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Pmge 6A - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thiusdajr, March 3. 1988 ®l)e Charlotte ^os«t Gerald O. Johnaoa, Publisher Robert L. Johnson. Co-Publlsher Jalyne Strong, Editor Editorials Poitier: A Happy Warrior Americans appear to have lost their will to be happy, to feel a sense of Inner peace and outer Joy In their spiritual lives, their families, their accomplishments, their lei sure. and even within themselves. Yet, while the pursuit of happiness Is an all- consuming goal for most people, and poUs show that nearly 90 percent of the adult population claim to be "happy", they never quite demonstrate It. A Louis Harris poll shows that 63 percent of the American people said they are "very satisfied" with their life. However, the fact that another 35 percent (or nearly 62 mil lion adults) feel that their lives are not completely fulfilled. It would seem that most people are seeking something beyond their ability to achieve, thus, happiness may escape them for an eternity. Henri Frederic Amlel put this point In perspective when he wrote. "The man who has no Inner life Is the slave of his surroundings." While Harris' poll says that the degree of happiness among people may vary with age " 53 percent of those 18 to 24 years of age expressed high life satisfaction, this rises to 59 percent for those 25 to 34 and 62 per cent for those 35 to 39. Yet, Harris notes, "when asked bluntly If their happiness has been going up over the past five years...fully 44 percent say It has not." Since the decade of the 1980's has been one of Increasing af fluence for the nation as a whole, we might ask, why then, are so many people express ing personal dissatisfaction In their lives? A close look at developing trends in America Indicates that personal sstlsfac- tlon In our lives Is largely Influenced by the degree of stress the Individual faces In day-to-day pursuits. Stress has become a major factor In the physical and mental well-being of our nation's lifestyles. Unfortunately. Instead of following the advice of Amlel by learning to cope Inter nally with stress so that It does not con sume us and result In heart attacks, strokes and ulcers, we tend to seek outside In fluences that enslave us and lead us'Into foolish and Irresponsible habits and atti tudes. In this regard, and most especially among so-called mature adults, we try to off-set stress Inadvertently by engaging In behav iors that result In stress from another source. This occurs through our obsessions with seeking to look more youthful, and be coming unrealistically concerned about our health and safety to the point that we Inhibit our freedom to relax and enjoy life a little. In particular, a vast majority of the na tion's adults "are close to being obsessed with their physical appearance." Harris re ports. Recent full page ads In a number of newspapers have Inch high statements that read. "TTie lines depart...look younger or your money back!" The reality of this ob session emerges "when people are asked If they would like to change something about their personal appearance." Surprisingly, 94 percent of the men and 99 percent of the women said they would like to make some physical change In their physical appear ance. Such desired changes ranged from baldness In men to larger or smaller busts In women. And then there Is Michael Jack- son who has had three face lifts to satisfy some deep sense of Insecurity. Considering this high level of neurotic behavior of far too many adults It Is pleas ing to read about a happy warrior, that is, someone who knows how to deal with the stress and more Importantly, the aftermath of It. Such a person Is Sjldney Poltler, re tired movie actor , and now, after ten years starring In a new movie, "Shoot To Kill". Poltler Is quoted In a recent Parade mag azine article as saying, "The person 1 am to day Is the result of all my experiences, even the painful and terrifying ones. 1 have no real regrets." the 61-year old actor then said. "I have a wonderful life." This Is the statement of a man living In happiness. We can do likewise If we first learn to love and respect what God has given to each of us and be happy with It. that Is. be happy first within ourselves. The Problem In Forgiving Jim and Tammy Bakker blamed Jimmy Swaggart, Bob Walton and Gary Hart blamed the media, and Jimmy Swaggart blamed himself, each for a sexual encoun ter Indiscretion. As we reflect back on the conduct of these fellow human beings, we who are ourselves not perfect, find It dlfllcult. If not Impossi ble, to be forgiving, to be understandable, to be Christ-llke. We mortals lack the capaci ty to accept disappointment In others be cause we expected something to happen that did not happen. We arc disappointed, an gry, hurt, and out seeking revenge because our standards and our expectations were not met. That Is, In our sub conscious minds we have set ourselves up like little gods to judge our fellow human beings and In so doing have forgotten as a result of our own weakness that "we have all come short of the glory of God." For those of you who may be of the Chris tian faith, let it not be forgotten that Jesus Christ, as an example for all men of all faiths, came to Planet Earth and died on the cross so that we - you. me. the Bakkers, Wal ton, Hart, Swaggart and others could be for given and cleansed of our sins. This Is not a sermon, but merely a moti vational thought to help us renew our faith and to remind us that faith should be only In your God not any mortal man. But It Is also to remind us that In whatever punish ment these wayward people In high places are receiving and may rightly deserve , let us be kindly, loving and understanding as we would hope Almighty God might be to each of us In not such high places when we, too, have done wrong. Going For Broke: Strategies For Jesse Jackson Campaign The key factor at the Demo cratic party nominating conven tion In Atlanta next July will be Reverend Jesse Jackson, who will no doubt go to the conven tion with a formidable delegate bloc. But no matter how many dele gates Reverend Jackson brings to the convention, if he can't win a first or second ballot victory, party leaders will not be forc^ to make any concessions to him. Why? Because there Is one "fact of life" the Democrats have counted on since 1936—namely that, come what may, they get the Black vote. In 1984. even after the dis graceful treatment Jesse re ceived at the San Francisco con vention, 90% of the Black vote went for Walter Mondale. As long as that "fact of life" holds up, Jesse has virtually no bar gaining strength at the conven tion because the party bosses know that while they need the Black vote, they don't need Jesse to get It for them. Unless the Black community, together with the other Rainbow consti tuencies, has the capacity to withhold support from the Dem ocratic party, our communities are destined to repeat the trage dy of 1984. I have a plan which does that. It's called "Two Roads Are Better Than One" and it means sup- p>ortlng Jackson In the Demo cratic primaries and then. If he Is refused the nomination, my running for the presidency as an Independent In the November election, backing the Rainbow social vision. "Two Roads" Is re ceiving f»opular support from a very broad range of people who know that we cannot go Into the presidential sweepstakes trust ing the Democratic Party to do right by Jesse Jackson. There is another very critical dimension to the "Two Roads" plan. And Lenora Fulani Black ^ Empowerment that Is Its capacity to provide Jackson with the leverage he needs to play a major brokering role at the convention. By the time the Democrats get to Atlanta, there will be a place on the ballot for an Indepen dent. Black candidate In 36 states—more than two-thirds of the way towards the goal of bal lot access in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. My campaign will have raised In ex cess of $1 million and. with matching funds, will have put $2 million to use In publicizing the Independent Rainbow road. The Democrats on the other side of the bargaining table from Jackson will know that he has an ace up his sleeve- -the Black vote with a well- situated campaign to desert to. Such a threat will not fall on deaf ears. The Democratic Party Is still recovering from the shock of 1968, when George Wallace, dlssatlsfled with the party's domination by what he considered to be liberal ele ments. ran a 50 state Indepen dent campaign for the presiden cy. Attracting traditional Demo cratic white, blue collar votes across—but not exclusively in- the South, Wallace took Arkan sas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ala bama and Georgia and beat the Democratic candidate, Hubert Humphrey, In Tennessee, North and South Carolina. The Alaba ma racist received almost 10 million votes In the general elec tion, and Richard Nixon won the presidency. Wallace's lndep>endent run Is generally credited with having forged the Democratic party to renew Its Interest In Its southern white constituency, a consti tuency It had taken for granted while busying Itself with secur ing the newly enfranchised Black vote In the South in the wake of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Democrats' current fixation on the southern white vote Is a direct result of Wallace having organized the Indepen dent power of that voting bloc to make the party pay a price for its Indifference. We must be willing to be as tough as our Ideological and po litical enemies are. If we expect Jackson to wield significant in fluence within the Democratic party, at the convention and be yond. we've got to apply some In telligent and well organized muscle. Right now the Demo cratic leadership fends Jesse off with the threat that he will lose the election for their jjarty if hp is on the ticket. If Jesse wants to Improve his bargaining position he's got to turn the tables. He''s got to make It clear that It will cost them the election If he Isn't on the ticket. As for the argument that some voters may be "confused" by "Two Roads," that has not been my experience. Our people went through 1984 and learned some harsh lessons. They understand that my Independent candidacy is not being run against Jesse but him and "for the pelltlcal strength of the Rainbow move ment and our social vision. The way to be most for Reverend Jackson Is to be least for the Democratic Party. Assimilation Or Integration? During the sixties, I had a cousin getting married In South Carolina. Family members (the family) from near and far trav eled to Orangeburg to witness this festive occasion. After most of the family mem bers got settled, some of the children and young adults want ed to take a swim. So, they all hurried to don their swim wear and rushed to the pxx)l sight. The pK)ol was occupied by sev eral white families by the time we all arrived. Not being a swim mer (1 don't have the legs for It) I stood by and witnessed an In valuable lesson unfold before my eyes. The teacher was my fa ther. As the family members proceeded to get Into the p>ool, the white families proceed^ to get out. Within a matter of min utes the p>ool was dominated by the family. The family members were fit to be tied. They all got out of the pool literally upset because the white folks left. My father who witnessed this whole thing at a distance walked up and asked what was wrong. Of course everybody started yelling about what had hap- p>ened. My father asked, "Did you come here to swim or to social ize with strangers?" 'To swim," was the reply. '"ITiere Is the pxx)l," he coolly respronded as he turned and walked away. Often times In the confusion of this mixed up world of ours, I find myself filing back on this episode to make sense out of various situations. The recent Incident In Allen dale, S. C. Is a good example. Controversy has surfaced at the local high school because white parents did not stand up during the singing of "Lift Every Voice And Sing" — the Black National Anthem. Obviously, the black popula tion of this township have been angered by this Incident. Peti tions are being signed to have the principal fired. "Lift E>ery Voice and Sing" Is a song adopted by black Ameri cans as the theme for the strug gle. All black Americans are not even In tune with this fact. But It should not disturb us that white Americans are Insensitive to this situation. Moreover, we should not be p>erturbed that some might even find It unpatriotic. We sing this song because It has meaning to some of us. That's It. If others don't view It this way, then that's fine. But, I see very little philosoph ical difference between publicly singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" for black people and "Dixie" for white people. Our causes and our struggles are just that...ours. We can not be Insensitive to the fact that others may be insensitive to the causes. Accept openly those that can sympathize and empa thize with our plight. Educate those who may not understand and who op>enfy dis agree. Ignore those too dumb to care. Who knows, we may learn a few things ourselves. with Gerald Johnson As I See It More and more we seem to b^ confusing the meaning of intej gratlon with assimilation. Inte gration gave us the right to sit anywhere on the bus we so dej sire. • It did not remove the right of the person sitting next to us from getting up and moving td another seat. • It Is Important that this fact not get lost In the hustle and bustle of everyday existence. J A lot of our disappointments are stemming from wanting ac-I ceptance. I can understand tha( everybody wants and needs ac-J ceptance. Acceptance has Its place. ! But the major objective of ouf struggle should not be accep tance. but rather, equality. Our goal should be to swim In publid p>ools and not to worry about who will swim with us. As long as we stay focused on the objective, the goal is within our reach. Let’s Resolve The Middle East Conflict Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life symbolized the peaceful pursuit of dignity and respect for all mankind. Yet I felt great stress over international violence at a recent very beautiful Dr. King birthday celebration. I celebrated Dr. King's birth day at my local Jewish Commu nity Center. They had a program focused on music that linked the black and Jewish communities. A renown Jewish music profes sor did a superb job Unking the two ethnic music cultures. The zenith of the program came when a black Methodist minister. The Rev. Thomas Brown, Sr. of Delaware, directed black singers In selections of black gospel and Jewish songs. He also got the audience to sing along with him on a few selec tions. Brown Is unique. He has Uved In Israel. He also claims to have been one of Dr. King's confi dants. Brown spoke Hebrew to his audience. His program got some of the approximately 175 Jewish people clapping their hands to black gospel music. But Brown's program stayed clear of any highly emotional black music. Nevertheless, as this Dr. King celebration progressed. I was Miller By Sherman Miller haunted by the opening com ments of a Jewish lady. "...(Dr. King) cared deeply about the Jewish people," she said. "He cared deeply about the State of Israel. He cared about the Soviet Jews/. He cared about black people. And he cared about eve ryone else." The picture of Palestinian children getting killed for throw ing rocks reminded me of my civil rights days In the early 1960s. I know no one walks in harm's wav day after day unless they are totally convinced they are undergoing a serious Injus tice. Thus, the nonviolent sym bolism of Dr. King tormented my mind throughout this celebra tion. My disquietude Is rooted In my being a strong proponent of freedom for Soviet Jews. I have signed a p>etltion for the freedom of Soviet Jews. I have also at tended Jewish functions com memorating the six million Jews kUIed In the Holocaust. Frankly I am disappointed that Israel has p)ermltted Itself to become juxtaposed to Racist South Afri ca. I am sure Dr. King would be lobbying the Israeli Government to stop the violence. I feel that there has been a great deal, of pussyfooting on the occupied territory question. It Is time the black community makes some history during Black History Month. Black America must lobby the U.S. and the Israeli Governments to re solve the Middle East crisis. I, therefore, challenge our Presidential candidates to present proposals to resolve the Middle ^st crisis in their first term of office. Clearly, the Mid dle E^ast crisis left to its present course portends that Ainerlcan families can look forward to sacrificing their sons and daughters In another foreign war. Will America tolerate four more years of diplomatic Impo tence In the Middle Blast?
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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March 3, 1988, edition 1
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