Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Oct. 4, 1979, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
cmm t cornu Mayoral Race In Perspective ' • it • * uiimg uic i ate in perspective means looking at the meaning and impact of race (as a sociological i force) on the race(Primary) and the eventual outcome. This appears relevant because race -skin color - may be a factor iif who becomes our next mayor and it should force us to review or take a hard look -»t our own prejudices.narrowmindciiness and our hostilities to the extent that they exist in each of us. If we observe the fact that Mr. Gantt, allegedly won a majority vote in only 22 of the 87 voting precincts and that 17 of those were in predo minantly or heavily black districts, it would appear that blacks voted for a black and whites voted for a white. However, the race or race theory loses its worth when we look at the closeness of the vote itself with Mr. Knox winning by a mere 1,287 votes. In fact, the closeness of the vote merely says a few more people, for whatever reason, voted for Knox than they did for Gantt. Add to that the simple logic in the fact the clearness of the issues presented by the candidates makes it quite poss ible that a few more people found Mr. Knox easier to agree with than they did Mr. Gantt. Yet, there is the nagging suspicion that the spector of rrace and race alone was an influencing factor in whom people voted for. Did a sufficient number of white voters refuse to vote for Gantt simply because he’s black? This is easy to believe when we continue to witness in this nation how even so-called liberal white people find it unthink able to select a black over a white in almost anything from supervising iitchdiggers to quarterbacking a On the other hand, did the high >lack voter turnout result merely rom Gantt being black and his hard work to get that vote? We believe this to be true. Finally, the white press said more than once that whites didn’t vote for Gantt because he’s black with an implied note of racism. However, they appearred to take it for granted that blacks would vote for Gantt with little thought that this might bed racism too. Laying the black-white race issue aside and leaving it to you to judge its worth in the election, we think the candidates deserve being view ed, evaluated or analyzed from the perspective of some other yalid facts and issues that probably were equal, if not more important, than race in deciding the eventual out come. For example, Eddie Knox, report edly spent $57,000 compared to Gantt’s alleged $24,000 on the pri mary and then won by a margin for whatever it is worth that represent a moral victory for Gantt. On specific issues that may have made the difference in the race was Gantt’s announced intention to abolish the mayor’s charter review commi ssion, his late entry into the race, his stronger position on limiting growth in southeast Charlotte, and we think his reluctance to attack his opponent more boldlv. Be that as it may, we believe Charlotte is a better city simply by having this kind of an election with these kind of candidates, let’s hope it continues into the 1980’s and beyond. Will Gantrfs Growth Views Prevail? Even before the calm after the primary election had set-in, Harvey Gantt’s campaign viewpoint that growth in southeast Charlotte needs to be slowed down by the use of a combination of controls and incen tives may be something the next mayor and city, council will have to adopt as a policy commitment. We have made this Observation based on a few very recent deve lopments beginning with mayor Ken Harris’ statement that by accepting Knox over Gantt the voters were saying they would not accept con trols on growth in southeast Char lotte. . In reacting to the mayor’s com ments, mayor pro tern Betty Chafin said she continues to believe, along with Mr. Gantt, that controls and incentives are needed to redirect growth away from southeast to northeast Charlotte. Then she added, “I do think southeast Charlotte doesn’t fully understand the issue yet. The south east has more to lose than anyone else... They’ll have more crowded schools, more clogged roads.” Ironically, while Ms. Chafin was making her remarks about crowded schools, tne onariotte-Mecklenburg School System was announcing that soaring residential construction has led to an overflow of students in southern Mecklenburg county Schools. It appears that Mr.Gantt was right, without some kind of growth mana gement plan subje<A to city council action we will, as we apparently are now, have trouble in moving Charlotte the good city to its potent ial as a great city. 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, regardless of age. Or any other subject you want to write about. Remember it’s your column Remember, your article should be at least 250 words, type-wi .Men id double spaced prefei. -id. include your name, age, school, and a clear photo, and send it to th* i -.iilor, Charlotte Post Newspaper, Post 01 fice Box 97, Charlotte VC Q S iSCC I C Future Of Black Institutions By the year 2000 Black In stitutions will be a.thing of the past. Unfortunately, this is not speculation but reality. The facts to support this claim are substantial. The first fact is that the students are becoming more and more educationally in ferior to students of predominately white schools. Consequently, in dustries refrain from recruiting students from pre dominately Black institu tions. This in turn will ultimately mean that a degree from one of these in stitutions will become mean ingless. Once this fact is com pletely understood, funds currently supporting these institutions will not & forth coming. Currently, few minority institutions can give followup reporting on its graduates. This is good because if they could, it would be evident that only 1 out of every 15 graduates from a minority institution finds meaningful employ ment that required his going . to college, ft would, also, become apparent that this number is becoming worse. By 1985 it will be 1 out of every 18. Once funding agents require such stastics to justify giving funds, then these institutions will suffer. To aggravate this fact is Gerald O. Johnson the increasing number of qualified Black professors leaving the Black College campuses. The reasons are simple 111 more money and (2) less aggravation. Seoondly, the 1980's will proved be a decade where taxpayer* are going to de mand a balanced budget. This will force hard guidelines in funds justifica tions and the reality that the cost of keeping the Black in stitutions open is to high for the product being produced. Though most people don't realise it, this is the reason ing behind H.E.W.'s In tegration program. The pro gram is designed to bring parity between the white and black institutions, thereby, allowing a gradual move away from Black institu tions. Then by cutting out aid to private Black institu tions, the private institutions fold. Thirdly, the need for Black institutions will be Cue. By 1990, there won’t any students that desire to attend an all Black school. Today integration has not gone full cycle. If you look at the students that currently attend all Black institutions they fall into 3 classes: (11 those that can’t go anywhere else (not college material |. (21 those that have ex perienced both segregated and integrated educational environments. (3) those that have parents who attended Black institu tions. Obviously, class (1| students will be the biggest reason for shutting the schools down. As competen cy base testing gets up to full steam this class of students will never get out of high school. The students that fall into class (21 will be non existent by 1990. Since integration started full steam nation wide in 1974, those students already in the school systems possibly attended segregated schools in their earlier years and Integraged schools in the latter years. A lot of these students don't adjust to the integrated system and conse quently they opt for a see FUTURE on page 5 ■ : I—VpmonE. Jordan^rj^gg^gs^ TO BE EQUAL Spotlight On Police Acts s The long-festering issue of police excesses is now getting more attention after a long period in which only minority communities in some cities displayed concern. ^ The single most important factor in bringing police acts under wider scrutiny is the Justice Department’s lawsuit against the City of Philad elphia. Filed in August, the Department accuses the Philadelphia Police Department of shooting nonviolent suspects, abusing prisoners, suppres sing dissent within its own ranks, and engaging in systematic brutal behavior that “shocks the conscience.” The Justice Department’s charges and stori es in local newspapers include: routine use of unconstitutional third degree methods, abuse of pedestrians and motorists without course or due process, whitewashing rouge cops, and harass ing critics. All are supposed to be part of the general Operation procedures of the department. In the past eight years more than 150 civilians have been killed by Philadelphia policemen. In more than half of those cases the civilians had been unarmed. About 75 civilians are shot by city puu^ciucu cvci j jcai. While the suit charges the police with across the board brutality, it also says blacks and His panics are singled out as special police targets. The courts will decide the accuracy of the Justice Department’s charges, but you know that for a federal Department to brave inevitable political pressures and considerations to file a suit of this kind, naming not only the police but twenty top city officials including th mayor, the situation has to be pertty extraordinary. The story doesn’t end in Philadelphia. Other urban police departments have similar pro blems. There is suspicion of systematic abuse of citizen’s rights as a matter of regular depart mental procedure in other cities. The Justice Department is said to be investigating those cities, and may ultimately file suit against them as will. jl Such abuses are the inevitable result of the “law and order” solganeering jthe leads to emphasis on “orisr? and a disrespect for "law”: But official, systematic abuses of this sort are only part of the problem. Wheh they occure there is at least the prospect that higher authorities will step in as the Justice Department has done. But even in the best run police departments there have been instances of excessive use of force. Some departments have built tight walls of regulations to try to prevent this. Some require complete investigation of every police discharge of a firearm. But still excesses occur. In New York last summer a man wielding a pairr of scissors was killed by five officers who pumped over 20 bullets into him. Does it really take that kind of deadly force to stop even a deranged person? One slurp blow with a billy club could have ended an incident that instead left a man dead. Blacks and Nispanics are at times as likely as whites to be at the receiving end of a police bul let. Those figures can’t be explained away by the argument that minirities are-more likely to commit offenses. Ture or not, they are not 10 times more likely to be offenders. i From Tne *tirte Ftouse Blacks Find President Carter Different From Candidate Carter by Alfreda L Madison Soecia! to the Post When president Carter can "i the scene, he was' v ■» v blacks as a person v ih ep concern for the .olfai* of minorities, the aged, Handicapped, poor and justice and fairness for all. They say him as a person with stamina and forthrightness to stand up for rights and justice in the face of adversaries, even if it meant ’• king prece dence over poi.Lical gains Mowever, with the forced ignation of Ambassador A '"ew Young by the Adm inis'ration, blacks are not so stroi ’ in those beliefs. Surely, it appears that Mr Young was fired because of pressure from Jewish people and some leaders in this coun try Not once has anyone said that Andy has not done a good job fie has been criticized by some congressional leaders for only speaking the truth Once, he said that Nixon and Ford were racist and he ex plained that perhaps all of us have some racism One could only take a look atthe people in the employment of Nixon and Ford and many other public officials, certainly in eluding members of congress and see racial discrimination in the hiring practices None can deny tht racism exists in the united States, and how can there be racism without some racists? ,Mr. Young was chided for saying in a French interview that there are politi cal prisoners in the united States, depending on how one looks at it. He spoke of the jailing of civil rights fighters and of the numerous conscien tious objectors during the Viet Nam War. On the floors of congress none said that he was wrong. When he talked with the PLO, trying to get them to accept the administration’s plan which he certainly was the chief figure, according to opponents in getting accept ance of the plan, no one said that the mission he performed was wrong, only that he should not have talked to the repre sentative about it. The U.N. is an organization for the pur pose of settling matters thro ugh talks, and the U.N. dele gates are suppose to talk with each other The non-workabie Kissinger plan did not work for the previous administrat ion and is a colossal failure forthe present,so a better plan is highly necessary Only the Jewish community seems to be standing up for such a policy Even John Connally has said that we should talk to the PLO, but that Ambassador Ynunp should be fired for m. Alfreds L. Madison doing so. that the United States should talk to them through other countries or other ambassadors. We should talk is right but it is utterly ridiculous for the United States to conduct its foreign policy through other countr ies. If this is true then why should we have U.N. repre sentives and United States ambassadors; just have messengers? If Mr. Young was fired for not following the U.S. policy, then what about others who have not followed and none has called for their hides? What about Ambassador Wolff? What about Henry Kisslnaer when he was sup anti-NATO forces In against the American policy? Nothing was done a bout him, only that congress stopped the support. What about CIA Director Stanfield Turner with instructions from the National Security Council presented a plan to them, Senator Dick Clark for Ameri can covert aid to guerrillas against NATO in Angola, and its violations of U.S. policy. The senator refused to accept the plan. It was reported that this covert aid had its origin with Mr. Brezinski. No one was reprimanded about this, Letter To The Editor Radio Station Doesn’t Measure Up Dear Editor, In an article published Au gust 24, 1979 in the Charlotte News entitled "Harold Harks says radio station does not measure up" I criticized the programming and com munity support of station WGIV. My comments were critical because I feel the station’s management and absentee owner lack commitment to the overall Black Charlotte com munity. Opting to provide an overly commercial format and public service programm ing to meet the minimum Federal Communication Com mission requirements I’m here writing because recently the FCC proposed deregulation of such public facilities If approved, Hie content of what is aired over public fayiljties, such as WGIV. will be at the discretion of such stations The FCC will no longer specify the amount fit public service broadcast ing; the amount of time devot ed to newscast or the amount and nature of commercial advertising. Such deregulation, if ap proved. can have a resound ing affect on a community such as Charlotte, where only one form of broadcasting media is available to the black community. Already an un proportionate amount of time is devoted to social aspect of Black life, while the cultural and educational aspects are ignored because they do not have commercial appeal T<". ; CC is presently solicit ' ing comments on the propos ed deregulations I urge all of Charlotte's citizens to respond lor more meaningful, educa tional and relative communi cations on our air waves Harold J Parks, Jr neither was there any outcry of any wrong intentions on the part of either the CIA or National Security Council. Some say that President Carter dismissed Young be cause he was a political liabi lity. If telling the truth, if causing the United State have better relationships the Third World countries, it carrying out duties of his office, if expecting the same treatment that is accorded other American appointed of ficials, if relying on the fact that the policies of the United States are dictated by its administration rather than the whims of a foreign country are a political liability then the administration and count ry are in a sad state of affairs In talk with many many blacks they feel sacrificed for Jewish support. They recall Mr Carter’s statement that he would rather commit polit ical suicide than offend the Jem. THE CHARLOTTE POST Second Class Postage No. 965500 “THE PEOPLES NEWSPAPER’ Established 1918 Published Every Thursday By The Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc. 1524 Wsst Blvd.-Charlotte. N.C. 28208 Telephones (704)376-0496-376-0497 Circulation, 9,915 . —. L 60 YEARS OF C0NTIN0US SERVICE BILL JOHNSON...Editor Publisher BERNARD REEVES...General 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 5 p. m. Monday. All photos and copy submitted become the property of the POST, and will not he returned National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc. t 45 W. 5th Suite 1403 2400 S. Michigan Ave New York, N \ . 10036 Chicago, HI 606!C (212)-TO 1220 Calumet 5-020ft Ufc* H4\£ 4 WHT TC Mh'ETr IN TrE MEET, HALL HA>S. Aprs anp ntfiNEM n ACE> V PFPUE iVMMUNirik'j.” 1 » H. L*» *4its + ' *44.’. j W31 The Black Community Protect Its Senior Citizens
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 4, 1979, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75