Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Oct. 23, 1980, edition 1 / Page 2
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1 Editorials & Comments 1 Crisis In National Leadership A growing number of political analysts and journalists are of the opinion that the presidential election choice available to the American voters, at least for those who will even take time to vote, in November, appears bad to say the least. Presidential-election scholar Howard Penntman offers an example of this deplorable state of American national politics when he said if you believe what you hear and see about Carter and Reagan, “this is the first election in modern American history pitting an incompetent against an incompetent.” The magnitude of this problem is even more evident when we look at what is happening among our congressional represent atives. We are all aware of Wilbur Mills’ long tenure as a congressman and how alcohol and “ladies of the night” drove him from office in 1974. Mills’ fall from congressional power and a few more recently doomed congressmen led Jerome Cahill of the “New York Daily News” to ask the questions,.“Has Con gress become a breeding ground for alcoholics? Or is pleading ‘alcoholism’ the easy way out for congressmen whose misdeeds range from bribery to soliciting sex from a teen-age boy?” These questions, Cahill con tinues, “became more than academic...when three members of the House of Representatives blamed booze” for their recently revealed problems. Rep. Mike Myers (D-Pa.), who was convicted of accepting a $50,000 bribe and expelled from the House of Representatives, charged that Abscam FBI under cover agents plied him with booze before offering him the money. Rep. John Jenrette (D-S.C.) offered the same excuse in his Abscam trial by saying he was too drunk to know FBI agents were posing as Arab sheiks when he agreed to accept bribery monev. And then there was Rep. Robert E. Bauman, a conserva tive Republican from. Maryland, who blamed "acute alcoholism" for his behavior in soliciting sex from a 16-year-old bny Finally, in the past year Sen. Herman Talmade, (D-Ga.), Rep. Richard Boiling (D-Mo.) and Rep. Joe Wyatt (D-Tex.), have each confessed to being over come by alcoholism This sudden rush to admitted alcoholism as the reason for irrational behavior by our na tional lawmakers has been at tributed to the wider accept ability of alcoholism as an ill ness. However, the nation cannot afford alcoholism as an excuse for immoral, illegal or unethical actions. Therefore, both Houses of Congress need to stop cover ing up or ignoring the misdeeds of their members. We need to be reminded, too, that during the recent annual meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus, it was reported that partying and booze con sumed more time than that for assessing the problems and needs of Black people. As voters we need to demand that our elected officials begin to act more responsibly and in the best interest of those who have elected them to office. For us to demand less and for our^ elected officials to do less, will only contribute to the nation’s crisis in national leadership and thus national decline. It’s your America and mine, so we must act to end the crisis, and act NOW! Moral Majority Morally Wrong? While Congress appears to be laboring to continue under mining the credibility of the national government begun with Watergate and heightened with Abscam and homosexuality, there has emerged a self-right eous conservative coalition of fundamentalist New Right Christians more commonly _ called the Moral Majority. It might be helpful to our national concern about moral decay if the Moral Majority were simply attempting to influence the election process or simply held narrow religious beliefs. Instead the Moral Majority is claiming that they and they only have an exclusive right to the truths of Christianity. In so doing, they have taken their extreme self-righteous position to the point of arguing that their political viewpoint is the only truth because it carries the cloak of their narrow Christian beliefs. This form of narrow-minded political Christianity is a clear and present danger to the basic principle of separation of Church and State. Furthermore, with such beliefs, the Moral Majority is truly undermining the basic principles of Christianity; is prostituting the real intent of religion and is doing nothing to aid the institutionalized church in correcting some of the moral, decay among our national lead ers and lawmakers. The “New Right” is the new wrong - read your Bible, attend your church and pray to God for guidance. This guidance will, we believe, give you and keep you in touch with God’s true message whether in politics or out. This, the “New Right” cannot and will not do. | THE CHARLOTTE POST Second Class Postage No. 965500 “THE PEOPLE’S NEWSPAPER’’ Established 1918 Published Every Thursday by The Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc. 1524 West Blvd., Charlotte, N.C. 28208 Telephone (704)374-04M Circulation 0,200 62 Years of Continuous Service Bill Johnson...Editor, Publisher Bernard Reeves...General Manager Second Class Postage No. 96550 Paid At Charlotte, N.C. under the Act of March 3,1878 Member National Newspaper Pubiisners Association North Carolina Black Publishers Association Deadline for ail 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. 24— 8. Michigan Ave. 45 W. 45th St.. Suite 1403 Chicago, III. 4MI« New York, N Y 10034 Calumet 5-0200 (212 ) 480-1220 1 " trom ixipUol MiU ’—' A^f““stratipn Treats Haitians Worse Than Animals? *■■■■ u. iTimiuvn Special To The Post A few months ago, after the great influx of Cubans into the United States and amid complaints from the Congressional Black Cau cus and other blacks howl ing “discrimination in the Immigration Naturaliz ation Service’s handling of Cubans and Haitians,” the status has been changed for both groups from re fugee to a label of entrants. In mid-August, a group of black citizens visited both the Haitian and Cuban camps in Florida. The trip was arranged by the Me thodist Church. For per mission to visit the Haitian camp, the group had to pass themselves off as min isters. This is not neces sary for visitation to the Cuban camp. The story related by the visitors is one that will cause anyone to shed tears of sorrow at the INS treatment of Haitians Ani mals are given far better treatment and consider ation. The entire Immigra tion Naturalization Service i authorities should be con Alfreds L. iviaanon demned for their inhuman acts to people. Both the Haitians and Cubans are housed in tents which are in a locked gate enclosure. However, the Cubans have a very large outdoor recreational area with outdoor games, and planned recreational ac tivities. The Haitian camp has scarcely any yard at all nowhere for exercise or games and no planned recreational activities In a Cuban tent there is lots of space between the Army cots - all of which are in perfect condition. The Hai tian cots are so close that there is no space between them and many of these cots are propped up on cement blocks or boxes. In the Cuban camp the men and women are free to mingle. The Haitian men and women are segre gated, with no opportunity for mingling whatsoever. The Haitians are crowded together like cattle, while the Cubans have plenty of space. Some of the Haitians were sick, but they have only one nurse who visits the camp during the day and no physician at all. The Haitians have a scarcity of water for both drinking and cleaning pur poses. At times their water has been cut off because the INS says they used too much water. The Cubans have water available purposes continuously. Tne drainage around the Hai tian showers is unsani tary and the toilet refuse stands in little puddles out side the tents. The Cuban showers and toilet facilities an* in tip-top sanitary con dition. Their showers are enclosed and well drained. The Haitians are clothed in anything they can find from a pile of clothes that are brought in and dumped in the tent. While the Hai tians are somewhat small in stature, these second hand clothes are usually too large, including shoes. The Cubans are well-dress ed in clothing that fit. In the Haitian camps, there is no evidence of Red Cross pro vided items, while the op posite is true in the Cuban camp. When the Haitian food is brought in, the camp in habitants stand crowded together for hours waiting in line for food, which does have the potential for a mealtime riot. After get ting the food the Haitian take it to their crowded together, broken cots for eating. The Cuban food is brought in large food ve hicles and they do not have to wait in lines. They have plenty of space for sitting and enjoying their meals. The INS does not allow any reporters or cameras inside the Haitian camp. However, cameras are freely allowed in the Cuban camp, and Haitian visit ations are greatly discour aged, while visitation is freely allowed to the Cubans. The Haitians have no En glish classes as a second language, but the Cubans have classes for teaching English. The Congressional Black Caucus, in Joining Shirley Chisholm, chairperson of its Task Force on Haitian Refugees, highly condemns the American govern ment’s continuing violation of its own Refugee law and the United Nations’ Proto col Relation to Refugee Treaty. The Caucus denounces the President’s Human Righto Policy. The Haitian policy is one of dehuman izing Individuals. It clearly exhibits a human righto policy based on race or nationality. It does not ex- ' tend to people if they hap pen to have been born black. Our Haitian policy should recognize the repression and humanitarian needs, , A ( instead of the short-sighted geopolitical calculations of some of the Inter-Ameri can Bureau of the State and Justice Departments or the National Security Council. We need a colorless immi gration policy. faun Faring W<4fan An organizational meet ing of a new Charlotte based women's group con cerned with issue facing women today, such as quality day care, problems of women In traditionally, low paying Jobs, the right to organize, sexual harass ment, violence against wo men (battering, sexual as sault), reproductive choice, and education of the people about ERA is sues will be held Saturday, October 29, at 1 p.m. in the Dalton Village Community Center, 3050 Clanton Road. For more information, call S27-5684. ---- -r1 SELF HEl-P. ■■ "71 > THE SURE WAY! "Now, If The Blacks Want Power - They Will Have To Get It Through The Ballot Box/' Telling You.. “Like It Is” The Gospel Truth East Black Welfa By Rev. Jim Holley, Ph.D. Special To The Post On one occasion Jesus spoke to his young followers, saying, “The poor you will have with you always.” This seems to be more of a condemnation rather than affirmation by the Man that could feed thousands with so little. Tne U.S. government seems to not only be in agreement with the statement, but promotes and encourages the concept that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. There is a need for free enter prise because it encourages achievement in the field of in ventions and industry, and in novative ideas in banking and .commerce. This is called the capitalistic form of government of which the western hemisphere is the chief example with ex ception of Cuba which is a practitioner of communism. I advocate capitalistic proce dures, but with a distribution of the profits to those living on the lower levels of our society. For example, h aoes noi seem moral ly right for two individuals to live in the same city, one being able to pay $300 a day to sleep in an exclusive suite and one unable to pay $125 a month in a rat infested apartment. This dis crepancy in our economic sys tem shows a lack of concern for a promotion of the common good of mankind. The food stamp program and the welfare program is a salve for the guilty conscience of a wealthy country. It is not de signed to provide the recipients with a decent form of living, but only provide them with an un surmountable sense of depend ency far worse than Black and white servitude better known as slavery. Contrary to popular stereo types, more than half of all poor re A Myth? Black households receive no kind of welfare assistance and the great majority of unemployed Blacks do not draw jobless bene fits, according to a National Urban League study. The Urban League study, “The Myth of Income Cushions for Blacks,” surveyed 3,000 Black households in cities, sub urbs and rural localities across the nation. Among the findings, my sisters and brothers, were: Seventy-five percent of all un employed Blacks never receive any jobless benefits. Fifty-six percent of all Black households with incomes below $6,000 a year do not receive general assistance or Aid to Families with Dependent Children.. Sixty-five percent of all Black households receive benefits from uiujf wuc ui uuuc ui uic seven major income programs for the poor. The study found that only slightly more than half of all Black household heads who re ceive welfare are covered by Medicaid, although the public commonly assumes all welfare recipients automatically qualify for health benefits. Certainly, this rejects statements by many social scientists and government policymakers that poverty has been virtually abolished in the U.S. because of the ease with which the sick, hungry'"and job less can obtain public assistance. This country has two classes of people, not three. There is wily the rich and the poor. There is only a degree of poverty.There are those whom are so poor they are unable to find jobs. And there are the poor who must work, for if you have to work, “you are poor.” And that’s the gospel truth. F==!eBy Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. To Be Equal “i y Vernon E. Jordan Jr. Rights9 Role’fe Important The experience of the 19706 - erosion of limited black gains, urban decay, and a growing conservative national mood - has le^l to disillusionment and to questioning civil rights. sbr«^gies. Perhaps the single mos,t important factor in the growing cyfitotsm is the rightward drift of American political opinion. The overwhelming majority of blacks reject the new conservative thrust, but perceive the wall of white resistance as higher and stronger. So some blacks and whites question the value of federal programs and even the wisdom of looking to the federal govern ment for answers to problems faced by the black poor. Traditionally, black people have equated state’s right with state’s wrongs, and have looked to Washington and to the federal courts for protection from local abuse. The failure of the private sector to generate enough jobs and to give blacks their fare share of the available jobs has led to emphasis on federal job programs. ^ There’s also been an emphasis on federal transfer programs such as welfare, food stamps, health assistance and others. While some have charged such programs breed dependence, most blacks look upon those programs as essential survival mechan isms in a society that refuses to en courage independence through job opportunities. Affirmative action is another area in which black people traditionally look to the government for action. Left to themselves, most employers would probably be in different to black demands for equal employment opportunities. The threat of federal action has been a major factor in private sector amrmauve action etforts. The conservative view appears to be that black progress has been limited because federal programs are ineffective, and there fore those programs should be abandoned. But it would be more fair to say that black progress has been limited in part because federal programs'*'effectiveness has been limited, and that a massive federal effort to bring equality to blacks was never im plemented. Job programs, for example, serve only a fraction of the unemployed, but that is no reason to de-emphasize job creation. lB fact is that many black people were helped by those programs, people who would be much worse off today if those programs did not exist. The answer lies not in abolishing the programs but in expanding the ones that work while fixing the ones that don’t. We should not forget that good programs have been torpedoed by congressional' politics and by executive penny-pinching Some promising programs were underfund ed to the point where they could not make an impact. Others were broadened to the point where they became so diffuse that they failed to help the neediest. For political purposes, definitions of target populations are often broadened to include more people and more congression al districts, so funds are diverted from truly needy areas to better-off ones. And no one should write off the private sector as a contributor to future black equality.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Oct. 23, 1980, edition 1
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