Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / March 3, 1983, edition 1 / Page 2
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EDITORIALS & COMMENTS Hariri Wafer Made FU* Doskn Athletes, especially football - players, have been stereotyped for years as being muscular jocks with limited intelligence and unfit to be productive fol lowing their collegiate or pro fessional playing careers. Maybe once in a decade a football player comes along who shatters that stereotype. There is now one who graduated from high school as Valedictorian of his class the same year he led his teammates to his state’s football championship and the state uracK cnampionship and the state tracktitles. In the latter case, he earned 34% of the school’s 35 points to win the 100-yard dash and shot put. As a freshman college student, our hero continued his practice of studying his school work diligently and maintaining good grades while! limiting his social life. His coach said, “The kid is as close to perfect as I’ve seen,” as a student and an athlete. In the 1980 Sugar Bowl game against none other than the formidable Notre Dame, our hero rushed for two touchdowns and 150 ydrds, not spectacular ' for a superstar, until it is noted that the rest of the team accounted for a minus 30 yards rushing a seven yards passing. In two subsequent Sugar Bowl games our hero rushed for three more touchdowns and nearly 200 yards. Excluding these accom plishments, our hero rushed for 5,259 yards in his three-year college football career. vjui nero, oi course, is Herschel Walker. The hero status from our perspective is deserving even more so when it is also noted that during a three year athletic career at the Uni versity of Georgia, Walker main tained good grades while re sponding to the greater pressure of leading his team to a 33-3 record, including a national ' .-Championship. Furthermore, ticket sales were so good during these years that the football stadium was increased by 20,000 seats to over 80,000. In addition; and not usually reported In the press, is how a Herschel Walker type player, especially in foot ball or basketball, creates great er job security for the coaching staff, aids in recruiting other athletes as well as generally attracting more non-athletic stu dents. In the latter case, it is quite common for a school win ning the national championship to see their freshmen applica 1 tions more than triple in the •following year. God-Given Talent What this all has meant and will mean to the University df Georgie for years to come is mega-dollars m the millions. Foi Herschel Walker it has meant an opportunity to use his God-given talents and a mega* $5,000 a year scholarship under strict NCAA rules. Yet, one broken bone, one twisted knee, or one separated shoulder could have rendered Walker handicapped, destroying his career and marketability. For all of these reasons we find it hard to understand the co lumns of stupid copy written by sports writers across the country criticizing Walker, his agent and the U.S. Football League for his having signed a multi-million dollar contract to play profes sional football. We are equally concerned with the attitude of football coaches and athletic , administrators who now plan to present USFL coaches and officials from visiting their col lege campuses. Personal Worth In addition, we are totally opposed to the NCAA rules and its general understanding with the NFL to hot recruit hon seniors. Such rules and policies will surely be overruled when a court case arises. More signi ficantly, such rules are designed to deny potential employment opportunities to collegiate ath letes at a dime when their marketable worth is highest. This is done for the benefit of collegiate programs and NFL management salary considera tions, not out of any real con cern for the athletes’ educa tion. This is best illustrated by reports on the number of colle giate athletes who are dropped out of school because of acade mic problems created in part by demands of their athletic pro gram which must succeed in order for the coaches and athle tic administrators 'to, have job security and big bjfrom gate receipts off the efforts of 18 to ao'yehr old youngsters. , Finally, as we have said before, ft is past time competi tive collegiate sports regained its sanity. By this we mean that the order of priority in sports should be character building, physical and mental develop ment and a competitive winning spirit and in this order. If win ning and the personal worth and self-esteem of the individual ath- \ lete are held in high priority then true victory will have been achieved by all. Herschel Walk er achieved most of this largely cm his own and for this some have tried to discredit him. We applaud him and wish him well in the USFL. BLACK RETICENCE TO SEIZE INITIATIVE TO ORGANIZE THEIR COMMUNITIES ISAMAJOR FACTOR ASP AH IMPORT ANT FACTOR CONTRb. BUVNOTOOUR COMHUHmeS UHOtR) DEVELOPMENT* ™*i0**l*SC.0LA64CW . OeAN-HOmRDUMRIEIMnD Jdten* *7* *74 Sditon.: £ * i * Proud of SCLC Oraraniza"' Dear Sir: I have nothing but prais es for all those people involved in the establish ment of a Charlotte Chap ter Southern Christian Leadership Conference. I know all about the po litical, social and economic Justice that SCLC organiz ations in cities throughout the country have achieved. Charlotte is a good city and has been improved already by organizations like the NAACP, the Black Demo cratic Party and the Meck lenburg County Urban longue Now with the addition of the SCLC and a combined effort, of all these organ ization, blacks perhaps will progress even more. In fact, all Charlotte will pro I am looking forward to attending the official pre sentation of the SCLC charter and the installation of the Charlotte chapter of ficers. This will be a mile stone in Charlotte’s history and I hope the entire com munity will be present to witness the affair, Satur day, at Amay James Pres byterian Church. Not only will this organ ization serve well in its endeavors to increase voter registration, com munity development, poli tical education, etc.; but it Will also be a continuant* of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream, when he or ganized the Southern Chriatian Leadership Con ference in 1957. Congratulations Thank you, Nell Curti* Dear Mr. Johnson: Congratulations on your expansion and move to your new office spaces. I have not had an op portunity to come out -to visit yet, but just wanted to let you know that I was really pleased to hear of the progress you are mak ing. I was also very pleased to hear your in terview on WFAE. You handled the interview very well. The information that you provided during the interview seas very infor mative and from a per spective^ ifht expressed Efiflepsy Seminar Dear Mr. Johnson .The Epilepsy Associa tion of North Carolina is sponsoring a seminar for parents of children with epilepsy. We would like to reach as many people as possible with information about this free program. I have enclosed an informa tion sheet describing the workshop and would appre ciate any publicity you can give this event. If you need additional information, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 70M77-3618. On behalf of the 58,000 people with epilepsy in North Carolina, thank you for this valuable service. QlnrereJv very often in the media. The Charlotte Poet also provides news an the black community that is not found in any other media outlet in the city. This is a valuable service to the black community that would go lacking without The Charlotte Poot. . .On behalf of Johnson C. Smith University and the black community in gener al, I’d like to say thank you and wish you continued success. Sincerely, Linda Florence, Mr. University Relations ^ JCSU -1 ’»sT| ■ ■ ' * Mary G. Nlebur. MSW Assistant Director . Field Representative Something ; On Your Mind? Do you have something to say? Then do so for everyone to read. The Charlotte Post, die only other voice in town, wel comes all letters on various subjects. Letters to the editor must include your signature and address, both of which may or may not be used per request. For purpose of identification only, writers should include .their tele phone numbers. . .TO The Editor: P. O. Box M144, Charlotte, N.C. 28230. =WITH SABRINA JOHNSON;jEBSSSgg Sabrina ng People technology, tele I video games are srsation and read lat to capture the ationalism is re nted the citizens? By reanjmg the literacy rate. There are millions of people who cannot read or write their name nor for that fact recognize it. Illiteracy has reached epidemic proporl tions in the United States. Approximately eight million adults are considered function al illiterates: meaning they cannot read or write but do hold productive jobs and function within the community. These people have structured their lives in such a way that their illiteracy will not be re cognized. However there is a noticeable discomfort and annoyance when the person is confronted with a reading situation. Oftentimes the knowledge of a functional illiterate member of a family is kept a secret-causing each member to feel ashamed and protective of the individual Functionally illiteracy -among the “senior memDers of the society occurred under different circumstances. Many times the persons involved had to leave school at an early age or were not able to attend school at all. Because of the need for them to work. In some cases there were ho schools in the rural communities and if it did exist, many miles had to be traveled back and forth-causing the interest in learning to subside. On the flip Side of the coin, the “junior” illiterate society members are that way for an entirely different set of reasons. The main culprits focusing around pushing students through school and-or giving the, the privilege or power to quit school at the age of 16. The idea of pushing pupils through scl£>l without their showing proficiency in me grade is a disgrace to the school system and the'parents. The parents insist that their child be promoted to the next grade level with no regard to the proficiency factor. For „*ome~ strange^ieaaon;-Mh«y> child* parents feel that because the teacher recommends holding little Johnny back a year means the teacher dislikes the child and is out to get him; it does not. The main purpose of holding a child back is because oC his lack of ability to master the present workload - teachers are trained to see this. However, the teachers ate caught in a catch 22 type situation. The school board de mands that a certain percentage of students °e promoted and graduate; the patents demand that their child is promoted or graduated and there is the teacher in the middle seeing those students get through with nothing to travel with. Along the same lines, the option to drop out of school is causing students to bide their time until the age of 16, so they can leave school. How do students bide their time? By showing up to school on occasion or by going to school and not doing any work required. Generally speaking, these people are trouble makers. Some students do drop out of school simply because they cannot cope with School or with the people. - Personally, the writer feels that one remedy to the drop out problem may be to implement a counseling session(s) with the student to discuss the real reason(s) why he has chosen to leave school. Also during this counseling some testing of literacy should take place to measure the student’s (jklity to find a job and function. And to cut down on the drop out rate each child should he made to understand from day one that school is not a place for sht hours of entertainment - but an institution that has trained individuals who are to teach them the basics one needs to Survive and relay interesting facts about important events under all subjects. Honor and respect Are clearly the key words here. For all the reasons stated and more illiteracy exists, but it can be remedied. There is a national crusade of volunteers who want to teach individual how to read, write and better function in the world. The program is not demanding; it open! up a world of opportunities for the otle learning Everything about him changes - he feels better about himaelf, his family, and work the world does not seem so dark and cold even his speech pattern changes. Readers, if you feel you know someone who will benefit from learning to read approach him with care and sensitivity, not pity. Tell him there ajfe plages that can help I J HE charlotte post “THE PEOPLE’S NEWSPAPER” Established 1918 Published Every Thursday by The Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc. Subscription Rate |17.<8 Per Year ~ Second Class Postage No. 965900 Postmaster Send 3579 »s To: 1531 Camden Rd., Charlotte. N.C. 28303 Telephone: 794-379-9499 Circulation 19,433 104 Years of Continuous Service BUI Johnson Editor, Publisher Bernard Reeves General Manager Fran Farrer Advertising Director Dannette Gaither Office Manager Second Class Postage No. 995599 Paid at Charlotte. North Carolina 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 snd will not be returned. Hhhmsmwn^—„ National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. « W. 45«h **., Saite MSS k-ago. New York. New York ISSM ( ***** ZH-4SS-I22S Building A Black Practice Plan ncwnuen iron The Michigan Chronicle By Elizabeth F. Hood Special To The Post The hard time of the bitter Reagan years raise the hard question, “What went wrong for blacks in L the period sfter the brief illusion of progress in the 80s?” Maulana Karenga, asso ciate professor of Black Studies at the University of California offers some in sightful answers to the black failure to achieve and hold economic and social gains in the U.S. He identifies the lack of values, visions and struc tural capacity as primary weaknesses in the black population. Mr. Karenga blames the black middle class for their short comings (“The Crisis of Black Middle Class Lead ership," The Black Scho lar, Fall, 1983). Agree or disagree, the author provokes the reader to consider some of the results of different strate gies used by those blacks entrusted with leadership in terms of gains actually made and retained. He tar gets the black middle class because it repraeeats “achievers,” those usually chosen to screen events for their effects upon Macks and to suggest appropriate responses to these events. On the concern for values and visions, Mr. Karenga charges that black leaders k The hard times of the bitter Reagan years raise the hard question, “What went wrong for Blacks in the period after the brief illusion of progress in the 60s?” -Maulana Karenga often do not think about what will happen to their effectiveness when they can no longer deliver on the basis of patronage. That is, how can they explain to the people loss of support from political candidates whose favor they courted or the removal of social pro grams they promoted? Both of these strategies for economic and social sur vival and development depend upon a "loving mother" philosophy, re warding the child for be(i« good and'taking back the gift when the child does not live up to expectations or the family income drops. Because the child (in this case, blacks) has neither the power to punish nor the influence asso ciated with prestige and wealth, the mother's deci sion stands The error here is blind faith In perceived goodness. Another terrible blow to 1 black leadership and its followers is the refusal of a friend (in this instance, the President) the Congress and the courts) to side with blacks in demands for equality and justice. Spokespersons and the crowd sit back and watch affirmative action, racial quotas and enforced dese gregation in public educa tion slip away. Failure here is the lack of vision about the possible actions of economically threatened power-wlelders bent upon saving them selves. The quality of the friendship, after all, depends upon Che "situa tion" of tne would-be givers. Under certain pres sures from critics (in this instance, the Moral Major ity, new waves of conssrv atism, etc.) fickleness triumphs. Tossing words around loosely without defining and clarifying their mean ▲ togs, according to Mr. Karenga, continues to be a grievous fault with black leaders. Case in point: the difference between “alliance” and “coalition.” Alliance, he says, is a "long-term ongoing unity based on common interests and common basic prin ciples." Coalition, on the other hand, is a "short term working asoaciatlon based on specific short term goals.” Hence, when black leaders talk about the importance of white “allies" among Jewish and Gentile groups, they tend to confuse themselves and black masses into thinking that the partnership Is for ever. The truth, be argues, is that it is a fantasy to be lieve a black-Jewish pro test against the neo-Nazis or the Ku Klux Klan will torn into a united front to eliminate racism in em ployment and education. The two groups are too unequal Jewish people, as a group, define themselves as white, wield great eco nomic power, enjoy high prestige and exercise strong control over the media in the US. The Ices of black affection is no threat. Blacks, a powerless group, are i%o position to penalize them economical ly or socially. Mr. Karenga speaks clearly on the issue of coalitions versus alliances.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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March 3, 1983, edition 1
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