Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Nov. 28, 1985, edition 1 / Page 2
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V r'' luanKsgiving reminds us: un, give r thanks to the Lord, for He is so good! For - His loving kindness is forever.” (Psalm - 118 29). We should love the Lord God and be C thankful to Him for what He has done, is and [ > u will continue. i . ■* v Praise the God who - -led His people through the wilderness, offering His loving kindness forever. ; (136:16). v -saved His people from the power of » mighty kings (136:17). • -protects us from our own weaknesses (136:23); and from our enemies (138:24); 1 and gives food to every living things - (136125). ~ ;* -extends goodness to everyone every where (105:7). -lifts the .fallen end those bent beneath n a - • ' rwxm * . 44 their loads (145:14). -fulfills the desires of those Who re ♦ vere v and trust Him (145:19). K 3 These references from the Psalms should be a meaningful reminder of our need to give thanks to the Uving God for all His goodness and mercy, for without them there would be no Thanksgiving for us. We should be thankful for health • without it you have nothing - strength, peace of mind, food, clothing, shelter, educational opportunity, economic and political and religious freedom, and free speech. We should appreciate these and give thank* for . there are many parts of the world where such basic freedoms, which we Americans too often take for granted, are not experi enced. Yes, let us give thanks to God on this " Thanksgiving Day in 1985. newmng me inieuec_i crisis ween we aiscussea me oiacK in tellectual crisis - that is, the conscious or unconscious effort of many black youth, aided by the thoughtlessness of many black and white adults to avoid die challenges and . competitiveness of intellectual pursuits. By intRHectual pursuits we mean knowledge, skills, Ok ability to think, analyse and reason, self-discfoline in goal pursuits, and a desired competitive spirit, all of which are characteftstics intelligent, progressing people with the Neatest potential for suc cess. We noted too that as written in Jeff Howard and Ray Hammond’s article, “Rumors of Inferiority,’’ black youth.avoid ence of intellectual pursuits and compe ; lition arises from fears and self-doubt Reinforced by rumors of black inferiority. Thus, to avoid the possibility of appearing to b* Sfapid, many black people withdraw — ** 1 engagements and com and Hammond argue that the -_j class, the premimed black intellectuals, must accept the challenge and are indeed the best hope for intellectual development among black youth. However, noted Harold Cruse’s statement of 18 years In his book, “The Crisis Of The Negro . Intellectual” where he says the black in tellectual! • black l5pj tip »a base, of. support . i question erf esassSIsss! mediocrity to become the acceptable stan dard is to hasten and invite self-destruc tion. a forcefar greater than the bistort*^ people. : Jesse Jackson traveled around the nation last year to tell black school youth to say, . think, and feel that “I am somebody.” : The very fact that there was and continues ;to be a need to tep youth that they are : somebody confirms rumors of inferiority ; that many black youth feel. In order to attack the sense of inferiority, and in order to get black youth to Welcome the challenges that intellectual engage ments and competition offer and demand for meaningful survival, the internal black community must harness a four-fold attack upon the basic problem. The attack must be of the physical, emotional, and psycholo gical magnitude of the civil rights move ment of the 1960s and the nation’s space science program reaction to the Russian Spudnick launched in the early 1960s. Initially, church ministers and teachers, backed by their administrators, must im press upon parents that they must re assume a greater responsibility for the education of their children in order to reverse the trend of the school arenming too large a share of the education re i sponsibility. Also school personnel must place greater demands on students, after all if little is expected from students, little will they perform and learn. Higher expect ations will result in'higher results in all aspects of learning, character building, and value system development. Included here should be a higher value placed on edu cation by the youth themselves in willingly Uiemsefg hi*her Ievels °* achievement ?or Secondly, the church, highly supported by the home and other institutions mvf organi zations^ must help change habits and behavior patterns particularly as they relate to aek, drags, tiki quest for knowledge and the material trappings of life. Thirdly, black families desperately need to strengthen themselves and reverse the highly destructive impact of the growing number of one-parent - usually the mother - “ homes Nearly everything else in re versing the inferiority complex dilemma * will fail if the black family structure is not strengthened and stabilized. Finally, the black intellectuals, middle class and otherwise, must realise a re newed responsibility as role models and as a strong support group in all their en deavors or there will be no 20th century for black Americans. . Helms Seeks To Eliminate Abortion fHnU ’* v * ’ • ■■ «* » The availability of family planning services represents one of the most cost-effective and compassionate uses of the taxpayers’ money in American history. Birth con trol in the USA was prac ticed long before controver sy arose or the headache excuse became popular le gend. For decades, this go vernment has worked to give family planning services to those , who could not afford them. It did this in the belief that a family that wants and plans for its children is less likely than others to experi ence poverty, child abupe FS/SSors are people like &n. Jesse Reims (R-NC), Rep. Jack Kemp (R-NY), and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UTAH), who are still working to eliminate federal funds for every clinic that informs clients that abortion is an alternative to an unwanted pregnancy. This shutdown would also include health department clinics that offer medical care to the less fortunate and innociilations to children and adults at a low cost. These men feel that clinics that counsel all options should be Sabrina business family planning doctors, nurses, and coun selors would have to remain closed-mouth about the option of abortion. Every year via 5,000 hos pitals, health departments and community clinics, the Federal Family Planning program serves five million women and teen-agers. In one year the aid averted 800,000 unintended pregnan cies - half among teens. If these pregnancies had oc curred, an estimated 282,000 additional births among women and teens, and 433.000 abortions would have been the end product. About half of the United States’ poor women and tWo thirds of sexually active teens are in need of family planning services. The f United States leads other de- '{ veloped nations in rates of pregnancy, abortion and childbirth among teens, costing the taxpayers bil lions in health and welfare programs. The expansion of access to family plnnnii^ services and education is viably important if. the United States wants to cur tail or solve this increasing Senators Helms and Hatch, and Representative Kemp accuse family planning ad vocates of being promo sexualists with promosex ualist agendas - abortion ad vocates and promoters - who are integral parts of U.S. taxpayer-supported birth / control programs. To them, ( it is not the question of birth \ control but questioning ' should the programs that support birth control and alternatives be federally funded; but the opposition goes deeper than that. These Senators and one Represen tative are not the only ones ready and wantina to din mantle the family planning aid - t^ere are hundreds of thousands of people support ing the dismantlement on the ground that they oppose abortion. However, It seems that these people not only oppose abortion but also op pose birth control. , Why do they also oppose birth control? Because the pill and the intrauterine de vice act within the uterus of a woman to prevent the im plantation of a fertilized egg They also claim that patients are not fully informed about the risks involved in artifi cial birth control devices. family planning and the availability of family plan ning services is someth!** that Americans should have at their disposal. 1 1 Abortion foes must recog nize that closing family planning clinics would not save the unborn but increase the demand for abortions which would be a tragedy. Forcing women and teens to bear children against their j will is a direct assault on i human rights Mid a threat \ that must be vigorously op posed. Perhaps if the leaden of these anti-abortion and anti-contraceptive grams, exchange places with a woman or teen who is ex periencing an unwanted i pregnancy - then they would realize that all the hoopla Is ridiculous. • ■ y • * t THE CHARLOTTE POST North Carolina’s Fastest Growing Weekly 704-375-0496 -, “The People’s Newspaper” 107,Yew Of ConttauoOi Service Bill Johnson Editor, Pah. Bernard Reeves Gee. Mgr. Fran Fanrer-Bradley Adv. Mgr. Daaaette Gaither Office Mgr. Published Every Thursday by The Charlotte Poet Publishing Compeer, Jnc. Main Office: 1531S. Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. MM3 Second Claas Postage Paid at Charlotte Member, National Newspaper PebMshers ’ North Carolina Black PnMhhors National Advertising Representative: Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. One Year flibiciiptiii Rite One Year - I17.7S Payable to Advance USPSNe. Muee POSTMASTER Seed Cheage of eddress te:' ' Charlotte Pest 1531 8. Cemdoe Rd. Charlotte. N.C. MM3 MjUer Says: Kacks Needs: Civil _ al Opportunity By Sherman N. Miller Special To The Post . Recently I asked several Wilmington, DE blacks should organizations like the NAACP, SCLC, and PUSH be in the business of civil rights or equal opportunity These Delawareans saw civil rights as a key impediment along the path to equal opportunity. They also seemed to feel that black Americans had already obtained their civil rights. This positive black American feeling towards having achieved civil rights begs the question, “What civil liberty needs of the black community will the traditional civil rights organizations meet in the late 1900s? Although the era of overt American racism has passed I believe that some of its vestiges, such as at large elections in some cities (e.g. Dover DE councilmatic elections) still remain to be rooted out. At large voting is an excellent black upward mobility .barrier that prevents a significant portion of America’s population from having representation that is fully responsive to its needs. The existence of such ill-fated Shuman racist vestiges suggests that the traditional civic rights organizations must complete these mop-up campaigns before they shift their full attention to socio-economic parity. However, if the traditional civil rights organizations wish to survive they must meet the late 1980s black community’s needs. As I speak with blacks, I bear people talking about jobs and business ownership. Vet I recall having heard Lawrence J. Toliver, V.P. of Charlotte, NC’s Chamber of Commerce (Small Business Division) reveal that there were not enough black owned businesses in Charlotte large enough to reap the bounty of the potential business that existed. I feel that Toliver’s I comments highlight the existence of a significant chasm between Black America’s pursuit of civil rights and their growing need to achieve economic opportunity. This point becomes very clear to me when I consider that Charlotte’s blade mayor may be hamstrung in any attempts to. make city contracts fully available to aU segments of the dty’s population. In July when Mr. Toliver gave his assessment of the ill-fated state of Charlotte’s black business community, I felt some disquietude. I pictured the fruits of the civil rights struggle evolving into the enigma 'of equal opportunity However, I have recently been offered hope that problems, such as the insignificant Charlotte Mack business community, will be properly addressed. In a late October letter, Mr. Benjamin L. , Hooks - (Executive Director of the NAACP) revealed to me that the NAACP was undergoing a paradigm shift in program direction where they will expand their focus to fully address the evolutionary needs of the Mack business community. w “You may be interested to learn that the NAACP Board of Directors approved the formation of NEbCOi NAACP Economic Development Corporation, a non-profit subsidiary, solely owned by the NAACP, to carry out development projects in various communities throughout the country.” writes Hooks. Hooks continued, “NEDCO will take a ‘hands-on* - approach to employment and business development. Furthermore, this a major step in the economic thrust of the NAACP, in that, we will work directly with minority businesses to improve their " ability to compete in the marketplace.” As I grapple with Hook’s comments, I see an opportunity for the traditional black leadership > to form a positive working relationship with the Reagan Administration because they will be speaking a common business language. Hopefully this new NAACP thrust will provide a forum for many mainstream black . executives and professionals to pool their talents to help small minority business owners create more jobs in their communities.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Nov. 28, 1985, edition 1
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