Political Premises For Blacks -
Rewritten From
The Carolinian
Nation of Islam spokesman
Minister Louis Farrakhan *108
succinctly and pointedly laid out ,.
a political premise, for black
Americans which should be
wrestled with by each black
leader and voter:
“If Jesse Jackson can register
millions of blacks, His panics,
native Amcricana,women and
poor whites to vote, this would be
a marvelous achievement, for it
would change the face, style and
base of the Democratic Party.
Jesse’s candidacy will lift the
ceiling of the thinking of our
people, especially our young
people.”
After chewing on the above,
think about this:
“The movement that Jesse’s
candidacy will fuel may produce S
the greatest earthquake in our
history. This earthquake will
stimulate and awaken the sleep
ing giant, the black church. And
she will finally take her proper
and rightful place and lead the
chosen of God to the promised
land of freedom, justice and
equality,” Minister Farrakhan
continued.
And then he makes a crucial
statement for, those who for some
reason just cannot find it within
their hearts to support this presi
dential movement: “If you must
criticize (him), by all means do
it in the spirit of love and unity.”
The points worthy ot note in
this presentation are (1) there is
the potential of registering mill
ions oi new voters and involving'-«
them in the political process for
the first time; (2) the political
awareness of young blacks can'
potentially be raised to a higher
level; (3) the blackrchurch now,
has the opportunity, to be an
integral part of the reshaping of
political consciousness; (4) free
dom, justice and equality can
again be placed on the front
burner of the American con
science; (5) let us keep criticism
of the Jackson candidacy posi
tive and (6) Rev. Jackson has the
ability to pull together the di
verse segments of our society.
- (Minister Farrakhan’s associa
tion with the campaign is evi
dence of Rev. Jackson’s open
arms attitude.)
Too many doubting Thomases
in the black community will only
serve to retard the potential to
the black electorate and throw
cold water on the unrealized
aspirations of thousands of
young, poor and previously un
involved blacks. Why one would
elect to follow the course of
retardation remains to be seen.
What can be seen is that Rev.
Jackson's campaign, which has,
according to some polls, brought
him to the point of tying with
Sen. Glenn for, second place in
the race, is a serious contender
having a major impact on the
. 1984 Presidential, campaign.
Blacks who would stand in the
way of this movement must have
genuine expla na tions with nobler
motives.
What are they?
LetVNot Sit 0n The Sidelines
We applaud the City OfChar
lotte for its efforts to schedule
hearings to obtain idea£and
opinions on the improvement of
the black west side area.
The charge here Is fe the
committee which has bedo or
ganized for the purpose of head
ing up the movement t6 develop
plans for improving tge west
While there is limited happir
ness on our gart, The fast views r
the developmeht of office build
ings, commercial space and
housing in tbewest side ai a
move that is long overdue. We
also believe the black contrac
tors should be given the op
portunity to share in this econo
mic flow.
-Construction and development
mean money for equipment, sup
plies and labor. The answer of
who will share this wealth
should come from the black
community, for it avails the .
west side very little if the white
community takes over the man
agement, ownership and plan
ning for the future of the black
west side community.
■ The Post believes blacks have
the means of parttcipatftig in and
contributing to this long-needed
development. We feel that there
are construction firms in the
black community with the capa
bilities and the resources to point
< o«t to toe city government what
it needs and wants to give its
community parity.
Another most important ques
tion to be asked a: “Will the
lending institutions be willing'to
put up low interest money for
such a program?
We urge toe black firms in our
community with track records
and substantial histories and ex
perience in performance in con
struction, which basically have
gone unnoticed, to come forward
and get in on the planning at a
better lifestyle for the west side
community.
~r6sfm
Pressing Problems hi The Black Community
. ._•_' . *_
V ' ..-..I- ■ t-. —
Helping Poor Black Farmers
Dear Sir: tt—
. .New York - They talked
about jobs and business de
velopment in the Philadel
phia inner city; about help
ing poor, blade farmers in
the deep South; about
strengthening the nation’s
largest civil rights organ
ization and of finding jobs
for 19,798 youths in New
York City last summer.
This was the thrust of a
ful Cj]
i I
i *
Sponsors of the event at
the Grand Hyatt Hotel
1 chose some of th£ nation’s
corporations noted for their
innovative involvements
with community groups so
as tq "instruct and inspire”
other firms and other
community groups.
Ms. Balthazar explained
that government statistics
showed that blacks owned
more than six million
acres of^ farmland in the
deep 3ou£ff at the turn of
the century. These holdings
have been seriously eroded
•'i ■■'iii'afci iV
since that time 'due to
poverty, migration and
also theft by some unscru
pulous competitors.
Funds from Equitable
help black farmers keep
their lands and to make
them more profitable.
Donald Harris, the Direc
tor of Public Affairs Pro
grams for Philip Morris,
Inc., 'told seminar partici
pants how' the cigarette
manufacturer had been the
coordinating .compamy for
New X^k City’s massive
effort by'corrAnorcia) firms
to provibebummer jobs for
youths in the private
sector.
He said the effort in
volved more than 2,000
businesses - large and
small - that hired 19,708
youths between 16 and 21
who earned wages for the
summer that totaled more
than $15 million.
Tony Browfa, the ftar
- rator-prorturer of the tde
vision program, “Tony
Brown’s Journal,” in
formed the seminar parti
cipants .that his sponsor,
the Pepsi Cola Company,
had agreed to the produc
tion of four ph)grams do
cumenting and commemo
rating the 75th Anniver
sary of the National As
sociation for the Advance
ment of Colored People
(NAACP).
Pepsi Cola, in addition,
agreed to purchase -3,333
yoqth memberships in the
NAACP that would, in
turh, leverage many
thousands more member
M kin the nation's largest
civil rights or
The seminar sponsor, the
Na&Mlri Association.of
Developers was
specialists in corporate and
marketing communica
tions with minority con
sumers and with commun -
ity organizations. The
clients and employers of
this organization include
many' Fortune -500 com
panies.
“Because successful new
businesses inevitably
ate new jobs, the com
munity benefits greatly
from investments'by pri
vate corporations whose ul
timate goal is to make a
profit from those new
business start-ups,” Mr.
Jones said.
THE CHARLOTTE POST
-— 1 ' 1
“THE PEOPLE’S NEW8PAPER”
Established 1918
Published Every Thursday
by The Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc.
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_Publishers’ Association
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S4M 8. Mlckigaa Ave 45 W. 45th St., Salt* 14*3
Chicago. Ill MS1S New York. New York ISSM
Cohnwet M2U 212-486-1220
FremCopUoim g|
/Administration_0OC
Alfreds L. Maduon .
Special TO The Past
Bora ?S years ago in
Savannah, Georgia, when
legalized discrimination
was enjoyed by whites who
wen burdensome, degrad
ing and Just plain mean to
blacks, Clarence Thomas
dackM-to go min
istry. He was attending the
seminary when Martin
Cuther King, Jr. was shot.
He heard one of white
fellow seminaries say,
“I’m glad they shot him. I
hope the s.o.b. dies.’’
Thomas decided to quit
the ministerial pursuit and
go into law. He is a grad
uate of Yak; Law School.
After practicing law and
holding other Jobe, he now
beads the Equal Employ
ment Opportunities Com
mission (EEOC).
This is the umbrella or
ganization over all govern
ment agencies, fair em
ployment practices Thom
as keeps the umbrella
hoisted over the rules
made by the agencies to
see that they comply with
congressional regulations
and court decisions con
cerning fair employment
Since the Reagan Ad
ministration, jn accom
modating the Heritage
Foundation, has made an
all-out assault on civil
rights gains, it has found
the EEOC Director, in
many instances, a dissent
ing voice. There is an on
going confrontation exist
ing between Mr. Themes
t
Black New Orleans police.
Chief White House Counsel
Ed Mnmr heard shout the
brief and very qutckly
called Mr. Thomas and tbe .
EEOC lawyer to a meet
ing with Attorney General
William FrenehSroitfa and
three other White House,
members, among these .
were Melvin Bradley
(Mack).tbe White House
policy staff. It Is reported
that the Attorney General
threatened the EEOC
director, stating that if he
filed the brief, he would
issue an order preventing
the agency from* having
anything to do with state
aftd local cases. The mat
ter wes put to a vote. Of
course, Mr. Thomas and
Ms attorney could not vote.
The vote was four to one
against filing the brief Tbe
lone dissenting vote Wee
cast by Mel Bradley
Barry Goldstein of the
NAACP Legal Defease
Fund said, "It must have
been a strong affront to Mr.
Thomas. I’m sore he was
mad. He tried to fight
back." Many observers say
Reynolds' was a political
victory, while Thomas won
a theological victory.
Just a month later Thom
as was able to turn tbe
tobies an Reynolds, when
Ms agsncy refused to in
tervene ta the Detroit ease
which waa similar to New
Orleans. The Justice De
partment lost its appeal
becJUM thedttpreme Court
refuted to hear the aide.
a
This proves, conclusively,
that the Justice Depart
ment will switch positions
in order to prevent fair
employment for minori
Mr. Thomas stated that
EEOC dosed 75,000 cases
iq 1983. These were done
without consideration of
goals and timetables Some
of these were individual
cases and some class ac
tion. Many were seftled
with consent decrees, and a
few, through law suits.
The EEOC Director bad
a battle with the Justice
Department for not com
plying with the very laws
its duty is to enforce. The
Department flf Justice pre
sented a plan which was
rejected because the plan
gaire no numerical goals
for Us workers. Thomas
said that the Department
may be doing a ftpe job, but
it’s Ida responsibility to
collect data from the dif
ferent agencies to deter
mine their law compliance.
. .Clarence Thomas spoke
with pride of (he Genera)
Motors case. GM waa sued
for. cfiecrimlnation in em
ployment The case waa
settled by agreement, the
company agreed to give the
$42 million payment lor
programs for thoftTwho
were discfimlnited
pfrtSe didnot reoetvekuy
back pay. Civil rights dr
ganizations hall this aettle
maat as a sign of weak
3
"our staff Kept encouraging the educa
tors and parents involved to look at
substantive education issues,” said Robert
Brown, SEPEP’s Executive Director.
“People had to take the risk of really
communicating and trusting but we think
the goal of .school improvement made the
risk worthwhile,” Brown said.
According to Brown, the SEPEP experi
ence has particular relevance in light of
recent national reports on : the crisis in
education thpt have cited the need for
parents to demand improvements in
schools., :y. .f%;
Brown said most parents know very little
about the “guts” of a school’s program and
operation iand this can lead to demands that
are “not on target” and responses by the
school that are “superficial.”
“We believe the ‘bottom-up’ perspective
of parents is an essential Ingredient of
school improvement end we believe the
process we have outlined can help schqgA
officials make sure that perspective 1b
informed,” Brown said.
The SEPEP report, “Parents Can Make A
Difference-At School” is available for $6.95
from the Southeastern Public Education
Program, P. 0. Box 566Ql, M&con» Geor
The Southeastern Public Education
Program- is a private, non-profit organ
ization that works to strengthen pUblic
education toy providing technical assist
ance to parents and educators.
■.W - ' • H0y% *
Accordfyg To Dr. Walden:_
Home Buying Is Best
Financial hvestr int
r \ By Marie Schnell
Special To The Poet
Buying a home is the best financial
investment one can make, right?
Well, maybe. <•**/,<* —
According to Dr. Michael L. Walden,
associate professor of economics and busi
ness at North Carolina State University,
there are times when the investor is better
off renting and investing the extra money
elsewhere.
He recently has written an article on the
topic, “A Simple Procedure for Evaluating
Homeownership as an Investment,” which
appeared in "The Journal of Consumer
Affairs,” a publication of The American
Council on Consumer Interests. ,u
ffThe whole point is to analyze if buying is if
better than renting and investing efee
where,” said Walden. The economist said
people need to recognize that money they
would put into buying a house, shove what
they would nav in rent, could he invests