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| Editorials & Comments / . Ugly Side Of America Since the assassination of John F. Kennedy, over 17 years ago, Americans have been asking ‘why’, while seemingly ignoring the visiable and psychological evidence that provides the answer. Instead, we continue in our violent ways as evidenced by the killing of Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy and Med gar Evers, and the near-killing of George Wallace, Gerald Ford / and Vernon Jordan. Now, in the midst of the national anxiety over the tragic killing of 21 black youths in Atlanta, we have witnessed, in living color, the shooting of President Ronald Reagan and three others by a demented individual armed with an all too popular nana gun. ironically, along with the outpouring of sympathy there was a make believe sense of shock and, tra gically, some who expressed pleasure upon hearing the Pre sident had been shot. Why do such senseless shoot ings occur? They occur because of a psychological tendency to ward violence. We applaud and shout encouragement to the box er who is savagely beating an other. We watch hundreds of killings at theatres and on tele vision and call it entertainment. We permit the sale of small fire arms to anyone who can pay the price. We have a passion or love affair with the violence in foot ball and hockey. We give lip service rhetoric to being a peace ful nation; yet build more war machines and give arms to anyone who professes to oppose communism. And finally, we have a growing distrust of public new Prostitution s' We commented in this column several months ago about the sex mania in our nation with par ticular reference to the Calvin Klein TV advertisements that pan slowly up the crotch of ake Shields who like, “I have 15 in my closet. If I’d be in trou s reference here il relations when ans. ... » .vvvui ilME magazine article Miss Shields was referred to as a big-league stunner (sex symbol) and a nice kid. This means that as a model she can be portrayed as a sexy object or a nice innocent 15-year-old school girl. Furthermore, in a recent issue of PARADE magazine there is an article describing how to turn 7th grade girls into sex symbols with changes in hair style and facial make-up. These illustrations raise the question of what are we as parents, advertising people, and as a society doing to our youth? Why must we make sex objects out of children just one step up from the cradle? Is there any wonder^hat^v^iav^^kyrock officials, so much so that we won’t tolerate them if their view points, especially political, are different from ours. If for a moment we want to doubt this tendency toward violence let us be reminded that as we read in our newspapers about the grim details of the attempt on the President’s life, we also read that the incidents of major crimes rose by 10 percent in 1980. This, according to FBI statistical reports, represents the largest 12-month jump in five years. Attorney General William French Smith said, “The report ed increase underscores the need for intensified efforts at combat ing crime, especially violent crime.” Thus, John Warnock -Hinckley Jr., the person alleged to have shot the President, is just one of hundreds or thousands who make the crime data referred to a reality. 1 he job of protecting the Pre sident is more than just pro tecting the life of an individual, as important as that is. It is also an attempt to deny a single demented pathological person the opportunity to single-handed ly alter the course of the history of the American people, if not indeed the free world. -This , nation, then, needs to re-examine it’s moral conscious ness to determine where we are, where we are going and whether we will continue in a climate that will produce other President shooters. It is past time to graple with the reality of this issue in America. eting teenage pregnancy rate? Is there any wonder that Charlotte Memorial Hospital reports that 1,200 adolescents became mothers in 1980 of which 400 were under the age of 15. Commenting on that data, Dr. Alex F. San chez Jr. said recently, “That may not seem to be significant, but it represents only a fraction of the teenage pregnancies oc curring each year in Mecklen burg County.” This reminds us of the U.S. Supreme Court’s struggles over how to deal with the question of birth control-with particular re ference to a Utah case involving whether a doctor should be required to notify the parents of a teenager before performing an abortion. The broader underlying issue for the court was in the as sumption that motherhood is the best punishment and fear of pregnancy is the best deterrent to teenage sex. All of this indicates a de plorable lack of understanding or even concern about what is happening to our nation’s teen agers._ • If In Reducing The Aid To The Needy, To Appease “The New Majority”, The President May Be Mis-Reading The Election Returns. uke It Really is Big Debate Going On The Country" There s a big debate go ing on in one country now about whether or not the 10 Commandments ought to be displayed in public school classrooms. My ini tial response, I confess, was one of abject cyni cism; where else, I thought, will the poor child ren see any positive exam ples of the principles set forth by the 10 Command* ments? There isn’t a heck Of fr lot of r.iich nxamplp in the adult world. But then I thought of the religious zealots who al ways want to ram such things down the throats of others, in such hypocritical fashion. Later, I was ex posed to the rationale of one such group, which - in coricert with a New York school principal - asserts that the children need to be exposed to religion at an early age. . I can certainly agree with this, but I find this a rather strange assessment for someone representing a school system that floods its walls with portraits of ueorge wasmngton and Abe Lincoln. Everytime I visit a school in New York City and spot their pictures on the walls of that school, I know exactly who is in control, regardless of who -- or what color - the person calling himself or herself the principal is. I know that the racists are still in control of the peo ple’s minds who are run ning such an institution, and thus, in control of that school by extension. George Washington owned folks. He owned black persons. Can you imagine that? I spoke at the University of Michigan last week and finally raaJnto a student who says he knows a white person with the surname Washington. This is the first time in my 42 years on earth that I’ve heard of someone who knows a white person named Wash ington. But if that student checks a bit into that person’s geneology, he may be sur prised. George Washing ton, to my knowledge, had no white children. He ap parently had plenty of kids by his slaves, though. Which caused me to won der; whose country is he really the father of? Washington's slaves .were not freed until the day George died. Hence, he ought to be celebrating his ripath in December, rather than his birthday in Febru ary. The more I think of the refusal of white America to recognize a national Mar tin Luther King holiday (he had black children too) the more I think seriously of this. Abe Lincoln, the so called emancipator, was simply caught in a bind. Matter of fact, to those who insist he was color blind, I reply that the evidence suggests that he was in a color bind. Lincoln nad to ‘ free the sjaves for economic and political reasons, not for moral purposes. To that extent he was a typical white boy, driven by mate rialistic aims instead of humanistic objectives. It’s important, then, to understand that, while we are certainly appreciative of his efforts, his inten tions were definitely not designed to guarantee us the humane treatment which yet escapes us. In the final analysis, he was far more of a legitimate hero of the Ku Klux Klan than of black people. Put aside your disbelief for a moment and read the following quotation by Lin coln, one of the KKK’s favorite: "The American is a citizen king or nothing. I can conceive no greater— calamity than the assimila tion of the negro (sic) into our social and political life as an equal. A mulatto citizenship would be too dear a pricejo pay even for emancipation. "The phvsical touch of a negro is pollution. This Re public is great, not by reason of the amount of dirt we possess, the size of our census roll, or of our voting register. We are great because of the genius of pioneer white freemen who settled this continent, dared the might of kings and made a wilderness the home of freedom. “Our future depends on the purity of this racial Stock. The grant of the ballot to the negro is a crime against human pro gress.” That quote, by the way, is from the Klans (1905), later made into a movie: "The Birth of a Nation.” It’s mighty clear to this observer that this country lacks the intent and human understanding, not to men tion the compassion, to enforce laws made by them, presumably on our behalf. And maybe that’s the real reason the ACLU and others are opposing the posting of the 10 Command ments in public school classrooms. No one would learn to live up to them in much the same way the public schools fail to pro mote democratic princi ples and values there. It probably is not held to be in white folks’ interest or capability to respond to us black persons as people. There is an overwhelming body of evidence which points to the incapacity of this country to accept us as we are and recognize our right to our own legiti macy. A classic case history is found in the example of thousands of "educated” black folk who give up any real identity with out free dom struggle the moment they- are annointed by white America. Interest ingly, they become para sites on the hard suffering of black people and begin to benefit in the same manner that whites benefit from our suffering. By Gerald C. Horne, ESQ ■ Affirmative Action Racism And Education The value of obtaining an education has been stressed in the black community for quite some time now. Historians of the slave experience recognize that one factor impell ing blacks toward the church has been the fact that at one time, the only literature blacks were allowed to read was the Bible - and this was solely on the “liberal” plantations. The present day image of the black mother sacrificing all -- scarred knees from scrubbing floors - to advance the education of her children is not fan^ fetched. That is why the moves by President Reagan to slice aid to education and the current political climate on the campus and in school has provoked so much outcry within the Afro-American community of late. Many black leaders have little faith in the Reagan Administration’s commitment to affirmative action generally, since as syndi cated columnist Alfreda Madison has noted, the White House staff and Ms. Reagan’s staff are currently devoid of blacks. This insensitivity is compounded by one of the most savage attacks on education in recent history. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that over 750,000 college students may have to drop out of the budget cuts are accepted, and this is seen as a conservative estimate. It requires no bril liant intuitive sense of social science to recognize that a disproportionate number of these less than affluent “drop-outs” will be black. But Reagan’s attack is no more than a reflection of current battles being-waged over education. Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina provided the United States Supreme Court the opportunity to pen one of the more significant school desegregation cases. Today black parents are up in arms over a plan of the local Board of Educa tion to close down yet another school in the black community because of “racial im balance.” Says PTA leader Calvin Harris, “Black schools are singled out for treat ment when there is a problem with racial balance...That automatic solution is to close the school...A trend is developing. No schools in white areas close, but five or six schools in the black neighborhoods have already closed.” This is usually accom panied by the dismissal of black teachers and support staff (janitors, cafeteria work ers, etc.). Further, black students then have to travel often in ordinately long distancOT to predominantly white schools; this has led to a diminishing of parent involvement in the far distant school, as sometimes black parents possess neither a telephone nor a car. Black parents here and elsewhere are asking. “Why do we have to carry the weight of school desegregation when we didn’t perpetrate the “original sin,” i.e school desegregation, and, indeed, were its victims?” School desegregation and bus sing are important battles to be fought and won but resolving the issues at the further expense of black rights has been questioned by many. Racism in education is not only a problem of the Deep South but has managed to cling as well to the ivy walls of the supposedly liberal North. This fact is striking since many contend that the prime and most intractable carrier of the virus of racism is the poor and working class white. 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)376-0496 M^<„M^___Circul^(ion_9.200 _ 62 Years of Continuous Service 1,1 II I — Wi Bill Johnson...Editor, Publisher Bernard Reeves...General Manager Fran Farrer...Advertising Director Wayne Long...Circulation Manager Pannette Gaither...Office Manager Second Class Postage No. 96550 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 _a.nd will not be returned. National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc 2400 S. Michigan Ave. 45 W. 45th St.. Suite 1493 Chicago, III. 60616 New York. N.Y. 10036 ^_(212) 4K9-I220 * ' , 4 From Capitol Hill Capitol Hill’s New Dynamic Black Organization Alfreds L. Madison Special To The Post Daily, blacks are becom ing more aware of the effect our political system has on our lives. Capitol Hill being the hub of the nation’s political system where many issues arise that have a special rele vancy to blacks, roost often the omy people who art particularly sensitized tt these are members of th« Congressional Black Caucus. «n extension of the Black Caucus strength and influ ence, the Congressional Black workers have formed a Capitol Hill or ganization. which includes black professionals, non professionals, cafeteria workers and laborers and all blacks who work on Capitol Hill. This undertaking has k°**n irieu belore, but it did not succeed because pre viously it seemed overly influenced by political party affiliation and-or a purely social orientation. These workers feel that this organization is greatly needed at this time for the purpose of enhancing poli tical, social and economic • Alfreds L. Madison capabilities of black people on Capitol Hill. In Wash ington, the nation and the world. They have carefully and conscientiously *s ;essed the “gains madiJ by a few blacks, but for the vast black majority, they are still victims of inade quate education, underem ployment, unemployment, substandard housing, poor health care a biased cri minal justice system and the knowledge that racism is alive and well and grow ing acceptability." The blatant exacerbation of racism can certainly be seen in our present poli tical climate, with our lead ers using every means in their power to turn back civil rights gains. The appointment and hir ing practices of blacks in the Reagan Administration is just about nil, with the same being true of the Legislative branch; the great emphasis on "States’ rights," which is only say ing, they are far a resur gence of white suppression of justice and equality for blacks. The Administration has already echoed its sup port for apartheid South Africa and giving military support to South Africa in its fight against the strug gle of bjack Angolans for freedom. As much as we, as blacks, abhor the words of Bill Wilkinson, the Im perial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan when he says," "The Republican platform could have been taken from Klan literature." Actions of those who are at the helm of government today, cer tainly seem to prove Wil kinson to be correct. The black Capitol Hill young people realizing all of the above existing con ditions, feel they must an swer the call to take stdps to correct these unjust moves. Their organization "will serve as a network to disseminate information on; relevant issues and legislation that are import ant to black people; news that affect black people and employment opportun ities.” On February 26, the Con gressional Black Asso ciates, in celebration of Black History Month, held its first annual awards dinner. Representative Parren Mitchell, Chairman of the Small Business Commit tee, author of the bill for 10 percent set aside in govern ment contracts for minori ties, delivered the main address Mr. Mitchell, who represents Maryland’s Se venth Congressional Dis trict, stated that even though he serves whites and blacks in his district his priorities are with blacKs tie .>aio there was no racial superiority dur ing slavery. Slaves were not educated in order to prevent them from learn ing to read with the hope that they would not per ceive that they were, being exploited. Mitchell said that every facet of American life has been carefully designed for the exploitation of blacks. They were given inferior schools for the purpose of. psychologically, influenc ing them to believe that they are inferior to whites. The admission policies to medical and law schools are operated in a way to keep blacks out of those professional schools. Mit chell says he refuses to accept the premise that black doctors and lawyers fail their respective board examinations He believes they are failed; that ofacx lawyers are prevented from defending blacks who are unjustly treated and black doctors so, economic ally, white doctors can treat blacks. The Congressman chided bias reporting by the white media, stating that the Washington Post has been carrying stories of the fail ure of black businesses because of poor manage ment, while it never spoke of bad management at Chrysler. He spoke of the Reagan proposals to lower minimum wage, which will cause the black father to be replaced by black youth; the cut back in education grants will reduce black and white competition for jobs. Mitchell said Rea gan's address to congress, laid out a comprehensive" plan for exploiting blacks • He said that the Congres-J sional Black Associates' comprises the next troop* who must constantly chal-.' lenge racism. Pred Williams, President' of Congressional BTaick AsJf sociates, says that the *r°Vp,ha* alre«dy begun work to become a strong liaison force between “lacks and congress. Diabetic Cooking for the diabetic CAN be a delicious family affair. To help you plan these meals Diabetes Ser vices, a United Way Agency, is offering a new cookbook, "Creative Cook ing Sugar Free." The cost is $2. Remem - ,ber diabetic meals are both healthy and delicious!
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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April 2, 1981, edition 1
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