v It seems that one of the haunting realities
of contemporary American history is the
difficulty to accept the fact that We lost a
war in Vietnam. Our national desire to
escape from th|s reality has led the nation to
ignore the needs of our Vietnam military
veterans; to, in the words of one Congress
man, simply leave Southeast Asia and
declare ourselves to be victorious; and to
alter the facts of history in order to extend
the illusion that as a nation we have never
lost a war.
Since none of this has eased the con-,
sciousness of the nation, we have gone a
step further from reality to make rock
music videos as if to glorify the horrors of
war. Furthermore, we have begun to
Ramboize our nation’s youth, some
veterans of Vietnam and others knowledge
able of the real events of the Vietnam
era. Escape from reality has been trans
ferred to die motion picture screen for all to
see. There was Sylvester Stallone’s “First
Blood,” then Chuck Norris’ “Missing In
Action, I & II ” Now, blazing across the
. nation’s wide-screen movie theatres are
Stallone’s “Rambo, First Blood Part 2,”
Norris' “Invasion U.S.A.” and Arnold
Schwarzenegger’s “Commando.”
correct portrayal of recent history. Cle
ments calls his counter-offensive tour
& "Realty vs. Rambo.” He argues that the
Rambo 2 film glorifies war and tries to
justify American involvement in Vietnam.
said he was motivated to begin
his anti-Rambo campaign when Stallone,
who allegedly avoided military service
V„; during the Vietnam war.Htaggested that he
sought to be the voice of anguished Viet
nam veterans. Clements said further that it
is his belief that today’s teenagers are too
young to remember the Vietnam war and
consequently they do not realize what a
painful and humiliating experience the war
was for America. “No wonder there’s
confusion about the reality,” Clements said.
Running against die grain of reality too is
the macho superman image that all these
> films portray. Stallone and Schwarzenegger
are portrayed as muscular he-men who
literally destroy single-handedly whole
armies and cities. Likewise, Norris, less the
muscles, destroys whole towns and armies.
In the real world an individual soldier
would never be expected to' perform a
mission of similar magnitude as in these '
films alone. Yet, In real-world military
action a team victory is far more sweeter
than any possible individual Rambo-type
conquest. v " ' w ■*'>’V'-t."'"'; . :<■;
The only really good thing that might be
said about these Rambo-type, macho man
films is that the biceps of Stallone and
Schwarzenegger are creating a renewed
and healthy image of the American male
which has led to thousands of men and
women joining health and physical fitness
clubs throughout the nation. However, even
here we must temper body building with
realty because many, if not most, men will
never have a muscular body similar to that
of a Stallone or a Schwarzenegger.
Likewise, in all aspects of life we must
accept the realities of the world, not the
.illusions of success in our. attempts 16
escape from the realities of life.
f Ba«sball commissioner Peter Ueberroth
a leadership role in the fight '
•M drugs.” Gene Orza, the baseball
^ Mytag
me siSiply unadulterated truth is the
baseball players or any other people made
famous and usually quite wealthy by their
are role models and image
whether they want to be or
-„ like it or not. Therefore, while
drug testing program might not be
practical or even constitutional for the
typical or ordinary wbrker in a low profile
job, “'**■ * " . . for high
profileior may influ
ence the -of our youth or
As a nation we must stop tolerating the
misbehavior likewise of musicians be
cause they too are image makers and
: of the youhg.
player, football player or
-ssftftsssixx
ng his selfish interest ahead
ur? uim oi me public he or she has an
obtfgation to perform for to the best of his or
he^od-given talents without the influence
of drugs.
Likewise, people who work in highly
classified government security jobs should
be required to take drug tests because the
nation’s overall welfare and security should
not be placed in the hands of people
enslaved to drugs.
Sports professionals and similarly high
profile people made wealthy by the money
the public pays to see you use your talents
have a right to expect and believe beyond
the shadow of a doubt that your minds and
bodies are clean and pure as Almighty God
would expect them to be. Be drug-free, be
worthy of your gifts to make Others happy.
CHARLOTTE POST
.... ■ ii
m
--wL ^
— .I- ' ..S..I-.I. I I |
"The People’s Newspaper"
107 Years
Of Continuaus Service
Bill Johnson ? Editor, Pub
Bernard Reeves Gee. Mgr.
Fran Farrrr-Bradley Adv. Mgr.
Dannette Gaither Office Mgr.
Published Every
Thursday by ^
The Charlotte Post
Publishing Company, lac.
Main Office:
'" 1531S. Camden Road
Charlotta, N.C. MH
Second Class Postage 1
.. Paid at Charlotte
— - -—
Member, National
Newspaper Publishers’
-b—.
/ J National Advertising
Representative:
Amalgamated Publishers, Inc.
One Year
Subscription Rate
i One Year-N7.7*
Payable la Advance
U8P8 No. MM
POSTMABTlUl
8eud Change of address to:
Charlotte Pest
is* 8. Camden Rd.
Charts*. N.C. 0203
MiBer Sayy
Small Step For Reincarnating Black Families
By Sherman N. Miller
Special To The Poet' ^
The black female unmar
ried householders increased
from 28.3 percent to 41.8
percent (an average annual
rate of increase of approxi
mately one percent per year)
for the period 1970 to 198?
versus a small rise from nine
to 12.2 percent for white
females. However, the per
centage change of black
male householders remained
virtually constant (3.7 to 4.7
percent) over this same
penoa rnese aata suggest
that the traditional black
American family structure is
rapidly approaching the
point of imminent cpljapae.
Many people look for a
national movement to
emerge before they con
clude that meaningful
change is underway. Never
theless. many national en
deavors are rooted in some
local person or persons be
coming hell-bent committed
to righting some injustice or
ill-fated societal practice. In
September, two small state
of Delaware black churches
decided to combine their ta
lents to start dispelling the
unpropitious myth of the “ir
responsible black American
father.*’
Union AME Zion spon
sored a “Father and Son
^rma*
! < « 'V. ?*• •< •
Banquet.” Mr. J. Leroy .
Evans, banquet chairman,
pointed out that the ban
quet’s sole goal was to bring
families together. He also
Revealed that the banquet
' ^as the reincarnation of a
. or earn of the late Delaware
State Representative Ray
mond Evans. The banquet's
theme, “A Father’s Dream
Comes True, ”,typified Mr.
Raymond Evans’ wish that
some day black fathers
would become their sons’
role models.
The banquet was catered
by parishioners of the First
Baptist Church of Cheswail,
DE, located approximately
45 miles away. The menu
consisted of foods flavored in
the Southern tradition. Most
satisfying was the fact that
the function came complete
with dinner with seconds,
desert, and a program for
the mere cost of $10.
I was asked to be a guest
panelist and address the
topic, “In The Home.” I de
cided to share some of our
family secrets on what are
the essential Characteristics;.;
'•necessary for a happy home.
These characteristics were
entered in our family ar
chive by my aunt, the late
Susie Love Adams in 1935.1
She wrote:
M first glance some peo
ple might view my Aunt
Love’s comments as guid
ance befitting a good homily
that should be digested slow
ly. However, her writing sug
gests that she liked to make
one see the big picture be
fore she homed in on the
practical issue at hand. Aunt
Love was obsessed with
creating a happy home so she
postulated some key factors
that greatly influence its day
to day operation. She pos
tulated:/
“Influences in the home
are honesty, morals, man
ners. self control, self reli
ance, and courtesy.”
• . ■ 1
My Aunt Susie’s axioms
will probably receive some
critical analysis,' how
ever, I can attest to the fact
that the spirit embodied in
them has successfully guided
my marriage for 22 years.
Was this Union AME Zion
, Father and Son Banquet one
of those first steps on a
journey that will ultimately
end with the traditional black
faihily structure being re
incarnated? Do good ideas
transcend the lifetimes of
their authors and merely
wait, for the right moment in
history to shower mankind
with a new bounty?
ADRDA Meeting V*
The Greater Charlotte Chapter of
ADRDA < Alzheimer’s Disease and
Mated Want tiers Association) will
hold a meeting (or the families of
persons suffering from Alzheimer’s
or a related disorder on Wednes
October 23, at l p.m. in the
Oaks Chapel at The Huntersville
Oaks Nursing Home.
If you have or suspect that you
have a friend or family member who
has problems of memory leas, ori
witation and personality change,
this meeting may be informative
and helpful. A support group of-;
fers help in meeting the many
frustrating situations which occur.
For the primary caregiver, as well
as ah the family, it helps to dis
cuss your victim's lama.
If you are interested, please call
the Greater Charlotte Chapter of
ADRDA or 173-9737 or 87347*
artists have no objection to
making their lyrics avail
able to stores for consumers
interested in reading them
prior to purchase,
Every generation has a
love affair with music its
parents hate. Songs like “We
Are The World” and events
like Live Aid and anti-drug
and voter registration cam
•grgy"1*
possibte ifrSee|^8
A Challenge To Black Leadership 1
The Term “Porn Rock” Is Ridiculous
/m*_11_m •
Ml muco, IV was HilVlS,
the Beatles in the sixties, and
no one is sure about the
seventies - but every "rock”
star of the eighties is being ‘
jaded as a “porn rockers” - a
term adopted toy rock haters.
The term “porn-rock” is
ridiculous. Less than one out
of a thousand records sold
todav uses four-letter words
(of the “bad sort*’). In fait,
popular books and soap
operas have more violence
and sex than songs of today. *
By pressuring record com
panies into rating songs,
wives of politicians are ,
ig?
thTyUnited suits. These
witch-hunters try to compare
this to film ratings, but there
are no similarities. Film rat
ings are based on solid facts
and evidence: is there nudity
or not? Or how explicit is the
language? Song ratings
■would have to be based on
OPINION.
Critics of rode music seek
out a few weird and obscure
songs and lump them into the
same category with the free
world’s greatest singers!
Some years ago John
Denver, who is as wholesome
as milk, found his hit single,
“Rocky Mountain High,”
being s criticized. It seems
Senators be is strongly op
posed to a rating system. 'J
The mayor of Los Angeles,
Thomas Bradley, recently .
stated that pressure for re
cord ratings has “the acrid
odor of censorship." A state
. ment with which the musical
majority agrees.
Who are or is the musical
majority? Some of its repre
sentatives include Don John
son, Tina Turner, Lionel
Richie, feruce Springsteen,
Dolly Parton, Olivia Newton
John, and Farm Aid organiz
er, John Cougar Mellen
camp.
Of course, there are many
who dislike certain weird and
vioiem songs. But wno is
deemed best at interpreting
every song and putting a
rating on it? No one. The
possibility of a rating system
would glamorize the dis
agreeable artist and unfairly
subject all other artists to
X-committee judgements of
their work,
As long as the subject of
rating records is in the air,
why not add books and ma
gazines? Bodes like saucy
romance novels that can be
purchased in *he super
market right next to chiT
'dren’s books. Why stop
there? Sfctrely“N4i«il Geo
v graphic*^ has questionable
material within its covers. If
this mood continues, every
creative person in America
might have some Salem
judge and committee to rate
the material favorable to
have access to the public.
The fact remains that every
person in the United States
has a different opinion about
music, books, and maga
zines. Americans do not need
a committee to tell them
what to buy. If so, two major
steps have been taken back -
two major steps back two
centuries.
Publicity, song titles, and
album covers give a good
idea what type of music is on
the albom. To continue, most