CHARLOTTE POST
_ — - "The Voice Of The Black Community” -
_ _THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thursday, May 28, 1987 Price: 50 Cents
Freeman
Business Center
Opens Uptown
BudsHs/Pete 4A
W
-■ -
.
Flying With Ease
: •*. •• r
.
McCrorey YMCA
Expansion
IPAt HOStS
I Republican
Lawmakers
y
Winston-Salem - The 21st
Century PAC of North Carolina
will host a reception for the GOP
Legislative Delegation of the
North Cantina General Assembly
on Friday, May 29, at the Quality
Inn on the Plaza in Asheville. The
event will be in conjunction with
the GOP State Party Convention.
PAC Chairman Vernon L. Ro
:■ bin son stated "that this reception is
« part of an ongoing effort to ex
fcplore points of agreement and
f ground for future cooperation be
tween the
Black Legisla
tive Caucus,
other political
leaders and the
GOP legisla
tors. We are
particularly
pleased with
Rep. Ray War
ren's (R-Mint
Hill) eloquent
Itohui*» support of the
Martin Luther King Holiday Bill
and hope to have dialogue with
Sen. Cobb (R-Charlotte) and the
rest of the Mecklonbrfrg legislative
delegation”
The 21st Century PAC of North
Carolina is a bi-partisan, indepen
dent political action committee
which seeks to increase black po
litical clout. Last year, the PAC
ptgded^maasfatt toGOP le£t'
on more effective campaign ap
peals irr the black community at
the GOP Leadership Conference
in Charlotte. The PAC leadership
feels that there is substantial room
for Cooperation on legislative is
jv sues such as education and eco
j nomic development and works to
/ wards that end.
City Board Seats
Are Up For
Nominations
The Charlotte City.Council is
.seeking nominations to fill vacan
cies on four City boards and com
emissions. Persons Interested in ap
plying for the positions should ob
tain an application form from the
Office of the City Clerk, 600 Bast
trade 8t., Charlotte, N.C., 28202.
Applications are due on June 1
far die following nominations to
be made on June 8:
Clean City Committee Pour po
sitions for three year Urns. The
Committee is responsible for Utter
oontrol/education in die City of
[ Charlotte.
Hiitoric District Commission .
| One position for a three year term.
. The Commission safeguards the
. heritage of the dty through pres
ervation of historic areas.
: Planning Commission - One po
tation for a three year term. The
iCommisalon hears petitions for
Zoning changes and makes recom
mendations to the City Council.
Sairit Bo liars Board of rnr~.
/ tan One position for a three year
*|arm. The Board seta'policy and
Controls the administration of the
I hon-proflt arts facility.
THIS WEEK
EASE #
EDITORIALS 2A
LIFESTYLES «A
CHURCH NEWS 12A
AINMENT II
91
CLASSIFIEDS 141
1
Black Vietnam Veterans
Reveal Post-W ar Conflicts
By Loretta Richardson
Post Staff Writer
Between the years of 1965 and
1975, the years that the United
States was engaged in the Viet
nam War 3,403,100 enlisted per
son were in the Vietnam area. Of
that number, 2,594,000 were in
country. Somewhere between 1
and 1.6 million of the approxi
mately 2,600,000 saw fairly regu
lar combat. The total number of
casualties which also included
those missing in action were
58,000 and 303,704 were among the
wounded.
When the statistics begin to
point to' the black Vietnam vete
ran, figures show that they repre
sented 10.6% or 275,000 of those in
Vietnam. Of the black soldier
who was killed in combat or con
sidered missing in action there
were 5,711 casualties. The non
combat black soldier who died in
Vietnam numbered 1,530.
For the most part the Vietnam
War was a treacherous one. Of
tentimes, fighting the VietCong
on unfamiliar turf characterised
by sweltering heat, monsoon sea
sons and tall, thick marshland
put the American forces at a dis
advantage. And many times the
enemy the ^Americans. fought,
would only have to change his at
tire in order to pass as the ally.
Platoon, the academy award win
ning movie, which was written by
a Vietnam veteran brutally de
picted the horrors of war. The in
ternal struggles between the en
listed, however isolated and the
racial tension that has been de
scribed by the author of Bloods,
showed clearly that there was
more than one enemy.
On the homefront, America, it
self was experiencing growth
pains. The country was torn
apart by the Civil Rights Move
ment. The Hippie experience was
yet to be bom and on the minds of
many Americans was the ques
tion whether or not America
should involve itself in the Viet
nam conflict.
By 1975, America had its final
pull out. "And when Johnny
came marching home" in 1975
there were no ticker tape parades.
No bands, with drums booming
and cymbals loudly clanging
played the tune of "GI Joe". As a
matter of fact many soldiers
came home and not even their
immediate families knew about
their arrivals, until their knocks
on the door made the announce
ment.
What the Vietnam veteran did
arrive home to was a climate of
hostility. Like the bullets the
Vietnam veteran was accustomed
to dodging, insults were being
hurled at the Vietnam veteran
from all directions. The degrad
ing labels, "drug addicts," "baby
killers" and "rapists", were used
openly and freely by the Ameri
can public to single out that sol
dier who had merely been obedi
ent to his or her country, by being
serving in the war.
While memorials and statues are being erected in honor of the Vietnam veteran across the country, the real
issues at hand, according to Black Vietnam veterans have not been dealt with.
And while the veteran was be
ing criticized for serving in Viet
nam, the draft dodgers were be
ing praised for their avoidance of
the war. Most of them were re
stored as full citizens, having
had to suffer little or no conse
quences for their actions.
Some 10 years later, the climate
in America towards the Vietnam
veteran seems to be witnessing a
metamorphosis. In cities all
across the country, memorials,
dedicated to the Viertnam veteran
are being erected. Attention is
now being focused on those sol
diers who are purported to still be
prisoners of war in Vietnam.
The stories of Vietnam veterans
are being told through books, doc
umentaries and movies. And for
whatever reason, it seems that
only now is America ready to lis
ten.
Marvin Russell, at the Vet Cen
ter here in Charlotte agreed that
there is indeed a change in
America's mood toward the Viet
nam veteran. "There seems to be
a greater effort to divorce the vete
ran from the war. I personally
feel that more positive publicity
has a lot to do with the change."
Even at a recent Vietnam Vete
rans Memorial Dedication Cere
mony held in Raleigh, remarks
by Governor Jim Martin and
John W. Saputo, chairman of the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Committee suggested that Ameri
ca was in the process of healing
and that the Vietnam veteran has
been vindicated in history.
Many statements relating to the
Vietnam veterans' bravery and
the respect that he or she deserved,
supported the view that America
has done some maturing where
the Vietnam veteran is con
cerned.
Acceptance, though it has been
a long time coming, is not
enough. There are real issues
concerning the Vietnam veteran,
especially the black veteran that
need to be addressed and no long
er swept under the rug.
Four black Vietnam veterans,
Jim Black, Abram Way, Eugene
Marsh and Freddie Smith talked
about what they felt those issues
are.
Without n doubt, while we
(black vets) were in Vietnam and
when we returned home, our big
gest problem was and remains to
be, drugs," began Jim Black.
Black, who served as a sergeant
in Vietnam during a two-year
tour of duty was with the 128th
Combat Assault Helicopter. He
was a machine gunner.
Black recalled having to send
far more enlisted men home be
cause of drugs, than because of
casualties or physical wounds.
"So many of the guys felt that if
they were stoned out of their
minds, then they could handle the
combat situation a lot better."
"The general population is still
ignorant of the fact who the real
enemy in Vietnam was. The
smartest thing North Vietnam
did was to introduce heroin in
8outh Vietnam."
According to Black the guys he
saw become drug addicts devel
oped habits that cost $500 a day.
But because drugs were so preval
ent, what would have cost $500
here in the States, only cost $5 in
Vietnam.
"And the greatest travesty was
that when those guys had served
their tours of duty and returned
back to the States, they received no
treatment. This is where the gov
ernment has shirked its respon
sibility," exclaimed Black.
’ Here were these guys who had
$500 a day habits, they had been
paying $5 for and the drugs they
were getting, if it was heroin, it
wns at least 97% pure. They're
back in the States and they still
had those expensive habits, but not
the money to support them. What
that meant was that the veteran
who was an addict had to commit
some kind of crime in order to get
the drugs he needs."
Stating that many of the prison
ers incarcerated today are Viet
nam veterans Black pointed that
this travesty was the result of a
snowball effect. "Without proper
drug treatment, the Vietnam vete
ran addict was destined to be lost
when he returned home.”
If it's not too late, which Black
alluded that it was, his suggestion
was for the government to pull
those vets with drug problems out
of jail or ofT the streets and work
with them under a controlled situ
ation.
See Black Vets On Page 6A
McMillan Proposes Critical
Project For Public Housing
2
WASHINGTON -The Bank
ing Committaa today unanimous
ly accepted an amendment of
fered by Congressman Alex
McMillan to allow a critical dem
onstration project for Charlotte
public housing.
the McMillan amendment will
provide up to 100 units of public
housing for transitional housing
for seven years to those who are
temporarily dislocated or without
means to And safe and affordable
housing. In exchange for this tem
porary housing, the participant
will:
1. Agree to complete high school
it neeaea; x. Keceive job training
and preparation; 3. Take part in
substance abuse treatment and
counseling, if needed; 4. Be trained
in homemaking skills and parent
ing; 6. Be trained to manage mon
•y
Additionally, rent charged for
the public housing will increase as
the participants income increases.
The excess will be placed in an es
crow account for the family to be
u»«d for a down-payment on a
house or a lease on permanent
housing when the family leaves
the transitional housing after sev
en year*.
This is the first step for true
welfare reform of public housing,"
said Congressman McMillan.
For decades, government has
promoted a downward spiral of
dependency. This amendment
provides incentivss and assistance
to those who want to get out of the
web of dependency and make it
on their own.
The Housing Bill, H.R. 4, must
be approved by the full Houas and
then must be accepted by the Sen
ate.
The Public Housing Compre
hensive Transition Demonstration
Project is a local initiative.
Legislative
Black Caucus
Conference
State Representative Dan T.
Blue announced the final plans for
the Third Annual North Carolina
Legislative Black Caucus Week
end Conference. The Caucus, con
sisting of 16 Senators from
Dan Blue
•across the state,
announces that
it will be ban
nered under the
theme
BRIDGING
GAPS TO THE
FUTURE: Fo
cus on Educa
tion, Economic
Development,
Health/Human
Services.
The Conference will feature:
Friday, June 19: A Town Meet
ing with Caucus members, Minor
ity Entrepreneurs and Small Busi
nesses; A Reception; A Banquet
featuring a national speaker and
Focusing on Bridging Gaps in the
Business World.
Saturday, June 20: Workshops
on three major issues ~ Education,
Economic Development, Health/
Human Services; A ;Luncheon,
featuring a national speaker.
The goals for the weekend, as
staged by Representative Blue,
chairman of the Caucus, are to in
volve more North Carolinians in
giving input on legislative issues
for the current as well as future
sessions.
NAACP Honors
Phillip Morris On
Civil Rights Elfort
NEW YORK - Hazel N.
Dukes, President, New York State
Conference of Branches of the Na
tional Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People, pre
sented recently the Association's
Corporate Recognition Award to
Hamish Maxwell, Chairman of
the Board, Philip Morris Compa
nies Inc.
"We believe it is important to
recognize corporate America and
especially those companies who
have been out in the forefront in
the fight for civil rights," Ms.
Dukes told guests at the Metropol
itan Council of NAACP Branches's
9th Annual Corporate Recognition
Luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria
Hotel.
Dukes said: "It is indeed a pleas
ure to thank Philip Morris and
Hamish Maxwell for their leader
ship, commitment and concern for
equal opportunity for all New
Yorkers."
Another award was presented
during the luncheon to Alice M.
Chapman, Corporate Director,
E.E.O., RKO General Inc.
Hamish Maxwell, the Philip
Morris chairman, told the group:
It is good to have our efforty rec
ognized. Logically, we should be
giving you an award at the same
time because the partnership be
tween the NAACP and Philip Mor -
ris is not one way. It is mutual.'
He said, "both our organizations
stood for dvil rights long before it
became the law of the land.'
Maxwell noted that Philip Mor
ris was the first national advertis
er in the black press and the first
cigarette manufacturer to hire
black salesmen in the 1940s. Gen
eral Poods, one of the Philip Mor
ris family of companies, adopted a
written policy prohibiting discrim
ination in hiring and advancement
in 1937, Maxwell said.
The Philip Morris board chair
man told how, during the 1960s,
the company's support for civil
See Civil Rights oe IVfi 4A