Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Jan. 3, 1980, edition 1 / Page 2
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| Editorials & Comments 70’s Chart 80’s Agenda As~uui city and the nation— slipped into 1980, the events of 1979 were nearly lost in our greater concern with the end of the decade. Likewise, our thoughts about 1980 barely sur vived the same fate as we attempt to crystal ball a glimpse of the entire next decade. Historian Robert L. Heilbroner tells us, and rightly so, that the future is a mirror of the past. Therefore, if star gazing into the ’80s is to have any meaning we must pause to look back and see where we have been, that is, to review our contemporary his tory. A CHARLOTTE NEWS story put the decade of the 70s in perspective in saying, “as the decade began, Charlotte had no condominiums, no SouthPark, no Eastland, no 24-hour hanking machines, no busing to achieve racial balance, no civic center, no Carolina Chargers, no Caro winds, no Spirit Square.” We now have aU.of these as visible signs of growth. However, the most symbolic signs of the 70s would have to be in the urban rennaissance that has so clearly* changed the sky line and shape of downtown (or —uptown) Charlotte In addition tn the Civic Center and Spirit Square we see the three massive bank towers, the Radisson Plaza Hotel, the Southern National Center, the Sheraton-Center, the Overstreet Malls, the emerging Discovery Place and continuing bumper-to-bumper traffic. Less visible than the bricks, morter, steel and glass, but no less significant to these develop ments was that the 70s gave us a population explosion reflected in a growth of 40 percent for 241,178 in 1970 to 343,500 in 1979. Hidden within these numbers is the accompanying growth in busi ness as 1970 gave us 49 new firms with investment of $134.8 million that created 1,271 new jobs. In the last year of the decade 215 new firms had come to Charlotte to invest $299 million and create 4,365 new jobs. Significant Impact Significantly, the 70s was the decade when women and blacks began to have a significant im pact upon the political scene. As a result of the organizational efforts of Betty Chafin, Liz Hair and others, Mrs. Hair launched a successful bid for a County Com missioner’s seat and rose to the chairpersonship. Ms. Chafin has had similar success in serving as Mayor-Pro Tern. Four women now sit on the City Council and two on the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners. Blacks, too, have made gains in the political arena. After being appointed to fill an unexpired term, Harvey Gantt was re elected two times with large city-wide voter support and just missed being elected Mayor by a mere 1,200 votes. Two other «— 1 blacks now hold seats on the City Council. • ■ It was in the ’70s too that race relations were strained to the brink as U. S. District Judge James B. McMillan handed down the 1970 decision which called for extensive busing to achieve school desegregation. It was these things that high lighted the ’70s. Next week we’ll see what they mean as an agenda for the ’80s. Housing Needs Vision And Action Guest Editorial The American dream, owning a home, should be our objective in housing. We all know what ownership does for neighborhood stability, pride, spirit of oneness, and dignity to and for the family unit in our city. We have just had a flurry of publicity about the location of 165 government assisted housing in southeast Charlotte. 2000 more units are needed now. A lot of thinking, planning, and negotiat ing went into design and location of these units. These multi family units are going to cost about $40.000 aniece. There is going to be adequate open or buffer land around them. Only 4 units to the acre or only 4 units on a 200 x 200 ft. lot. With this approach to meet the minimum requirements of public assist ance housing today, we would need 500 acres. The city, you and I are going to pay an additional $400,000 on top of the $400,000 that we are paying as Federal Government Income Tax payers for this additional land. We are paying over $800,000 for land to sugar coat this scattered site housing pill. With this approach Charlotte will need millions of more dollars of Charlotte money to meet the minimum requirements of hous ing needs. This—approach_i&_ wrong, wrong for you, wrong for Charlotte. Now let’s look at the 2000 government assisted units that are needed now. If these units are built to the same standards as the 165 units just announced, 500 acres will be required and if the same costs of land prevail - $12,000 per acre, the land cost will be $6 million. And the city’s charge of this could be 3 million dollars, depending on where the units are located. The total cost based on the same standards used for the sugar-coated 165 units of $40,000 per unit would be $80 million - and it doesn’t matter whether the money comes from city, state, or federal funds...It is all our tax money. What are our objectives? Should they not be meeting the housing needs of our people of the elderly and the fixed income population rather than satisfying a beaurocrat in Greensboro, At lanta or Washington. 1HE 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 Telephone (704) 3764)496 ^_Circulation. 9.915 61 Years Of Continuous 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 be returned. National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. 45 W. 5th Suit* 1403 Now York, N.Y. 10030 (212) 489 1220 , - 2400 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, III. 60014 Calumet 5-0200 YOU HAVE A BIG UOBAHEAP-BUT I KNOW YOU CAN PO IT,! It’s Up To You. . .. .. As I See It --- Social Programs Have Failed ZZZ By Gerald O. Johnson Post Columnist Note To Readers: Last week’s article on “Crime in the Church” was not print ed because of the editorial board’s censorship. The article was felt to be too critical of a very sensitive area. In 1953 the Health, Edu cation, and Welfare De partment was formed as an official department of the executive branch of the U.S. Government. The de partment was created after a recommendation from the Hoover Commission on reorganization of the executive branch. TTtdr to this—organiz ational change, social wel fare programs were com pletely controlled by the states. The Social Security Act of 1935 created many federal programs and many welfare agencies act ing independent of each other. By 1939 the Federal Security Agency (FSA) was createcTfo administer the major programs in the area of welfare. As the programs grew in com plexity and in numbers the FSA functions were incor porated in the newly formed HEW Department. It should be realized that the bulk of social programs subsidized by the govern ment were spin-offs from the depression years. The great depression placed this country in an econmic crisis that is still well re membered by many people today. As a stimulus to a sagging economy the go vernment tried numerous programs. The Social Se curity Act of 1935 was legislation introduced and passed to insure that mo Gerald O. Johnson ney would be available for people if hard times would occur in the future. The “Act" was - an - insurance policy against hard times. From this the Social Secur ity Department was creat ed. This historical account of social programs was given here to indicate that wel fare programs were creat ed with good interttions. The legislation was passed in tirhes~<5Tnatlonat hard ships. What happened to the detriment of every tax payer today was that when the nation was economical ly stable, the government failed to review the pro grams. Today, legislation is on the books as law that should be scrapped. How ever, new laws are being added daily to fit the cur rent scenario of the coun try. Laws that will be ir relevant in the future, but that will remain on the books forever. This is why the government is a big mess. Social programs should not be administered by the Federal Government. In fact social programs should not be administered by any governmental agency. The government is too far removed from the actual problems in the community to be an effect ive agent to solving the problems. The necessary paperwork involved is a deterrent from immediate aid to needy individuals. Because of limited mon itorability the government is susceptible to fraud and corruption. Moreover, the financial and decision mak ing is done in Washington and the problems are na tionwide. It is inconceiv able that effective man agement is possible when management is in Wash ington and the problems are nationwide. A major improvement to the social problems of our society is a distributed management approach ra ther than a centralized ap proach. The decision mak ing and the finances should be controlled at the pnm. munity level and not at the federal leveTr Churches should be the focal point of administering these pro grams. This would not be without problems, but it could be made to w<yk- But the problems of the com munity can best be solved by the community and the church should be the pillar of the community. We, as taxpayers, have put a tremendous burden on the government by re quiring it to handle situat ions that aren't geared for governmental interven tion. It is a fact that social programs fall into this ca tegory. Since current ad ministration policy is not working, it is time to try something new. s==.'Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.~“" _j !■ ~ ji ll I TO BE EQUAL Crucial Year Coming Up We’re entering one of those years that# come along every decade or so in which decisions are made that will affect the course of the future. One such decision, of course, will be made by the electorate - choosing a President. Both parties are embroiled in heated primary campaigns, a sure sign that this election won’t be a routine one. The stakes are big. America’s position of world leader ship, a faltering economy, future energy policies, and the course of minority aspira tions to equality are all in the balance. Black people will be the targets of vote-hunting politicians searching for sup port of a key group that holds the balance of electoral power in many important states. Carter partisans are pointing to the Administration’s generally good record on minority-oriented issues, while glossing over some unfilled promises. Kennedy and Brown backers are saying they can and will do more. -——— On the other side of the political fence, Republicans are still trying to decide how far to go to attract blacks to their banner. In the past, their national candidates have generally ignored blacks. But all too often Democrats have just taken black voters for granted. So the field is wide open for a real scramble for the crucial black vote. Thus, 1980 will find candidates coming to America’s ghettos in search of support. That support should not be given lightly. Black voters shouldn’t slide silently into anyone’s hip pocket. Black bargaining power can be maxi mized by two strategies. First, black leadership at all levels and in all fields, should be demanding concrete, ironclad commitments to key elements of the black agenda. It is no longer enough for candi dates to make promises in private. They’ve got to make them out front in full public view, and thus shift the center of gravity of national debate away from national indif ference to minority needs. A second, perhaps more important stra tegy, is to sharply boost black registration. In 1976, -when—blaek voters--elected -a President, less than half actually went to the polls. Unless that figure is increased, politicians will continue to believe that the black vote is not central to their campaign strategy. Almost as important for black people in 1980, will be the census. Past census figures grossly undercounted the true number of black: people in the population. The result _ has been to shortchange blacks and the cities they live in, since most formulas for federal aid are based on census-derived population figures. Those census figures also are used in reapportioning legislative districts, from Congress on down to local councils. That means some Congressional seats will be lost in areas where blacks predominate, as black voters may be diluted by the addition of suburban areas to existing urban dis tricts. That is the likely outcome if the census undercounts black urban populations. So it is in minority interests to make sure the Census Bureau gets an accurate black and Hispanic count, and every minority person has a stake in being counted. From Capitol Hill Senator Kennedy Is Standing In Martin Luther Kina’s Shorn? Air red a L. Madison Special To The Poat Senator Kennedy is real ly taking a lot of flack for saying that the Shah con ducted “one of the most repressive regimes in his tory”. Sure it’s true and.no one can deny it. Kennedy is standing in the same shoes in which Martin Luther King stood when he first orme (Ml against li»e Viet nam War. Later everyone without saying it, conceded that King was right. Ken nedy still constantly backs ' the President's- potions to . get release of the hostages. For the news media and politicians to constantly re fer to the statement, seems nothing more than a politi cal ploy. Politicians seem to be come irritated quickly at any reference to the Shah’s mistreatment of his own people. One wonders if they are not misreading the American people. The en tire public supports Presi dent Carter in his efforts to bring the hostages safely and soundly home, short of war. The complete case which led to hostage-taking i gives rise to many quest ions, and when the hostage case is settled, there will be intense efforts to get those answers. If we should go to war answers will be sought before the hostages case is disposed of. It does seem that our leaders, don’t even want the citizens to reason why, but just keep quiet and do or even die if it should come to war. The Average citizens are reasoning even if they can’t talk to the leaders. Some congres sional staff members, who ha ppen not WTbe' ofiSChator Kennedy’s staff have said it’s a shame Ted Is catch ing it for nothing more than speaking the truth. Some members have expressed alarm over the politicians' seeming irritation over any mention of the Shah’s act ions One reporter has said that of course the Shah supported us while sup pressing his own people, but all through history po werful countries have taken advantage of less powerful ones. So we have been just following history. Another reporter in talking Alfreda L. Madison about the liklihood or war-’ aaid "It is time for another war because the world is becoming over populated." He said "No” to the quest ion if he would like to be one of those disposed of to lessen the crowded world. A taxi driver, said the Iran situation is leading to a war in the Eastand no one can prevent it because it is spoken of in the Bible Because of the wickedness of the world it will be destroyed He said this sig naIs the near-coming of Christ when the righteous will be saved and all heads of government, including the law-making bodies will be put in Jail. Even though I was elated when I realized that I’d be saved in that deal, I detected a sense of hopelessness and helpless ness, in this driver. The same that American slaves felt when they had only their strong religious be liefs for consolation. In concentration on the mo rality of the masters, they expressed their feelings in the spiritual "God’s Going to Move This Wicked Race.” One has to question the United States human rights policy and its moral con sciousness when it is pro tecting the Shah from punishment, which in all liklihood would mean death. Yet we’ve reenstat ed the death penalty for anyone who takes another’s iife when it is not done in self-defense. The Shah killed thousands and not all in self-defense At also seems u we are har boring a criminal. Yet our laws say it’s illegal to do so. The question is do we be lieve in the death penalty or not? Is it illegal to shield a fugitive from justice or not? Now that the Shah has left the country, we hope the hostages will be re leased and both countries wiirbrsbie to save face.— Wachovia Oflfere High Yielding Certificate Wachovia Bank and Trust Company said last week it will offer a new high yielding 30-month sav ings certificate beginning January 2. The certificate will have a minimum depo sit of $500 and a rate which will be based on Treasury instruments. The rate will be guaranteed for the 2W year term. "This new certificate of fers and opportunity for consumers to assure them selves a high return for an extended period of time,” said James T. Brewer, head of Wachovia’s Retail Banking Department. "Based" on the recent yields on treasury instruments, our certificate would cur rently have an effective yield of more than 11 per cent.” Brewer said the new cer tificate will also appeal to consumers who have less than the $10,000 required to invest in the popular six month certificate. The new certificate was created December 14 by federal regulatory authori ties to replace a four-year money market certificate which has been offered » since July. The Treasury Department will-announce monthly the maximum rate than can be paid on certificates issued during that month. The federal action also included a V« percent in crease in rates which fi nancial institutions are al lowed to pay on 90-day certificates of deposit
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Jan. 3, 1980, edition 1
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