Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / May 8, 1986, edition 1 / Page 2
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Assignment Plan Affected Election Underlying the two major aspects 'of Tuesday’s 1966 Primary Elections were the invisible hands,'or better still, the phQoio phies of two personalities not on the ballots and living in two widely scattered worlds. aevertheless, these personalities, one on te winning side antfoneOn the losing side, had the Joint impact of giving victory to tradition. In more specific terms, it was the long standing supporf of traditional Republicans for Jim Broyhill that enabled him to defeat Jeese Helms’ Congressional Club protege David Funderburk. In a somewhat similar vain, it was the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board candidates who most clearly identify with, the policies'of outgoing Supt. Jay Robinson who were the lop vote getters. These were, in the' order of their vote.totals - . George Battle, Ashley Hogewood and Karen Gaddy. - :,y Few would disagree that Dr. Robinson’s policies have resulted in substantial academic progress, improved rdorale among parents, teachers, students and school board members within the context a fully integrated school system. Incum bents Battle and Hogewbod have been assured school board seats by receiving 18,292 (61.8 percent) and 16,590 (55.7 per centrof the vote, respectively. For one' of the two remaining school board seats, third place finisher and incumbent Karen Gaddy with 14,276 votes (48.2 percent) may have to face a run-off election with Sharon Bynum, Arthur Griffin Jr. and ■' Arthur Joye. V ' Griffin, the fourth incumbent with 10,940 votes (37 percent), finished in fifth place behind Bynum a self-styled conservative Christian who received 13,183 votes (44.5 percent). Joye, a new comer, was the sixth place finisher with 9,668 votes (32.7 percent). Elections Supervisor Bill Culp attributed Griffin’s lower vote total to *‘a very low turnout in the black community...” Considering that the' other black candidate, George Battle, was the top vote getter, we & think Culp’s assessment^of Griffin’s support is wrong. Since the undercurrent issues on the school board election centered around busing, the p»««l assignment plan and stfod-based _.__lth clinics, we believe these issues had Some impact'on the vote totals, for example, Arthur Griffin and Harvey Sadoff s vote call 'on the school Board last month Tor a freeze on pupil assignments until the whole issue could be re-examined, probably brought Griffin more name recognition. However, the somewhat controversial source of that recognition - the freeze - may have upset some voters and have been a factor in his relatively low voter support. The school board vote' on the pupil assignment freeze failed. Our viewpoint' on this issue appears to be supported by the fact, that all three voter front runners - Battle, Hogewbod and Gaddy favor the current pupil assignment plan. ' . ' Dr. Robinson was a factor in another way in this election. The school Board will be selecting a new superintendent sometime next year. Thus, the voters have confirmed at least in part that they want as their cheif school administrator someone who will continue in the tradition and policies~of Jay RobinSon. > Returning to the statewide tradition victory'or victories, Rep. Jim Broyhill, a leading figure of the centerist position of tyC. Republican Party for 23 years, stopped something bigger than his'opponent David Funderburk. The low-keyed Broyhill, who refers to himself as a conservative, put a significant dent in Jesse Helms' so-called • * New Right political machine, the N.C. Congressional Club with, in his'own words, “a landslide victory.” Yet, immediately following the election, Broyhill refused to make any comment about the Congressio nal Club or David Funderburke. The election is significant tbo because it demon strates the Chib and Jesse Helms are'one and the same and that it can be defeated in the political arena. The third victory for tradition was the sweep'of Democrat U S. Senate candidate and former Gov. Terry Sanford m over 20 years. Sanford received 363,821 votes or 60 percent of the total. He far outdistanced his nearest rival John Ingram with 97,620 votes or 16 percent “of the vote. Former Meck lenburg County Commissioner Fountain Odom came in a distant third with'only — 46,961 votes or eight percent of . the total. Sanford was initially elected Gov.'of N.C. in • the early 1960s and more recently retired as presidenf of Duke University. Thus, it was tradition that won for "our local schools, and traditlon that won for bothDemocratic and Republican paUjWE.S. Senate hopefuls. Only the general election in November and what these forces “Of tradition do in the years to come will determine whether the voters have really won. 1 _-felly Membership Fails We were very pleased to learn that the ff-C. High SchOol Athletic Association’s vote ' to change their membership to a public schooRmly organization failed*on Monday. The action was aimed at expelling Qiarlotte Catholic, the "wily non-public school in the hJCHSAA. Underlying this effort was a handful of Rocky River 2A schools that are simply jealous of Catholic Hi’s great success particularly in football. A member of the NCHSAA since 1967 and joining the Rocky River 2A conference in ' 1972, Catholic’s football record is 75-16-1 in league play and 111-36-1 overall. Petty jealousy and some anti-Catholic redneck attitudes were apparently behind the entire ousting effort. Thank God that justice has prevailed*once again. ' Tv: in Wanted_JOB CMS Desegregati Springs Controversy Sabrina’s column will return next week. By Gerald O. Johnson Special To The Post Once again the Charlotte Afecklenburg School Sys- ■ tern’s desegregation plan is the topic 'of controversy. Once again we are hearing that the plan doesn’t work and it should be abolished. As usual the same issues as to the shortcomings of. the plan are-on the front burner. As usual it is School Board election, time. However, what is unusual about the issue this time 'arouhd ir that more and more'of the'opponents'of the plan are black. This is some what scary, consequently, I must speak'out. I feel that it is'of paramount importance that we hot lose sight Horn whence we Came. We cannot lose sighfof. the struggle that ■? so many believed in and somediedfor. The primary points con cerning black Folks are these: v .: . * The masses' of blacks were g better off under the segre- * gation plan. ' ! The School System was better under the segregation plan. -vi,^-i • Blacks are bearing the brunt of the burden of in convenience'of the desegre gation plan. The Plan just doesn’t work. I would like to discuss each of these pointB. The masses' of blacks were better'off under the segre gation plan. Poppycock! ! This point stems from the low self esteem many under privileged blacks are per ceived of having by being placed in an integrated en vironment. Having received * V • ’* V ** •' *1 ® 4 THE CHARLOTTE POST North Carolina’s ’ Fastest Growing Weekly 704-378-0496 -jv*- i ' ' - • • j -n Ciifcjiiuiilj. ‘‘The People's Newspaper” 107 Years Of Continuous Service Bill Johnson Editor. Pub. Bernard Reeves Gen. Mgr. Fran Farrer-Bradley Adv. Mgr. Dannette Gaither Of nee Mgr. Published Every Thursday by . The Charlotte Pest Publishing Company. Ine. Main Office: 1931S. Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. 38308 Second Claw Postage Paid at Charlotte -■ Member. National Newspaper Publishers Association North CaroMaa Black Publishers Association National Advertising Representative: , Amalgamated Publishers. Inc, One Year Subscription Rate One Year -«I7.7« Payable In Advance U8P8 No. MSSC* POSTMASTER Send Change of address to: Charlotte Pest 1591S. Camden Rd. Charlotte. N.C. 7*7*3 Miller Sam: Wffl Racist Tainted Nominees Cost Control Of Senate? , By Sherman N. Miller Special Ta The Post Iminis iminee Sessions III, is perpetuating the myth that all white Con servatives are racist. The Pittsburgh Courier reports, “During Senate testimony, Sessions admitted that he once said the anti-black Ku Klux Klan was an "okay’ organization.' The nomina tion of Sessions Is parfof the appoint as many conserva lives as possible to federal clearN°an Election. On the'other hand, John Dolton, former state of Virginia, gave me His conservative tide -~wr** Sherman vades the nation is slowing black Socioeconomic pro gress. "Ffo! declared DoRon. Since DoRon was very positive In Ms response, his feelings were sought on what is really happening to blacks. “I think that blacks are becoming better educated. They are getting better jobs. They are getting in the main stream, More io, than ever in my life time. I think the future is very bright for them.” The question that imme diately cornea to mind to, "What perceptions do white conservatives have of black Americans?” “I think the conservative. people in America see blacks * as having opportunities,” said Dolton. “If they are willing to work hard and be educated, today, they have the same kind'of'opportuni ties that whites have.” An inordinate number of blacks dfop 'out 'of tnain stream colleges and univer sities yearly; however, Dolton highlighted the im portance of a mainstream calibre education in the acid test for peer acceptance. “He needs to get educated. But today, we’ve got the same 'opportunities for Macks as we’ve got for whites in the public school*.' And with scholarships, they are getting educated. Theold prejudice that you had - 30, 40, or SO years ago - is disappearing.” .5-- A Dolton argued strongly that if blacks are given the same'opportunity as whites they will perform just as well. “I think that blacks who have the same opportunity level as whites are going to do as well as whites,” pro claims Dolton. “The problem is in the past Macks have not had that same opportunity as whites. But given the same kind of opportunities, I think * you are seeing the same kind of progress/’ Dolton’s comments did not fit the stereotypic model that many blacks expect from a governor of a formerly Confederate state. I felt compelled to ask him if he expected a black to become governor of the state of Virginia. / “I certainly think So,” u replied Dolton. “We have just elected a black Lt. Governor. And certainly the people of Virginia did hot penalize him for being; black. That wouldn’t have happened 20 years ago - 25 years jigo. But things have Dolton wenf on to point out what blacks in Ms Party had done in Virginia. • . > “Twenty-five years ago you wouldn’t have made a mayof of the city of Roahoke. black, and he is a Republi can. My home town, Rad ford, I think we had Tour er five percent black in Radford, and we sleeted a black mayor in the 70s. I don’t think necessarily being black is the handicap it was 25 years ago People today |ady.”‘*3*£ I an all black education from this CkfS system some 20odd years ago, I can assure you that this problem existed back then. This is not an integration issue. It is an issue for special educational programs being developed to help those who are not Ih a position to be exposed to many educatfonal experiences 'outside 'of ■ school. The School System was better under the segregation plan. This is a true state ment .JHowever, the reasons * are riot 'due to desegrega tion of the schools. When I was growing up in Charlotte, I noticed that college de greed blacks that did not specialize in the legal 'or medical professions had two alternatives: Teaching of postal service. This created a wealth'of talent Tor our black school system back then. The cream'of the crop from the DiacK community ended up teaching in black schools. Pfow that Corporate Ameri ca has integrated, blacks have more job opportunities than ever before. Hence, since teacher pay is far below the norm' of Corporate America, the teaching pro fession cannot attract the calibre of blacks fr once did. Therefore, even if we di gressed to a segregated school system today, the re sults would bfc far worse than you could imagine. More over, school administrations are swamped with paper work that is unrelated to education. Hence, more time and money are being spent to comply with regulations that have nothing to do with in strucflonal education. There fore, the school systems can’t help but be in Worse shape today than they once were, jpf: cl* .J/ff ■ Blacks are brunt' of the venience'of tlon plan. This U again, this is the quence'of a non-school Issue. Because of patterns that have i over the years, the __ minantly black neighbor hoods are becoming less densely populated as South east Charlotte becomes more densely populated. Econo mically, It makes more sense (q build schools closer to the populace. Why buikf or maintain a school in an area where you Would have to bus thousands of kids many miles when you can build one that would require minimal bufltng fewer miles. Kk
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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May 8, 1986, edition 1
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