Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Oct. 13, 1983, edition 1 / Page 2
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editorials & comments •w Drinking And Mortality The news media has devoted a great deal of ink and dialogue in commenting on the—state’s new drunken driving law and the number of drivers arrested as the law went into affect. At the same time, 18 and 19 year olds have been quoted on their opposition to the law. One of their big points in objecting to the law is that if they’re old engough to be drafted for military duty they should be old enough and free enough to drink what they please. The very need for the new drunken driving law, the “numbers game” perspection given the law by the news media, and more significantly, the attitude of the youth the law will probably most af fect, and finally, the apparent apathy toward the whole situation by parents indicates a new level of moral decay. Add to this the joy and happy time atmosphere that television com mercials give to drinking beer, even among athletes, and you can begin to understand why deaths on the highways from drunken drivers killing themselves as well as others have reached shameful levels. We don’t n,eed to provide statistical data on the number of persons killed or crippled as a result of drunken driving because one such person is one too many. What we do need to do is ask, wonder, and theorize, about what is happening to our moral character as a state and as a nation when so many of our citizens, especially your youth, are preoccupied with the consumption of beer and other alcoholic beverages. What is in the minds of parents who allow their teenage children, who knowingly drink, to drive an automobile? Is it so difficult for such parents and teenagers to realize that for many of them the consumption of beer and whiskey is simply the first step toward the use of addictive drugs? the Bible warns us in the book of Leviticus 10:9 “Do not drink wine nor strong drink . . . lest ye die . . In spite of this warning and numerous others we appear to be hell-bent on drinking and driving until we find death, our own or so meone elses. Parents, teenagers, ministers, teachers and counselors, it is time to reassess our behavior, attitudes and moral character so that we can stop the senseless drinking, loss.of life, wasted productive minds and the spiritual decay that is occur - ing within us. It is past time to act on this vital issue for the benefit of our youth today and our state and nation tomorrow. Senator Helms Hypocrisy To no one’s surprise, Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., said that he may resort to a filibuster to delay Senate passage of a bill making Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a na tional holiday. While admitting that there is no evidence to support his allegation that King was a communist, Helms nevertheless charged that the slain civil rights leader practiced “action-oriented Marxism.” Such allegations are typically characteristic of the ultra conservatives’ views in our nation’s foreign policy. That is, American should, and too often does, support repressive dictatorial governments of any type as long as they claim to be anti-communist. The Marcas “prepjdency” in the Philippines is juitone example. While Helms might be admired for his courage in opposing a strong ly favored measure to honor a deserving true American,“especial ly before an election year, he has demonstrated that he is a hyprocrite, has no understanding of the politics of compromise, and gives reason for people to believe he’s a racist. Helm’s hypocrisy arises from his sudden decision to abandon the filibuster of the King bill after being told by other Republicans that his failure J,o compromise might hurt passage of a tobacco bill that would benefit N.C. farmers. Thus, while Helms was claiming he would not abandon his beliefs in exchange for a few votes, that is exactly what he did. Significantly too, Helms’ support of the tobacco bill is~an act of hypocrisy because the bill is totally inconsistent with the Senator’s philosophy on free-enterprise, capitalism. Helms thus shows he’s a man without principle. Political Process ..Another mixed dimension about the election is the report that blacks may play adominate role in swing election in areas where 20 percent or more of the voters are black. Yet. this has been said before but with only mixed results. The nearly 95 percent support by blacks in 1980 for Jimmy Carter in a losing cause, some fear may renew the political apathy historically common among black voters. You, the black voters in Char lotte-Mecklenburg, must rise above that kind of defeatist atti tude and demonstrate to other Blacks and Whites that you will not be deterred in your continu ing quest for full participation in the American political process. No one, we repeat, no one is going to make it-easy for blacks, other minorities or just plain John Doe American to secure a share of the better part of wealth and prosperity of this nation. BE APART OF THE NEW AWARENESS T----. f IF BLACK POWER IS TO HAVE ANY RELEVANCE FOR BLACK KEN AND WOKEN IN THE STREET, IT MUST, BE TRANSLATED INTO DOLLARS AND CENTS." Black dollar MAGAZINE JutCtenA h Kilgo’s Column Misses Point Dear Mr. Bill Johnsons I would like to respond to John Kilgo’s recent co lumn “Charlotte Primary Was A Real Yawner” in the October 5 Weekly West. First of all his comment “...Harvey Gantt has made it pretty clear since the primary that he doesn't like Ed Peacock” is for the birds. Of course, this is merely his opinion backed by nothing. Perhaps Mr. Gantt does not agree on Peacock’s policies but to say that he doesn’t like Mr. Peacock is to diminish the mayoral race to a kiddy battle of insults. Mr. Kilgo knocked Dis trict Representation like Larry Holmes knocked Jerry Cooney. He forgot one of the most important reasons prompting District Representation: to make sure black citizens have an equal chance of being elected. To blame low voter turn-out on District Repre sentation is a sorry excuse for apathetic voters. Even with all the media cover age of the candidates I still had a friend to tell me after the election that he did not know it was time for a primary. * I found it interesting and exciting that Gantt filed a discrimination suit against Clemson University and wa6 therefore able to at tend it. This at least gives me the impression that he has the spunk to take the necessary action for jus tice. If people would only read they would find out that our politicians are not as “bland” as Mr. Kilgo makes them out to be. As for Mr. Kilgo’s com ments that “Bob Walton knows how to laugh...he ought to give his cohorts a lesson in how to relax and Bob’s the kind of guy who’ll prop his feet up in public”...that’s fine, for Mr. Kilgo, and anyone else who enjoys a smiling Negro. But for my vote I want a serious person who is not so relaxed because he or she wants to make those posi tive changes for a better community. I do not want to see the bottom of Mr. Walton’s shoes; instead, I want a generous, effective and polite politician who will get to the bottom of our (Charlotte’s) problems and solve them to the best of his or her ability. Thank you, Mr. Johnson, for publishing this paper. It gives me the opportunity to respond. The Post is truly “The Voice of the Black Community.” Sincerely, Tish Burnette Thanks For Bright News Dear Editor: I'm glad 1 have the opportunity to thank you for some “bright news” concerning the sports world. Most reporters seem to think people want to hear about jxeople like Tony Peters who was recently suspended without pay for possession of drugs. I realize these factors can’t be brushed under the rug; however, must they be elaborated on? Apparently you don’t think so. I agree with you. Without your column, few in this area would have any idea of what is happening with CIAA contenders, they get verry little coverage by other newspapers and television stations in the city. Even locally based Johnson C. Smith University gets little attention. There are thousands of people from various colleges living in Mecklenburg who graudated from or attended CIAA schools. They deserve to know what is happening with their schools’ sports as much as the graudates of Duke, UNC-Charlotte, etc. deserve to know what is happening with their teams. Thank-you for realizing this factor and giving well-deserving CIAA schools some attention. Sincerely, J.P. »■ WITH SABRINA JOHN^a—g Sabrina Equal Pay “Equal Pay For Equal Jobs”. That is a common comment made by women in the work force. This does not mean that women want to wear ‘the pants’ but merely paid equally for doing the same or substantially similar work. The 1963 Equal Pay Act was supposed to insure this right for working women, however, unfortunately this act has had no great bearings on women’s earnings. Full-time year around women workers earn only 59 percent of what men earn. Civil Rights Acts and the Equal Pay Act have not narrow ed the gap, henceforth it is wider today than in 1955 — which was 64 percent. Women in the working world face many pro blems — namely the problem of pay or lack of it. The majority of women work because of economic need whether they are single, divorced, widowed or with husbands earning less than $15,000 — all must work. These women are 47 million strong — that is 15 million more than in 1971. In 1981,43 percent of all workers were women. Black women made up 49 percent of the black labor force and white women 42 percent of the white labor force. This increase in working women is due to nearly equal labor force participation rates for women during the 1970s. According to the U.S. Department of Labor • — Women’s Bureau (1982), women with 4 or more years of college earned about the same as men with only one to three years of high school ($12,085 and $11,936, respectively). Full time working women with high school diplomas earned the same income as men who had not completed elementary school ($12,332 and $12,866, respectively). Traditionally women are concentrated in low paying dead end jobs and earn only about thee-fifths (59 percent) of the average man. w omen continue to occupy a large portion of traditional jobs such as secretary, nurse, retail sales clerk, seamstress and teacher! However this trend is changing. Within the last seven years women have pushed their ways into business, law, medicine (as doc tors), newscasting, and reporting, and everything in between even construction workers. A large portion of households in the United States are maintained by women— one out of six in 1982. Of all races 9,712,000 (16 percent) families were maintained by women. Of that ^number 6,878,000 (13 percent) were white women, 2,646,000 ( 41 percent) were black women and 778,000 ( 23 percent) were of Hispanic origin women. These statistics are strong enough to make the president and presidential hopefuls take notice of the im portance of working women and women’s issues. Women, especially black women are very important staples in the current society. Not only are they making major accomplishments in the business world, they are taking over. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is one of the tools used by working women in ac complishing equal pay for equal work. AFSCME has been instrumental in filling pay equity/comparable worth class action suits in the states of Connecticut, Washington, Wisconsin and Hawaii and against the cities of Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Chicago. These states and cities have been found in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Eights Act for paying female employees in female job classifications lower wages. Politicians reactions or lack of reaction to these issues can and will sway elections because, if one is not concerned with women’s issues^the whv .should women vote-for him I The average working woman is as well educated or better educated than her male counterpart. More educated women seek paid employment more readily than non-educated women. She can expect to spent 27.7 years of her life working. She is educated, motivated, competitive and demanding, so why should not her issues play an important part in elec tions on all levels. And why should she not push for equal pay, after all it is women who are responsible for shaping leaders. Hart Says “No” To War Powers Compromise Washington - Senator that he is "unwilling to give the President a free hand” with American Involve ment in Beirut, Lebanon and voted against compro mise legislation. "I cannot support the so called ‘compromise’ War Powers Resolution. It is a truly dubious compromise at test The President maintains it does not im plement the War Powers Act. Secretary Shultz has made it clear that the Ad ministration can expand, prolong or change our mi litary involvement in Le banon, regardless of the wishes of Congress. "The likelihood that we could get into much more •ertous problems in Labe non in druAl TodAy’t votA eaaenUaily gives the Presi dent unlimited authority for a year and a half to increase the size of the military forces. The Presi dent could easily involve these forces in military conflict and cause Ameri can casualties or the loss of lives. Reaching the public Is eely a phone call away. Call Post classified ads, 37**«- / feegjl -J ■ / 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 t’nder 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. 2400 S Michigan Ave. 45 W. 45th St.. S«lte 14*1 Chicago, ill. 00010 New York, New York I MM Columrt 5-0200 212-480-1220 V . brom (xipitol Hill Black Caucus Weekend Victimized Alfreds L. Madison Special To The Post Superstition deemrr? an unlucky number. Yet, in many respects the Con gressional Black Caucus’ 13th legislative weekend was an overwhelming suc cess. For its press cover age and the press in gen eral, number 13 was a co lossal disaster. The New Times and Washington Post gave great coverage to Jesse Jackson and the Post style section followed Congress man Charles Rangel around and did an exten sive story on him. The wonderful workshops, Ninety Eight Congres sional Black Caucus ac complishments, and the challenging speeches were This was the first that the press was so badly handled. In previous years, the press has always been either given dinner tickets or they have been fed se parately. There have been times when the press din ner has been underwritten by local businesses Press members who were al lowed to attend the awards dinner, had to stand in the back of the ballroom No seats were provided for them No transcripts of the speeches, or any material on the workshops were available- in the press room The only materials that could be gotten from the press room were the Caucus Biography books Alfreds L. Madison and the program sched ules. Press members were asked to write in ahead of time requesting people with whom they would like to interview. No interviews were arranged. Many of the press members walked out of the ballroom and expressed the idea that they would not attempt to cover another Caucus weekend unless better ar rangements are made for the press This reporter has covered, even One Thou sand Dollar Plate dinners and the press is always served in an adjoining room, they are free to attend the receptions, pre ceding the dinner and chairs are provided them in the dining room. The Caucus aims and accom plishments are only made known to the people through the press So im provements wtll have to be made for press members or their works and goals will be a well-kept secret. Because of popular de mand the Caucus increased its workshop time from one day to three days. There were around 30 workshopaT centering on issues that are peculiar to poor and minorities. The Unemployment Workshop stressed aware ness of the economic plight of blacks during World War II, black unemployment was almost twice that of whites. Now it’s two and a half times that of whites with 56 percent black youth unemployment. The group was urged to pressure their senators and the White House to push for passage of the Hawkins Commun ity Renewal Employment Act. The Minority Business Workshop, chaired by Par ren Mitchell, emphasized the obstacles Mack busi nesses are now facing from this Administration. New business opportunities were stressed with ven tures into the international market. Ronald Dellums, chaired the Military Workshop. It was shown that President Reagan's nuclear control (asking for a verifiable treaty) hides the fact that some weapons are impos sible to verify Dellums says peace is not the ab sence of nuclear weapons, but the absence of condi tions that cause war. Work shop attendants were urged to give strength to their weak Congress mem bers who only act from constituent pressure to halt this insane, immoral mi litary build-up. In the next month Mr. Delluma, who is second to none in the know ledge of the world mili tary phobia, is coming out with a book, "Defense Sense: The Search For a Rational Military Policy.” The workshops covered every phase of American economic, social and poli tical life. The workshop attendants expressed that they learned a great deal and that they received valuable hints on just how they can go back home and make valuable contribu tions to improvements in the American ways of life. Caucus Chairman Julian Dixon enumerated the Caucus’ 96th Congress suc cesses. They were: House day Holiday, having 75 per cent of the Caucus alter native budget placed in the Democratic Budget plan, a six-month extension of un employment benefits, CBC provision in the Interna tional Monetary Fund bill requiring opposition to loans to South Africa, five year extension of Civil Rights Commission, 10 percent set aside for minor ity business federal go vernment contracts, new fair housing legislation, Hawkins Community Re newal Employment Act, and funding for effective domestic programs to undo damage from the Reagan revolution.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Oct. 13, 1983, edition 1
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