina Athle tic Association. For more Information con tact Dexter Hayes at 373-1490 or Don Robinson at 379-0947. P -«» VERNON^lORDARJ^3 EQUAL ' I Randolph: A Man For All Seasons The death of A. Philip Randolph at the age of 90 removes a strong link with the past. The civil rights movement is often so preoccupied with its daily battles that it can ill afford to forget its roots. Mr. Randolph’s creative presence, even in his long and honored retirement, was a constant reminder of those roots, and a spur to excel as he did. His career spanned over sixty years of intense q activism, of unrelenting efforts to bring equality to black Americans. His career was studded by confrontations with three Presidents, with industrial giants, with the labor movement, the army, and the Klan. And be emerged victorious from all of them. The man President Woodrow Wilson described as the most dangerous man in America was responsible for some of the most important breakthroughs black people have made. He is perhaps best known for spurring unionization of black workers. At a time when blacks were strictly segregated, barred from many unions, and forced to work for menial wages at whatever jobs white workers didn’t want, Mr. Randolph won a bitter, decade-long struggle to organize the railroad porters. The creation of that union, in the face of incredible obstacles and against the opposition of the Pullman Company, then one of the most powerful industrial giants in the country, helped shape black strategy and tactics for a genera tion. It also opened the largely segregated Ameri can labor movement to black workers in a way it never had been before. By the time the AFL and the CIO merged in 1955, Mr. Randolph was one of the most prominent labor leaders in the country. In 1941, with the nation rearming and blacks barred from lucrative defense factory jobs, Mr. Randolph planned a march on Washington that horrified the Administration. President Roose velt pleaded with him to call off the march. Randolph refused. At the eleventh hour the President capitulated and issued an executive order opening defense jobs to blacks and created ' * Fair Employment Practises Committee enforce it. That did more than open thousands of jobs to black workers, important though that was. It sett a precedent, a small opening in the wall of discrimination that was broadened in later years. Mr. Randolph’s refusal to accept a Jim Crow army and his public urging of black youth to refuse to be drafted led directly to President Truman’s orders desegregating the armed services. Everyone remembers Martin Luther King, Jr. and the 1963 March on Washington, but too few recall that the March was Mr. Randolph’s idea. That massive outpouring of blacks and whites led directly to the civil rights laws and the removal of legal segregation in America. So A. Philip Randolph left his mark on America. He leaves it a far better nation than the Jim Crow, racist state of the turn of the century. I could go on for pages more about his vast contributions to the cause of racial equality, and about his specific accomplishments. THE CHARLOTTE POST Second Class Postage No. 965500 "THE PEOPLES NEWSPAPER" Established 1918 Published Every Thursday By The Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc. 1524 West Blvd.-Charlotte. N.C. 28206 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 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 photot is5p 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 Mic'si, a>i Ave New York. N Y. 10036 Chicago. Ill 60616 (212 ) 489 1220 Calumet 5 0200 I Background On Why Sears Should Be Supported By Dr. Nathaniel Wright, Jr. Human’Right* Activist Part III of a 3-part aeries The concepts of great think era throughout history like Aristotle, Plato and Socrates, along with the Word of God as revealed through inspired men, always have been sources of direction, strength and wisdom. All of us, includ ing the greatest minds of today, rely daily on the great truths both developed by-and revealed "unto"-others of ages past For a brief moment, let's review a bit of that "wisdom" or principles of old as they may apply help fully to us-and our present black leadership-when asses ling the value of the "Sears Suit " We shall begin with the established principle of equity since it is affirmative (cor rective) action or equity (parity) which the Sears suit seeks to bring about rather than equal opportunity which never will make up for the past injustices to us as black Americans. The Principle of Equity -Plato It was the Greek philoso pher Plato who, in his classic treatise, The Republic, Book VIII. disparages the goal of equality for the underprivileg ed or the oppressed by speak ing of, and dismissing, on its surface, an "equality of a sort, distributed to equal and un equal alike.'’ It is perhaps one of the greatest tragedies of the whole civil rights movement here ta America that we get into a kind of "rut,” with the beat of Intentions, and waste our time and defeat our real purposes by being grooved, or programmed, by many of those in power into staying in that rut. Sean, undoubtedly, is an exception. By equity (or equitable opportunity), which the Sean suit seeks to bring about, for black Americana and othen. is meant the taking of some portion of undue advantage from one who hoida it, and the giving of a portion of that undue advantage to the one from whom it was denied or has been handicapped in the first place by the vary denial of that opportunity. Hehos, in many sports traditionally, those involved share what is called “the benefit of a handi cap. ” Let's now examine what another philosopher tells us on the some subject. Principles af Equity -Aristotle Ye*, “equitable opportun Ity" is what, in part, the Sears suit seeks. Equity, as we note in the passage quoted below from another Greek philoso pher, Aristotle, seeks equality as an end result Equality, as Plato noted or implied, cannot be achieved through "equal opportunity." Equitable op portunity, with a restitution of advantages denied in the past, leads securely to the end result of a status of equality. Aristotle notes in Ethics, Book V, Chapter 10: "Equity, though e higher thing than one form of justice, is itself just and not geometri cally different from justice Thus, so far as both are good, they coincide, though equity is to be preferred. What puzzles people is that equity is not the justice of the law courts but a method of restoring the bal ance of justice when it has been tilted by the lew. "We see now what equity is, and that it is just and superior to one kind of justice. And this leU us also see clearly the nature of the equitable man. He is one who, by deliberate choice, has taught himself the habit of doing equitable things, who is not a stickler for his rights to the disadvantage of others but refrains from pressing his claims even when he has the law on his side. It is a disposition of this kind which finds it* expression in equity - equity which we have just shown to be a species of justice and not a disposition of a different genus altogether ” Principles of Equity -The Word of God "For be cometh to Judge the earth: with righteouanesa shall he Judge the world, and the people with equity." Psalm 98:9. Throughout the rich Hebrew tradition of the Old Testament, there la a prin ciple known as "equity and restitution." We have but to read the passages Leviticus 25:9-55 concerning Jubilee, and continue into the New Testament with I Corinthians 12:4-31, to see that same prin ciple at play, even though we have "different gifts” and different roles to play. As an outgrowth of the Roman law, the English system of law (on which our courts are baaed) had courts of law and courts of equity. In a case of equity, there is that clear recognition that the in jured or aggrieved party has suffered from a denial that has served for a time to benefit the defending party. Because of the many side damages in such cases of equity, when a case in equity is won, the court traditionally may award the aggrieved or damaged party three times or more the calculated amount of immediate damages Kquallty ir Kquity Not Same Traditional civil rights goals- which have been nobly intentioned, but which have resulted in part in our present ly and progressively perilous racial plight-have sought to bring about a condition of '‘equal opportunity” for Mack and white Americans. Since Mack Americans have been handicapped end denied for centuriee, justice would dic tate that we are duo a compen satory remedy in the form of equity. The Seen suit, right ly, for us as black Americans and the nation ea a whole, seeks equity and not equality, On this point alone, we feel ell Meek Americans should be saying "Praise the Lord for Sean!” The goals of equity (parity) and of equality ere not the seme. Yet, tragically, many black Americans-led by bene volent white liberal thot«ht in the past-have adopted equa bly of opportunity as their immediate foal, when this only confuses and subverts the issue One who has been held heck in any race or contest can never catch up with "equal treatment We as Mack - or Third World people - here and in Africa must not confuse social equality with economic and other forms of equity which are our just due Blacks Need Equitable (<nk iteration Black Americans should, doubtless by now, realize, as the Sears suit contends, that they are entitled fully lo equit able and resdiiuli- :' damages as would be the cue in "equit able opportunity” rather than in "equal opportunity.” It would have been better for all Americans, if the name of the Equal Employment Opportu nity Commission (EEOC) had been Justly named in the first place the ‘ Equitable Employ ment Opportunity Commis sion.” With "equal opportunity” u a goal, black Americans theo retically can never hope to "catch up” so u to be enabled to shoulder their share of the load because of the bitft-in lead or advantage alXriy accrued to, and sustained by, white Americans We are, u a result, even now left in the hands of white largesse or "generosity” by this confu sion. It is up to us u black Americans to see that this "equal opportunity” ploy is changed to that of equity Continued next week
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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June 7, 1979, edition 1
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