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South African Apartheid Must Die!
As late as the early 1960s racial dis
criminationin the Southland of America .
was a brutaT reality. The harsh Jim Crow
laws of the “old South” parallel the equally
harsh system of apartheid that existed in
South Africa then and continues today.
"Pw those too young to remember the civil
rights struggle of 25 years ago, or for those
with dull and faded memories, let us remind
you that in those days black Americans in
the South were denied the right to vote, had
to-attend publicly supported schools that
were inferior to those attended by whites,
were denied the use of publicly operated
parks, beaches and restrooms. It took the
civil rights movement or revolution in the
Sotlth' characterized by sit-ins, protest
mdfches, and economic boycotts to pres
sure for change. These efforts were
responded to by law enforcement people
witu cattle prods, clubs, tear gas, and the
ind&criminate jailing of black civil 'rights
leaders. This historic reality is being re
pealed today as an equally, if not worse, to
? .'t thefelack people of South Africa nearly 7,000
milas away.
Furthermore, while world pressure has -
increased for the South African govern
ment to take steps toward drastic change to
giv# the blacks and mixed-races of people
an -active voice in government, South
Africa’s president, P. W. Botha, says, “I am
not"prepared to make (a commitment to
share power), not now and not tomorrow.”
~ This has been evident by the killing of over
650 black South Africans in the past year,
theindiscrimina te jailing of black leaders
for indefinite periods of time, and the use of
bull whips, tear gas and rubber bullets to
dteny people free speech and the right to
peaceful protest march.
World Pressure
wf4vy ? v ; ► * .4 -* •
Ironically, as world pressure is increas
ing in its opposition to South African
apartheid and is calling for the right of
blacks have a voice in their govern
ment, President Reagan said in a radio
broadcast interview last week that he
supports the “reformist administration” of
. South Africa President P. W. Botha be
cause it has eliminated segregation in
public places. !
“They have eliminated the segregation
that we once had in our own country - the
type of thing where hotels and restaurants
and places of entertainment...were segre
gated - that has all been eliminated,”
Reagan said. In America such segregation
is in fact now prohibited by law but has little
or no meaning for far too many black
Americans because continuing dispropor
tionately high rates of unemployment, when
compared to the white Americans, prevents
opportunities to utilize such facilities. Like
wise, in South Africa, for Sample, racially
mixed marriages are said to be now
permitted by law; however, with laws
prohibiting blacks and whites from even
living in similar neighborhoods, gaining
equal educational opportunities or freely
and equally socializing mixed marriage
opportunities are, in reality, a myth in
South Africa. ,
Americans should, of course, not be
surprised by President Reagan’s support of
South Africa’s President Botha and his
racist policies because here at home the
President’s administration is hastily at
tempting to dismantle the laws, policies and
agencies of the federal government that
people like Martin Luther King died for to
assure the securing and maintaining of civil
rights properly due to black Americans.
Support Freedom
The Conservative Opportunity Society,
one of many such rightist organizations that
has been a supporter of President Reagan,
has said through its chairman, U.S. Rep.
Vin Weber (R-Minn.) that the conservatives
have a responsbility to consistently
support freedom pluralism, and representa
tive government around the world.” Rep.
Weber then adds, “It is time to realize that
supporting the South African government,
where freedom, pluralism, and representa
tive government are not recognized under
mines our moral opposition to communism
South African is a nation of many minori
ties, and the rights of all its people must be
protected.”
in anoiner voice, Naomi Tutu-Seavers,
daughter of South African Anglican Bishop
Desmond Tutu and chairman of the Bishop
Refugee Fund, based in Hartford, Conn.,
__says she is amazed to hear so much about
the reforms being under taken by the South
African government as expressed by Presi
dent Reagan. Hie fact is, Ms. Tutu-Seavers
continues, “the black majority in South
Africa does not seek reform, but dismant
ling because a system as evil and op
pressive as apartheid cannot be reformed.
The actions of the government are not those
of someone instituting reforms.”
South Africa President Botha and his
government have failed to heed the mes
sage of the American civil rights struggle as
war eloquently echoed by the South Afri
can United Democratic Front (UDF), an
organization that opposes the apartheid
policy. UDF said, “History has shown that
brutal repression only serves to intensify '
resistance and strengthen people’s hatred
toward the system.
There is a message and lesson in all this
too for all Americans, especially our cur
rent national administration. The message
is that if the oppressed peoples in Latin
America continue to observe our national
government’s support of Botha under its
“constructive engagement” policy, we will
only alienate our Latin American brothers
and help pave the way for even greater
communist influence. After all, opposing
communism is not a valid reason for
supporting other forms of repressive go
vernments as is evidentifiSOUth Africa.
Something Say?
Do you have something to say? Then do so
for everyone to read. The Charlotte Post,
the only other voice in town, welcomes all
letters on various subjects.
School Year Will Be One Of Changes
The 1985-86 school year will
be one of change and al
teration. The one major
change is the new hard line
against drug abuse. The pro
posed policy is tough, bull
ish, and an invasion of pri
vacy. Drug tests are finding
their way into America’s
schools. '
Testing for illegal drug use
began in the military, then
spread to the sports arena.
From those humble begin
nings, testing for illegal drug
use has made its way into the
screening of applicants or
employees in private indus
try. So much so that 25 per
cent of fortune 500 com
panieahnake U mandatory >
for ai1 applicants and em
ployees. For employers to
refuse hiring drug influenced
job seekers is understand
able. Firms have the right to
set conditions of employment
to ensure safety for all em
ployees and quality work.
•
America’s schools are not
the workplace. Daily attend
ance during the school .year
is mandatory. Currently,
schools have all the legal
righto they need to fight
drugs op campus. School of
ficials can and must expel
students who abuse illegal
drugs in schools. They can
and must call in the police to
arrest student dealers and
they must advise parents
Sabrina
when they know students are
experimenting with drugs
and-or alcohol. Officials can
also search students’ bags
or pockets for drugs or wea
pons r according to the
Supreme Court decision in
January, 1984. - .v ,:i:«
With all the above tools,
why do some school officials
feel compelled to greet every
student who passed through
the school doors with a
needle for a blood test or a
vial for urinalysis. It is
intrusive.
School principals have a
difficult job. If they see 6
crime being committed they
must do all in their power to
protect the innocent and
condemn the guilty. How
ever, when police-state
tactics march into the class
D
room - a dividing line must
be drawn and maintained.
The drug testing require
ment is ^constitutional.
While well-jntended, the de
cision of the Becton School
Board to require all students
undergo drug screening is
an unconstitutional invasion
of privacy - that has been
justly halted by the courts.
The United States Consti
tution guarantees that the
government will not search
any citizen without probable
cause to believe that a law
har. been violated. The plan
of the Becton school does not
meet this basic requirement
- all students are forced to
• submit to the tests. Not only
would students lose constitu
tional rights, parents also
lose. The plan would deprive
them of the control over what
is physically done to stu
dents.
Also such a plan would
take the decision of drug
treatment from the parents
and put it into the hands of
school officials. ' -
Becton’s School Board
wants a severe penalty for
failing or refusing a test.
Penalty; students would be
excluded from school -
meaning they would be de
nied the basic right of a free
and fair education.
ui aaaiuon to tma, the plan
lacks the policies and pro
cedures for questioning test
results and contains no pro
visions for continued edu
cational studies and work. Is
not it true that students who
fall behind are prone to
dropping out? This plan re
inforces the current dropout
rate and nurtures the growth
of it in the future.
One fact in the world of
drug testing remains true:
people who have not used
drugs can and do fail and
drug users can and do pass.
Inaccurate testing brands
students as druggies and
sends officials on 1964 witch
hunts. It also forces students
into rehabilitation and denies
education.
Officials have the authori
ty to deal with drug* on
campus. Why do not they
Implement them?
The plan for drug testing
Mts a dangerous precedent.
If urinalysis or blood tests
are permitted without pro
P*bi6| Cau>e to believe a
and ready to rehnquis^thS
education" *XCh#nie for an
taighUn m H^pt^of
fairness and justice^ess™
wiU b»c«*vey«t in a build
£h^..p2Lcr#lateubruuuty
School are to teach youth to
value the protections guaran
THE CHARLOTTE POST
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] MiUer Says:
Tomorrow’s Paycheck: Time And Productivitv!
By Sherman N. Miller
Special To The Post.
There is no doubt in my
mind that President Ronald
Reagan views the United
States as a free trade bea
con that will guide the world
towards American style
prosperity. Yet I have come
to question whether free
trade is a “practical con
cept” or merely a “theoreti
cal illusion.” When I grapple
with some of the ill-fated esti
mates of the deleterious im
pact .of the high U.S. trade
deficit, I find myself trying to
discern if America is cur
rently trapped in an “ideo
logical chasm.”
I feel that a person’s per
sonal tenets dictate his ac
tions regardless of whether
they are supported by facts. I
believe American jobs are
being lost because the Rea
gan Administration has un
intentionally demonstrated a
lack of understanding of the
international definition of
“free trade.”
— Many people had hoped
that the flood of foreign tex
tile goods into the U.S. would
be controlled by the Multi
Fiber Arrangement but this
did not occur. This point ii
made clear in a July 18 letter
from U.S. Senators William
Robert (Delaware), John W.
Chafee (Rhode Island), and
» r
Sherman 'W- j
John C. Danforth (Missouri)
to President Reagan.
These Senators write,
“...there has been a tremen
dous increase in textile and
apparel imports over the last
five years, an increase that
•was not supposed to have
been possible with the Multi
Fiber Arrangement in place.
This increase has had a
devastating impact on com
munities in each of our
states and is causing great
hardship and fears among
many of our constituents.
Our constituents no longer
find the MFA a currently
enforced and credible re
sponse to the textile and ap
parel trade issue and frank
ly, we agree.”
- If President Reagan elects
to stand firm on his view of
free trade, then the U.S.
Congress will have to carry
out the wishes of the Ame
rican people This suggests
Si' • .. "'.^4 '
that Senate Bill 680 (The
; Textile and Apparel Trade
^Enforcement Act of 1985)
may evolve as the catalyst
that moves America away
from the ideological rhetoric
of free trade towards the
practical pursuit of saving
America’s, high standard of
living.
I wanted to know when the
American people might ex
pect some congressional so
lutions to this foreign im
port crisis so I asked Se
nator Roth’s executive
assistant, Allen Levin, to
give me a timing when Se
nator Roth would be expect
ed to move aggressively on
The Textile and Apparel
Trade Enforcement Act of
1985. Mr. Levin replied,
“The end of the legislative
recess.”
When pressed to offer a
more definitive timing Mr.
Levin says that Senator Roth
will decide by September 9.
• I think the vast domestic
United States of America
market has evolved into an
international market; there
fore, long-term participa
tion in this market demands
that domestic businesses
compete on international
standards That is, Ameri
can industry must learn to
compete on international
standards of excellence or
, *
any actions by the U.S. Con
gress win merely delay the
imminent erosion of Ame
rica’s high standard of liv
ing.
I am very confident that
American industry can com
pete in this new interna
tional arena if they under
stand the rules of the inter-1
national marketplace. Leo
nard A. Morgan (General
Electric’s manager-engin
eering consultant), in his ar
ticle entitled, “The Impor
tance of Quality,” points out
why foreign companies are
presently better at interna
tional business than Ameri
cans.
Morgan declares, ‘‘In our
opinion, foreign competitors
are more successful because
they listen to customers, are
more responsive to customer
needs, and provide better
value (performance versus
price)...
Although Congress will
moat probably give Ameri
can industry a respite from
the onslaught of unfair fo
reign competition, U S. com
panies must recognise that
productivity and product
quality are absolutely ne
cessary ingredients for
long-term survival. Mor
gan also highlights the im
portance of these key sur
vival ingredients.
M