Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Aug. 11, 1983, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
editorials & comments Price Of Unity By Charles G. Adams Frederick Douglass once said, “We may not get all we pay for in this world, but it is certain we must pay for all we get.” The only way to achieve unity in the Black race is to pay the price of subordinating individual prefer ences to the wisdom and wel fare of the whole. The same rule applies to a political party. If our aim is to unseat President Rea gan, we must pay the price of unity and pay it in time. This is precisely what we did not do in 1980. Will we make the same mis take'in 1984? It seems so. The political leadership of the race was confused about the target in 1980. They were cool and hesi tant toward Jimmy Carter. They advertised his shortcomings and accentuated his failures. They disparaged the Democratic Party because of its racial in equities and moral imperfec tions. Nobody noticed until too late that Reagan was striding to the White House while Demo crats and Blacks bickered and dickered among ourselves. There is a time to correct one’s political party and there is a time to defend and protect one’s political party in order to win an election. This is the time to get Reagan out and that will not be accomplished unless we pay the price of unity. The last thing we need now is a fantastic excur sion into the oblivion and dis unity of running a Black can didate for President as a ploy to discipline and change the Demo cratic Party. Severe Cutbacks 1) There will be more severe cutbacks and eliminations of social welfare programs. 2) There will be an acceleration of military spending and produc tion. 3) There will be deeper retreats and retrenchments on civil rights and human rights. 4) There will come the destruction of the public schools and the proliferation of private academ ics. 5) The society will become less humane and more outward ly religious at the same time. 6) Religion will be more a matter of form and fashion than commit ment to the betterment of hu manity and enhancement of our common life. 7) There will be more bankruptcy, unemploy ment, disease, ignorance and death among the poor. 8) The economic recovery will come but it will never reach us. The economy will be better off but we will be worse off. Is that what we are willing to endure for four more years in order to enjoy the brief pride and fleeing vanity of bolting the Democratic Party by means of a Black presidential candidate? I think that the cost of a Black presidential candidate is too great for us to pay at this time. We can’t afford four more years of Reagan. The misery and despair among Blacks is already incredible and intolerable. How much more can we take? If to defeat Reagan is our target, we had better take an early aim and keep our eyes on the mark. While we look around us, our target will be gone. Hack Voters It is hard for me to under stand just what the Rev. Jesse Jackson is aiming at. According to his Detroit campaign man ager it is reported that the goal of his candidacy is “to spur Black voter registration and force the Democratic Party to strengthen its commitment to civil rights.” That’s all well and ~ | good. Unregistered Blacks do hold the potential of deciding the i presidential race in several Southern states, but Blacks by 1 themselves can’t elect a presi dent. Unless those Bifecks who are registered work within the structure and concensus of the Democratic Party, they will not be successful in preventing four more years of Reagan. Any forcing of the Democratic Party t to strengthen its stance on civil * rights will only weaken it in the e eyes of White voters and drive [ them by droves into the arms of Ronald Reagan. This is not the t time to strengthen the Demo- v crats’ commitment to anything c but defeating Ronald Reagan. ” Our role must be to lead the way ^ in healing and reuniting the «■ Democratic Party so that it can s remove the present occupant of ' the White House and save the 0 nation. Once that is done, then d we can educate and correct the c .party and sensitize the new L President to our needs on pain b that if he does not hear us and t: respond to our needs, he will be c packing up in 1988. r As quiet as it is kept, this was 1 what we did in 1976.' Once Mr. f Carter was elected, Blacks en- a joyed access to the decision- b making process. Coleman Young picked up the telephone ° and millions of dollars flowed ; into Detroit. E THE CHARLOTTE POST "THE PEOPLE'S NEWSPAPER" Established 1918 Published Every Thursday by The Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc. Subscription Rate $17.68 Per Year Second Class Postage No. 965500 Postmaster Send 3579s To: 1531 Camden Rd., Charlotte. N.C. 28203 Telephone: 704-376-0496 Circulation 11,023 106 Years of Continuous Service Bill Johnson Editor, Publisher Bernard Reeves General Manager Fran Farrer Advertising Director Dannette Gaither Office Manager Second Class Postage No. 965500 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 and will not be returned. r 1 National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc. 240S 8. Michigan Ave. 4S W. 4Mh 81.. SnMc 14*3 Chicago. III. SSSIS New York, New York ISSN Columet S-02** 212-4**-122* THIS IS WHAT WE CAN DO NOW I---. THE BEST DEFENSE AGAINST RATS ISA GARBAGE CANW/TH THE UPON TIGHT'^^—. *****£&*» Children Acquire Values At Home 'o The Editor: .One of the saddest things have encountered in the rea of public education las been the devastating ffects White racism is aving upon the lack of levelopment in the Black hild. Victimized by insti litionalized racism before ntering the public do lain, the Black child has itemalized so much self ate that his academic pro ress seems almost retard d, his lack of self-esteem eal and his fear of White' eople concrete. PTom me primary gaaes ) the secondary, one can itness too many Black hildren ridiculing each ther and their parents for imply being Black. The ery word itself is often sedas an adjective to de cribe negative images. Without self-respect and ie respect for the learning f others around you, aca emic achievement be omes awesome because lere is no real purpose for eing in school. It is in the manifesta on of self-hate, lack of ooperation through dis uptive behavior and mu lal disrespect for Black ' uthority figures, the basis ir academic failure mong Black children can e observed. It is customary in many f our city schools for lack children to create nQgcessary upheaval in a lack teacher’s classroom hile reserving appropri ate classroom decorum for White instructors and “in tegrated” classroom set tings. The quality of in struction has little bearing on these behavior patterns because it appears Black students do not seem to respect Black adults as much as they fear Whites. Children acquire many of their values from the fa mily: who to fear and who, not to fear is often taught in the home. Feelings of self worth and the respect for those who look like you are demonstrated by family members toward neigh bors and each other. Child ren learn at an early age how to articulate their parents’ unspoken feelings. Thus, the irate Black pa rent gathering composure when confronting a White teacher and not the same when confronting a Black teacher, sends a message to the child whom to re spect and for what rea sons. Self-knowledge, under standing and self-esteem would help many of us overcome the limiting fears we seem to be un knowingly passihg on to our children. Black parents ought to talk more about self-worth and black ness with their children. A purpose for going to school should be clearly defined long before kindergarten. Interaction with what a child is learning both at home and in school ought to be part of a parent’s dailv dit. Instructing our children in racial pride does not mean they are taught one race is superior to another. The sooner we abandon this notion, the better. Let us be clearly understood: race is an important issue when it comes to teaching our children self-knowledge and self-esteem. Instead of waiting to sow the seeds of “integration” in our community schools and neighborhoods, why not be about the task of establishing a concrete at mosphere of respect and trust amongst ourselves. Sherman E. Hightower Letters Welcome Do you have something to say? Then do so for everyone to read. The Charlotte Post, the 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 purposes of identification only, writers should include their tele phone numbers. All letters are subject to editing for grammar, libe lous content and when ne cessary, brevity. Please limit leters to 500 words. Letters should be ad dressed: Editor, The Charlotte Post, P. O. Box 'tfllAA rkorlofio Kir oooon From Capitol Hill Roundtable Explores Impact Of Race Alfreds L. Madison Special To The Post Pass&ge of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, paved the way for election of Black officials. As Black candidates have begun to move beyond Black-major ity jurisdictions to com pete in White-majority constituencies the rate has slowed down. As Jesse Jackson says about a Black presidential candidate, Blacks will run not as a candidate for Blacks, but as one who happens to be Black, but a candidate of all the people. Problems that confront minorities are common to the major ity of the American peo ple, since they are not numbered among the most affluent. The Joint Center for Po litical Studies held a round table to explore the impact of race in contemporary politics. Taking part in the discussion were 1982 Black candidates, political con sultants, pollsters and aca demic researchers. It was revealed that although Black candidates attempt to structure their candidacy around parti sanship and other issues, it is almost impossible for them to overcome race. The news media always re fers to the "black candi date." There were lengthy dis cussions on just how a Black candidate should re spond to race inference K Alfrrda L. Madison One suggestion was that they shouid confront the race issue head on, yet when Blacks make race an issue they are falling into the opponent's trap. To say as Mayor Tom Bradley said, "Don’t vote for me because I am Black, but don't vote against me be cause I am Black.” Some felt that appeals to race may be necessary to ignite interest of both the minor ities and whites. It was noted that Blacks cannot rely on the Demo cratic mechanism to sup port them and a Black Re publican stated that he lost because Black Republicans said they wanted to send Reagan a message. Black women candidates find It easier to get elected than Black men, because wo men will support them, and that White men consider them less of a threat. Black candidates have a tremendous task to over come the idea, that a white . candidate can represent state’s people, city’s peo ple and district people, Blacks and all the people; the implication is that a Black can never represent Whites. Criticism of the polling process was discussed. A very small number of Blacks are included in the polling samples of Black White candidates; the ty pical turn-out pattern in such elections, and the need to use White inter viewers when talking to White respondents and Black interviewers when talking to Black respond ents. Even though candidates use television advertise ments, the television will use tricks, such as show ing very plainly that4 the candidate is Black, often they avoid showing the Black in a racially mixed group. several gr;i^srow organ izations were examined. Mayor Bradley was criti cized by some constituents for not differentiating be tween Blacks, Hispanicir-or Asians. He attempted to respond to issues he deemed important to the people. He felt it was a dis service to fragment the people by orgaaMng them in their ethnicity frame work Mikey Michaua, who ran unsuccessfully for Con gress in North Carolina, initiated contacts in the _8L . i Black community and used them to contact the whites. He also targeted interfaith minis teral groups, senior citizens, public housing projects and college cam puses. Michaux also dis tributed voter registration statistics of Blacks in the Black community empha sizing that the Black vote is important in electing a Black candidate. He also emphasized that an issue which appeals to emotions is important in arousing the people’s enthusiasm. Larry Gibson, who man aged the victory campaign of Kurt Schmoke for Mary land’s Attorney General, recognized early that many Whites were willing to vote for Schmoke because he is Black, so it was made clear in all campaign strategies that Schmoke is a Black man. Gibson stressed the use of the electronic media, at every opportunity, be cause it’s a means of reaching more people. r urmsning tree trans portation to the polls on Election Day is important, especially in the rural dis tricts. Mobilizing a candidacy around issues Is a most effective way to get consti tuents interested. The Republican repre sentative revealed that the GOP targets Blacks through analysis of polling data, precinct returns, direct mailing and tele phoning. =WITH SABRINA JOHNSON! \ I I F Sabrina I leen Crisis By Sabrina E. Johnson ..“They feel alienated and alone and it seems like this will bring peace.” Teenage suicide has become one of the most devastating public health problems in the united states. In 1981 over 5,600 young women and men took their lives. Aside from the actual deaths a great percentage more people under the age of 25 consider suicide; at an earlier age than in the past. Many schools and communitie across the United States have realized that suicide is contagious and very serious. According to leading teenage psycholog ists, every school has teens who feel depressed or misunderstood, and are con sidered risk for suicide and other mental problems. If one potential suicide victim goes on and does the unthinkable, in some unique way gives others permission to follow suit. Many high schools are opening “Crisis Rooms” for students to discuss problems of growing and maturing, and teachers have _Jt>egun “suicide watch” on those who have threatened or attempted suicide as well as one’s associates. These task forces work ufider the pretense that they can cut off a potential suicide by proclaiming suicide to be a cop-out and that the people were afraid ,of learning the truth about their lives. They also train parents to look for signs of depression in teens. Suicide knows no economic or social lines; from poor inner city dwellers to wealthy suburbans. Race or national orgin is not a determainate factor. It can strike anywhere. Teens who talk of suicide or attempt it - want to die, and such behavior should be considered serious and handled with care. Many people feel suicide attempts are means to acquire attention and have no intent on dying. Yes and No. Attempted suicide does have a purpose - one wants to escape life through death. Once the attempt is foiled steps can be taken to save that life and others. These steps should be profess ional counseling and family support. leens ana young aauits experience mood iness, sadness, social isolation and depress ion, which are common to this group, are pure signs of possible suicide. During the weeks or months before attempted suicide, relationships between parents, friends and teachers often break down: proving suicide is not an impulsive act. It is carefully planned and calculated. Males and females are at risk for suicide, however more females than males attempt suicide, but more males succeed. Teens kill themselves for a number of reasons as a result of society’s pressures: over crowding of the earth, lack of employ ment for the young, lack of child - parent communication and emotion distress - suicide seems the best way out. The rate of teen suicide can be cut down by forming more suicide task forces within the community before and teen commits suicide not after. “Moon1'^' \ig Income” Subject To Income Tax Greensboro - Thousands of North Carolinians find it necessary to work at more than one Job to meet their economic needs or to af ford a few luxuries for their families. It’s called “moon lighting" and has become a common life style, the In ternal Revenue Service says. The IRS reminds these taxpayers that all income from "moonlighting" mtMt be reported on the Federal tax return. Frequently, in the rush to prepare that return, the taxpayer for gets to include it because, in some cases, a W-2 form is not provided to the worker. Some examples of moon lighting are: A school teacher picking up extra money tutoring students after normal working hours; an off-duty police man doubling as a taxi driver; a secretary selling cosmetics door-UKtoor; or an accountant performing bookkeeping duties during his or her spare time. Too FOr your subscrip tion to The Charlotte Post, call 376-0496 today! p often, these services are paid for in cash, the IRS said, with the intent of not declaring the income In many instances, an employer asks the "moon lighter" to say nothing about the wages to the IRS. This is an evasive tech nique and in violation of tax law. A word to the wise, says the IRS, is to keep good records for yourself and declare that income as required. The "moonlighter” may even be able to claim cer tain expenses incurred in earning extra income For instance, if the kob is um piring baseball games, the coat and maintenance of the uniform, equipment and other expenses could be claimed under "Mis cellaneous Deductions" on Schedule A. Having to work at two Jobs to make ends meet is no disgrace - in fact, it shows that good old Ame rican resourcefulness. But, reporting that income on thq tax return is also the American Way. 1
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 11, 1983, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75