Th, - >ry
Since we live in an age of constant chang
es we are, when we take time to observe and
think about it, we'd be surprised if not
shocked by the degree of inertia in our histor
ic development. 8ome recent developments
are an unhappy reminder of the depth of our
inertia • that la - the tendency fbr much in the
human condition to remain the same within
the midst of change.
Two ongoing human conditions reaffirm
this inertia of history. First, Oliver Tambo,
president of South Africa's outlawed African
National Congress (ANC), said in a recent
New York Timet interview that the United
States used violent warfare to overcome slav
ery and to defeat Nasi Germany, but is now
trying to discourags South African blacks
from using similar todies. "Nobody," Tam
bo added, "has the right to demand peaceful
behavior of us within Our oWn country until
we are free." White South Africans and oth
ers "are used to blacks being killed (but) they
are not used to bleeding themselves,"Tambo
stated. He said farther that many whites and
his critics are often indifferent to the killing
of large numbers of black children and
youth by South African security forces. How
ever, "when it’s a white child, it's something
else."
%.And The New Racism
The New Racism arose with the passage of
the Voting Rights Act and other laws and
Presidential Executive Orders of the 1960s
that sought to remove the political, economic
and social barriers to black people's progress
m the ‘60s. The New Racism was evident in
culturally biased educational and job place
ment examinations, reinforoed seniority
systems that by their very nature were dis
criminatory because past years of discrimi
nation prevented blacks from developing
seniority; and dual educational tracts with
in integrated educational systems that too of
ten do not put black students in college pre
paratory courses. Housing discrimination
except for higher educated, higher income
blacks and the ongoing exploitation of far too
many black athletes still abounds.
I The New Racism Part II is a-continuation
V*these plus a re-emerging wave of violence
^Jgainst blacks — the killing of a black man
>^tt$HQ*£*4Reach.in New York, the racial ,
orf-Citadel cadet Kevin Nesmith, the
harassment of Mack civil rights marchers
in Gumming, Georgia, and the Ku Klux
IGans efforts to intimidate blacks in one
Charlotte neighborhood. The New Racism
has expanded its evil to encompass other eth
nic and racial groups with growing evidence
that Asians are among the hardest hit
For example, in California, the controver
sial effort to make English the official lan
guage and thus, among other things, to end
bilingual educational programs is aimed
primarily at Asians and Hispanics. Some
whites and blacks also have argued that this
hostility has been created by the Asians and
Hispanics because of their refusal to speak or
learn to speak English.
Over the last three years 11 Korean busi
nesses in Washington, DC, have been fire
bombed; Vietnamese fishermen have been
attacked in three states; in 1982 a Detroit
man killed a Chinese youth that he thought
was Japanese; in June, 1986, a white electri
cian killed a Vietnamese after a traffic dis
pute in Massachusetts; and next month, three
Stoughton, Massachusetts, men go on trial
for assaulting four Chinese-Vietnamese
waiters. And, back to black folk, in both Los
Angeles and Philadelphia during the past
year interracially married couples have
been harassed and their property defaced by
whites.
Economic Insecurity
We might wonder why are supposedly law
abiding citizens attacking others? We be
lieve that it is a combination of a sense of ec
onomic insecurity either real or imaginary,
about job security and a lack of moral lead
ership by the Reagan administration ,in
Washington. President Reagan's abandon
ment of affirmative action enforcement and
support of the old line seniority system has
resulted in a rising tide of resentment by
many white workers who feel that as minori
ties fight to preserve the civil rights gains of
the 1960s through the courts that their jobs are
being threatened. This feeling of job inse
curity by white workers is also in part the re
sponsibility of President Reagan. Adele
Terrell, program director of the National In
stitute Against Prejudice and Violence head
quartered in Baltimore, has said, "There is
all this feeling about Japanese trade over
coming our economy." Terrell’s point is that
while Reagan is carelessly pursuing a free
trade foreign policy, the Japanese and other
nations we trade with are practicing some
degree of protectionism in the interest of
Iheir national economies and particularly
jobs for their workers. Our get-it-alone free
trade practices are upsetting the balance of
trade and thus costing the loss bf American
jobs. Therefore, nnce Japan is a'^nqjor tirade
importer of the United States, when jobs ate
threatened many American workers vent
their anger and frustrations at Japanese
Americans and all other Asians.
Nevertheless, the quest for economic and
social justice must, as an ongoing struggle,
continue. In spite of inertia, in spite of hu
man error, in spite of the seed beds of racism,
mankind must seek progress for without it
we black, white, brown and yellow will all be
doomed to a terrible end.
COMWUNITV
SELF-HELP PROJECTS ;
•• P »t
EDUCATION
VOTER REGISTRATION i
ANTIPOVERTV PROGRAM •
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
MORALITY
OEUQUENCY
FIGHTA0AJNST
^—^CRIME!
* TRUE WISDOM IS TO KNOW
WHAT IS BEST WORTH KNOWm
AND TO DO WHAT IS BEST
worth doing:
****** JVM*
BLACK COMMUNTI1ES CAN AND MUST DO 1HE JOB
Gave Children An Earlier Start
By Marian Edelman
Syndicated Columnist
Reprinted from the
Winston-Salem Chroni
cle
Washington-In trying
to prevent teen pregnan
cy, which stage ef a
child's life is most cru
cial?
Many adults would au
tomatically answer: the
pre-teen and teen years.
This is when we usually
become: most urgently
tonmttfed > about- a
child's risk Of too-early
pregnancy and parent
hood.
But we cannot*-afford to
wait that long.
Helping a child to devel
op and grow in the cru
cial early years-birth to
age five- will improve
that child's chance of be
coining a healthy, moti
vated teen. And we
know that such a teen
has a better prospect of
avoiding too-early preg
nancy and parenthood.
One important key to
helping lay a firm foun
dation for a young child
is a strong early child
hood development pay
off in later life, research
tell us.
A 20-year follow-up
study on graduates of
onh such program found
fhat the dhildren in it
were more likely to grad
uate from high school,
more likely to be support
ing themselves and less
likely to become teen par
ents.
The importance of aid
ing our children's devel
opment before they go to
THE CHARLOTTE POST
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I Miller Says:
Emotionalism Is The Opiate Of The Masses
By Sherman N. MIlUw
Special To The Poet
In recounting one's
mistakes in judgment,
one readily concludes
that emotionalism is the
opiate of the masses.
Emotionalism's hypnotic
control over people's ac
tions can be seen
through some lonely peo
ples' quest to find com
panionship.
I was recently taken-,
aback by some emotional
actions of people in a
public bar at a Holiday
Inn in Columbia, SC.
Upon entering it I was
asked to fill out a card
giving my thoughts on
an intimate acquain
tance. Then they wanted
to affix my initials on me
. in large, bold letters.
since I was only inter
ested in having a beer
and listening to the mu
sic, I declined the offer. I
found a seat facing the
disc jockey which also
overlooked the ■ dance
floor. An eerie sensation
came over me when I re
alized that I was the only
one sitting on this long
bench in a full club.
My apprehension was
calmed when I noticed
that practically every
one's eyes were glued to
an electronic bulletin
board above my head.
• •
_
The dance floor was
empty and it was no seri
ous competition for the
bulletin board. Curiosity
forced me to look up.
As I read the com
ments from the men to
the women and vice ver
sa, I almost fell from the
bench. I could not believe
I was sitting in a public
bar reading personal
love letters on an elec
tronic bulletin board.
Furthermore, the ini
tials of the sender and
the receiver accompa
nied each comment.
I began to put faces to
the initials. It was ap
parent that a couple
handfuls of people were
sending the bulk of the
love notes. Some of these
prolific Writers looked
like children playing .a
new game for the first
time.
There were revelations
about weekends people
had spent together. Peo
ple's attractiveness was
a big item. There seemed
to have been no stones
left unturned.
"I think you are the
most sensuous lady in
the place. I would like to
take you home," wrote
one chap. Another per
son wrote, "Will you take
me home tonight?"
I solicited a few opii}*
ions on the bulletin
board. One young chap
revealed that on one oc
casion his girl friend
had walked into the bar
just as his love note was
flashing and she refused
to speak to him for a
week. A middle-aged
chap commented that he
was having no luck wait
ing for "Ms. Right" to
send him a note, so he
went after his lady
friend.
. I broached the issue of
one becoming a victim of
blackmail with two
young ladies. They re
sponded with mere blank
stares. Their expres
sions haunted me as I
looked at the numerous
wedding bands on many
people's fingers.
V . ’if' .*• * , (Vr. Mk
I did manage to speak
with one lady who admit
ted she was married.
She was accompanied by
her married sister-in
law. This lady says this
was just their evening
out of the house.
As the evening
progressed, I noticed
couples leaving with dif
ferent last letters in their
initials. One young lady,
who regularly passed my
table to put in note after
note, did manage to get
two chaps competing for
her. attention. Other
young ladies sent notes
to all the fellows in the
house prodding them to
dance.
In recounting the emo
tions expressed in many
of the notes on the bulle
tin board, I feel embar
rassed for the ladies and
chaps who put their per
sonal business and feel
ings on display for the
crowd. I never expected
such behavior in a reput
able bar in the middle of
the Bible Belt.
Although risque' activi
ties have become a ref
uge for America's movie
industry, private citizens
should think about the
long-term impact of fool
hardy emotional displays
on their career objec
tives. ,
school is now becoming
widely recognized.
In a report issued in
August the National
Governors’ Association
or NGA, recommends
that states provide quali*
ty programs for four
year olds and where pos
sible three year olds as
well. In the past three
years, 14 states have
passed legislation that
sets up or expands such
programs. t
wb childhoods psisvi
grams must be able to
serve both parents and
^^^ ^ ^ eir
flPnPnl llpfl All pni l#it>A*\
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t ■ | fllcilGBSBB XIX
rnip fnnnHfttmn
VAAAO A A\J Cl WA^^JI I f !•
tctiiuii an
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v^tAi guvci luueiu must
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can otivp pvpt*v pKiI/) Ai.ia
1 *11 _ ■ ‘L'T/
• on*
< ' . rr< ■*. *• * W>Vf. «li*'. ?*
Marian Wright Edel
man is a National News- i
paper Publishers Asso
ciation columnist who is
president of the Chil
dren's Defense Fund, a
national voice for youth.
Deadline Nears
January 81 is the deadline for
young North Carolina rtuddane,
to enter the 1987 NCNBMudc
Competition.
Entries can be obtained by call
ing 8helby Ora hart at NCNB in
Charlotte, 70*474-8830.
The seventh annual oompeti.
tion, offering scholarships total
ing $24,000, begins February 21
with regional auditions in Fay
etteville, Marion, Wilson and,
Winston-Salem. Winner, ih rfr
JJ-J P-rformance^.^ invited
mance Place in Cherlotte’ii Spirit
Square March 10. ^
First pries ip a $12,000 Kholar
•hip to the North Carolina School '
of the Arte in Wineton-Saletn.