Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Oct. 24, 1985, edition 1 / Page 2
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■ Cbitorialg ■ The “ Of Freedom Historians tell us that Thomas Jefferson once said, “Democracy has in it the seeds of its own defeat.” Undoubtedly, It is difficult for most people to accept Mr. Jefferson’s viewpoint, much less see the reality of it. Nevertheless, there Is much that goes on around us day after day that provides the proof of Jefferson’s words. Stated bluntly, . individual freedom, the very foundation of our free and democratic society, is itself a primary reason for the chips and cracks in our democratic foundation. Let’s look at a few examples to illustrate our point in the paradox erf a free society. With The Charlotte News joining the grave yard of 26 other afternoon newspapers on -p November l, we will have one less free and independent editorial voice among the free press. This 97-year old voice from within the free press will be silenced; hot by any actofan oppressive government, but rather by the individual choices of thousands of citizens to not subscribe to, or read, the NewsJV'v -Ip-1 . vW Secondly, while there has arisen a “buy American” drive with songs, slogans, ; T-shirts, and sponsored radio campaigns by such firntt as Coca-Cola, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, First Union National Bank, Harris Teeter Supermarkets, and Anheuser-Busch^ : Inc., to name a few, all begun initially to aid the textile industry, it is again individual choices by individually discriminating con sumers Who too often choose not to buy American. After all, in £ society that supposedly thrives on the competitive spirit, hew can you expect the individual to purchase an American-made automobile or " wearing apparel if similar imported pro ducts are available at lowo* prices and often of superior quality? Tony Brown spoke in Charlotte recently to area black business people and community leaders oh the theme “Buy Freedom” Economic Development Plan. Mr. Brown placed considerable emphasis on the need for black people to “recycle,” that is, to spend more of their money with black businesses in order to keep the money in black neighborhoods. Again, individual choice, preference, needs and wants often led blacks to spend their money elsewhere. In the case of the black consumer is the fact too that with 95 percent of all black , owned businesses being small operations, with sole proprietorships, many of the desired consumer products are not sold by black merchants or firms. «’ 4 •</ Lastly, the Reagan administration went to great lengths to break up the telephone communication monopoly by AT&T to pre sumably create competition and greater freedom of choice in this industry. How ever, consumers are now being told that they must choose one of three or four long distance service companies or the govern ment will assign them a Company. Thus, while the government has alleged that it is expanding consumer freedom it is at the -t same time seeking to dictate to consumers who don’t do what government says. Our bottom line is that when something is suggested for the collective good of an industry, business, community or what ever, if,what is being asked is inconsistent with the individuals’ wants, in most cases the individuals’ desires will prevail. Taken to its ultimate extreme, if all our young men refused to accept military duty in time of war, we might just lose whatever freedoms we have left, if any. r» MSA on oiacK ana minority flealth, created by forajfer health secreta» i Margaret Heckler, sakl In their findings that minorities suffer higher rates of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes than do white people. The federal study attributed what it called the “health gap” in large to education, or the lack of it, and , have to dp more k^^^nmSlSSy'to inform minority Americans about (lie ^con nection between personal behavior and these life-threatening conditions.” • ;. ' The task force was created in 1984 to examine health differences between black and other minority groups and whites and to offer recommendations on how to reduce the disparities in health between the groups. The task force’s study covered over 40 nmjor disease categories among blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians in order to identify factors that relate to the various illnesses. Minority group, peoples are believed to generally have poorer health rates than whites because of economic induced fac tors. For example, poor black people are _ more inclined to defer for a longer period of time seeing a doctor about an illness for reasons of cost than will even poor whites. Not unexpectedly, the task force's study found that one of the biggest gaps between blacks and whites is murder. The murder rate for black males, ages 25 to 34, is 7.6 times greater than for white males of the same age group,- The study noted too that I* amm-der 1 ,0^Wa< each other for the most trivial of reasons - gambling, fighting, drinking, etc. The study found also that blacks have the highest overall cancer rates - 25 percent higher among black males than white ma)es while black females have a four per dent higher rate than white females. Undoubted ly, these higher rates are related to black people’s heavy consumption of animal fat, especially pork, very heavy smoking and possibly drinking. If we as black people put as much effort into correcting these at least in part behavior induced illnesses as we do efforts to stop capital punishment of blacks, we might see not only better health but an overall better quality of life. » W# An Proceeding Faster, r And Better, Xnd Mon Oom plately With Our Own Destruc tion Ilian Any Force Outside Us Could Do. Has Done. Abortion Is Hot, Emotional Issue Abortion is a hot, emo tional issue for the 1980s. The protests for and against make that known. National opinion polls show that more people favor abortion than those who oppose it, but the anti-abortion groups are making more noise and gaining more strength than ever before. When the ruling came down in 1973, no one ... knew what to expect from the statistics. Since that date 12 years ago, 17 million abor tions have been legally per formed * including the esti- \ mated 1*8 million this year, f The 1973 ruling brought, * tion out <rf the “ back^Ueyways women undergoing tion procedure. Some argue that abortion is simply another birth con trol method - a procedure undergone without thought to. the possible medical or emo tional complications. Those who counsel, advise and give medical care to women un dergoing or considering abortion, do have a respon sibility to provide adequate care and handling. Women and girls who have abortions do not go into the clinics blindly. They are aware of complications medica|ly apd THE CHARLOTTE POST North Carolina’s Fastest Growing _jjjji 704-378-0498 ‘The People’s Newspaper” 107 Years (X Continuous Service BU Jotesea Editor. Pah. Bernard Reeves Gen. Mgr. Fran Farrer-Bradley Adv. Mgr. Dannette Gaither Office Mgr. Published Every Thursday by The Charlotte Pest Publishing Company, lac. Main Office: 1931S. Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. 28203 Second Class Postage . , . Paid at Charlotte " • -----. Member, National Newspaper PnbBshors’ National Advertising Representative: Amalgamated Publishers. Inc. One Year OneYear^|17.7« Payable In Advance lisps n«. seises POSTMASTER Send Change of address to: Charlotte Past IMS.Camden Rd. Charlotte. NX. 2R2S3 < Miller Say*: Roles For Mental Health Professionals ny snerman ix. Miner fecial To The Post Should mental illness be viewed like other organic sicknesses that may recur due to lack pf adequate tech nology to eradicate them? Many people view mental illness as a skeleton best left in the closet. 1 haye seen people attempt to label sane people “crazy” merely be cause they sought preventive mental health treatment. However, these sorts of ill natured presuppositions har bored against anyone seek ing mental health care sug gest that the#e exists some very serious misunderstand ings on what the mental health profession accom plishes. i asked a person, who is both a psychiatry professor at a Michigan medical-school and an active practitioner at Lafayette Clinic in Detroit, Mi., to offer some guidance on the mental health pro fession Beth Ann Brooke, M.D., sees three key roles for mental health professionals. She asserts, "l) provide treatment of acutely and chronically mentally ill, 2) educate other physicians to recognize mental illness and treat it if they are capable and interested, and 3) edu # /••* N 1*1 A,'* J; A ■ i i V 1 wmw uie population at large in the mode of primary pre vention.” America is currently in the “Age of Quality” so Dr. Brooke was encouraged to address the issue of quality mental health treatment. She averred, “Some foreign born psychiatrists, who are not well acultured, have diffi culty effectively treating their patients because they do not understand the nuanc es, «- ( e.g., grammar, custom*....).” Dr. Brooke seized upon tttis opportunity to touch on a growing trend in medicine that is radically reshaping this profession. She de clared, “1 don’t think you should have to practice de fensive medicine! The system ha* forced many competent physicians to do so.” I felt compelled to chal lenge Dr. Brooke on the subject of cures in mental illness. I asked her, "Do you have a cure?” She retorted, “Sure! But we don't for everyone, and many of the major mental illesses either recur or progress despite very ade quate currently available treatment." Dr. Brooke went on to point out that many people are regularly treated for depres sion with medication. However, the real issue that begs for an answer Is, “Dp mental disorders have a biological root?" I posed this question to noted psychology professor Lawrence Cohen of the University of Delaware’s Psychology Department. Professor Cohen said, “Some disorders have bio logical roots - certainly schizophrenia, manic depressive disorders... those disorders are best treated through medication." • • . . a m. . - - nc uununuea, "inere are other disorders, such as anx iety and depression that are probably caused in part by biological factors but re search evidence is not clef1 as to, how important a role biology plays.” When queried to give a model that the general public could use to view mental illness, professor Cohen sees depression “paore like the flu.” That is, a person can have a bout with depression and receive treatment and it recurs. It appears that there is no clear-cut answer to whether * mental illness is organic. I guess we will have to be patient and let the scientists continue to unravel the puz zle of the workings of the human mind. Very few women and girls seek abot$on as a method of birth control ^ It is their wternative. The pro-life sup- b porters are viewing the single, finds herself in a situation of, unwanted preg- ’ nancy - what is she to do? A 13-year-old girl, barely away from bring- a baby, jfinds herself in a situation of un wanted pregnancy - what is r she to do? A woman or girl is J raped, becomes pregnant - i what is she to do? A woman ’r will risk death if she con tinues a pregnancy - what is these women i ... and economic well being. v History has too often al lowed women and girls to die unjustly under the hands of charlatans and fruitless home remedies. They suf fered and died unjustly. The social implications of unwed pregnant women pushed many to choose be tween suicide, metal coat hangers, or lye. Can Ameri ca face this horror once again?
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Oct. 24, 1985, edition 1
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