What Do We Have To Give Thanks For? On this Thanksgiving Day in 1984, many people are wondering why should we be giving thanks, or what do we have to give thanks for? These questions should serve to remind us that Thanksgiving always comes within the midst of our national problems whatever they happen to be._ On this Thanksgiving Day 1984 our national problems of rising federal deficits, rising unemployment, rising numbers of people falling below the poverty income level, and the ever-present danger of a nuclear war appear to completely over whelm us. Nevertheless, as a natioh we~ have a traditional sense of hope and an everlasting faith that things can and will improve. This hope and faith was clearly demon strated in the recent national elections when the American people, concerned about these national problems, voted for candi dates whom they believed would turn our -^national hopes into progress realities. Un doubtedly, many black Americans don’t agree that the elections of 1984 offer hope and progress Nevertheless, our take-if-for granted freedom to vote in free elections and to have a smooth transfer of the powers - and reigns of government dictated by the ballot and hot the bullet are something we should continue to be thankful for. We should be thankful, too, that in spite of a national unemployment rate of ovejp 9 percent, and twice that rate for blacks, Americans have more jobs than evert, before. While this is no comfort for those without a regular paycheck, it should offer hope each person can and will be one of those who is gainfully employed. Thanksgiving should be offered, too, for the fact that with whatever problems most people have, the vast majority of Ameri cans will have ample food on the dinner table this Thanksgiving Day. This'is most evident when we just think of the drought and famine that is literally killing thou sands of people in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa. Thanks should be granted to Almighty - God also for the fact that we are in an era of peace and not war; we can worship God freely or not worship Him at all; we can speak and write freely, as in the case of this editorial, without fear of government con trol ; and we can travel freely or change our places of employment at our own choosing. • These are freedoms that too many Ameri cans assume are rightfully theirs. How ever, we need to frequently pause and offer thanks to God because such freedoms still do not exist in most parts of the world. These freedoms for whieh we should be forever thankful, are the telescopes through which we can see the visions of better v Thanksgivings in the future: * — - Thus, Thanksgiving is a unique holiday in that it causes us to reflect oh our nation's —past, to have a deeper appreciation for the present, and to see in the Visions of the future, a hope for a better tomorrow for ourselves and our loved ones: Happy Thanksgiving To All!! “Daddy” King - A Source For Goodness • Nearly eVery American is aware of the deeds and the resulting Nobel Pence Prize received by the fate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. whose leadership helped reshape the ' direction of the nation’s civil rights history. ■ t* What fewer people are aware of is (the source of the background or general com mitment to non-violence and peaceful demonstration that was the foundation of I&4 King’s mission. ^ ’^V\.x';' V' .*■ . . x ~Tbe background force of which we are speaking is the elder King, Martin Luther King Sr. Dead at the age of 84, the Rev. King survived among tragedy. In addition tn the loss of his famous son, Martin Jr., another son, A.D. King, drowned in a swimming PqoI in 1969. Five years later Daddy King’s wife of nearly 50 years was shotio death in the church where he pastored. 1 " ‘ "* -*** — - TxL’Jm-m . -1 - • * K - Throughout these tragedies and the struggles for justice and equality that led to his famous son’s death, Daddy King never embraced bitterness or disillusionment. He never lost faith in his fellow man. Instead, . • 1 • A.JC, ji*.' <, * •. ' “.a, g l f' "Daddy King took his church’s basic assump tions of the promise of eternal peace and justice in a life hereafter and stressed to his flock that the church can and should be a force for progressive change on this earth. While living in the khadow of his famous son, Daddy King was, nevertheless, a primary source of spiritual wisdom and insight from which the young son drew strength and courage. In fact, Martin Jr. grew up observing his father providing a source of comfort and determination to many Southern blacks who were attempting to survive the ugly violence of the nation’s ncacjjim, ——v:» • - ,i-.r v v,. i. *v,r; “V g -■ ^ Daddy King, we hope and pray that God Almighty will give you a secure resting place as a reward for your dedication and commitment to the human condition and for having instilled in yiHir non, Martin Jr thr qualities^ of greatness. Thank you, Daddy King, for having been among us because each of us is, therefore, a better person because you thought enough to care, to love, and to sacrifice what you loved. * ARB WE GOING TO StT ANPLET BLACK COM MUNITIES CRUMBLE AROUND US? GRASS ROOTS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS., EMERGE, TO P0R6E A UNITED EFFORT AGAINST CRIME, NARCOTIC TRAFFICKING, BLIGHT AND DECAY. .. . ____ -By Sabrina Johnson Post Columnist The Democrats could have done worse in the election: - they could have lost, some seats in the Senate and more seats than they did in the House of Representatives. And they could have lost Minnesota. The challenge for the national Democratic Party is to increase its appeal to the white middle class or face the prospect of a continuous series of defeats locally and nationally. The Democrats ended the 1984 campaign without a marketable mes sage, without A geographic babe, and without a national leader. But it does have an abundance of fantastic would-bedbbders. It may bit argued that the Democrats have pot won a presidential election since 1964 and that Jjjnniy Carter’s election in 1976 was a Re publican give away resulting from the Watergate scan dal. Aside from that, one predicament is apparent, the South has been tost - which was once the Party’s nation afbase Future Democrat tic presidential candidates may have to give up that region the way their pre decessors gave up the West. Tn Iriftinff pvoru Sabrina i state, Mondale received only 25 percent of the white Southern vote. In parts of the South, especially North Caro lina and .Texas, Reagan’s ' coattail theory wortqed as r predicted. In Texas people are talking seriously about an era of Party realignment. Predic tions have been made that Democratic office holders will* switch Parties in the next few years. the 1980 and 1984 elections brought only 41 percent of the popular vote to the national Democratic' ticket. However, this time it was a more liberal 41 percent: In analysis, the national Party has been reduced tod-bOse-of blacks; Jews, white-collar workers and an upper middle class elite. Mondale lost a great many Southern whites onH larhon PofkAlU (The Charlotte Post North Carolina’s Fastest Growing Weekly “The People’s Newspaper” lMYears Of Continuous Service Bill Johnson Editor, Pub. Bernaid Reeves Gen. Mgr. Fran Bradley Adv. Mgr. Dannette Gaither Of. Mgr. Published Every Thursday By The Charlotte Post Publishing Company, Inc. Main Office: 1531 S. Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. 28203 Second Class Postage Paid at Charlotte Member, National Newspaper Publishers’ Association North Carolina Black Publishers Association v National Advertising Representative: Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. . One Year Subscription Rate One Year *$17,76 Payable In Advance —— From Capital HM ^ Blacks And Jewish Relations Remain Unshaken By Alfreds L. Madison Special To The Post During this ’84 campaign, there has been great subtle efforts to separate blacks from other minor ities. Especially, has this been un dertaken to aivtae IT* Mack and Jewish communities. This Admin istration and the media have been very vigilant in their attempt to ds so. Both groups tried & make something of Rev. Jesse Jackson’s off-the-record Joke about “a lot of Hymlea in New York.” Rev. Jack son, realizing that the statement was mistaken, and had/ become offen sive, did what any wise person should do, and that is to go before the proper people, explain and apolo gize. These groups tried to make a great political divisive issue out of Rev. Louis Farrakban’s statement. Rev. Farrakhan is only one person who is not running for any office, and he even offered to meet with the Jewish community and explain his statement which he said was taken out of context. Vice President Bush,, in his attempt to divide the black and Jewish communities, sounded a ttftfcling bell when he empha sized that this Administration will not tolerate racism, whether it ik by the Ku Klux Klan or Louis Far rakhan. He left out the fact that this Administration’s civil rights rever sal policies have done more harm to racial justice and unity than the Klan, and that Rev. Farrakhan was only one voice expressing his be liefs. The Vice President would have done more to cement good race relations, had he ignored both of those factors. Jewish people who have suffered discrimination in this country have been supporters Of blacks who are ' I ' those goals. ssv * r arraanan s common quest for peace. Blacks oppose militarization of our foreign policy, instead they emphasize non-violent solutions. They are vtry supportive of the peace and security of Israel. Blacks have a growing concern with reported Israeli-South African economic and military rela tions. Fauntroy cites affirmative action as a concern for blacks. They hold belief that historical wrongs must be remedied and that affirmative ac tion is one major court-sanctioned avenue for legal redress of his torically enforced affirmative dis crimination. Jews view quotas in the light that it was once used a gains them. It placed a ceiling on Jew. ish participation With them it was used as an exclusionary tactic, but blacks view quotas as inclusion in the mainstream, when all else has failed, v Rev. Faun troy shows that blacks and many Jewish people are work-, ing together. Especially is this true in Congress The Black Caucus Al ternative Budget always gets great Jewish support. They heartily sup port Congressman Augustus Haw kins’ Job Creating Community Renewal Act, H.R. 1086. Jewish con gressmen have shared with mem bers > of the Coijpfssiofial Black Caucus in the struggle against ra cist, South Africa J Faun troy sees evidence that the relationships be tween the black community and the Jewish community are moving from charity to parity. Ha says, “We can not only discuss that oa'Which we agree, but we can now talk with each other about that which we disagree in an atmosphere based upon mutual respect, dialogue and cooperation." Some Jewish people have fallen pry to the Reagan Administration’s attempt ft> arouse Jewish Ire by constantly citing an emotional issue over the Farrakhan statement and its tremendous effort to kill Jesse Jackson’s influence*^ emphasizing the Hymie statement — Babbi Arthur In a New York Times article Stated that the rich usually vote their pbcketbookfci However, despite the econdrNircbd social rise of Jews, minylf them continue to vote with the "have nots.” He said, “today, a growing number of middle class Jews are in revolt against such liberalism They want to protect their class interest as haves, through alliance with the exreme right They see little reason to resist prayers in public schools or an anti-abortion amendment. Even the emergence of a right-wing Christian America, would be a cheap price to pay for support for Israel as a bastion of anti-Com munism.” The Rabbi states that their call for Jews' economic and social success, is a minority view He emphasized that without the social programs of the New Deal, many Jews could not have Con tinued t heir-education He spoke of how these special programs are now blacks, Hispanic* and other nfltwwes and that the majority of the Jewish community, which was once the outsiders, cannot afford to join the forces of selfishness. They belong with those who cared about them when they were friondkss Rabbi Hertzberg says thah any one who recalls the moral and po litical reasons which created Is rael should reject the fundamen talists who cast it as the major factor in Armageddon sad the self styled political realists who see it leading anti-Soviet interests in the Middle East * * who voted for Carter in 1976. These are two of the major streams of historic Democra tic support and they are disappearing from tho Do mocratic Party. In the mid 1960’s the Party lost much of its appeal to such voters when it pushed through costly social pro grams. It lost more appeal during the Carter years when inflation was high and the economy in chaos. The Party has lost its economic cre dibility. ; The odds are that the na tional Party will make tran sition from the New^ Deal liberalism of Walter MoJWffle^ to the more moderate neo liberalism of Sen. Gary Hart. The result could be a Party more committed to social justice and compas sion, but Iess^ eager to use government as I tool for growth and fis&d responsi biiity. . The Democrats peed to repudiate the past and move toWa Kis^jii^Uwvofers will draw strength from the past. The pattern in Ameri can politics since World War II suggests that-Bemocrats !lave * chahcp at recaptur ing the Senate In 1986 and possibly the White House in 1W8, When Reagan will not be on the presidential bal lot. Maybe they will do well - since Ronald Reagan was a long shot and remains the most conservative and ideo logical President; la modern American history, _/ RonaTd Pteagati won 49 states and 59 percent of the vote. He ran as. an incum bent in a time of peace and BBS**® jftMicsaihy Nunane ■1 0 formation t trolina Regj Drive, Ch2ri*«e, words or more «i selected to attend