Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Jan. 16, 1986, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
■■■ The Challenge From Dr. I^ing “The black revolution is much more than a struggle for the rights of Negroes. It is forcing America to face all its interrelated flaws-racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism.” -Martin lather King Jr. January 20,1906 will be a landmark first observance of the national holiday honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As the first black American so honored, King Joins a select group of one other American - George Wfihington - honored with a nation al holiday by law. / As important as they are, when we look beyond the pomp and ceremonial trappings of the King holiday, we must ask ourselves what does it all mean to each of us individually and collectively? It means first and foremost, as Dr. King had repeatedly suggested, that each person is largely responsible for his or her own freedom. Writing in EBONY’S (January 1906) special issue on “The Living King,” historian Lerone Bennett Jr. states elo quently that “the crucial point... is that this is NOT a holiday for rest and frivolity and play This is a day for study, struggle, and preparation for the victory to come. It is a day set aside for measuring ourselves and Africa yardstick of SfffoPQ , i before us in Mpboiida} are wadring and dfyat are we prepared to do to ensure that King did not dream and die in vain?” ft is in how we have and are responding to holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King. Less we forget our desire to blot out the painful realisation that far too many black youth are leaving our schools and colleges Ill-prepared to meet the challenges of a '*■ competitive society; that over 50 percent of all black babies currently born in the nation are born out of wedlock; that after 20 years of denying it, we now have to admit that the institution of the black family is in a state of discord; that there continues an abundance of political apathy in spite of --substantial gains in the election of blacks to public office; snd that sports participation by black youth is not in the proper priority x order of lifers needs. It was the continuing concern with these and similar issues that Dr. King told 600 graduates of Charlotte’s six black high schools and over 8,000 other people in May 1963 that “dorm not open to your parents are opening to you. The challenge is to be ready to enter the doors as they open. Don’t set out to do jbst a, good Negro tab, but be able to compete with people of all races.” We hope and pray that those 8,600 Charlotteans, wherever they may now be, and the thousands of others who have had the privilege to hear or read Dr. King's writings have heeded well his call for black Americans to seek their personal freedom • by having a closer walk with their God, by - developing positive attitudes of self-respect and self-love through developing and utiliz ing their God-given talents and a character qi integrity and honesty. - Such development is increasingly im portant when we realize that while Presi dent Reagan signed the legislation making Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a nattoh al holiday, his administration has been busy dismantling many of the hard fought civil right* gains that Martin Luther King Jr. died for. This is symptomatic of yet too much of America. That is, there are still too many white people who would say, “Yes, give the blacks a holiday for their fallen leader so they can celebrate in a fashion of pdnm and ceremony but when day is done, their gains will be no greater.” It is for this reason that Lerane Bennett Jr. says King’s birthday is a time to remind us of the need for study and struggle until the victory oVer racism and hatred is won. , ywgm f mm $e#» i charging that the $AT is raciafly and cul turally biased against blacks. ^ We don’t think bladi schools deed worry about the original amendment, call Proposi tion 48, ever becoming a reality. By this We don’t mead to: imply that the predominantly white institutions are sympathetic to the needs of black youth. As these institutions are reminded that in the four years that Patrick Ewing played I. town University, the UnM_Bi profit of over $12 million. Before 1988 rolls around, another compromise amendment S will surface because the real name of the game is making money even for institutions of higher learning. —I—I^■ THE CHARLOTTE POST —■ North Carolina’s Fastest Growing Weekly ■ ■ 1 704-378-0498 “The People’s Newspaper’’ 107 Years Of Continuous Service -.... . , Bill Johnson Editor, Pah. Bernard Reeves Gen. Mgr. Fran Farrer-Bradley Adv. Mgr. Daanette Gaither Office Mgr. Published Every V / Thursday by The Charlotte Pest Publishing Camp—y. lac. Main Office: 1931 S. Camden Road . Charlotte, N C 28203 Second pass Postage Paid at Charlotte Member. National Newspaper Publishers’ / ■ i Association > North Carolina Black Publishers Aseaciatldu ^ National Advertising ■ * Representative: Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. One Year Subscription Rate One Year - 917.7# Payable In Advance caps No lessee POSTMASTER Send Chang#of adflmi to: Charlotte Past IS3IS. Camden R4 Charlotte. N.C. «0»3 MUier Say»: You Can Turn Dollars Over * 4<£ , By Sherman N. Miller Special To The Poet Whenever I hear blacks whining over black Ameri ca’s failure to turn over its money in the black com munity, I am troubled by who will assume the respon v- sibilUy for changing black America’s Dollar Egression Index. i recently got a hint that I can do a lot to help solve this black dollar egression pro blem when I missed a flight in Memphis, TN. I pulled into this black-operated FINA service station to call my travel agency to be rebooked on a new flight. Once my flight plans were secure, my stomach reminded me that it was dinner time. For no special reason, I was overcome by a hanker ing for some soul food. But this was my first visit to Memphis so I had no idea where to go to satisfy my craving. Wood, the service station manager, suggested that f visit a delicatessen owqed by a black chap called Bishop located within a few blocks from where 1 was. He told me to tell Bishop that he had sent me. The food at Bishop’s deli • Sherman N. Miller ' was good although I was not accustomed to eating in a deli Since Wood had helped me, I returned to his service station to fill my rental ear’s gas tank. I came to appreciate this experience on a subsequent trip to Columbus, OH. My airplane was late leaving Philadelphia, PA* so when I reached my grandmother’s home and we went out for dinner, we found ourselves running all around Columbus trying to find an open restaurant. Finally Grand mother Bessie Adams sug gested that.we take oqr business to die black com munity. We dined at the “Mt. Vernon Avenue - Marble Gang.” According to our waiter, Kenneth Blackwell, -IFI CAN DO MY DUTY ASA CHRIST IAN OUGHT. IFI CAN BRING SAL- " VATIONT0A WORLD ONCE WROUGHT. IFI CAN SPREAD THE MESSAGE AS £ THE MASTER TAUGHT THEN MY LIVING WILL .NOT BE IN VAIN. — TP LIKE FOR SOME BODY TO SAV THAT DAY, THAT MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. TRIED TO LOVE SOMEBODY* 1999-1968 Remember I_ '_ fe Teen Pregnancy A Modem Problem? Each year, over a quarter million unwed teen-agers bear children. For a young mother, having a child can mean a lifetime of poverty and welfare dependency. Is teen pregnancy a mo dern program or have the consequences and views changed over the years? Pioneer women married at 16 and had their first child slightly after that - families rejoiced. In the less distant past, a pregnant female in high school was expected to end her schooling, marry the father and settle down. Or she could arrange for an abortion or adoption. ,i In the 1960s they claim that r a. girl hmst; acquire enough : aWeU) earn a^ ever, few are likely to post pone love, romance and sex. It is an exceptional young male or female who has not had sexual intercourse prior to age 20. Eight in 10 young males and seven in 10 youqg females report having sexual interepursfe while in their teens. u The result in that: increased Activity: more teenage females get preg nant each year and at least Sabrina Johnson four in 10 will experience pregnancy prior to age 20. «^l In abortion and*oTthose*'?’ who . have the child, few f marry and lower give up thr*a ^ The costs to society and its pockets are high - almost intoferably high: r-Babies born to teens are twice as likely to die in infancy than babies born to £ older mothers.. ", • -Those that do survive are more likely to have develop mental problems and de creased learning expecta tions. tgl.>0- . < [Jgj' ; •; -Teen mothers are less likely to complete high schoof thus their earning • ■ • ■ jh ■> J. '*v^7/ ft JK \ *sfL%£Ji * W'u ’’ & h The Hack Community the Marble Gang is a gather ing place that is frequent ed by Columbus’ upwardly .1 mobile blacks. He said that the restaurant’s specialty is barbecued ribs, mid whites often come in to purchase these ribs. I chose the ribs and found them to be ex- ' cellent. * , f: I instinctively began to assess the Marble Gang as 1 being a restauSM* to which to bring customers for busi ness entertainment. I did a < “clothes sniff test” on my suit sleeves. Not smelling the scent of tobacco, I felt confident that my customers would not fed they had been taken to a smoke-filled bar. I checked the walla and tables tor cleanliness. Final ly I looked to see if any “ladies of the evening” were present. Everything was of mainstream standards, so I concluded that the Marble Gang was a good place to entertain customers. After this satisfying ex perience at the Marble Gang, I looked for a black restaurant in Atlanta. Some friends who live in the city told me about Pascal’s res taurant. This restaurant is famous for its fried chicken. I had thdr fried chicken v«. " i ' dinner and found it was very good. Unfortunately, I believe Pascal’s location will not appeal to some white /■ customers. In summary, corporate blacks and black profession als control huge sums of money in their normal course of doing business, t / think these mainstream blacks can show black Ame rica how to turn over ctol- % lars in the black communi ty. These mainstream blacks need only utilize main- - stream calibre black-owned retail outlets, hotels and restaurants whenever it f makes good business sense. I hope that the publishers of prestigious black Ameri can magazines such as Ebony, Black Enterprise, and Essence will recognize the importance of develop ing national business direc tories of black-owned restau rants, retail stores, and hotels. These national black business directories can of fer corporate and profession al blacks and mainstream corporate America the op portunity to direct new money into the black com munity which should main- ' tain eklsting jobs and gen erate many new one*, capacity is severely limited. The result of this is a cost of approximately $8 billion annually to the taxpayers for maintaining the mottots and children. Hands wave over the tra gedy but no solution has been found and communication < with children about sex is limited and seldom cUscusses the consequence^: if- ir responsible pre-marital sex. The state of Wisconsin be lieves it may have fquftd an answer. Its near Jaw funds sex education in school preg nancy counseling^and an The^neyi^^^^^l^tep parents - tltepl^^SfSE teens’ mother and father - to help support a grandchild until its parents reschage 18, get married or join the mi litary. For the first, time, some grandparents will be forced to foot the bill for their children’^ irresponsibility. . 'Hie grandparents’ liability clause will be given a three year trial and demanids a fair test. A new threat to the wallets of parents of teens may force them to speak frankly with the teens about, sex and Us responsibility or. continue to let others keep their hands in their pockets and not talk or converse freely about sex. What the Wisconsin law seems to be screaming is \ that teens must take the re sponsibility for their actions and if they do not the parent must. Once a child is bom to a male and female - young or old - it is the parents’ responsibility to eare for and provide for that child. The burden should not fall wholly on the state. Thousands of economists have pointed out that society js, jh effect, paying single women to have baWies It seems the easiest /fey to make a living is prttrkation and lots of teens are)h£ostng that option. No pv«rio4s ex perience required, rfy 4duoa tlonal requirement ahd no applications to fill out -If the Wisconsin lawWorks, it will reduce the number at abortions by reducing the number of pregnancies by increasing parental action. And thus relieve taxpayers of part of the burden of support ing the babies of unwed teens.' The Wisconsin law in its present form may not be correct for all states but is a viable option in the chaotic world of financing teen mothers and children.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 16, 1986, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75