Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Sept. 27, 1979, edition 1 / Page 2
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! cmm tcom New Level Of Maturitv The Democratic mayoral primary race between Harvey Gantt and Eddie Knox was, without a doubt, the most exciting, issue oriented and closely fought political campaign for any public office in Charlotte in well over two decades. Yet, in spite of issue differences the race was cordial and well man nered. ; Knox, who won the primary by a slim 0.6 percent or 22,637 to Gantt’s 21,360, differed with Gantt on the issues of growth, powers of the mayor or leadership style, public transportation, public employee unions and city revenues, to name a few. Each candidate was consider ed nearly equally qualified, as the final vote count verified, Knox for his political contacts in state govern ment and Gantt for his 5-years of Council experience and clear know ledge of the issues. The election, and some events leading up to it, included a number <rf ironies. For example, while The Charlotte Observer endorsed Eddie Knox, they said on the same edito rial page that Gantt was a better can didate for urban-oriented growth issues. Furthermore, Knox was crit icized for his failure to have annon ced earlier that his land holdings in southeast Charlotte might benefit him in the outer belt controversy. In addition, and considering closeness of the race, the absence of any heated political debat might any heated political debate might cost Gantt the election, except lor Gantt’s reference to Knox’s ads as being “sick” during the final days of the campaign there was nothing even remotedly resembling a serious heated conflict over campaign issues. One news reporter suggested too that there were some whites in southeast Charlotte who didn’t want to vote for Gantt because he is black.' However, to avoid admitting that they might have racist tendencies, the reporter concluded, such people sought desperately to find some issue upon which to support Knox and not Gantt. Again, considering the closeness of the election outcome all such speculation seems meaning less. " The ironies in themselves, the absence of race as a visible issue, the clearness of the issues and the closeness of the vote appears to indicate that Charlotte may have reached a new level of (political) maturity is just the beginning of better things. Let’s hope too that this maturity will enable us to find a meaningful way to continue using the talents of to continue using the talents of Harvey Gantt, who served this community for 5 years as an articu late, knowledgeable City Council member. We cannot continue to mature without the public use of the Gantts in our community. Post Office Move Economical? Nearly two years ago to this date, Willie Stratford, public information Officer of the Charlotte Post Office, ■' told a concerned group of West Char lotte citizens that the University Park Branch Post Office would “not be closed in the foreseeable future, however, the lease on the building expires in 1979 and I do not know what will happen beyond that time...” It is now 1979 and Mr. Stratford has said recently that the Postal Service is studying the possibility of relocating the 6,000 square-feet University Park Poet Office Branch because that facility is too large and too costly-124,000 yearly-to operate. Stratford added that with the re assignment of the mail carriers to other facilities the branch Post Office needs only about one-third of its present square footage. Westside Community Organiza tion president L. C. Coleman has objected to the possible relocation stating the new location in an aban daned service station will be too small and require elderly people and others seeking food stamps to have to line-up outside in inclement weather. Mr. Coleman’s argument appears weak, and uneconomical. His views are like that of so many who ^comjglainand object to high govern ment spending and inefficiency. However, when the federal government attempts to act effic iently everyone, seems to say be efficient in somebody else’s back yard but not mine. That kind of thinking is not good for the country nor you and I as taxpayers. As long as the Post Office is com mitted to retaining a service facility on on Beatties Ford Road generally in the same area it appears that there is no no merit in opposing an economical ly relocated facility that meets the same community needs. 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. Remember it’s your column. Your article should be at least 250 words, type-written and double spaced preferred. Include your name, age, school, and a clear photo, and send it to the Editor, Charlotte Post Newspaper, Post Office Box 97, Charlotte NC 28m. Blacks’ Destiny Jn Own Hands . . . Cure For Inflation By Gerald O. Johnson Special To the Post There must be something in the air because so many wo men are pregnant today. You walk downtown during the lunch hour and about one out of every three women is in the inflated way. The economy is suffering from the same kind of thing these women are suffering from. The government has done to the economy the same thing that men have done to these pregnant women. Conse quently, the economy has come up inflated. Unfortunately, the outcome is not as certain with the inflated economy as it is with the inflated women. Nine months from now the economy will probably still be inflated. You see, once the women become inflated, no more damage can be done for nine to ten months. However, once the economy is inflated the more you mess with it the worse it gets. What we need to do is put a prophylactic on ole Uncle bam to keep him fron doing any more damage, especially since next year Is an election year. The Carter Administra tion will enforce tax cuts and do other inflationary antics in an attempt to win the Presi dential election. All of this will be similar to using a band-aid to heal a severe cut. To understand this we must have a brief and simplistic economic lesson. Let us as sume that the economy is a circle. The size of this circle is determined by what con sumers are spending or by what businesses are produc Gerald" O. Johnson ing. We can use either one of the two because the two must be equal. If the consumers’ buying matches the business production we have a balanc ed economy. If business pro duces much more than the consumers will purchase then we have a deflated economy. Of course, If the consumer purchases mote than busi nesses produce we have an inflated economy.Interesting ly enough our circle should ex pand during inflationary times and contract during deflationary times because the economy tends to move to an equilibrium state. Why? During deflationary times businesses will cut back on production and drop prices to get rid of the excess inventory. Once the Inventory and pro duction are down to what consumers are buying then we have reached equilibrium. However, the overall economy has decreased in terms of gross national production or to put It another way our circle him rnntra/’fftH Conversely, during infla tionary times the equilibrium move must be increases bus iness production. The consum er demand can successfully be met only by the circle expand ing. If the circle is kept from expanding then the only re course left is for prices to rise. Whenever a lot of consumers bid for a few amount of goods then price rising is the eco nomics way of deciding who gets what. This is the current scenario we are facing now. There are several factors causing the expansion of production to take place. The spiraling co6t of energy is the number one cause. Unions and the government are running a close second. All of these factors increase the cost of production and force a stifling effect on our circle. A tax cut would cause more spending pressure but would not cause an increase in production. It would only worsen the infla tionary condition. Moreover, striking unions have a deafening affect on our circle. During the times when the economy is not expanding there is no extra money in the economy. Not only does the new contract Increase the cost of production but it also means that someone somewhere must lose a job. The money used to meet the new contract can not be produced, hence it is shifted from other segments of the economy. In order to expand the econ omy the government must encourage savings and invest ments, and give business s tax See Cure on page7 ' »■» Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.; TO > BE EQUAL Opportunities For Young People If we as a nation wanted to give all our young - people the skills training and job experiences * they need, we would do so. Let’s look at some of the supposed causes of youth unemployment. One is that the economy isn’t creating enough jobs for all. That’s true. But it is creating enough jobs to provide word for many. And blacks lag in getting that work-with black youth at the end of the line. Another supposed cause is the minimum wage. I reject that absolutely. After the last hike in the minimum wage white youth employment declin ed while black rates went up. If the proponents of the minimum wage argument were right one would expect rates for both races to rise. They didn’t, which suggests that race is a bigger factor than the level of the minimum wage. The minimum wage argument is not really concerned with black youth; it is part of a general effort to restrain the gains of labor. A split-level minimum wage would be the breach in the wall of protective legislation that surrounds working conditions.I’m opposed to driving holes in that wall. Another cause is the attitudes found among many young people today. It is hard to make a clear distinction between the negative attitudes of some and the experiences in the workplace that reinforce those attitudes. The behavior patterns that pay off as status on the street are the opposite of those that pay off in work setting. The schools have failed to assist those kids in making the transition, and employers often don’t want to. If the need for labor were to expand, we would find that many of the attitudes employers find objectional would no longer constitute an excuse to avoid hiring young people. We would find instead, that employers, would make greater efforts to train youth, to overcome their supsicions and hostility, to provide the services alienated youth need to break through \ their protective armor, and to treat those young people with respect and dignity. The remedy for youtt^joblesaness is simple: create jobs in the public and private sectors. I favor a national full employment policy that guarantees jobs for all who want to work. Every young person should have access to educational, skill training, or work experiences as a matter of right. I also back voluntary National Youth Services that emphasizes recruitment of disadvantaged youth. The Service would grant volunteers paid educational, skill and work habit training and experiences that would enable them to compete in the economy. There is a need too, for a Federal Youth Commission that would coordinate all federal programs that impact on youth and provide leadership in changing educational and other institutions to better serve disadvantaged young people. And both government and private industry have to practice affirmative action. Affirmative action today has weathered the threat of Weber, but it is often diluted through inclusion of all women and all minorities. Opportunities have to be concentrated on those who nave the least, and that means the black minority in general and blacks in particular. __ From Capitol Hill Blacks Are Full Grown Men; No More Paternalism 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. 28208 ... Telephones (704) 376-0496-376-0497 i: Circulation, 9,915 60 YEARS OF C0NTIN0US SERVICE BILL JOHNSON...Editor Publisher BERNARD REEVES...General Manager I: • . 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 1 ■ 1 Deadline for all news copy and photos is 5 p. m. Monday. All photoaand copy submitted become the property of the POST, and will not be returned. Nattaaal Advertising Representative AmalgamatedPublishers Inc 45 W 5th Suite 1403 *0° s Michigan Ave New vork NY. 10036 Chicago, <*>616 (212) 400 1220 Calumet 5-0200 By Alfreds L. Madison Special To the Post In the fifties and sixties black Americans shocked the world thr * igh the Montgom ery bi lx. cott, business boy cott, sit-in, entrance into seg regated white school, march es on state capitals, on Wash ington and the advent of the greatest world leader in mod ern times implementing true Christian principles as a work <ble venture; Dr. Martin Lu r King I ack gains received from these movements have met with a 'rong effort to set the clock back through anti-bus movements, affirmative ac tion opponents, gerrymander ing the widespread use of the phrase, "reverse discrimin ation ” For some time the entire black population has recog nized this and the leaders have somewhat floundered in frustrations, as just what to do about these conditions How ever, out of these baffled feelings, the forced resigna tion of Ambassador Andrew Young which certainly may prove to be a blessing in diguise, has become a crys tallized sense of direction Recently, in New York, a meeting initiated by the South ern Christian leadership Con ference brought together black leaders from all of tne major organizations, and from all across the country. Among these leaders were Rev Lowery, President of SCLC, who is really revitaliz ing and reactivating that or ganization, Dr. Kenneth Clark, who certainly could be called Mr. Legalized Desegre gation, Benjamin Hooks of the NAACP, Vernon Jordan of the Urban League, who never fails to lay the economic stat us of blacks blame exactly where it belongs, Jesse Jack son of PUSH with his know ledge and charisma who is certainly second to none in handling T.V. interviews, Representative Walter Faunt roy, Ambassador Franklin Williams, State Senator Julian Bond, Mayor Richard Hatcher, Eddie Williams, Joint Center for Political Studies and many others, numbering 200 prominent blacks This meeting issued a plan to do the following: 1 Issue a statement holding up to light the double stan dards by which Mr Young has been judged 2 (’all upon this nation to live up to ideals of decency and candor that Mr Young established as ambassador 3 Call for continuing dia lOflU^ ' T *' Afreda L. Madtsoh in an effort to lessen the deep polarization which has been worsening between them and black Americans. 4 Underscore the historical involvement of blacks in de veloping U S. foreign policy These leaders met one day with UN Representative Terzi of the PLO and the next day they met with Ambassa dor Blum of Israel. The group asked both sides to lay down their guns, and instead work hard, through negotiations for a fair, just and peaceful settle ment for both sides They called for a continued home land for Jews and homeland for the Palestinians They re cognized that with the present onlirv live, will continue to be iost on both sides. This group also faced forthrightly that the Jews have vital anxieties and the PLO vital fears. The Jews consider the Palestinians murderers, the Palestinians consider the Jews raiders. Both boil down to human killings. These conditions necessitate a peace talk policy involving both sides, with only a one-sided talk policy, human killings will continue to per sist. It was stated, at these meet ings, that because of the black background, heritage and tra dition black Americans have a natural tendency to sympa thize with deprived people wherever they are This in cludes, Jews, Arabs Palestin ians, Native Amer.iars, Viet Nam boat people. Haitian re fugees, Europeans who have come to this country in search of a better life, as well as many others It was strongly felt what the United States foreign policy should equate. In this international year of thechild, the Palestinian child and Israeli child with its own child Blacks also met with some members of Jewish organize tions in an effort to reconcile the gap between blacks and Jews This situation has been going on for around ten years as Jews have opposed bla-ks in the affirmative action cases, and some Jewish or ganizations have given credence to the reverse dis crimination policy. The Jews were also asked to pressure Israel into cease selling arms to South Africa and Rhodesia. Mr Terzi of the PLO hailed the meeting with the black group, while Mr. Blum, Israeli Ambassador and the Jewish organizations deplored the talks with the PLO. Yet, these New York meetings come for th with black unity, black direction and a viable Ameri can and international force to £ be reckoned with. Blacks have decided on; no more begging to be included in the main stream, no satisfaction with tokenism, no more being quieted by handouts, but in stead a stand-up position of full manhood Black To Head Mortgage Group , special To the Post Washington-President Jim my Carter has announced his intention to nominate Ronald P l-aurent, of Chicago, Illi nois, to be president oif the Government National Mort gage Association. He would replace John Dalton who has resigned Laurent is senior vice presi dent of McElvain-Reynolds, a Chicago mortgage banking firm, where he is in charge of the multi-family government insured loan division He was bom May ll, 1937 in Evanston, Illinois He receiv ed a B.A from Fisk Univer sity in I960 I-aurent was with Johnson Publications in Chicago from I960 to 1961, and was a housing inspector with the Evanston Depart...ent of Health from 1962 to 1964 He entered the mortgage banking business 1964 as a loan officer with Salk, Ward & Salk, Inc. From 1969 to 1970 Laurent was assistant vice president of Percy Wilson Mortage and Finance Corporation. He Join ed McKIvain Reynolds Com pany in 1970 as vice president, * and has been senior vice presi-4 .dent^sinceHjTT^_k I*Hie I’o-t each week for tnB
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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