cmm t commcnu
Let’s Make A Silent Revolution
ine three histone events that best
characterize the 1960s - the Civil
Rights Movement, The Vietnam
'War and The_Nation’s Youth Rebell
ion Against the Status Quo and “The
Establishment” - were also the
seeds that exploded under the found
ation of many of the nation’s most
cherished values and historic con
cepts.
Unfortunately, nearly a decade
after the upheaveled 60s, we as
a nation have not re-built our value
orientation base nor reaffirmed our
commitments to many of our most
cherished beliefs. Instead, we have
lived for a decade with a schizo
phrenic economy, a fractured
family structure, sexual
promiscuity, and an abandonment of
reason as if adrift in a sea of
uncertainty. We "Americans have,”
says Charles A. Reich, “lost
control of the machinery of (our)
society, and only new values and a
new culture can restore control.”
In order for the restoration of
control to occur, America needs a
silent revolution, a “revolution
(that) is the movement to bring
man’s thinking, his society, and his
life to terms with the revolution erf
technology and science that has
already taken place,” says Reich.
We have called this a silent
' 1 — — _
revolution because it is a battle to
capture man’s mind from the trite
and nonsense of television, porno
graphy and the after-dinner cocktail
by the use of the printed word
leading to the restoration of values
that have been reshaped and refined
for the world of the coming 1980’s.
Black poet Nikki Giovanni offered
a sense of direction for the silent
revolution when she told a group of
librarians in Charlotte last week,
“You should be happy when a child
steals a book from you. You can buy
another book. You’re not there to
keep order. You’re there to start a
revolution. A revolution starts with
books.”
Ms. Giovanni’s point is that from
books we get ideas and from ideas
we can build the foundation for a
new social order-hopefully one of
justice and equality. However, we
must hastily add one note of caution,
that is, we must be sure that when
v/e read, we read with our minds and
not with our emotions and our
prejudices. To do the latter is to
defeat the very reason for reading.
When we have developed the
courage to read in a quest for ideas
as a basis for new or restored
values, we will have begun the silent
revolution leading to making your
America a great America.
sppace Endangers System?
Opponents of the district repre
sentation system have consistently
charged that districting has led to
“ward politics” and thus the overall
needs of the city have been sacri
ficed for narrower interests. Evi
dence indicates that there is no
justification for these allegations.
The fact is , local government has
been more reponsive to the broader
needs of the City under the dis
tricting system that it was under the
af-iarge system.
Ironically, the new danger to
district representation arises
apparently from some of the same
forces that oppose the system. We
are referring here to reports that
through the Shelter Provides Action
Committee Enterprise (SPPACE)
the homebuilders, realtors and
developers plan to give some City
Council district candidates up to
i $3,000 for their election campaigns.
R
omcc uic average cuuncu cam
paign cost in the 1977 election was
about $4,000, a $3,000 gift from a
single source should raise some
serious questions among the voters.
A political contribution of nearly
100 percent of the cost of the
campaign from any single source
would imply that the candidate is
obligated to vote for and support the
interest—of—his-her benefactor.
However, what is more important is
that the candidate, if elected, would
never be above suspicion whenever
voting on issues that might be of
possible benefit to his-her
benefactor
Considering these facts and the
fact that our local government has
been free of corruption would lead us
to believe that our candidates should
reject such a campaign offer,
despite the committee’s assurance
that there are “no strings attached”
to the contribution. A good motto
here would be when in doubt, don’t.
! fciconomic Kacism
r '
The five suits brought by the
: federal government charging Sears,
i Roebuck and Co. with race and sex
j discrimination is a hard reminder
that racism is still very much a part
of the American scene.
The suit is particularly important
J: because Sears is one of the nation’s
s* largest employers, with a work force
of over 400,000 in 850 retail stores
and nearly 3,000 other selling
outlets. As such. Sears is an em
ployer-leader in the nation. The suit
is also important because it deals
with a basic form of the new racism
economic racism. This kind of
racism can deny to a black
American all- I repeat, all- of the
gains made over the last 17 years in
the quest for justice and equality.
Therefore, a win for the government
in the Sears suit will represent a
victory for black Americans and the
cause of justice.
WBTV Fails Viewers Again?
ay ueraia u jonnson
Special to the Post
WBTV took it upon itself to"
censor a recent television epi
sode of “One Day at a Time”
because the episode dealt
with pre-marital sex among
teenagers.
WBTV, you remember, is
the same station that had a
power failure a couple of
years back while showing
“The Great White Hope” dur
ing prime time. It later show
ed the movie the following
Sunday at 11 p.m., with little or
no advertisement on the time
change.
"Di v is cnariottes CBS
affiliate that fails to show
NBA Basketball on Sunday
evenings because of poor rat
ing. Instead it shows 1920
reruns of once-famous cow
boys. The ratings must soar
with such a great substitution.
So, one shouldn’t be too
surprised when this great sta
tion takes it upon itself to play
“Big Brother” to the area
viewing audience. After all the
mental turpitude of the citi
zenry of the Charlotte area is
questionable, isn’t it?
Well, two years ago I would
have been thoroughly UPSET.
Two years ago I didn’t have
cablevision or HBO.
But even though I could care
less about what appears on
commercial television in this
area, I think the principle
needs addressing.
1 could agree with WBTV’s
views of censorship if it had'
any degree of consistency. But
the station uses commercials
that stop short of the act of
copulation. They also show
Gerald O. Johnson
such sexual exploiting series
as “The Dukes of Hazzard,”
and “Dallas.” The soap
operas cover every immoral
act ever conceived . So, it is
inconceivable to me to reason
why this episode that didn’t
show some “peek-a-cheek”
was censored.
In fact I was told that the
episode maturely and humo
rously dealth with a subject
that every teenager will face
sooner or later.
Since WBTV seemingly has
no policy or standard to deter
mine what we should see and
what we shouldn’t see, then
they should either show us
everything or nothing.
This inconsistence by WBTV
has caused viewers to lose
faith in the station. It is
obvious that good viewer rela
tions cannot be maintained if
the station uses at Ouija board
to determine what the viewers
will see.
The gripe I have is not with
CBS. CBS has continuously
provided consistently fair pro
gramming. However, WBTV,
CBS’ local affiliate, has used
poor judgement on several
occasions.
I would strongly suggest
that WBTV get a grip on the
profile of its audience and
address itself accordingly.
Because of the rapid growth
and changes in the Charlotte
area, it is not a safe assumpt
ion to believe that the area is
too immature or too religious
to deal with current issues.
In conclusion a television
station should reflect the atti
tudes of the community and
not try to dictate them.
catiqn
zM sSSMrs .•
ieem^to -have'
enough time the Charlotte
Drug Education Center has a
workshop that mav help you.
Examining ways to manage
time more effectively will be
the objective of a workshop
held on Thursdays, Nov. 1, 8,
and IS from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. at
the center. Call 374-3211 for
reservations.
Learning to deal positively
with loneliness from being
unattached, uncommited or a
single parent will be the goal
of a workshop sponsored by
the Charlotte Drug Education
Center. This workshop will
explore ways to meet others
and how to spend time
creatively. It will be held on
four consecutive Wednesdays
beginning Nov. 7 from 7-9 p.m.
at the center. Register by
calling. 374-3211.
f ■ Vpmon E. Jordan,
TO
BE
v — ■
TTi© Urifinished;
Business Of Civil Rights
There's one thing opponents of civil rights and some
supporters of civil rights agree on. Both say there haib
been significant progress made by blacks in the past tw<^
decades, and that less emphasis should be placed on the
plight of the poorest of the black community.
They come at this conclusion from different directions,
of course. Traditional opponents of civil rights move
ment refuse to accept the need for more action to end
poverty and discrimination, just as they opposed earlier
efforts.
But some in the civil rights movement make an
argument that goes roughly like this:
"The Great Society programs of the sixties got many
people out of poverty. Yea, new programs are needed
and old ones need to be strengthened in order to com
plete the job. But stressing the terrible plight of the poor
est leads to a defeatist attitude. People will say that if so
many are still so poor, then government programs don’t
work and we shouldn't start new ones."
I don’t buy that argument at all.
If we concentrate on the real progress some of us have
made, we will destroy the possibility of progress for the
many more people who did not share in the advances of
the sixties.
If fact, stressing the positives would just lull public
and politicians alike into thinking the problem is pretty
well solved and new steps are unnecessary.
Worse, they’ll condemn the poor for not being able to
climb out of poverty, even with government help. That in
fact is what is happening today.
I think we must continually remind a forgetting nation
that while the Great Society programs did work, they
were largely half-hearted, underfunded, and reached
only a small portion of the poor.
In fact most of today’s federal programs exclude more
people who are eligible for participation than they
include.
We affirm the real success story of the sixties — that
black people made greater economic, social and political
progress than in any previous period. But the fact
remains that the masses of black people did not make
significant progress and the recessions of the seventies
eroded many of the gains that had been made.
Instead of looking backward at the recent past we’ve
got to look forward to the measures necessary to
complete the movement for civil rights and greater
equality.
The big ticket items on the shopping list of necessary,
measures are familiar — full employment, nation#
health, youth development, better schools and housing,
and others.
■H £ But thenajf^aleo a need to make moating, civil .rights
' laws more- affective. There’s a difference between
passing a law and implementing it.
We’ve got a fair housing law on the books, but it has
no teeth. Congress is still delaying the necessary passage
of amendments that would enforce fair housing law!!
Some laws have to be implemented through private
action. We’ve got fair hiring laws, but there’s still an
enormous job ahead to help employers devise and set up
effective affirmative action programs, training
programs, and similar actions.
Prospective employees have to be counseled and
taught work habits, skills and attitutes demanded by the
work place.
Voting rights are guaranteed. But the incredibly low
black voter turnout means a massive job in educating
people to utilise their newly-won rights in their own
interests, and to participate in the democratic process.
I could cite numerous other instances as well. But the
point is that the civil rights movement is far from over —
not by a long shot.
The imperfectly drafted and implemented laws and
theneed to help people benefit from federal laws and
b3Znc*r * tremendou* burd*n on community
rrom LQpftol Hill
Black People Are Not Spineless Parasites
Alfreds L. Madison
Special To The Pott
Bayard Rustin in his
criticism of black leaders
who met with the PLO in an
attempt to get them to stop
terrorists’ attacks on Israel
and to recognize the Jews
right to a homeland seems to
be following his same course
of alignment with black op
position forces that he has
done some times in the past.
The 1968 New York City
school strike, which erupted
over a black Brownsville
principal's dismissal of some
substitute teachers, who
were dismissed according to
the regulations of the school
board, the United Federa
tion of Teachers which was
Jewish controlled, since
around 85 percent of the
city's entire school personnel
was Jewish, was called by the
U FT. This being New York
City’s largest business, with
its inferior school conditions
for blacks and Puerto
Ricans, was an educational
and economic fight. Being a
teacher in New York City
during that time, I've never
seen more ethnic hatred
generated. It was proved
that more than 5,000 pieces
of antisemetic literature,
which was attributed to
blacks, was actually put out
by the UFT.
Yet notwithstanding, all
of that Bayard Rustin hearti
ly supported the anti-black
and Puerto Rican movement
and issued long written
papers supporting Al
Shanker and his UFT. TTie
minorities were only seeking
a chance to have the laws ad
ministered justly to them.
After the UFT support by
Bayard Rustin, he admitted
that he had never been so
severely criticised in all his
life.
I' ve heard sharp criticisms
of Mr. Rustin *s television
praise for the April election
in Zimbabwe-Rhodesia,
while Dr. Maurice
Woodard, an observer, call
ed the entire election as being
unfair to majority rule.
So there is no wonder that
Bayard wrote this long arti
cle, recently, criticising
black leaders who met with
Yasser Arafat. Perhaps Mr.
Rustin doesn't know that
many of our country’s
leaders, as well as U.N. of
ficials are saying that there
should be talks with the
PLO. He said that Rev.
Jackson and SCLC leaders
wanted a news media play.
What did he want when he
Alfred* L. Madison
appeared on television In
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia prais
ing the April election? Mr.
Austin stated that the action
of these black leaders hurt
the civil rights movement. A
civil and constitution right is
to talk with people of ones
own choosing. Surely, Jews
did aid in the civil rights
movement, when the action
was in the aouth, but h has
been somewhat of a different
story when the movement
began taking place in nor
thern cities, where there is a
large concentration of
Jewish people.
The entire civil rights
movement is for justice and
right and one of these rights
is the freedom to express ones
own views to whomever one
pleases. If blacks can only
talk with people who meet
the approval of another
group of people, or if they
cannot talk with those whom
someone else does not like,
then their civil rights fight is
in vain. That kind of action
would make the purpose of
the Jewish alliance one of
enslaving blacks rather than
one of aiding blacks in gain*
eedom.
. Rustin stated that
link with the PIX) threatens
to undermine the liberal
coalition, the political
alliance of minority groups,
trade unions and liberals
that is responsible for almost
all the advances made in civil
rights.” Such a statement, is
not only unjust to blacks but
it makes them appear to be a
weak, parasitic,
unintelligent people. Has he
forgotten that blacks were
the first to strike blows for
their own freedom during
slavery, that thousands laid
their lives on the line in the
civil rights movement ir this
country?
Bayard Rustin, being a
union man, certainly should
know that the trade unions
rio not have an impeccable
V
track record in blacks’
rights.
Surely blacks appreciate
Jewish and everyone elae’s
aid in their fight for justice.
They want this help as
recognition of a fight for
human right and not as a
fatherly fight for his retarded
child.
If anyone were to accept
Bayard Rustin’s article as a
truth, it certainly paints the
Jews in an unfair light; one in
which their help in the civil
rights movement was for
enslavement of black
thoughts and actions, and
blacks as spineless, retarded
dependents. Neither is the
case.
Fortunately, for Mr.
Rustin, is that scarcely
anyone, Jew, black or gentfe
swallows the views expressJQ
In his recent article. All
groups are far too enlighten
ed for that.
Planning For Retirement
When the Job is Over:
Planning for Retirement”
will be the theme for the Oct.
30 session of “Human
Values in the Corporate
World."
George Abernethy, Ph.D.
(Religion) Professor
Emeritus Davidson College
tnd Thomas Philson, per
Snn*l manager, Celanese ,
Fibers Group in Charlotte
will share their views on
which values are most im
portant for workers when
they leave active employ
ment.
The public is invited to at
tend this dialogue, admis
sion free, sponsored by the
Senior Scholars, Inc. that
will explore issues of how
does or ought the corpora
tion deal with employees
prior to retirement regarding
questions on human values
involved in planning for
retirement.
This dialogue will be held
from 10-11:30 a.m., at
Myers Park Baptist Church,
Shalom Hall, 1800 Queens
Road in Chariot
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