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The Politics Of Change? The-gains and achievements ~ over the past 20 years by blacks in civil rights, economic op portunity and political repre sentation, are being eroded by the policies and insensitivities of the Reagan Administration and its philosophical linkage with the tTvS. Supreme Court. Evidence of this erosion was apparent re cently when the Justice Depart ment reversed its former po licy and began to support 10 white police officers and fire fighters in Birmingham, Ala bama, in challenging the city’s affirmative actions to help blacks and women win promo tions. Furthermore, it is now well known that President Reagan stripped the U.S. Civil Rights Commission of the members opposing such policy changes and thus blacks and similarly affected people must seek new ways to retain justice and equal -ity^---— Such policy and policy changes by the Reagan Administration are simply characteristic of the comments quoted in this column last week from U.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge J. Dick son Phillips. He said that from Reconstruction to the present time, appeals to racial preju dice have been used by white candidates to influence voters in North Carolina. ft has been out of this back ground that the three-judge Cir cuit Court ruled that legislative districts in Mecklenburg and five other jurisdictions must be re drawn. Ironically, the apparent ly most popular plans for the eight-member House of Repre sentatives and the four-member Senate seats are designed to protect incumbents from run ping against each other and gpeating a black district out of the city’s northwest section. Stack Of] The most obvious fti these plans is that_ bave a negative impact upon raeial attitudes especially as related to bousing patterns and trends and with that on school pupil assignment plans. How ever, it can be equally argued racial attitudes nationally, state wide and locally are still such that most white voters won’t vote-" for a black candidate no mat ter how qualified he or she may be. Most black elected officials and political leaders favor eight single-member districts in the House and four single-member districts in the Senate because portunity for Ublack ^represent ation and have the least impact on racial}consciousness. Again, in part for selfish reason, Meck lenburg’s delegation is not likely to vote to find themselves com peting against each other for . re-election. Hade Qr_f jate The only sure thing in all of this is that the present at-large system is weighted against black candidates. Blacks have won only four of 16 political - cam paigns in Mecklenburg legisla tive district elections since 1966. Equally important to these num bers is the fact that many other potential black candidates did not even try to seek office because of an awareness that too many white voters just won’t vote for a black no matter how well qualified. ——?—-—- — Our comments^ are not to indi cate a blunt criticism of all white voters, but the evidence is' there to show that voting patterns are and have been heavily motivated by race. For example, while blacks comprise 22 percent of the state’s population, they make up only seven percent of the state legislature. This seven percent rose from a mere three percent as late as 1962 as a result of redistricting, the same issue we are confronted with now. ■ The focus of the federal judges’ order is the requirement to break the concentrations of black voters out of multi member districts because such districts illegally dilute blacks' voting strength. It is tragic that in 1984 racial attitudes are still such that in A^m^didates for public officii’higher f decision-making employment opportunities, where most of us still reside, where we spend our leisure time, where we work and what we do, where we worship God and, yes, even where we are buried are largely based on race. Thus, with oii# advances in social science, especially in race relations, we have yet learned to “love, trust ahdr respect each other as human: beings beyond the color of our skins, the tex ture of our hair or the contour of our facial features. Until we do, voting patterns and every other aspect of our lives will deny us the fuller fruits of the good life. UNITED COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP_NF.tny.n Nrtwi I ■ i I have strongly endorsed Carl Stewart for the De mocratic nomination and election as Lt. Goyemor for North Carolina. I have considered carefully all of the factor* in making this endorsement; my duties as State Superintendent, the traditions of the political arena, the conditions of stress and difficulty under which public elementary secondary education has struggled and lost much support over the last four yearsT Carl Stewart has a strong record of advocacy and action in^educatian as a long-time member of the North Carolina House at Representatives and espe cially as Speaker of the House at a time of great progress in North Carolina. We need, again, the hind of positive, caring, aggres sive leadership of the type given in the early 70’s by Carl Stewart, Ralph Scott and many others in days of real growth in education in North Carolina. Cart has the wisdom, the experi ence, the training and the true sense of what good government really b and what lt can truly mean to education and to all of us. He needs to bring those talents and that commit ment to the Presidency of the Senate and to the work of the State Board of Edu cation. The decision as to who shall be the head Lt. Go vernor is, I believe, the most important deci sion before the voters of North Carolina. A. Craig Phillips State Superin tendeat of Public Instruction Tutor Workshop If you can REAd> and you want to help someone who can’t, come take the tea hour tutor workshop con ducted by the burg County LitericI Council. It will be held at the Boroughs Research Agen cy, 2117 McCIintock Rd4 Charlotte, N.C., Friday, March 9, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p. m. and Saturday, March 10,10 a.m. to 5 p.m. One in five, or more than 50,000 adults in Mecklen burg County cannot read well enough to ffll nut a )nh application or read direc tions on food and medi cine labels. To register, and for fur ther information, ca|l Joyce McManus 379-5991, 12-4 p.m. Monday - Friday, or any other time and leaVe your name and number fok a return call. Do you know an adult needing help in reading? Suggest they call as above. It can be just as personal and confidential as wished. Because of your support, our tutor workshops con tinue to be well attended by concerned adults, who havelflen helped others to more fulfilling lives. Scout Rally Mecklenburg Service Unit No. 5 will hold a Girl Seout Rally and Cookie Promotion at Eastway Shopping Center Saturday, March 10, from 1-3 p.m. to kick off oar celebration of National Girl Scout Week. TroOps will set up displays to inform the community of troop activities and ser vice projects. THE CHARLOTTE POST “THE PEOPLE’S NEWSPAPER” Established 1918 Published Every Thursday by The Charlotte Post Publishing Co.. Inc. Subscription Ratefl7.66Per 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 Bernard Reeves Fran Farrar Dannette Gaither Editor, Publisher General Manager Advertising Director 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. National Advertising Representative zJi_Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. v . y .'T " t - ?40* S. Michigan Av«. • Chicago. III. MCIC Cola tact 5-02M • <s . . 45 W. 45th St., Suite 1453 New Yerk, New Yerk I MM 212-485-122* [ from Capitol Hill President To Grab Justice System? . .Laws are made by Con gress, interpreted by the Supreme Court, and en forced by the Executive, with the Attorney General as the'chief enforcement officer. This is not a po tical position subject to administering the law in compliance to a Presi dent’s beliefs and attitudes. One attribute of a Presi dent is not being afraid of the Attorney General po sition and naming to it a person who will perform the Job with impersonal sensitivity for the rule of law. Since the resignation of Attorney General Wil liam French Smith, Jr., Mr. Reagan has named Chief White House Counsel Edwin Meese to succeed i him. The Chicago Tribune, in an article entitled “Dan gerous Attorney General,” says, “It ia a pity, really, that President Reagan feels he needs to trust the /personal loyalties of the person in that office more than the prnfresiimal loy alties of s person who has proper respect for the of fice itself. Mr. Meeee’s primary qualifications are -his close friendship and unfaltering allegiance to the President. This can , prove extremely damaging to the federal justice sys tem, by destroying faith in impartial prosecutorial de cisions. Meese came into pro minence as s hard-line con Alfrctfa L. MmUms posed to law enforcement, a bargaining agent for convicts.” .The power behind the proposal to require govern ment workers to submit to a polygraph teat is report ed to be Ed Meese He is also pushing extremely hard for rolling back the Fourth Amendment by gutting its exclusionary rule which bars evidence illegally secured. CMl rights organizations are planning to present a very strong opposition at the Meese confirmation hearings. Ralph Naas, Executive Director of the says, “On the basis of our observations over the past years, we do not believe Ed Meese, as the nation’s chief law enforcement of ficer. would vigorously and objectively enforce our nation’s cWM rights laws.” The Administration's ef fort to weaken the Vetiiy Rights Act, its opposition to Equal Rights Amendment, cutting educational funds for the handicapped child ren, its efforts to restrict constitutional remedies that are available, and to weaken and dismantle ci vil rights laws, in general, with Ed Mease as the main mover of perpetuating these inequities and in justices, clearly demon strates that he should not be considered for a posi tion of administering laws fairly. The tax exemption de bacle over schools that dis criminate, was a product of Ed Meese’s actions. Fortunately, the Supreme Court ruled against the Administration’s wishes. The new Attorney Gener al appointee is considered as a White House corpor ate fixer. The Berkeley Tribune reports that he arranged special favors for oil and agri-business in terests. The ultra-conser vative Meese aided in set ting up a $1,0004-crack “President’s dub” for the Heritage Foundation. The contributors were pro mised “pn access to Wash ington policy makers You will find your membership fee returned to you many time# over.’’ Control of the Civil Rights CommiaMon, whose agenda follows the Heri tage Foundation's propos al* to the letter, and which rnqoeaSad Mr. Reagan to make getting rid of civil rights a top priority, is the brain child of Ed Mease. The Reagan Administra tion through Meese tried to abolish the Legal Services (Corporation The Congressional Black Caucus has axpraased op position to the Meese ap pointment and has request ed an opportunity to ex press Its views at the con formation hearing. _ ■WITH SABRINA JOHNpi I Foofcall In Hie ^ring? * .What kind of business venture, rare in its concept, that has joined together such individuals as actor Burt Reynolds, cardio ~*~reon James Hoffman, Jr. and wloper Edward J. De ^ ition? A business venture that lost nearly $40 million last year and is .expected to loee nearly the same in its secondhand third years but that still carries a torch of optimism? Optimism, sizable tax Write-offs and future capital gains the f enabling the U.S. FootbaQ The USFL kicked off its' season on February 26 with 18 teams - up six from last year’s 12 teams.. Player participation is not the question - springtime football audiences are. T*ie USFL is in the second half of its two-year contract with ABC Television and ESPN Cable Network, and is beginning to worry if springtime football can successfully compete with thc-National Football League. Last year’s USFL televi sion ratings were far from spectacular - so far that the Denver franchise was the only one to end the season in die black. How does the USFL plan to make money? Through high-powered promotions and by grabbing media and fan. attention via star - college and NFL players. The organization plans to base capital gains on offering huge contracts to star college and NFL players in hopes that the names will bring fans with them. Such theories are exemplified by the " contracts signed by Herschel Walker of Georgia and Mike Rozier of Nebraska with the New Jersey Generals, and Pittsburgh Maulers, respectively. A growing number of college and veteran players are being seduced by the healthy USFL contract offers: these players include quarterbacks Doug Williams and Brian Sipe, and running back Joe Cribbe. USFL owners realize that the contracts , are huge risks; however, they do hope the names with fan following will keep the league going and proceed to winning a lucrative television contract - by 1987, of course. The year; 1986is the planned year of measuring the USFL’s success. Television is the major tool of marking success at this point. The league is measur ing itself against the 28 NFL teams, VA million annually for each team for ns contracts with ABC, NBC and CBS; ’where as the entire USFL receives $18 million in television revenues. In comparison, the NFLderives86i percent of its revenues from television and the USFL derives only 20 percent of its revenue. --— -*---;—« |. Pricing of the tickets also became a factor in the loss of $40 million last yedr. The Michigan Panthers view this as on* major problem area; in spring football. The Phi ladelphia Stars believe scheduling was the culprit - Easter Sunday and Mother’s Day are not days traditionally spent watching sports on television. No matter what the speculations on the financial end of the USFLr may be, it all boils down to the public’s intake of the sport. Will the football fans make the transition to spring football? Do they want to? Like most new ideals or concepts, Americans are difficult to convert. Football in the spring is an interesting concept - one more like the British concept Ih Rugby. The weather makes it a more enjoyable sport. One does not have to bundle up as much, worry about frostbite nor getting the car stuck in tbe snow. . ■ The contact and brutality remain;it just happens under the sun. So what will lumpen to the sport - only time and football audiences will be able to tell. Hoftever, flashy marketing ventures such as thfe USFL’s public relations playbook including^ personal pitches by Alabama GoyerndP George C. Wallace, a $2 million contest in Oklahoma for predicting scores, In M«ft-— phis, a river boat trip and give - awa^iin Oakland of diamond rings, new cart and mortgage payments can help to make tbe difference. These goodies can and will lure audiences - it will be like the lottery, “You have to partake to win!” A gimmick seems to be what is needed today to capture an audience; Epic Records uses Michael Jack son, so why can’t tbe USFL team mar keting department coming up with a crowd drawing gimmick aside from big player names, v r*'
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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March 8, 1984, edition 1
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