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Editorials & Comments
In Search Of New Education
The percentage of black dropouts in the same age range is 20.4
percentage, nearly double the 12.7percent of whites. However, we need to
note that dropouts are neither all black, male or from low-income. While
it is true economic pressure or needs in the home is certainly a
contributing factor to the dropout problem, but it should not be viewed in
such a manner as to overlook the direct responsibility of the schools and
the pressures and values in the larger society as mere significant forces
contributing to the dropout problem.
School counselors and school social workers say some of the early signs
of a school dropout including poor attendance and class cutting. One
15-year-old helped explain this when she said while cutting class, “I don’t
like schooL I don’t mind doing the work. It's Just going I don’t like.”
Local school officials claim that overall average daily attendance in the
schools In 1975-7* was 91.4 percent This means that over 5,000 registered
students skipped school daily during the year. These include a hard-core
of 2,000 to 3,000 students who regularly miss school.
Columnist Sydney J. Harris identified a causative factor in the dropout
problem when he said, “children... do not ‘naturally’ rebel againat
mathematics; they rebel against the terrible way it has been taught In the
past. Much as a teacher may wince at the thought, he is also an
sntsrtalnrr - for unlees he can hold his audience, he cannot really instruct
or edify them.”
On the other side of the coin we see some reasons as to why teachers
may not be motivated to perform as Mr. Harris suggests. Thousands of
teachers, William McGuire of the National Education Association (NEA)
says, are under stress because problems in the nation’s schools are
causing them to give up their jobs as tlje become victims of “teacher
burnout”
Multitude Of Problems
• t
“The problems stem from teachers not knowing how to cope with
violence end vandalism, disruptive students, inadequate salaries
damandinc parents... and a multitude of other problems,” says McGuire!
Dr. Boyer confirmed the validity of these concerns when he
noted that 20 percent of all senior high schools have five or more reported
crimes per month, about 2.4 million secondary school students (11
percent) have some thing stolen from them monthly and another 282,800
°Ver**miUiQD* "*** °° •
Add to that the problem of overcrowding in our high nfiwih and the
severe shortage of adwyiate counseling services, is there any reason to
doubt Mr. McGuire when . “No wooder the Joy of teaching is being
replaced by fear, insecurity, anixiety and ultimately teacher dropouts.”
Another societal problem that contributes to poor grades, poor school
attendance, absenteeism and for some, actual dropout, is the increasing
number of students who hold full or part-time Jobs. It is believed that as
many as 75 percent of all high school juniors and seniors in North
Carolina hold full or part-time jobs.
Many of these students view going to school as something you do after
work and consider homework an unnecessary inconvenience to their jobs
and free time. Compounding the problem is the increasing number of
these working youth who find themselves locked-in to the pressures of
automobile payments and monthly auto expenses These then became a
priority over school and learning.
These are serious problems that we as adults, parents and taxpayers
appear to be giving too little attention to. Unless we want to be governed
in the last decades of this century by a group of malcontent, selfish,
ignorant, misfits void of any values except a hot rod and a hamburger, we
had better take another look at our schools and values in search of a new
education that can secure our positive traditions of the past and chart
new values for the future.
I .. I
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
Circulation, 9,915
61 Years Of Continuous Service
BILL JOHNSON...Editor Publisher
BERNARD REEVES...General Manager
second Class Postage No 965500 Paid Af
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 be returned.
National Advertising
Representative
Amalgamated Publishers. Inc.
45 W 5th Suite 1403 2400 S. Michigan Ave.
New York, N Y. 10036 Chicago, 111 60616
(212 ) 489-1220 Calumet 5-0200
MR. BENJAMIN MAUD
BLACK COMMISSIONER OP
CORRECTION SERVICES
IN NEW YORK, ORDERED
EMPLOYEES TO QUIT THE
MAX PLAN OR PACE DIS
MISSAL -SAO'THE KLAN
MAS A RACiA L TERRORIST
ORGANIZATION."
IRA GLASER. DIRECTOR
OF NEW YORK OYH.
USERVES UNION. ADDED I
THAT HIS ORGANIZATION '
WOULD SUPPORT ANY
KLAN MEMBER IN THE -1
STATE WHO HANTS TO
CHALLENGE THE ORDER
T HI AHEAKAJJ Jiwm COKMttftATKD IT SUPPORTS BAKU
BECAUSE THE It BLACK STUAEHTS ABHITTCO KAO LOWE A (SHAVE 5
nut the* CALLED W)«UI MOMWHT0N
BUT MOTUtUd LAS SAW ABOUT THE JO UMTTI JruPtr— wmn A l *n ... I
us,-- r.oA*r- JUAN BEAM.
Events That Aroused Black Leadership
As I See It
Jokes To Tell Your Friends
By Gerald O. Johnson
Post Columnist
A little boy baby and a little
girl baby were in the nursery one
day and the little girl baby asked
the little boy baby “What are you a
little boy baby or a little girl
baby?” The little boy baby replied
" A little boy baby.” “How do you
know?” asked the little girl baby.
The Little boy baby snatched off
his blanket and said,
“See. ..Blue Booties 1”
A man went to his doctor to get
some advice about birth control.
He told the doctor that he was
having too many kids and needed
some help to stop having so many.
The doctor told him that be needed
to use contraceptives. “You must
cover your organ,” the doctor told
him. Well, the man left feeling he
had found the answer. Four
months passed and the doctor ran
into the man in a drug store. “How
are you Mr. Smith,” the doctor
askked. "Fine”, the man replied.
“How’s the wife?”, the doctor
asked. “Pregnant,” the man re
plied. “What” the doctor said,
“Didn’t you cover your organ?”
The man said, “Yes, Doc”...“To
tell the truth, I covered my piano, I
don’t have no organ!”
Two ditch diggers were working
hard in the M degree heat while the . '
boss was sitting under a shade tree
_ reading the newspaper. One of the
ditch diggers got fed up and said he
was going to give that boss a piece
of his mind. He got out from the
ditch and stormed over to the boss
and said “1 don’t see why we have
to slave in the sun while you relax
in the shade. I’m not taking it any
more.... why?”
The boss got up stood next to the
tree and placed his hand in front of
the tree about two inches away
from it. “Hit my hand as hard as
you can,” the boss requested. The
ditch digger with Are in his eyes,
reared back his fist and as bead as
he could swung at his boss’ hand.
The boss moved his hand and the
ditch digger’s fist tore into the tree.
The boss said “That’s why,” and
returned to his paper under the
tree. The ditch digger returned to
the ditch where his coworker
insisted on knowing what had
Gerald O. Johnson
happened. "Did you find out why
he is boss? asked the co-worker.
“Yes.” replied the ditch dinger.
“Why? uie coworker demanueu.
The frustrated ditchdigger took his
hand,placed it two inches in front
of his face and ordered, “Hit my
hand as hard as you cant ”
A young golf fanatic got depress
ed one dav when he realized that
eventually he would die and he
didn’t know if heaven had golf
courses. Finally, be decided to find
«it wtAthe was alive ifcthere were
golf courses in heaven. The young
man went to a medium to find out
about golf courses in heaven. After
explaining the situation to the
medium, she peeked into her cry
stal ball and because of the com
plexity of the situation she told
the young man that he would have
to return for the answer. A week
passed and the young man return
ed to the medium. Upon seeing the
man, the lady said “I have sane
good news and some bad news to
teH_vou..” “What’s the good
news?” the man asked. “Well, the
good news is they have golf courses
In heaven,” the medium informed.
The man said, “great, that’s the
best news I’ve heard. What’s the
bad news?” The medium replied
“you tee off Sunday at 8 a.m.”
Boss spelled backwards is double
S-O-B. That means he’s two of
them'
ggp—— vprron K
f r * •,
TO
. ip/
BE
* t
EQUAL
Affirmative Action: Round 3
The legal and judicial process of defining affirmative
action continues. The Supreme Court will rule this term
on the case of “Fullilove Vs. Kreps”, which deals with
minority set-asides in federal procurement.
Round One in the affirmative action fight was the 4
“Bakke” case. That one ended in a draw with the judges
taking refuge in an ambiguous ruling. While “Bakke”
barred outright racial quotas, it did sanction race as a
consideration in drawing up special programs.
Round Two, the “Weber” case, was decided last June.
That one ended with a clear victory for affirmative
action.
The Court’s decision was handed down by Justice
Brennan, who articulated three basic standards an
affirmative action program must meet. They include:
An affirmative action plan must be designed to
“break down old patterns of racial segregation and
hierarchy” - that is, it must reflect a benign favoritism
that makes up for past discrimination.
It must not “unnesessarily trammel the interest” of
whites.
It must be a temporary measure “not intended to
maintain racial balance, but simply to eliminate a
manifest racial imbalance.”.
That set the stage for Round Three, the “Fullilove”
case. And by Justice Brennan’s three standards the
outlook appears bright for another victory.
The plan under challenge is the 1977 Public Works
Employment Act, a counter-recession measure that
appropriated $4 billion for an accelerated public works
program.
Congressman Parren Mitchell got an amendment
through that mandated ten percent of the cost of the
public works projects under the Act go to minority
firms.
wnue contractors, unused to black competition, went
to court to overthrow the amendment. Fullilove,
representing New York State contractors, lost in the
lower courts and appealed to the Supreme Court. But
some other challenges to the amendment were upheld in
some lower courts.
In one sense, the case is over since all the money
under the Act has been spent. But the constitutional
issues remain, and have great implications for blacks in
particular, and for all minority business. ^
By the standards of the Weber decision, the court
should uphold the minority setaside program.
First, it 4$ .dearly aimed at breaking dgam,
patterns df -segregation. Black business gets less‘fM^®
one percent of federal purchase dollars. The complex
bidding requirements and other impediments of
previous public works programs effectively shut blacks
out of that lucrative market. Clearly, Congress has the
right and the duty to remedy that situation.
Second, the setasides do not “unnecessarily trammel
the interests” of whites. White firms, which once had
almost 100 percent of the federal public works dollar,
now got 90 percent - hardly a hardship.
Third, the setaside amendment was clearly
temporary; in fact it has now expired. It was aimed at
eliminating “a manifest racial imbalance” and it
succeeded.
The Court will also have to consider whether the
nature of the setaside program was clearly related to
the national interest, as defined by the Congress.
Here again, the answer is clear. When the Act was
passed the nation was in a recession. Unemployment
was high and construction activity dormant. Hardest hit
u/oro Klanlr rnnlraptArq
From The White House
President Jimmy Carter’s Report Card
By Alfreds Madison
Special To The Post
President Carter’s performance
on Mack concerns is not given
numerical or alphabetical scores, but
it can be made known best by
mentioning the accomplishments
and short-comings.
As a candidate ne emphasized
making funds available for black
businesses. He has a stated goal of
tripling federal purchases from
minority supplies by 1900. He had
made over $145 million deposits of
federal money in minority owned
banks. The Economic Development
Administration has exceeded the 10
percent set aside. However, the
administration has not been very
vigorous in implementing the
Minority Business Enterprise Act.
Many government agencies are not
very zealous in carrying out the
Act’s mandates.
The President proposed changes
in the Higher Education Act that
would benefit Mack colleges. How
ever, constant pressure on HEW to
respond, adequately, to these
colleges has been seriously lacking
As a candidate, Mr. Carter spake
of reforming our tax system which
is filled with loopholes for the rich.
Other than a few proposals, the
President has failed to follow
through on his tax reforms.
When campaigning, Jimmy
Carter stated that the government's
welfare program should be designed
to hold families together instead of
being both anti-work and anti-family
As President, his welfare proposals
have a national minimum benefit
of two-thirds of the poverty line.
Alfreds Madison
and an unemployed parent program.
However, this proposal is only for
$5.5 billion and it has a negative
provision for Imputing a
step-parent’s income to determine
eligibility and an insufficient Job
proposal His plan falls short of the
major welfare reforms discussed la
the past which were around $30
billion.
President Carter has increased
the appointment of Black Federal
Judges but at the rate of his
appointments, the increase
including the newly created 152
Judgships will raise the number
from 4.6 percent to 6 percent.
The administration has made
significant gains in foreign affairs
on issues of black concerns. These
have been in Third World countries.
Yet, there are gnat differences
in the administration’s handling of
Mexican, Haitian and African
refugees and the Asian refugees.
Mr. Carter has made more black
appointments than any of his prede
cessors. However, top level position
black appointments have almost
been nil. Even some of these have
resigned. Blacks have been just
about left out of meetings where
important issues are discussed and
they have often been left off the invi
tation list of important events. In
this same light, not once has a White
House correspondent for a black
owned news media been invited to
any of the White House State
Dinners for foreign dignitaries as
members of the white owned White
House media have.
Mr. Carter’s National Health Care
proposal falls far short of his
campaign promise, even though he
does support the Child Health
Assurance Program and he has
presented a watered-down hospital
containment bill.
The administration’s energy
proposals, with deregulation, have
caused prices to soar and poor
people will find it just about
impossible to have fuel during the
winter. All of his energy proposals
fall to provide jobs or business
for minorities. Only the oil
companies and other big
corporations will profit by these
plans.
Mr. Carter, even though signing
Humphrey-Hawkins and Balanced
Growth Act into law, which called
for increasing employment and
lowering inflation, the President has
failed in vigorously supporting both
of these. Inflation and
unemployment are soaring. Tn
attempting to balance the budget he
has cut CETA jobs for I960, and
social security benefits. Yet,
contrary to his campaign promise
to cut military spending, the
President has increased the military
budget.
So readers, this is Jimmy
Carter's report card. Put your own
ratings on It. ^
Blacks Score Gains In
Mimwippi Elections
Washington, D.C.-The number of
blacks holding seats in the
Mississippi State Legislature will
increase significantly as a result of
the Nov. 6 elections, according to a
post-elected survey by the Joint
Center of Political Studies.
A total of 17 blacks won seats in
the Mississippi Legislature, an
increase of 11.
Blacks registered gaim in othet
offices Five new black county
supervisors were elected, iwtngfrig
the total number of black county
supervisors in the state to 21.
For the first time since
Reconstruction, Mississippi voters
elected blacks to the office of
county sheriff Blacks woo this
office In Marshal! County
Clair borne County, and Holmes
County.
While serving as U. S. Commissioner of Education, Ernest Boyer said
in a speech earlier this year,“The dropout rate in many high schools is a
national disgrace. Even though attrition has decreased, 25 percent of our
high school students still leave before they graduate in some city schools
Q’s 40-50 percent-and many do not return.”
While accurate data on the dropout rate is said to be unavailable, there
are signs and trends that the problem is serious and getting worse. For
example, as North Carolina and many other states throughout the nation
adopt competency testing programs thcr- vi concerns that the
dropout rate may increase.
In North Carolina the estimated dropout rate reportedly rose by 7.1
percent from 28,200 in 1975-78 to 30,008 in 1977-78. For the same period, the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools experienced a 15 percent rate increase
The National Center for Education Statistics (Washington D.C.)
reports that in 1977 dropouts made up 13.6 percent of the 14-34 age
gfoup population in the country.