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I Editorials & Comments Primary Election-No Real Surprise! Much hoopla has been gen erated over the presumed grand success of black candidates in the May 6 primary election. In feality, the election returns reflected, for the knowledgeable observer, no real surprises. In cumbents and some newcomers with pbviously effective cam paign strategies won county commissioner, district judge and legislative races. No incumbents were defeated even though two school board members and a judge must repeat their efforts in a run-off. Looking specifically at the candidates who happen to be black people, Phil Berry won an overwhelming victory and Ella Scarborough and Sarah Steven son did well enough to qualify for a run-off. Former county com missioner Bob Walton, defeated two years ago, was the highest vote-eetter in his bid for re nomination. Joining Walton on the opposite end of the Democra tic ticket in fifth place was a newcomer and soft-spoken Raleigh Bynum. In other races, youthful but talented District Judge Michael Τοαα won a landslide renomi nation victory and UNCC profes sor and newcomer Dr. Bertha Maxwell won a Democratic nomination to the N.C. House of . RpnrPEPntnHvpc Tnere were no real surprises because the primary had certain characteristics that most ob servers' simply overlooked. First, the black community pro vided a host of good candidates. For example, Phil Berry was reelected because of his demon strated ability to lead the School Board ^n an objective and fair manner·.' Bob Walton was a top vote-gutter in the county com missioper race because of voter concertos for experience. Judge Todd won a major victory be cause, inspite of his youth and limited experience, . he shows excellent qualities. And finally, newcomérs Raleigh Bynum and Bertha Maxwell won party nominations respectively for the county commissioner and N.Ç. House races. Secondly, because of the qua lity of these candidates they received substantial voter sup port from both the black and white voters. For example, Wal ton received 21,713 votes and Bynunp . received 16,701. How ever. s»nce *he total black voter turn out was only about 12,000, it means that Walton and Bynum received substantial white votér support. Thirdly, while the 12,000 black voters represented only 35 per cent of the black registered voters, it was a historic vote in the sense that it matched the voter turn out percent of that of white voters. On the part of blacks, the overall voter turn out was unsurprisingly small and not reflective of adequate black political involvement. Fourthly, and not surprisingly, the Alexander-Motley vote-get ting effort failed to assure Mote ly a place on the ballot for the N.C. Senate. This happened be cause the absence of black poli tical strategy, including the re cruiting and grooming of young political hopefuls, resulted in a hastily made decision to select Motley, an honorable man, caught up in the coattail of a deceased candidate, a moderate white backlash and some opposi tion from the black community. Lastly, in the School Board race Sarah Stevenson and Ella Scarborough battled incumbents and others to a run-off because of Mrs. Stevenson's well known 30 years of service in the PTA, the Quality Education Committe and similar activities and Mrs. Scar borough's articulate skills and campaign strategy. It was no surprise either that a Nazi - Harold Covington - won 43 percent of the Republican pri mary votes for N.C. attorney mary votes for N.C. Attorney General. The Raleigh-based leader of the American Nazi Party received 56,006 votes, or nearly 43 percent of the 130,598 Arotes cast. If there was any surprise it was in the assumption that Republican voters nor the white press knew anything about Covington's political leanings. It reminds us that we still have racism and their supporters in North Carolina. It is our hope that black voters have gained some new insights into the political process as a result of the primary and that they will use these insights to enhance their political interest as well as that of making the American political system a true symbol of the freedoms we so dearly cherish. Vote, it's your right and your duty. t,nanty tfegins At Home riuei casiro s decision ιο al low thousands of discontent Cu bans to leave his so-called work ers paradise is another example of the stupidity so often evident in American foreign policy. We have opened a floodgate to nearly 35,000 of these Cuban nationals, many of them ill, unskilled, possibly spies, ex convicts and the like. Many, too, simply wanted to get out from under Castro's rule. To complicate matters the Cuban refugees need not only jobs but housing, language skills and probably a host of other social needs to adjust to a new culture. Again, considering our own national problems, it ap pears unreasonable to assume that the American people can assume this new socio-economic burden at this time. In fact, the time for an American open door policy for all the world's dis content has long past. 'IT'S UP TO US BLACKS WHO CARll ABOUT THE BLACK FUTURE, TO IMPOSE ORDER WHERE NONE i- EXISTS TODAY, WE HAVE TO DO IT BECAUSE WE CANNOT ASK OUR OLD PEOPLE TO SPEND THE REST OF THEIR LIVES IN FEAR.' pi..: f H Afraid To Walk In Black Neighborhoods? As I See It Need A Physical Examination? Gerald Ο. Johnson Columnist The most humiliating thing that can happen to a man is having a physical examination. The things a doctor can put you through for the sake of health are unbelievable. When you come into the doctor's office, everyone is all smiles. "Good morning, sir, can we help you?" "I am here to see the doctor for a physical." Boy, when you say physical, the re ceptionist's eyes light up. "A physical? - hee, hee, hee. What's your name?" "Gerald Johnson." "Well, Mr. Johnson, go in the waiting room and 'someone will be with you in a minute." You go into the waiting room - there is a room full of people. Most of them look like they're too late for the doctor. Now, I am the last person to come in, but before I can get seated good, someone comes in and says, "Mr. Johnson, follow me, please." The only way I got to be first was because I wanted a physical. Whenever they see that on the chart, man, everything else is dropped. "Hey, Mary, we got a physical here; forget the heart patient." Then they take you to a little room and ask you to roll up your sleeve. They take this little gizzmo and wrap it around your arm to get your blood pressure. Well, the little gizzmo kept falling off my arm. Finally, we managed to get my pressure taken. "Leave your sleeve up, we want a little blood." "Whose Blood?" "Your blood." I hope you catch sickle cell. I thought to Gerald Ο. Johnson myself. Then the nurse pulls out this machete that she called a needle. When I awoke ithey had filled this tube with blood. "We need one more." You got it - I passed out again. This time when I awoke they were through with the blood part. "Take off all your clothes, please." Well, she was talking my lan guage. The nurse got up and started to leave. "Where are you going?. It's just beginning to get good." "The doctor will be with you in a minute." "Thanks, but I don't go that way." "Hello, Mr. Johnson ". Hello, Doc." Now it really gets bad. The Doc grabs you by your most precious jewels and says, "Cough." "You want me to cough?" "Yes, cough." "Doc, why don't you warm up your hands and then maybe, just maybe, I'll cough." "Cough, please." Well, we got by that little ordeal. But there was more to come. "Climb up on the bed and put your chest on the pil low." "You've got to be kidding." "I'm going to test your prostrates." "What's a prostrate?" "Will you get on the bed?" "Doc, what's the rubber gloves and grease for?" "Hee, hee, hee." "Hee, hee, Hell!" "Doc, why are putting that grease on my bot tom?" "Hee, hee, hee." "Ahhhhh.hr I had to look back to make sure both of the doc's hands were not visible. "Here you go, Mr. John son, take this Kleenex and clean the grease off of you." "Why you ?!+?! + !!" ». "Hee, hee, hee." I was really humiliated. "Well, Mr. Johnson, all \ we need is a hemocult." "What's a hemocult, Doc?" "It's a bowel sample." "Take this popsicle stick and use it to extract a sample of your next bowel movement, and mail it to me. "You mean you want me to mail you a sample of my next bowel movement?" "That's right." "Hee, hee, hee." Gothing Prices How much are clothing prices going to go up this year? According to Harriet Tut terow, clothing specialist with the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service, consumers can ex pect prices on all apparel items to be 25 percent higher than in Spring 1978. ι By Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.ι TO BE EQUAL LEAA In Danger ..The federal government's only crime- φ fighting agency working to reform the criminal justice system ând ils most effective civil rights compliance effort is scheduled for death by budget-cutters and the Congress. ' Thé Law Enforcement Assistance Admin istration (LEAA) has overcome its Shaky start as a supplier of heavy weapons to local police forces to become an effective ca talyst for badly needed change - and that may be the rèasoh wWy it is so vulnerable to efforts to end its existence in the name of fiscal austerity. n> LEAA came into being in the wake of the riots of the late 1960s. Its early period was marked by sadly misjudged efforts to increase local policé firepower. But gra dually it focused more on changing the criminal justice system to make it more efficient and more equitable.' It supplied funds for innovative im provements on the local level, came up with procedures that made police action more efficiént, and hëlpéd break barriers' to female and minority employment in the criminal justice system. The lever to accomplish this was the $7 billion it dispérsed to local criminal justice agencies. The lure of federal dollars at a time of shrinking local financial capabilities opened many cities to new ideas and methods that improved police forces," courts, and detention systems. In the process, LEAA became a force for more equitable treatment of women and minorities. This last was a more recent development and is due to the Jordan Amendment of1977, named for its 'sponsor, thèn-Congress womân Barbara Jordan. me juruan Amendment neiped trans form a federal agency viewed with suspi cion by most minorities into one whose planned demise is being fought by blacks, Hispariics and females. Any criminal justice agency that receives more than $25,000 from LEAA and has 50 or more employees serving a constituency that is more than four percent "minority, musM have an equal employment opportunity plan. That plan must have goals and timetables for hiring minorities and women - two groups long excluded from jobs in the police, courts, probation arid prison facili ties. By law, LEAA must cut off funding from agencies found not in compliancé. And the law also provides that such non-complying agencies can be forced to pay back every . penny they ever got from LEAA. By' making Che penalty for non compliance so stiff, the Jordan Amendment virtually assured LEAA of becoming an effectivë affirmative action force' affecting the entire criminal justice system. Since 1977, tnere s been à rush on the part of local agencies to comply by implement ing affirmative actlon'plans. Some agencies have lost their funding, providing incentives for others to hire minorities and women. ' The law also providés that there can be no disparity of services to constituents of LEAA-fUnding local agencies. That means minority communities have the right to èquàl policé protection and equal quality of sèrviee'frnm prtminii imfi/u» *-r THE CHARLOTTE POST Second Class Postage No. 965500 "THE PEOPLE'S NEWSPAPER" Established 1918 Published Every Thursday by The Charlotté Post Publishing Co., Inc. 1524 Wesl Blvd.-Charlotte, NC 28208 Telephone (704)376-0496 Circulât ion-9,200 62 Years Of Continuous Service HIM. 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 properly of the POST, and will not be returned. National Advertising Kepresentative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. -45 w. 5th St., Suite 1403 2400 8. Michigan Ave. New York, N.Y. 10036 Chicago, III. βοβιβ (212 ) 489 1220 Calumet 5-0200 —— v.. «iKi«iui jiMuvc μι uir5BiunaiS. from Capitol Hill ————— . " *■ î'. Black Caucus Puis Ud Strong Fiffht Arainst Rudvpt PaocafVA Alfred· L. Madison Special To The Poet The Congressional Black Caucus and a minority of the other congressmen put •up a strong fight against Cssage of the 1981 budget it is highly insensitive to humanity. In February the 'Caucus called President Carter's budget, which 'placed an unbearable bur #den on minorities, unem ^ployed and the poor an unmitigated disaster. Even though in addition to the large number of people already unemployed, 825,000 were added to the roll during April, and the administration has an nounced a continued un employment increase. Yet, Vie House of Represen tatives greatly slashed funds for health care, nu trition, education and jobs .•Representative Parren Mitchell presented his Hu ήφη Needs Budget AI tCTnativeto the President's nd congress' insensitive 1>fidget He stated that the Jbriget markers should establish national priori ties of long-run problems of 4in^riployment. inflation Alfreda L. Madison and lack luster lagging productivity. Mitchell suited that a good look at (ne disgraceful House bud get shows that 75 percent of 4t is uncontrollable. Of the remaining $175 billion, termed discretionary out lays, 192 billion is allocated ,for the military, that leaves Ml 6 billion which are the targets of the balanced byplget This includes edu cation. training, employ ment, health, housing, el derly and handicapped These essential human rteeds are the target cuts Μ Ο Mitchell's Human Needs Budget calls for an addi tional $1.1 billion funding /or. the decaying cities. It addresses labor cost and youth training for pro ductivity by providing ad ditional $200 million. Mit chell concludes that House Budget Committee reflects an · insensitivity to the needs of people relative to the-needs of the military. Ί The Black Caucus and soqpe whites; like Repre sentative Solarz and Wolpe interrupted their commit tee bearing in order to go the House chambers be cpufte they stated that Mit chell's amendment was in trouble, put up a gigantic figh(, but the inhumane majority voted the bill down. Tbe Caucus states that the 'budget cuts expand unemployment dispropor tionately among blacks. It encourages frustration and disappointment on the part of blacks and the poor concerning the power and efficacy of the, political process. It will have a profound impact on all branches of education, ► π - σ - from cuts in day care cen ters through college grants. The Black Caucus along with a coalition of over a hundred organizations are calling upon the people to mobilize, support the May 17 march and to bring pressure on all members of congress, especially those with a large black consti tuency to reverse them selves and work for a bud get that will give priority to human needs, or let them know that they will work for their defeat now. Since some of the papers in which my article appear are Virginia, North Caro lina and Mississippi, I am listing the names of these targeted congressmen. Vir ginià: Whitehurst, Trtfcie, Robert Daniel, Dan Daniel, Robinson and fortunately, Satterfield is not running for re-election. Mississip pi: Bo wen, Montgomery, Whitten Henson, Tent. North Carolina: Hefner, James Martin, Fountain, Walter Jones, Whitley, Rose, Andrews and Pryer. The Caucus emphasized very strongly that no long er must we allow people to, get elected with our votes, then work against us. It was also stated that between Carter and Rea gan, the two front runners, blacks must give careful consideration to voting for the lesser of the two evils. They' gave Jimmy Carter 95 percent of their vote in 197(1 as a protest against Nixon-Ford administration and this is termed by the Caucus as the worst admin istration since Herbert Hoover's. Both our foreign and do mestic policies aré in shambles. So it appears that ,the concensus of the group is that, at present, neither the Democratic or Republican Parties are of fering blacks anything, and that we must not let either Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan ride i»to offioe on eur votes. It real appears that we hay nothing from either Loj der.over as a choice. s l»to really 4 Moped* Causing Patrol Com aiaie mgnway rairui ih ficials are concerned with the growing number of mo torized bike or moped ac cidente involving operators under 16 years of age. According to a recent study by the Highway Safe ty Research Center in Cha pel Hill, approximately 10 percent of all moped acci dents in North Carolina involve operators under 16 Crime Control and Public Safety Secretary Bur ley Mitchell said, ^We are ur ging dealers to point out laws pertaining to the ι/μ^ιαιινιι U1 uit^cv» Willi emphasis on the minimum age requirement. Parents should ensure that those under 16 do not ride mo peds on our public streets and highways." V Check the ads In the. Charlotte Poet each week \
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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