EDITORIALS & COMMENTS
We Salute The Church women!
The Second Annual Charlotte
Post “Churchwoman of the
Year” Contest, begun 11 weeks
ago, will reach its climactic peak
at a banquet on Friday evening,
July 23, at 7:30 p.m. The gala
event will be held at McDonald’s
Cafeteria, the popular dining
facility on Beatties Ford Road.
The Post takes this opportun
ity to publicly thank the more
than 81 churches, contestants
and scores of ministers and
others for their untiring efforfc
in helping to make the contest i
success. By success, we mear
increasing the number of sub
scriptions to The Post, creating
spirit of friendly competitive
ness among churchwomen anc
sharing in a banquet that will
personify Christian fellowship,
recognition for the efforts of the
contestants, and to open their
minds to new challenges and new
opportunities of the 1980s.
^Tobacco Tax Is Discriminatory
Sometime this month the U.S.
Congress will consider a bill to
raise $21.1 billion in new tax
revenue. Included in the bill is a
provision to increase by 100
percent the Federal excise tax
on cigarettes - from eight cents
to 16 cents per pack. Unless other
consumer products are equally
taxed, this is a blunt case of tax
discrimination.
A doubling uf the excise tax on
cigarettes is discriminatory '
because it would force 55 million
Americans who choose to use
tobacco products to bear a dis
proportionately larger lax bur
den to help solve the Federal
budget deficit that they did not
create.
At a time when low and middle
income consumers are already
being required to bear the brunt
of cutbacks in many government
programs, this tax proposal
provides them with an additional
tax burden. The proposed
legislation would fall heaviest on
poor Americans who choose to
use tobacco products. This would
clearly force low and middle
income smokers to pay a greater
^percentage of their income in
taxes than those who are more
affluent.
We strongly oppose this tax
andurge the public -to-contact
their senators and congressmen
to ask that they vote against this
unfair and discriminatory legis
lation.
Messages To Black Preachers
In America, there are almost 16
million black Christians. Less
than two million are members of
predominantly white denomina
tions. The black church has
always kept the flame of free
dom burning in the hearts of our
fathers. In a sweep of prophecy
the Apostle Paul hailed the
preacher as God’s agent for the
saving of humankind. As a black
preacher^I am of the belief and
opinion tha^ we must lead the
black church away from a future
of being an imitation country
club. White Christianity is pri
marily middle class oriented.
The black Church cannot take <m
this kind of characteristic simply
because so many in the black
community are not middle class.
The white church has historical
-ly heon inaffoefive anH nr gi^nt
on the great issues of racism,
war, poverty and injustice, with
a few exceptions, such as the
United Church of Christ, a young
denomination. On the other ha nd
these issues have been the life
blood of the survival of the black
church. We have had to address
these issues because these are
the issues that are afflicting our
community.
We of the black church have
the unenviable responsibility of
providing the fulcrum on which
black liberation and self-deter
mination must rest. Our minis
tries are inextricably tied to
politics, economics and social
values.
There was a time when the
black church was alive and
awake. It simply is not enough to
cWping gjanf
as we so often do and yet
continue to sleep.
My brothers and sisters of the
black clergy, if we the black
-church are this sleeping giant.
then we have the responsibility
of waking the black church and
making it the giant it once was
and ought to be. This is our
challenge.
The Conservative-Liberal Switch
The long time supporters of
district representation have
expressed strong opposition to a
so-called district plan because
they have argued - and rightly
so - that the plan, which calls for
district nominations with
at-large elections is not really
district representation. Fortun
ately, the County Commission
ers voted on Monday past to
consider some alternate pro
posals in two weeks.
Significantly, both issues-the
' housing location policy and the
district representation plan for
the County-both have racial
overtones. One may have an
impact on the amount of low
"Incbme housing in black noigh
borhoods, the other may deter
mine the more equitable oppor
tunity for blacks to serve on the
Board of County Commissioners.
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Column 5-0200 (212)169 1220
From Capitol Hill
No Black
By Alfreds I- Madison
Special To The Post
President Reagan has
held 11 press conferences.
He has called on black
reporters in four of them
and he has taken only five
questions from blacks. No
black newspapers are read
by the White House press
staff
--After—tryHg for mnrg
than six months to get an
appointment with David
Gergen, all to no avail, I
wrote him a letter on April
3 asking the following
questions:
1, Why is it that only
reporters who work for the
rich media have seats in
the daily briefing room?
2.1 was informed that we
(the lower media income
reporters) don't attend
everyday, so we don't have
seats. However, we would
be allowed to take the seats
of the absent rich media
people since all of them
tiuii't mine everyday--Why—
do the rich media persons
have assigned seats,
allowed absences, and the
lower income press people
are being denied thgt
privilege0
3 Why did this Admin
istration change the White
-NEEDED NOW
UNITE/
Tony Brown’s Comments
Hade Movie Stare Need History Lesson
The idea of economic
boycotts has caught on in
the Afro-American com
munity. The most recent
segment designated for
hard rhetoric and econo
mic pressure is the movie
industry.
Aside from the risks of
splinter boycotts, there are
the very real risks of a lack
of unanimity and the
organizational inability to
carry them out. After all,
the black consumer cannot
be expected to boycott
everyone or even to keep
track of who is on or off the
current hit list.
That confusion notwith
standing, economic boy
cotts are short-ranged. And
they neither build a pro
duction capacity nor an
economicrfoundation.
Take the movies, for in
stance. Some '43 movie*
have been “virhitelisted,”
including everything from
— 'National Lampoon’s
Class Reunion” and "Blade
Runner” (no black people
in the future) to Woody
Allen’s “Manhattan” (no
black people in New York
City).
= Tim mm rmphnniiL^fig^
more jobs for black actors,
actresses, stuntmen and
women, directors, writers
and producers will produce
some accommodation. A
select, and few. blacks will
be seen and fewer black
directors and producers
will be brought in -
temporarily.
Another neo-Blaxploit
ation genre will last about
as long as the last one -
briefly from 1970 to about
1974. It will end in another
temporary cycle of “Negro
progress.” In another 10
years, we'll be back pro
testing and complaining for
more "opportunity”-and
boycotts.
When will African-Ame
ricans wake up?
Italian-Americans make
Italian entrepreneurs;
Asian-Americans produce
Asian entrepreneurs;
Jewish-Americans create
Jewish entrepreneurs; etc.
Every ethnic and racial
group in American produc
es their own business
sector - save Afro-Ameri
cans. Blacks, in their pur
chasing patterns, are puni
tive towards black business
people.
And it’s because blacks
do not identify themselves
as a market. Instead they
behave as a “minority,”
seeking majority approval
and acceptance.
A very conservative esti
mate is that blacks spent
$700 million dollars a year
on movies. Another esti
mate is that over 50 per
cent of the tickets to all
movie theatres are pur
chased by Afros between 12
and 24-yea rs-old. A signifi
cant 26 percent of the
movie audience is under J7
and over one-half of all
blacks is under 19. The
Afro-American market is
a natural, ready-made
movie market-even when
it means learning self
hatred.
If the black creative
community could or would
abandon its obsession with
being temporary tokens in
the latest white-movie
world trend, it could build
its own. However, they
must first realize that they
do not need white people.
And they must educate
their own community
market to the relationship
between the price of their
movie ticket and the self
image of their children
because movies, along with
television, largely shape
hlarlc npinjnn _
On the subject of self
image, you constantly hear
black actors complain that
the race of a character
should be irrelevant. “He
wasn’t a black detective,’’
one is quoted as saying.
“He was just a guy doing
his job.” Blacks are cur
rently getting only three
percent of all speaking,
roles with that logic.
Instead of begging for
generic characters, we
should insist on parts that
are specifically black, and
our percentage of the po
pulation - li percent. We
would still__get the three
percent, because of con
nections.
Conversely, since the
Supreme Court has ruled
that race is a decisive
factor in American life,
why not make it a decisive
factor in—a marketing
approach to our own
community. We aren’t
going anywhere trying not
to be black. Why not com
bine our efforts, draw at
tention to race and make
race relevant and profit
able?
While Diana Ross' disas
trous “The Wiz,” a $30
million racially schizophre-:
nic “crossover” attempt,
became the financial
disaster of the decade
movies witTTa definite;
black attitude made a size
able profit on a modest
budget. “If you make a
movie today for $3 to $4.
million for the black com
munity, and if the film is
even moderately entertain
ing, there is no way to
lose,” explained Sidney
Poitier who directed five
which made a tenfold
return.
Put the best black pro
ducer, the best black direc
tor, the best black writers,
the best black actor and
actress in the same room
and they will mnsu^nfiy
fail to realize that recog
nizing blackness as an
asset is their ticket to a
See Black Movie Stars', f»-4 '
Professional Advisors
Are A Must In Business
By Luanna C. Blagrove
Business Consultant
Special To The Post
Mid the fallacy, * misconceptions, and
indoctrinations that black businessowners
have a business problem, economic and
political viewpoints and the many aids to
teach the black businessowner true
business, professional advisors (accoun
ants. attorneys and consultants) have
failed to notice that not only blacks but.
whites, too, who are classified as in the
“small business” segment of business have
. become a scapegoat or coverup for what is
in actuality existing a universal business
problem due to lack of understanding thp
—proprietor business structure which is ^iOi
—taught by society:
Thorough research and investigation into
the ever present business problems of
incompetence, lack of business knowledge,
and insufficient operating capital revealed
several facts of truth which explains why
not only blacks, but whites too, are finding it
difficult to own and operate a competitive
business and make a profit.
It is no secret that a business, embodied
with constraints and restrictions, belongs to
its owners who must perform, or have
someone else perform definite functions,
roles, duties afta-take-respongumuy tor thp
business. It is also true that proper business
dictates tnat tnere are certain professional
advisors every business must have at some
point in ttme. namely-an accountant and an
attorney: ; —--•“
The inability of society to recognize the
make-up of the so-called “small business”
group as proprietors, partnerships, and
corporations that are in essence propriet
urs-partnerships have brought forth little, if
any, constructive academic instructions
and informative research material avail
able to both the businessowners and their
professional advisors should they employ
them.
Concentration in the theoretical corporatioi
business structure «nd the inability—to
recognize the proprietor-partnership struc
tures leaves unknown the true functions,
roles, duties, responsibilities and interrela
tionship of both the businessowner end his
professional advisors. ~
Specialization in the various fields of
taxes, cost, management, and financial
investment which have emerged from the
giant corporations, legal laws, internal
revenue services and personal preference
for corporate life have further weakened
the gap between the proprietor-partnership
businessowners due to the lack of stress or
concentration in the study of the proprietor
business structure.
The proprietor business structure have a
basic language, basic laws with accom
govern it, basic customs and basic habits
which is the foundation to every business
structure or what is known as management
of a business.
The so-called impossible task by many
professional advisors of working with
small business” clients is possible and can
be both financial and personally rewarding
when a professional advisor knows and
understands the true functions, roles,
duties, responsibilities and interrelation
ship of both the businessowner and pro
fessional advisor and apply the same.
It is true that the present economic
conditions may appear bleak for many
businesses, but like The bll crisis wTilch
covered up the Watergate case for so long
and disappeared, so will present economic
conditions.
Newspapers Are Read By The White House Staff?
Alfreds L. Madison
Housf practice of previous
presidents, from allowing
all White House correspon
dents the same seating pri
vilege, in the daily
briefing?
4. Don't these actions
contribute to a cast system,
which is against democra
tic principles'7
5. Why are only the rich
media White House cor
respondents invited to state
dinners?
6. Isn't this treatment of
iKa prat e an nl tly
Administration's catering
to the rich?
I’ve not received any
response to my letter.
Even though Mr. Reagan
says he is unprejudiced he
also seems unconscious of
his actions Doesn’t he
realize that at every press
conference he calls on, by
name, several people from
each of the rich media?
Doesn't he know that
middle and lower media
income contribute finan
cially to all White House
activities, while the rich
media has an escape tax
loophole hatch? Doesn't he
also realize that the home
Tow'n vawrs reel more « m
intimacy with the home
town newsapapers, than
they do with the big media?
Certainly, blacks are
greatly influenced by the
black media, because they
have always known the
white media to have a bias
concerning them.
In the last press confer
ence the President defend
ed his tax credit for private
schools by saying that 40
percent of the students in
Chicago Catholic schools
are black. That is a very
small number compared
wiU»~4ho. overwhelming
crowd of blacks and others
who comprise the Chicago
public school population.
Mr Reagan says the tui
tion tax credit does not hurt
the public schools When
$500 per pupil is taken
away from the school sys
tem, there can only be
financial loss. Such actions
also contribute to a school
caste system, program dis
crepancies, and the perpe
tuation of racism.
Mr. Reagan became very
upset when a reporter
noted that black leaders
are greatly concerned
about his commitment to
civil rights. In his re
leaders to point out a single
instance that shows he is
racially prejudiced or not
in full accord with civil
right*. The President said,
as governor of California,
he appointed more blacks
than any of his predeces
sors. As President of the
United States, he has made
fewer black appointments
than several former Presi
dents.
With black unemploy
ment more than twice as
high as whites, surely Mr.
Reagan knows that racial
discrimination is a contri
Twt intfcauSTTcT[he dispaP'
ity. Yet, he is against af
firmative action - even
voluntary remedies be
tween labor and manage
ment, and he has made no
attempt to come forth with
any program to replace his
opposing affirmative
action views. His new fe
deralism without any
guidelines, is nothing more
than a return to the old
states rights policy, which
is only racial discrimina
tion for perpetuity. The
President meets every
morning with his staff, and
no blacks. On his recent
European trip, not one
black was among his 300
‘ meiftber Whitt Houne en
lour age Blacks do not play
an Important role in the
President’s policy-making.
If President Reagan isn’t
prejudiced, he needs to
take a serious analytical
view of his actions, be
cause while his intent may
be unprejudiced, the
effects are just plain racist.
Of course, it is impossible
for the President to know
all that happens down the
line; a suggestion would be
to investigate the linesmen
and make them shape up or
ship out. The Administra
tion’s chief civil rights as
sab'TTgyr'are Attutiiey
General Smith and his
assistant William Bradford
Reynolds, who are charged
with implementation of
civil rights. Representative
Fauntroy says, "There is
greater distance between
this Administration and
blacks than we have had in
the last 50 years." Norman
Hull says, "Ronald Reagan
may go down in American
history as the person who
most undermined the
racial progress our country
has made since the 1950s.”
The President said black
leaders are doing some
Image building about him
Js it, really image bui|dino
or instead isn t it just
revealing his true picture?
4ll this can be changed if
the President would decide
to listen to blacks, read
black newspapers and ma
gazinea, listen to black
radio stations’ news and
comments, call oa black
importers at his press con
ferences and include
blacks in all important po
sitions of policy-making. It
will be then and only then
when President Reagan
will prove to the world that
hcfdoes not have a racist
bone in his body.
^31