Laat week's Post headline feature story
raised the question, "Does Upward Mobility
Mean Forgetting ■ Black Roots?" The
obvious answer Is a categorical no! We offer
this quick and blunt answer because human
beings are clearly products of their en
vironment which heavily Influences the
personality formation and basic value
aystem.
Upward mobility In Itself Implies change
In some habits, customs and even beliefs If
such mobility has any real merit. Unfor
tunately, from a preceptlon standpoint, the
reaHty of economic upward mobility that
carries with It movement Into a different
political and social cllmate-an environ
ment that has a predominance of white
people-causes some blacks te assume black
abandonment of other blacks. The point of
fact Is this is not an Issue of race but Is
: rather a question of circumstances. By this
we mean that white people just happen to be
the people with meet of the major economic
and political scale of power.
There Is a preceptlon problem too about
how and what black people do and can do
with economic and political power. For
example, some blacks, probably far too
many, believe that blacks In positions of
power should automatically become cham
pions of every cause the blacks have and
should use their power base to that end. Yet,
the fact Is, blacks nor anyone else with
economic power has achieved his or her
position primarily by promoting the
product of the firm where employed. It fii a
question of political power, the holder of
that power, be he black or white, must first
respond to the wishes of his constituency be
they* bitch or whits. However, we would
hastily add that we would hope that a Mach
in the upward mobility circles would at
least be sensitive to the unique needs of
black people.
For example, the Rev. Leon Bulllvan a
Baptist preacher In Philadelphia and found
er of the Opportunities Industrial Center,
Inc., Is on the board of directors of a few
major corporations. In his positions he has
on more than one occasion used his
Influence to curtail business dealings la
South Africa as an expression against
apartheid and helped to form employment
policies to assure more and better Job
opportunities for blacks and other
minorities.
■ -*-, '** * .V • • ’.
Far too may blacks think that If upward
mobility blacks are not running through
their corporate towers with raised, clinched
fists shouting Mack power that they are
not doing anything for the less fortunate of
us. Others think that a Mack elected official
can and should give all of his or her energies
to Issues affecting blacks when In most
cases it was primarily a white electorate
that put the office holder In office.
These viewpoints represent a flip side of
the likewise valid comments In the Post
about upward mobility among blacks. To
repeat, people may move away from their
original neighborhoods, get well educated
and assume status position with power and
money, but never will or can they escape
their heritage because we are all the
products of the environment from which we
have roots.
Who Controls The Schcob&v-:#^!!^!, '■
A Denver, Colorado, educational con
sulting firm recently prepared a study on
the major policy issues facing higher
education In South Carolina. While many
In the state praised the high quality of the
■t*dy, few appear really Interested In
addressing a major problem brought out by
the study. That Is, the Commission of *
Higher Education (CHE) In South Carolina
lacks the power to implement a reasonably v
uniform statewide public policy on higher
education. “r*1 •
Reportedly, the most Interesting section
of the study Is a section entitled, “Poli
tical Interference In Statewide Policy
Development.” It says In part that powerful
legislators and the General Assembly main
tain and reserve for itself final authority
over higher education programs,
therefore, the power of the 8.C. Commis
sion of Higher Education Is designed to be
weak and ineffective. This means thdt South
Carolina will continue to have a splinted,
uncoordinated higher education system
tfith no common standard for excellence.
However, before we begin to find fault
with what our southern neighbors are doing
even If possibly not being done for the wrong '
reason. The British weekly news magaslne,
“The Economist,” put South Carolina at
The magazine says In a recent laane that a
number of*American states are working on
systems that will “measure” the all-around
performance of a school. Therefore, In the
future, each school may be required to meet
certain predetermined performance
standards. “The Econon^^^Kt asks the
me article goes on to say that the heyday
of local control of the schools has passed.
The brief statistical data tells an Interesting
* story: Before World War II there were ever
100,000 school-districts In America; now
there are only 18.000. Before 1030, localities
; provided 80 percent of school revenues and
states less than 80 percent. Now states
provide about 48 percent and localities only
41 percent. If this trend continues by the
year 2038 the federal government may be
controlling all of our schools, and that may
> he the beginning of Democracy and
freedom as we now know it and as the
Founding Fathers of our nation planned It.
" White the rialng Incidence of crime has
boas a aourea of embarrassment to many
black ’tndars, Car too many have
ramataod amblvate||MWiiil tba pro
bteov Parhapa through faar of providing
comfort to racteta muqoarailhq behind
a mask of law and order, I recognise
- ■ • • :
A, IS* |
Nil i
By Gerald Johnson
Special To The Post
The Harvard Business
Review recently reprinted
a report by Garda Bowman
titled, “What Helps or
Harms Promote bill ty?"
The report orlginslly
appeared In the Janusry
February Issue (1964) and
was the result of a study
conducted in 1961 More
than 2,000 professional and
managerial people ip
corporate American were
given questionnaires and
field Interviews. The
pin-pose was to find what
corporate America felt ”
were the ideal images for
promotaMlity and die
deterrents to promote bi
ll ty. In the final analysis
the report indicated that
the,biggest deterrents to
promotions were race and
sex. •
The study skillfully
developed to allow respon
dents to give their ideals as
well as their actual
perceptions to those cha
racteristics that w«Mr Wv
promotion positive. The
positive imagery included
such ideal characteristics
as communication skills,
ambition, self confidence,
and the like. Those cha
racteristics that were
deemed negative Images
were: sacrificing
everything for one's own
success, narrow interpre
tation of rules, adroitness
at preempting credit- and
shifting blame, and super
N. m
/v Gerald
could argue the virtue of
the above. However, the
report continues with, in
actuality, the moat negative
images of success are I
being black, belt* female,
being Oriental, and being
Puerto Rican. ' ■ • fl
The report reveals that
managers ideally would
like to base promotions on
merit, a behavioral cha
racteristic. However; in
actuality promotions are
based on social character
istics. One respondent
made this point, “I would
like to recommend people
for . promotion on merit
alone, but I am Justifiably r
afraid that my Judgment«
Will be called into quee-V
tlon if I recommend
someone who deviates -
markedly from the kind of
person I see getting ahead
In my company." i
Other areas of concern
for promoting blacks
include:
1. Once promoted it !a
difficult to demote even if
performance warrants it,
and, 1 Blacks would only
be accepted by white
subordinates only after
being given the moat
difficult challenges to
prove themselves.
The report revealed
serious problems for
blacks and other minori
ties in getting ahead in
corporate America. The
problems are based on
perceptions, corporate
managers have with pro
moting blacks. It further
revealed that those
managers who deal with
blacks in management
•did not have the same
perception as those who
had not dealt with black
Tne report concluded
that because of govern
ment intervention and
pressure from minority
groups, corporate man
agers were taking a good
hard look at these issues.
The study happened 13
years ago. More recently,
the Wall Street Journal In
Its July 10,1906 edition ran
the following article,
“Many Hurdles, Old and
New, Keep Black
Managers Out of Top
Jobs.” This article
points out that white
executives are still un
comfortable with non
whites. Moreover, the
downgrading of affirma
tive action by the corner
vative atmosphere of the >
country has only exacer
bated the problem. This ?>
topic is beginning to heat 1
up again partially because •
articles that recently
appeared In the Harvard :
Business Review titled,
“Black Managers:
The Dream Deferred,”
written by Edward W.
Jones Jr.
I personally believe that .
some progress has bean :
made In hiring, and ;
promoting minorities in <
corporations. I can only .
speak from my own experi
ences. But I do fad some
firms are making a con
certed effort to assure
minorities get ample '
opportunity to compete far -
top spots. One problem that
is rarely mentioned InaBaT'T .
fhe Word slanging is the '
Individual’s responsibility .
for assuring Ms or her own
success. At NCNB, for
instance, the corporate
policy and the corporate -
tone is to promote those :
individuals who are beat •
qualified to do the job. But 1
am not naive enough to
believe that everyone ?
working at NCNB win fpl
low that policy to the letter.
There is a large gap
oeiween ine people setting
the poiictee and me. I have
to travel through a lot of
people In my quest for a top
managerial slot. Some of
those people will not have
my beet Interest at heart. It
then becomes my respon
sibility to take the
appropriate action to get
those Individuals out of my
way. At NCNB I have
found that the corporation
will listen and taka
appropriate action based
on the circumstances. I feel
that it is a good company to
work for and a fair com
pany to work for. But all
companies are not Hko
NCNB.
blacks in man
agement have become an
lame. The Charlotte Poat
will take a good hard look
at this laauo as it relates to
local firms and aspiring
black executives In those
firm*. Our monthly
•tries, "Black Per- f
•pcctivc,’* will probe this
Issue from two aspects.
Pint, we will run a series i
of articles on "Affirmative ,
Action." Then w« will run a
•erica of articles on
"Black Managers in .
Charlotte." Our Intent win
be to see how Charlotte '.
firms perceive their
potential In promoting
blacks and to see how
blacks perceive their
upward mobility with their
respective firms.
NC Sports
The contributions of
North Carol Inland to great
momenta In sports ere fea
tured IA e traveling exMblt
originated by the North
Caroline Museum of We- .
tory, Department ef \
Cultural Resources. Nearly ;
every aspect of competl- •
Uon Is represented by
North Carolina Sports *
Hall of Fame members •
ranging from Jim Beatty’s '
first sub four-minute !
Indoor mile to Catfish *
Hunter's no-hitter. ;
.
THE CHARLOTTE POST
_
North Carolina *i
Fastest Growing
Weekly
Of ContlmKHwlervice
fBlYl Johnson-p7hl:m«.rltu7'~
(oeratd 0. Johnson VaMlakor
i
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Miller Say,,
Lieutenant Governors
*
By Sherman N. Miller
Special To The Poet
Although Delaware and
Virginia have elected ethnic
minority lieutenant gover
.. nor*, my enthusiasm for '
these historic achievements
has been significantly
/ dampened. Delaware State
Representative Orlando
George (Democrat). Minori
ty Leader of the Delaware
House of Representatives.
tens me mat ”tne m.
Governor of the party out of
Kwer ends up being neither
h nor fowl” because he la a
part of neither the Executive
nor the Legislative Branch ef
government. Georgd Is cur
rently supporting a Dela
ware constitutional amend
ment to mandate that the
governor and lieutenant gov
ernor be of the same poli
tic al party.
Frank DiMondi, Delaware
' State Republican Chairman,
claims that the people want a
continuation of the governor
they elected; therefore, he
also supports this amend
ment. But George Moody,
former president of the
Wilmington Branch of the
NAACP, believes that this
amendment “reduces the.
number of options people
have” to choose their elect
- -w < St! vC* . 4. t-* ■ / sY'
I
ed officials.
I wondered how many
states elected their gover
nors and It. governors as
Delaware and Virginia, so I
Iaerled Delaware Lt. Gov. S.
. Woo (Democrat). “Twen
ty of the M- states have a
system jnst like that of
Delaware.*' says Woo. “I
believe that eight of those 20
have governor and It. go
vernor from different
parties. The number of states
with one ticket system Is 22.*’
bGeorge's comments haunt
I me so I felt compelled to
k Woo what the It. gover
nor's job entails. “Preside
over the Senate, serve as
.
Chairman of the Board of
Pardons, be a member ef the
Budget Committee • that
sounds very Impressive but
very little to do. And, of
course, If the governor Is for
some reason unable to serve,
he would take over the
governor’s duties. Other
wise I think the office Is very
much what an Individual
makes It to be.”
Woo feet the It. governor's
Job ss one of Influence rather
than power. He claims, “I >
decided to use Influence pri
marily In the area of econo
mic development. That Is an
area that power Is ussMljltS -
H Is a matter of promotion.”
Woo Is currently exploit
ing his Oriental background '
to establish long-term
business opportunities for
the State of Delaware with
Far Bast concerns. Never
theless, Woo revealed that be
spends ”50 percent of my
time doing economic
development (and) about 30
to 35 percent of the time
fulfilling the constitutional
duties.”
Since Representative
George thought so lowly of
the It. governor’s dtopon*i
bliltles, I asked him to
'■ > 'Jfr.y*/ hr* v\ .. A.! ' {
redefine the duties of the
position. He broached the
concept of d state senator
. at-large. Woo was urged, to *
comment on the senator-at
large Idea.
•
“There are only currently
three to five states (such as
feint and Illinois) that
operate like this, where the
It. governor Is not only presi
dent of the senate but
actually he selects commit
tee ehalrt for the senate,
hires the senate staff,"
contends Woo. "In that
capacity the It. governor Is
very powerful." [£
Yet Delaware State Sena
tor Harrli McDowell
offer* other alternatives to
give substance to the It.
governor’s Job. He believes
this person should be chair
person of the State Utili
ties Commission or the State
Board of Education.
While the It. governor's
office may seem trivial to
some Delaware politicians, It ?
Has started to carry Inter
national significance for
America. What mesaage
does America send to the Far
East business community If
Delaware’s politicians
force Woo from office with
their proposed amendment?