■ Cbttortals! -
—. -1 . - - 1 ■ • —
In his book, “Civil Rights: Rhetoric or
Reality!” conservative black economist Dr.
Thomas Sowell challenges the major
themes that have, for many years, guid
ed urban and civil rights policy. Sowell *
argues forcefully in his examination of civil
«, rights, legislation and judicial history that
government has not been able to translate
its intentions into action. In more specific
terms, Sowell criticizes what he considers
the shift from civil rights with ita focus on
equal opportunity to a method of enforcing
equality of group results through affirma
tive action, quotas, and comparable worth.
Sowell’s criticisms arise in part from his
earlier books and articles which examine
group results within the framework of
cultural traits. Sowell argues that cultural'
habits and traits, not discrimination, are
the primary cause of disparities in'group
results. What is needed in, Addition to
- quantifiable factors such a& age; educa
tion and geographic distribution Sowell
contends, is a more qualitative analysis of
factors such as cultural attitudes toward
education, discipline and work habits.
Sowell uses one of his popular examples,
the disparities between West Indian blades,
primarily from the island of Jamaiea in the
British West Indies, who have immigrated
to New York City and Southern blacks who
• migrated to the North. Sowell’s comparison
of these two blacks groups is really in itself
nothing new. Twenty-one years before he
wrote his book, sociologist Nathan Glazer
and Daniel P. Moynihan (now a U.S.
Senator) wrote in “Beyond. The Melting
Pot” that “...the West Indians’ most strik
ing difference from the Southern Negroes
was their greater application to business,'
education, buying homes, and in general
advancing themselves... The ethos of the
West Indians, in contrast to that of the
Southern Negro, emphasized saving, hard
work, invetsment, (and) education.”
Whatever the cultural drawbacks, the
roots of slavery and its caste system even
among slaves, the psychological scars of
Jim Crow laws, the harsh reality of dis
crimination by lending institutions and the
myth that black-owned businesses should
anticipate responding only to black con
sumer demands, it is past time for black
Americans, to put and keep these things in
historical perspective and to aggressively
begin to move ahead in a wide range qf
business ventures.
What Dr. Sowell is arguing is not against
the philosophical tlirust and focus of civil
rights but that affirmative action, quotas
kind comparable worth are forms of depen
dence that inhibits initiative. We take
exception to this conclusion in part be
cause we are reminded of how for numerous
reasons the federal government Went to
substantial effort with loans and grants to
salvage the Chrysler Corporation, toe Penn
Central Railroad and its ongoing heavy
subsidies of the airline and maritime
industries, and we cannot overlook the
multi-billion dollar military-industrial com
plex that is the life blood of many major
corporations and hundreds of suppliers of
such corporations. However, even within
this historical and factual setting, if blacks
want and hope to succeed in business “the
first need,” in the words of Richard Nixon’s
presidential campaign, “is to replace de
pendency with independence.”
Even within the corporate community we
face the threat of abandoning our values
and commitment to basic independence, a
cornerstone of a free market and democra
tic society. Kenneth Blanchard, co-author of
the national bestseller. “The One Minute
Manager,” said recently in his newspaper
column that “rescuing: the act of doing
something that people can do for them
selves,” reduces initiative. Dr. Blanchard
adds, “A manager has many responsibili
ties. Among them is the responsibility to
help people become self-sufficient at their
jobs. When people have the motivation and
skills to work independently, managers are
free for other creative tasks and removed
from the rescuing role..."'
In summary, individual initiative is a
basic characteristic and value to achieve
any kind of success.
Pampering The Drunkard
We have noted with some dismay the
“Safe Drive - The, One For The Road”
program that started on October 4. The
program is desi(p|i& to provide intoxicated
teenagers “a safe, free, confidential ride
home on Friday and Saturday nights from
10 p.m. to 2 a.m.”
We recall hearing former City Council
member Ed Peacock making a plea to the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Re
lations Committee for an endorsement of
the program concept over three years ago
because a close friend of his had lost a
daughter in a teenager drunken driving
accident.
The only good thing we can see in this
program is that it might prevent the deaths
or injury to innocent people who might be
hit by such potential drunken drivers.
We have no sympathy for the teen drunk
ard and wonder what kind of parental
control, upbringiMpnd values exist in^the
homes of such south If the parent will
tolerate their cMW going out and getting
drunk, then the least they should do is pick
them up and not expect others to do so.
Offering intoxicated youth a free ride
home and assuring he or she won’t get a
lecture en route on the evils of strong drink
is pampering and aiding and abetting the
drunkard.
Yes, we need programs to keep drunken
people off our streets and highways but we
don’t need to pamper them and we need to
assure a sense of responsibility by the
parents of such youth. The program would
be more effective if the youth and his or her
parents were required to attend alcoholic
counseling sessions after the first free ride.
THE CHARLOTTE POST
North Carolina’s
Fastest Growing
Weekly
704-376-0496
“The People’s Newspaper”
107 Years
Of Continuous Service
Bill Johnson Editor. Pub.
Bernard Reeves Gen. Mgr.
Fran Farrer-Bradley Adv. Mgr.
Dannette Gaither Office Mgr.
Published Every
Thursday by
The Charlotte Post
Publishing Company. Inc.
Main Office:
1531S. Camden Road
Charlotte, N.C. 28203
Second Gass Postage
Paid at Charlotte
Mess her. National
Newspaper Publishers'
Association
North Carolina
Black Publishers
Association
National Advertising
Representative:
Amalgamated Publishers, Inc.
One Year
Subscription Rate
One Year -I17.7S
Payable In Advance
U8P8 No. *45500
POSTMASTER
Send Change of address to:
Charlotte Post
1531S. Camden Rd.
Charlotte. N.C. 28243
Miter Sayai
By Sherman N. Miller
Special To The Post
My grandmother once ex
pressed very strong disdain
for nursing homes because
she thought them to be liv
ing tombs. I did not fully
comprehend the serious na
ture of the problem that my
grandmother alluded to until
recently when I heard very
hostile feelings against nurs
ing homes expressed by
James R. Bolton, a Berea,
Ohio senior citizen. Bol
ton’s corroboration of my
grandmother’s contention
left me grappling with the
question of whether nursing
homes really are living
tombs.
Bolton reaffirmed my be
lief in the good nature of
mankind. The Cleveland Air
port area is laden with
highway construction which
contributed to my taking a
wrong turn that landed jne in
Berea I was parked along
the roadside studying a map
when Bolton appeared at my
car window offering help.
As we began to talk, I
immediately sensed that
Bolton was in desperate
need of conversation. He told
me that he had recently lost
his wife of 48 years. His
words came out gruffly but I
knew he was crying inside.
Bolton told of having spent
i ——i am t —i _ i
Sherman
many hours nursing his wife
who suffered from massive
brain damage. He recalled
how before she had done
everything for him.
I found myself emotion
ally touched as I listened to
Bolton because I have grown
to depend very heavily on my
own wife in our 22 years of
marriage. However, I was
taken aback when his ex
pressions began to reveal a
deep-seated hate When
Bolton started to enumerate
his wife’s last months he
displayed great disdain for
nursing homes. He declared,
“Don’t put them in any nurs
ing home!’’
Wanting to appreciate his
aversion to nursing homes, I
asked him why he harbored
such hate. He indicated that
nursing homes are controlled
by rapacious financial peo
ple. Bolton said he was told,
« « ■-') ^ f •
S \
"Well get your property”
when be had to put his wife
into a nursing home. s
Bolton further contended
that he felt his wife was
neglected during her nursing
home tenures. He thought
she should have gotten much
better treatment than she
did.
Although it would be easy
to sympathize with Bolton’s
pain, nursing homes will be
come more and more impor
tant in American society.
America’s population con
tinues to grow older and
modern medicines are con
stantly increasing people’s
life expectancy. I believe the
two key issues that must be
addressed are: “What is an
acceptable quality of life
norm for persons requiring '
nursing home care?” and,
MDo these people have the
right to pass wealth down to
succeeding generations?”
It seems to me that the
insurance industry should .
sell asset protection policies
for people who might be
forced into nursing homes.
That is, once a person’s
illness has been judged ter
minal, his $100,000 life in
surance policy could pay out
perhaps $90,000 for nursing
home care, leaving $10,000
for burial expenses
Some may see Bolton as a
.
grieving, lovesick spouse. I
think, however, Bolton’s ex
pressions ought to be viewed
as a model of the night
mare that thousands of our
senior citizens are forced to
undergo each year.
> J!;- Tfc’ \ '
Iredell NAACP
^ In eWebration of its "55th anni
versary, the South Iredell branch of
the NAACP is sponsoring a prograih
Sunday, October 13, at the Reid
Memorial Presbyterian Church,
beginning at 4p.m. ,r_’7 •
Field director, Carolyn
Coleman wil) be the speaker and
music win be furnished by various
groups and choirs from the sur
rounding area. Ttfrrtv.;
The public is Invited to at
Gome Ride Hie Boa
Chariot tea* are finding that rid
ing the bus can save money. For
many the bus coats less than park
ing fsea, Charlotte Transit offers
1,682 tripe a day on 1) local, nittt
express and pro UNCC routes. A
one-way ride cost f ttoo a local aad
185 on the express and UNCC
routes. Monthly and weekly passes
are available. If you are interested
in learning more about Charlotte
Transit, call 376-RIDE for a free
“How to Ride the Bus” brochure and
transit route schedule. .
National Meeting
The Second Ward High School
National Alumni Foundetioa
ChSrlotte Chapter will hold Its
monthly meeting October 13 at the
Excelsior Club, m Beatties Ford
Rd.. beginning at I p.m.
nome may De where the
heart is, but most American
families do not spend as
much time there as people
did byer 20 years ago. Today,
Americans are moving and
shaking the world; gone are
the mornings when bread
winning husbands dash off to
work, leaving behind wives
with children to care for.
Now, both parents work and
the children are taken to the
hands of.day care centers.
Sine? 1982 over 2,000 com
panies are now providing
some form of child care
assistance. From 1970 to 1964
the percentage of women in
the workforce with childfen
der the £ge*$f six rose
^ 52 pefl- .
more em
ployers have begun .to face
the fact that eood child care
is as important as it is hard
to find. GUId care problems '
can short-circuit recruiting
efforts, affect staff produc
tivity and increase turnover
and absenteeism.
In a survey done by Child
Care Systems, Inc., 1,243 of
those who responded had to
make new child care ar
rangements one or more
times during a 12-month
period. Parents lost an ave
rage of eight days per year
1 1 JUJ L . -
Sabrina
due to chi|d care problems,
and-(>39 percent considered
leaving their jbb^dde to.the'
difficulty. j&
Those most affected are
management level women to
their 30s who put off having
children until they have
established careers. In ad
l dition to this companies in
high-growth industries are
facing labor shortages and
some are using child support
systems to attract workers
and keep the women they
have trained.
Whatever the company’s
motivation, employees are
reaping wonderful benefits.
Benefits such as referral
services, job sharing, flexi
• - V •» ' -?*i- .~-*e - ’It V \ " V.'T-* , /.I1
ble time schedules and
generous maternity and pa
ternity leaves. Now many
employers offers added flex
ible benefit packages that
allow employees to choose
from an array of optional
benefits such as selecting
day care instead of addi
tional vacation. Wang . and
Hoffman -LaRoche, Inc. now
offer on-site or near-site day
care, which may be viewed
as the ultimate cornorate
commitment to the working
parent. The 3M Company is
experimenting with at-home
nursing services for sick
children of employees.
The storm for Wang’s child
center came in 1979 when a
An Wang, chairman and
founder, received a letter
from a female employee who
was resigning, partly due to
trouble finding quality child
car. This letter was not the
first or only of its kind, so An
Wang asked his staff to re
search and devise a com
pany-sponsored program.
The end product was a
building down the road
from Wang Laboratories that
houses 24 classrooms, a
cafeteria, and a gymnasium
where from 6:30 a.m. to 6
p.m., 80 full-time staff
merpbers care for 280 kids
ages six months to five
years. Now parents pay $70
per week for preschoolers,
$100 for infants and toddlers
and Wang pays 'the pro
gram’s operating costs of
$450,000 annual!v The nhiln
sophy of this project being if -
parents feel confident that
their children are well cared
for, their minds will be on
their work.
„ Many companies feel that
inadequate child care has a
ripple effect on the com
pany, when all is not well at
fit ^uJf8 SeV6re>y and P1*0"
The 2,000 companies that
are^ trying the child care
lagged far behind other ma
ift£s oil j*11
done, if bui>n6sun6fi qo not