Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / June 25, 1987, 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
«*« Clavlotto Dost BUI Johnson. Publisher Emeritus j&seaevst _ PubUihad Ercry Thqwdpy Jesse Jackson's Realism In our editorial, "On Writing And Writ ers," last week we ooneluded by commenting on how white journalists want to make Jesse Jackson the real "Invisible Man." Ralph El lison began his olassic autobiographic-novel by the same name with these very revealing words, "I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me...When they approach mo they only see my surroundings, thompelvss, or figments of their imagination - indeed, everything and anything except me." Now, 34 years after the publication of "The Invisible Main," 84 years after the Martin Lu ther King led March on Washington and a few lesser years after the passage of signifi cant civil rights legislation, black Ameri cans continue to be "invisible" to a nation that ignores their needs, to a national gov ernment that still perpetuates policies that re sult in poverty and to a news media that vas solates between neglecting and stereotyping them. Jesse Jackson is the latest nationally prominent black personality to be given the "invisible man" treatment. A case in point, as journalists who have tried to ignore Jack son, to make him invisible as o serious polit ieal candidate. Thia caused The Charlotte Observer's Jerry Shinn to say candidly, "If Jssse Jackson were white, all the media fb eue would have turned to him when Gary Hart dropped out." Furthermore, more is written about why Jackson is ignored than about what he has to say. Ironically, Jackson's treatment by the ma jority of the nation's media reflects the real ism of a vital point in his message to Ameri ca. Jackson states forcefully in his book, Straight From The Heart, that the crucial American experience was not the Revolution, or the Constitution or the New Deal, rather it was slavery with all of its evils. Thus, Jack son asserts, the crucial test of our current val ues and policies lies in dealing with the heri tage of slavery - discrimination and racism • neither of which are limited to black people. We had hoped to comment farther on Jack son's Straight From The Heart view this week, however, the book, produced by a small publisher, is temporarily out of print. When available we'll Bay more about Jesse Jackson because his views will have a significant im pact upon the next President, no matter who he my be. Two Ups-One Down Last week's Post page one stories reflected the general way that the nation treats its mi nority citizens; that is, for every two steps of forward progress, one and sometimes two or three steps backward occur. District 3 City Council member Ron Loop Sr's announcement that he will seek one of the four at-large Council seats this November U to be applauded as a progressive step for ward* He said that he decided to ran at-large because the time was right for himTln specif not run. Five terms is mo^e than enough time to serve in one office. I now believe I have the ; responsibility to allow others the opportunity : that has been afforded me." Mr. ZAoper's decision was timely and a : breath of fresh air that should still si me crit ; ios of £10 district system. Such critics, be they ; justified or not, have alleged that district ; seats or "safo seats," as some have called ! them, tend to become the monopoly of a single * candidate for an indefinite number of years » as fow offor to challenge the incumbents. * In the pass of predominantly black dis tricts, the potential for criticism is even greater because of the general reluctance of one black candidate to oppose another. It is past time for the black electorate to rise above this kind of now stalemated politics to on courage more black people to seek public of fice. We wish Mr. Leepcr well because he has served us well in five two-year terms that has benefited not just District 3 but all areas of the city. In another progressive step forward, the Stepping Stone Housing Program was an nounced. This unique program Is designed to turn public housing tenants into homoown trs within a flv# to seven year period. Families seleeted for occupancy of one of the two 60 unit apartment complexes will pay rents under the Housing Authority's normal policy with one mqjor exception. This is, there will be no rental increase as such but families will be expected to make monthly payments to an escrow account The payment amounts will be increased yearly to assure that the tenant will have accumulated approx imately $8,700 for a down payment and relat \sd dosing costs in the purchase of a new ; 1 ore will receive similar opportunities and likewise an equal nuinber of new public < housing rental units will become available. This also means an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty with new outlooks and now hope for many families. ■» ■ • o* .1 '* v’ i * ' .* • i ■ On a sad note, meaning one stop backward, we witnessed the Republican dominated Board of Oounty Oommissionsrs giving themselves a healthy raise in pay while vot In* to eliminate the Minority Affairs Office. While ws don't view this vote by the Com missioners as radally motivated, ws do con sider their action irrational as has been a number of other rsoont decisions. The Com missioners' reason for eliminating the Mi nority Affairs Office was that the Office was duplicating servloes provided by the Commu nity Relations Committee and other County supported community servloes. If this is true, ws have to ask why the Minority Affairs Of floe was ever established or why it had not been abolished before now? Is there any wonder that the Post's headline road, "Blacks Ask What's Coming Down Next?" T*$ SAVS TMAT ONft 6POUP MAWS UP A MA30P»TY OP WHFApfc ptapiuns \ J and 25 rteanT ywicft Gflouf Of TVE* UVf IV Of LOAftBS PrvtfiTY 15 TV AT? v # ■WSV'fife 0€*awdin6... mVBe OlffvOlNT... CHiiDC™ Tp wmaab a | wrrH AT LE*»r 4<?+ MtfU** A \vfeeL. aMp <5till Met* t& ’ a LovTfj<i| M^twbr amp A pe'/PTBt7 WinE ALL sVKAf^eP AN/C> T?BAPy T<? c~o IM PMB I , , 5 ! i spent tins past Saturday at a presentation entitled "A Cele bration of Your Participation in a Study on Mothering and Working . The affair was the culmination of Ms. Suzzanne Carrouthers' Ph. D. thesis on senerations of Black mothers in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community. Ms. Carrouthers spent the fall and winter of 1980 and the spring of 1981 interview ing S3 Black females between the ages of 11 and 86, repre senting 20 families. lire pur pose was to analyze and docu ment the meaning of mother ing and working and how this meaning got passed on from mother to daughter, from gen eration to generation. With her thesis finished,and a Ph. D. under her belt, Ms. Carrouthers returned home to bestow her thanks on those who gave so frilly of them selves. With the help of friends and neighbors, and Dr. Harold S. Pride providing the accomodations, Ms. Car routhers gave the participates a dinner and other tokens of her appreciation. The entire event was warm and touching for several rea sons. The sincerity and dedication of purpose that Suzzanne Car routhers possessed was omni present throughout the even ing. The mere fact drat she felt obligated to return home and share her completed work with those who participated says a lot about the author. But, 1 guess what really made the evening for me was this paragraph from Suz zanne's program: 'You not only worked at home but ako you were workers away from I As I Sss it home. Although you held • variety of lobi, you workod primarily in schools, offices, homes, and hospitals. The or dinary activities of your day to-day llvas bestows you a distinction that Alice Walker would describe as the anony mous Black mothers whose art goes unsigned and whose names are only known by their IhmUy'. As pointed out during the evening, we spend so much time talking about what's wrong with the Black family, that we rarely take the time to discover the many things that are right Without a doubt, the Black woman has been the back bone of our existence. She has shown remarkable resiliency and adaptability to the changing times. She has In many cases had to carry not only her private burdens, but the burdens of an entire fami ly. Often times she had to car ry the burdens of the entire Black community. often times she sheds a tear under the stress of such a load. But never should we oonstrue these tears as a sign of weakness. Instead, they should be viewed as a sign of sensitivity and understanding to what she is up against With a strong spiritual oon viction, and deep dedication to purpose in life, the Black woman has played an instru mental part in not only in the Black community, but in our society at-large. The social dilemma of thejl working mother that is pla-4 guing our current-day society,1 has been with the Black moth er throughout our history in this country. The oirrent day stress of broken home and motheer having to raise families alone is nothing new either, Pew cultures could have survived being tom away from family members to be entrapped in a life of slavery, few cultures could have stood being raped, and molested at the will or g plantation owners, and still be I able to hold their heads high \ with pride and dignity. As I look back over the strength of my own family, the unsung heroes are my mother and my aunts who worked their fingers to the bone so that we wouldn't have to. It is with great pride that I say thank God for the: Black woman. Without her strength, Where would we Black community be. I would like to thank Ms. Carrouthers for an inspira tional reminder of the value of the Black woman to our soci ety; yesterday, today, and to morrow. Her work has cap tured for posterity the rich ness of an important segment of our community. Moreover, her work has en dowed her as an elite member of an distinguished group - The American Black woman. Biden’s Rejecting Jesse An Insult To Blacks Speoial To The Post By Dr. Leaora Fulsni , When Democratic Primary preddentlal candidate Senator Jo seph Blden told reporters this week that he would not accept Rev. Jeece Jackson as his vice presidential running mate, ho add ed hie name to the long list of white Democrats who sre helping to prove that Blacks need an Inde pendent party. Rev. Jackson is a presidential candidate - indeed the front running Democratic presidential candidate - because he has mass support from Black people who identity him as an important lead er of our community. Still, the Democratic Party re fusee to ac knowledge that. When Senator Biden declined consideration of Rev. Jackson as a possible running mate he not only Insulted Brother Jackson, he insulted all Black peo ple by disreprsoentlng our right to choose our own leaders. Senator Biden sets Ms own stan dards fbr what he oorurfdsrs to be a bona fide Black leader. He tolls us that to qualify for a spot on his ticket, a Black must have held elec tive office. Ac Black people, we know very well how the notions of "qualified" and "unqualified" are used to weed out Blacks and another oppressed people who are too militant and too independent fbr the establish ment. The Democratic Party has demonstrated over and over again that it hopes to weed Jesse Jack i •on out of the presidential process, in fcver of • white modarate. The only Made It will consider for the vies presidential slot is a middle, of-the-roader like Congressman William Or ay, whom Biden said ha would accept as a running mate. This is the very danger of Rev. Jackson's run. While I com. pletely rapport his candidacy in to Democratic primaries, he ends up excluded from the oenterc of power while Me campaign opens doors for the Ukee of Onw-» mod- ’ orate who does nothing to empow- , m the Black meases. \ That's why Tm leading a nation al crusade to piece an indepandatf Black candidate on the ballot in all 80 states and the District of Co lumbia
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 25, 1987, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75