Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Sept. 1, 1983, edition 1 / Page 2
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editorials & comments Unity, Issues And Politics As most people know by now, there have been recent indica tions that some parts of the so-called national black political leadership is considering a black presidential candidate for the national elections of 1984. Fur thermore, the Rev. Jesse Jack son has shown clearly that he plans to be that candidate with or without the endorsement of these black political leaders. These brief comments clearly indicate that there is no consen sus among the black leadership nor among black voters on whether there should be a black presidential candidate or if Jesse Jackson should be that candidate if such an idea were strongly favored. These few facts in and of themselves are the signs and characteristics of a lost cause. Writing in this column on August 11, Charles G. Adams put the question of unity, or better still disunity, in perspective when he wrote: “The political leadership of the race was con fused about the target in 1980. They were cool and hesitant toward Jimmy Carter...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 themselves.” Campaign Issues Secondly, it is our belief that a primary reason for this uncer tainty and disunity arises from the little mentioned question of a presidential political platform and-or campaign issues. Too much has been said about the running of a black presidential candidate and too little has been said about the campaign issues of a candidate who happens to be black. Furthermore, to assume that black voters will vote for a candidate just because he’s black is a major mistake. Black voters, like any others, need issues and an understanding of how candidates plan to pursue problem solutions before decid ing who to vote for. Thirdly, a candidate for any public office must be aware of the political climate, general voter attitude, and key voter concerns. Except for some very general observations about spe cific “special interest” issues to blacks, neither the black lead ship nor Jesse Jackson have offered platform proposals of a broader concern to all vot*”**' - THE CHARLOTTE POST “THE PEOPLE'S NEWSPAPER" Established 1918 Published Every Thursday by The Charlotte Poat Publishing Co., Inc. Subscription Rate 917.68 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 FranFarrer Advertising Director Dannette Gaither Office Manager Second Class Postage No. M5500 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. -— National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. MM 8. Michigan Are. 4S W. 4Mh 84.. S«Me 14S3 Chicago. III. SSS1S New Yack. New York ISSSS Colamet 5-aZM 2I2-4SS-I22S From Capitol Hill Resegregation Actions Ignore Truth Alfred* L. Madison Special To Hie Post The Reagan Administra tion, in sacrificing minor ity and women’s right for the blessing of conserva tives has staged an inten sive assault on affirmative action by using subtle techniques for discrimin ation in employment. Recent Bureau of Labor statistics show that overall unemployment dropped in June from 10. 1 to 10 percent, whites from 8.0 to 8.6 percent; Macks re mained unchanged at 30 6 percent while Hispanic un employment rose from 13.8 to 14. These figures cer tainly show the need for effecting methods to bridge these disparity gaps. Yet, the Reagan Administration is striving hard to disman tle every single method proposed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court on affirmative action. Affirmative action ori ginated in 1935 aa the Wagner Act, which author ised the National Labor Relations Board to order affirmative action as a re medy for unfair labor prac tices. It was made a part of New York State’s Human Rights Law in 1945 Then in 1961 It was a prescribed tool for ensuring equal op portunity among federal contractors. Since then every branch of the go vernment, including the ^ipreme Court, has au Alfreds L. Madison thorlzed the use of race, ■ex, ethnic and handi capped in affirmative action in education, em ployment and all economic aspects. Affirmative action is not only numerical goals and timetables, but is the use of race and sex for semiring fair employment and edu cational practices. The Civil Rights Com mission has detailed re ports which show that af firmative action works. There has been increased participation of women and minoritioa in higher edu cation and employment with the use of affirmative methods. Employers have gained access to larger pools of potential employ eea, and Improved methods of evaluation. Employees have been assess*^ on criteria which is mere job related. TTte Administration ob jections, as stated by Clarence Pendleton, Civil Rights Commission Chair man, will eliminate the methods set forth by Con gress in Title VII and court upheld methods. “Goals and timetables cause racial bitterness," says Pendleton. What Pendleton fails to recog nize is that racial bitter ness existed, continuously, long before the advent of affirmative action. Women and minorities must not be forced to wait until ob jections to their advance ment dissipate. Another affirmative action liability, says the Administration, is that it has increased the number of designated groups re quiring affirmative action. Affirmative action did not increase the requiring groups, but existing con ditions demonstrate a necessity, for affirmative action in order to obtain fair and equal treatment. • Pendleton also feels that affirmative action is dan gerous for employers, to have protected classes-on the payroll because salar ies and promotions may result in costly legal pro ceedings. Contrary to this belief is that the quickest way to bring employers before the courts is their failure to have no women, minorities or other di versities in their work force. Pendleton states that at i ' firmative action causes employers to hire super qualified minorities, in some cases it deligitimizes minority success, and it leaves behind the less qualified or disadvantaged minorities, who do not have proper credentials or track record for employment or school. There is no evidence anywhere which supports the view that employers have been forced to hire unqualified minorities. De legitimization has only been in athletic areas. De valuation of women and minorities derive from racism, ignorance and envy. The criticism that affirmative action leaves behind less qualified minorities who do not have proper credentials or track record is in contrast to the entire affirmative action thrust. The purpose is to make available opportun ities to perfectly capsble people who do not have the generally, required creden tials or track record. ThU Administration and Chairman Pendleton have ignored the historical dis crimination of women and minorities in every facet of American life. They ignored the Mack business success through affirm ative action enforced me thods, while being en forced by previous Admin istrations; small business es gave employment to many people. black and white and Hispanic - such as our Middle East and Central American policies, atomic weaponry, the environ ment, Soviet-U.S. relations, fo reign trade and the overall state of the economy. In the same cohtest, as we have noted previously, part of the narrow minded thinking of those who are supporting the Jackson presidential candidacy has been the success of Harold Washington in being elected mayor of Chicago and the pri mary election victory of a black over former mayor Frank Rizzo in Philadelphia. What these same thinkers have overlooked has been the defeat of Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley, a black, in his bid to be governor of California. . Anti-Hack Voters Bradley, a low-keyed, top administrator highly regarded by the Los Angeles voters, both black and white, was leading in all the polls in his bid for governor, yet he lost the election. Many knowledgeable observers of California politics claim that there was just enough anti-black voters in the polling places to defeat Bradley. Surely, Bradley is better qualified to be governor or even president than is Jesse Jackson by way of experience, general acceptance by voters of all ethnic groups, and is largely untainted by controversy. While Bradley’s experience, no more than that of Washington, is not necessarily a measure of what a black presidential can didate can expect. However, if blacks and others are seeking to measure the climate for a black candidate then certainly Bradley’s experience is more relevant to Jackson’s situation than is Washington’s, a yet un proven public administrator who won an election that left bitter and hostile racial feelings. • Blacks with a more realistic look at the political scene must realize that in the 1984 election, their choice is between unity with Democrats to defeat Rea gan or disunity with Democrats and with other blacks while riding an ego trip and seeing Reagan re-elected. A black pre sidential candidate cannot win in 1984 even if fully endorsed by either major political party. THE BEST DEFENSE AGAINST RATS. IS A GARBAGE CAN WITH THE UDOH TIGHTL^r—^ * Lk.. il f a V ^ Hades Have Just As IVf_h Knowledge Dear Editor: . .A black should run for the presidency in 1984. A black candidate has just as much wit - and knowledge - as a yhite candidate. Who ever said that a black can’t do a good and decent job as president? Blacks have proven for centuries that they are capable human beings. Why should an in dividual be less of a hu man because of his or her skin color? After all, God created all of us with a brain, but for so long blacks have been denied the fact that they have a brain. It’s time for a change for blacks, and I truly believe that the 80s is the time for blacks to make this change. Sometimes I think about the many wonderful blacks who lost their lives for the black race to come this far. Some were lucky enough not to lose their lives, but for the Martin Luther Kings, the Medgar Everses, their memories live on. Booker T. Wash ington, William E.B. Du Bois and James Weldon Johnson (just to name a few) are proof that black men and women can suc ceed as president of the United States. These great men were in an era when blacks were treat ed like the lowest animals of God’s creation, but they proved it to themselves, blacks, and yes even whites, that the Negro race is knowledgeable and hard working individuals. There are so many great black men who are capable of running for president in 1984 (no offense to our beautiful black women, but as black women, we must put our black men first - after all, God created man first). My black male candidate for 1984 could be the Rev. Jesse Jackson, because he was the first black man who spoke out in public about running for president in 1984. Give credit where credit is due! Darlene Faison Jackson Is Best Man Dear Editor ..Why is so much empha sis put on the color of our next president? ! A black should be en titled to the office of pre sidency. The way society has it, the white president helps the rich and neglects the poor. If we are fortun ate enough to get a black person in this position, will the nation’s pendulum make a drastic change? I’m puzzled as to what , would happen to our socie would happen to our al ready chaotic nation. If our civil rights lead er, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., has lived, I be lieve he would have made an excellent president. I regret that he isn’t with us physically, but spiritually he will always remain viable. I think the next beet man is Rev. Jesse Jack son. Hopefully, if hegets to the presidential election, maybe he’ll get the Job done without distributing too many opinions that are biased toward our nation and its citizens. My point here is to stress the capabilities of our next president whether he or she is black or white. I don’t think we’re looking for a president just to look good on television, nor to offer “lip service,’’ but we, as citizens of the U.S., need and desire a president who will acknowledge allcrises, needs of blacks and whites as a whole, educational disorders, etc. Allow us, by God’s will, to get a president who has love in his heart for all humanity. Kim Ellis Reader Praises The Post Dear Sir: ..You are doing a great job. I especially ap preciate your perspective on the local black youth in chronicling the outstand ing contributions they’re making in the city of Char lotte and also your aware ness concerning the church. My God bless your continued success. Sincerely, George Jackson WITH SABRINA JOHNSON! Sabrina Lesbian Mothers? “Mother is always the primary,” this is; the feeling most lesbian mothers have* towards their families. Recently studies have been conducted to find out which type of mother can be considered good mothers -* lesbians or heterosexual women? Obviously; the studies were nonconclusive: Good', mothers are those who provide a warm,.' loving and stimulating environment for their children. Statistics and surveys place United States lesbian-mother population around 270,000 - 3 percent of the nine million female headed^ households. More adventurous figures show three million of the estimated 10,000, Lesbian head households and' are mothers. Whatever the number, United States society turns away and pretends the situation doe? «not exist. In this society people view homosexuals and lesbians as sexual beings, whereas mothers are supposed to be every thing except sexual. Not until recent times, the term lesbian mother was considered a contradiction itr terms - lesbians could not be mothers:* Studies done of lesbian-headed families: have found that: One, offspring of lesbianr mothers appear to show no increase of; decrease in gender-related incidences, sex: role confusion or general development^ Secondly, lesbian mothers are not man-: hating, amazon monsters, but are women, who cherish traditional ideas on child-bear> ing and experience the same disappoint-' ments, delights, stresses and strains as do heterosexual mothers. Research done by Dr. Martha Kirk patrick (Los Angeles) has found that lesbian mothers can and do provide good . parenting and an environment which sup ports heterosexual development. Dr. Ellen Lewin found that there was nothing con-, clusively wrong with children of lesbian mothers. Dr. Kirkpatrick conducted a blind study of 20 children, ages five to twelve reared by single lesbian mothers and the same number of children reared by single hetero sexual mothers.* When Dr- Kirkpatrick began her work 10 years ago, she found that lesbian mothers were non-existent to the public. However, with the onset of various liberation movements, they evolved public ly and have taken a significant space in society. 4 The studies done by Dr. Kirkpatrick found no distinguishing characteristics between; the lifestyles, rearing practices and demo-: graphic data of single lesbian mothers verses single heterosexual mothers. Dr. Ellen Lewin (University of Cali fornia) found that among the 43 lesbian mothers she studied “There were people who had plastic furniture covers, people who attend church on a regular basis, have their sons take out the garbage and daughters wash dishes - in short, average Americans. Lewin’s study also found that the tradi tional notions on family are as Dr. Kirkpatrick found them to be. These women (lesbian mothers) were as eager as he terosexual mothers that the children’s fathers remain an important part of their lives. Dr. Kirkpatrick found lesbians not to be as bitter or angry as most straight mothers after divorce. Lesbian mothers believe that their child ren need the equal amount of contact with adult males (especially their fathers) if they are to develop successfully. Both heterosexual and lesbian mothers complain of the lack of economic support from their ex-spouse. Economic difficulties continue to be the greatest problems for single mothers - regardless of sexual orientation. It was also found that ex-husbands of lesbian mothers tend to be less supportive (financially) because of the ex-wife’s sexual preference. Lesbian mothers find strength within, themselves and families. They develop such1 strong support systems within the family that transcend the pressures of society: And that is causing society to stand up, take notice and realize that a mother is a mother - no matter what her sexual preference may be. JCSU Ffoslmn Arrive Continued From Page I bar. “We have a lot of events planned for the new class this week. There will be talent shows, pep rallies and a trip to Ca rewinds There will also be a formal black tie banquet given for the freshmen this year.” Williams felt that every thing is more organized this year. "We had a lot of instructional sheets to peas pit. These told you where to go to get what and this cuts down on a lot of con fusion and Questions.” And of course committee members are always there to talk to. "I how It was to be man." — _
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Sept. 1, 1983, edition 1
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