★ 3>[1KI3K1^I THE CHAHLOTTE POST (.harlotlt* •» ha^t^st (^rowin^ (/: (/>mniunit> Thursday, April 5, 1984 - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Page IB Images Distorted? Hadss And Jews Are Mctims By Tony Brown Special To The Post Have the images of blacks and Jews been historically distorted? “Tony Brown’s Journal” tackles that question on “Black And Jewish Images.” Televised nation ally on public television, the nation’s longest-run ning and top-ranked Black-Affairs television series has been sponsored Greg Gumbel Optimist speaker Saturday Night tog Gumbd To Talk Here Greg Gumbel, ESPN Sports Announcer, will be the guest speaker during the fourth anniversary of the Optimist Club of Hid den Valley. The celebration will be held at 7 p.m. April 7 at the Teamsters Union Hall. Gumbel joined ESPN in February, 1981, after seven years as sports anchor at WMAQ-TV in Chicago. Gumbel, whose brother Brian hosts NBC’s “Today Show,” won Chicago area Emmy awards in 1978 and 1979 for his high school football commentaries and is expected to win Cable Magazine’s Outstanding Sports Personality Award for the third consecutive year. The Optimist Club of Hid den Valley is affiliated with Optimist International which is composed of more than 3,600 Optimist Clubs in the U.S. and Canada. Optimist International encourages development of youth, the promotion of optimism, respect for the law, patriotism and friend ship among all people. Tickets for the Annual Banquet may be purchased by calling 332-3118 be tween 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Odell Witherspoon is president of the Hidden Valley Optimist Club. At ESPN Gumbel co- anchors the weeknight “Sports Center” with Chris Berman, and also co-hosts “The NBA Tonight” with John Andariese. See Gumbel On Page 9B by Pepsi Cola Company for nine consecutive years. The series will be seen in this area on WTVI, Channel 42, at 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 8. One of the highlights of this program will be a filmed history entitled “'The Distorted Image.” It is a penetrating commentary on American attitudes to immigration, the univer sality of prejudice and stereotyping and, above all, a history of how cer tain immigrant and ethnic stereotypes originated and developed in our society. While blacks frequently complain of the negative portrayals on television and in the movies, the si milarity between stereo types and the building of prejudice affecting all groups who immigrated to America, the use of the same techniques to de grade each group in turn, whether they be blacks, Chinese, Jews, Germans, Italians, etc., has a telling impact. One example of a racist depiction of blacks is a cartoon that appeared in “Life” magazine in 1904, shortly after several inci dents outraged Southern segregationists and North ern racists. A future Har vard team, if the university continued its liberal policy of accepting black students would embrace a new policy of brawn over brain, the cartoon suggested. “Life” showed an ape like, all-black football team standing over a huge watermelon. In 1909, another cartoon in “Life” suggested that Jews were taking over the country as a reaction to the quite sudden increase in the number of Jews in what “Life” called predictably “Jew-York.” The Jewish population in New York had risen from four percent to 25 percent in 30 years'. “Tony Brown’s Journal” will explore the stereotyp ing of various ethnic groups in films, drama, literature and graphics. SMOKEY ROBINSON ^.Talented artist Concert Cancelled Smokey Robinson Almost Made It To Ovens Auditorium By Loretta Manago Post Staff Writer Fifteen years. That’s how long it has been since Smokey Robinson has per formed in Charlotte. As a matter of fact, it was the last concert tour that Smokey had made with the Miracles - sort of a fare well tour. The year was 1969 and Smokey has just made his decision to for sake the world of touring and performing for the full responsibility of a Motown business executive. There were 12 years that preceded that monumental decision that Smokey made in ’69. They were the years that Smokey had taken the group that he had formed back in high school to a young man. Berry Gordy, who was in the initial stages of establish ing his own record com pany, Motown Re cords. Gordy saw some thing distinct in the group, then known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. That’s where the rela tionship began - Motown and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. In 1958 “Got A Job” was released. For the newly formed group “Got A Job” represented their first single. But it was Smokey’s second tune, “Way Over There,” that marked Motown’s first national distribution. After the tune, “Shop Around,” both Smokey and Motown were basking in the tri umph of their first mill ion seller. While the group’s popu larity continued to soar, many a night they could recall spending in a hotel, touring city after city in a span of 12 years. Although it was a hard decision, Smokey decided it was time to put that part of his career behind him and con centrate on studio work. Since he has been a solo See ROBINSON Page IIB