Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / March 9, 1989, edition 1 / Page 6
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
Page 6A - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thursday, March 9, 1989 Cljarlotte Gerald O. Johnson, Publisher Robert L. Johnson, Co-Publisher Jalyne Strong, Editor Editorials By HOYLE H. MARTIN Editorial Writer Rarely In the many years that It has been my privilege to write this column have I felt the need to express In a deep personal way a perspective on an Issue or a personality. This Is one of those times because the personality In question Is that of the late Dr. Warner Hall. He was a great man, not so much In the direct political, economic or even in the theo logical sense. He was a great man In that he was a statesman and an an activist In a quest for all that represented social Justice. He was great too In that he included a Chrlst-llke so cial justice theology in his preaching mini stry at Covenant Presb)derlan Church at a time when such preaching was offensive to most white people. Warner Hall stood tall against the tide of ra cism and segregation . He accepted the chair manship of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Com munity Relations Committee at the time of emerging racial unrest In the 1960s. He helped to make the committee a permanent and effective part of both city and county gov- Find New Midway School Site We have listened to and observed the debates and depths of emotion over the midway school concept. In Its simplest terms. It Is a good concept but should not be applied to the Chantilly Elementary School. Again, in Its simplest terms, the ChantUly school meets the Ideal situation of a racially Integrated neighborhood which naturally should allow for a racially Integrated school. To use a cliche, "it ain't broke, so don't fix it." However, let us hastily add that our en dorsement of what some have called the "parent choice plan" in the Chantilly situa tion should not be viewed as an abandonment of our continued commitment to an on-golng fully Integrated public school system via the pupil assignment plan and the required use of school busses. Retaining the Chantilly school as a neigh borhood school in an integrated nelghbor- Risk-Taking Black Entrepreners Needed with the Afro-Americans' historic empha sis on pursuing professions In medicine, law and the mlnlstiy, black entrepreneurs - busi ness owners - have been viewed as people with relatively low status by most black consu mers. This fact, combined with some degree of discrimination In the market place, has discouraged black students from seeking business careers. In fact, there were more black-owned businesses between 1940 and 1960 than there are now more than 20 years after the civil rights revolution of the 1960s. Paraphrased, these were the opening re marks of Harvey Gantt, managing partner of Gantt Huberman Architects, in the keynote address at the Ninth Annual BEEP Confer ence held at Johnson C. Smith University, March 5-7. BEEP Is an acronym for Black Ebcecutlve Exchange Program. Sponsored by the National Urban League, BEEP sends black executives from many of the nation's largest corporations to black college campuses for the purpose of creating opportunities for dia logue with students and faculty. Mr. Gantt's words reflect a truism about our Afro-American experience and attitudes to day. Following the Revolutionary War, George Washington took his victorious officers to a farewell dinner at a New York tavern owned by a black man. But, eventually, white hostility toward black economic success led to laws and acts of violence. In a historic pattern, that served to undermined black business success. Segregation became a blessing In disguise because whites had no fear of economic com petition from blacks serving other blacks In such businesses as barbering, funerals, cos metics, food service Eind medicine. Unfortunately, under these circumstances, many black businesses felt less Inclined to see the need to be strongly competitive, thus many poor products and services were pro vided to black consumers. While products and services have Improved substantially in the 70's and 80's, a strong risk taking com petitive spirit continues to be a missing value among many black business. Continued ra cism and Its related side affects are a contrib uting factor to this problem. Gantt challenged the 110 students, faculty and others at the conference to recognize that economic development Is just as important as political development. In commenting on the relative success of his own business, he noted the need to be a risk taker, to pursue ex cellence, to get a good education, to develop marketing strategy skills, and to be prepared to make many personal sacrifices. This Is good advice for all of us no matter what our professional or occupational Inter ests may be. Are Our Schools Relevant? Hall Was Man For All Seasons ermnents and left an Impressive legacy. Hav ing seen and heard Dr. Hall preach from his pulpit and having served on the Community Relation Committee for six years long after the chairmanship had passed to other hands, I can personally attest to his commitment to social justice and to the life long legacy that he left with the committee and the communi ty-at-large . Dr. Hall was a man that I had the privilege to know personally, one whom I witnessed help to move the City of Charlotte beyond the riots and chaos of other cities In the '60s, and, as I recall, was one of the first white commu nity leaders to endorse scattered site public housing. Almighty God has seen fit to take Warner Hall from us. However, we are a better city, a better community and a more tolerant people because he once lived among us. Dr. Warner Hall deserves that rarely endowed right to be called truly a "man for all seasons," a man who helped us all to be better than we might have been. hood should be a conceptual part of the coun ty-wide school Integration plan. That Is, other neighborhoods meeting the same crite ria should be allowed to have similar neigh borhood schools. However, Charlotte Is very segregated by residence. We very likely do not have any more ChantUly-llke neighborhoods. The fact Is, past years of segregated housing and some continued "steering" have created our current housing patterns. Such patterns have shifted the burden to the public schools to create some degree of an Integrated society. Yet, considering the forces of political, eco nomic and social vested interest, we will have segregated residential neighborhoods for many years to come. Therefore, the school board needs to continue to explore school in tegration concepts. What's wrong with our schools? It all depends on who you ask School administrators will say, "sure we have some prob lems, but overall the system Is great". School teachers will say that the system could be great. If It wasn't for those dam adminis trators. Of course, parents complain about the schools, because they expect the schools to take over parenting, something more of them are getting away from. Finally, the students complain because they just think there are better ways for them to spend their time. Unfortunately, few people will talk about the Irrelevancy of our school systems. The system's structure Is still geared around the agricultural age. Our society is embarking on the third wave of a technological age. This fact presents some very interesting dilemmas for a school system. However, most school systems don't acknowledge these prob lems exist. The technological age has created very clear class distinc tions between the haves and the have-nots. Technology has be come sophisticated enough to replace people in routine, repet itive jobs. Individuals who do not get training for skill labor positions get left out. Individu als who get adequate training to cope, ultimately become more dependent on technology. Con sequently, the gap between the have and the have-nots widens. The educational systems of our society falls both classes. The haves are not motivated by the curriculum because It Is out of date. The have-nots are not motivated by the curriculum be cause they can't identify with with Gerald Johnson As I See It what's being taught. In both cases neither group can relate to the curriculum. The current curriculum has as its base the student's ability to retain, then to recall facts about an array of subjects. It does not focus on teaching students to think. Retention and recall was an important technique when our society was advancing from an agricultural age to an indus trial age. Farmers were being brought In to run machines and to do repetitive work They had to be trained on retaining and recalling Information. The shear number of people that had to be trained to get us heavily Into the industrial revolution dictated that we formalize the education al process. That formalized pro cess with little variation Is still in existence today. But computers have taken over the ability to retain far more data and recall It much faster than humans could even Imag ine, let alone do. Why then, do we still utilize an educational sys tem that has as Its base reten tion and recall. More Importantly, how can you get kids of the haves to get excit ed about the war of 1812, when they can come home to a 48 sta tion cable television set with re mote controlled VCR, two way telephone, stereo system with CD player, and a home comput er. Recalling information about the war of 1812 Is simply irrele vant. The kids of the have-nots can not associate the relative im portance of the war of 1812 with their current plight. They are more attuned to those things that will help them to become one of the haves. Have-nots will be more apt to turn to sports and crime as vehicles for chang ing their plight In life. The need for a complete over haul of our educational system is long overdo. We must thrust the system Into the twenty first century. This will require a heavy Investment into automa tion and Into qualified teachers. The curriculum must be changed to become more rele vant to what Is going on in our society. One of the first things companies have to do with re cent college graduates Is to re train them to write effectively. The school system apparently awards verbosity. However, In the hustle and bustle of every day living, most people prefer that you get to the point. In a business environment getting to the point is a necessity,. Why then do we not teach effective writing in school? Moreover, we live In a capita listic society. Business Is the heart of a capitalistic society. We educate the majority of peo ple to become participants In the business sector. However, business courses are rarefy taught prior to getting Into col lege. Either we must revamp the school system, or we better start learning Japanese. He’s Back! Run For Cover! Watch out! He's back. And he is dangerous to you if you are the least bit liberal--or even middle of the road. Or If you Just happen to be a Democrat. Or a country club Republican. And no matter what your pretentious or you put airs. Bob Windsor is back. And paranoia has set in. Eve rybody in public office or in any kind of politics thinks Bob Is af ter them. He probably is. Do you remember who Bob Windsor is? He Is the self proclaimed pro tector of the common man. Anti big government. Anti big busi ness. Anti big Institution. Anti rich man. Anti phonies of every sort. Maybe he Is just an old time populist. So why Is he so dangerous? He is smart. He Is hard work ing. His sharp writing projects a pretty wide mean streak. So what? He puts all of this together in The Landmark, a publication that is widely read all over the state—but especially Irl the area near Chapel Hill, where It Is published. At least a lot of peo ple talk about It—probably be cause Windsor's Irrelevant at tacks on everything and everybody incite all who read It. Windsor's attacks have frigh tened away some of our best po tential leaders. They just don't want to risk getting tarred and feathered In the Landmark. On the other hand. In some circles, being roasted by Windsor is a badge of honor. A liberal or moderate politician whom he has not attacked just has not made it yet. I Martin One-On-One Some people wonder how Windsor pays to publish his pa per. He seems to give most pa pers away. There Is little or no advertising. Some people say that the Congressional Club or Senator Helms' reelectlon cam paign pay for it. But nobody has come forward with any proof. Bob Windsor keeps his finan cial source to himself. If the Congressional Club and Senator Helms are paying for It, they are getting their money- sworth. Windsor gets the word out and keeps the opposition off balance. Windsor may be just as mean as his writing makes him seem. But there are some good things to say about him. He has a lot of personal cou rage. Even those of us who disa gree with his political views grant him that. Right now, he Is coming back from a long bout with cancer—during which he was out of circulation and the paper was too. He is still fight ing hard. Also, he fought, and whipped, alcoholism during an earlier time. Since then he has never stopped helping those who are trying to recover In the Alcohol ics Anonymous programs. Even though I am repelled by Windsor's attacks on many peo ple that 1 admire, there Is some thing about him and his paper that takes me back to a time when It was okay for a journalist to be a partisan advocate of his own views. Back thm it was ex pected that the owner would use his newspaper to propagandize the readers and incite them to action. In the old days, a lot of papers were the agents of various polit ical parties and Interest groups. They were unapologetlc In pushing their party line. Differ ent papers had different views— and the papers fought for their principles almost as hard as the modern newspaper business fights for profits. Windsor's vicious, partisan style contrasts with the bland, neutral posture taken by most newspapers. 'We have to be ob jective and fedr," say most of to day's newspapers. "We tiy to confine our opinion to the edito rial pages." Bob Windsor laughs, "Not me! I will tell it like It is. Say out loud what others only dare to whisper." He takes a long puff on his cig arette, pats the tummy under the overalls that have become his constant uniform and his trade mark. Then, he laughs again, and thinks about some thing mean he can write about me or you. So watch out. Bob's back. Don't tell anybody, but I'm sor- ta glad. Like Democrats, Republicans Discover They Can’t Have It Both Ways The GOP got more than It bar gained for. When they courted the votes of the Reagan Demo crats, whose ranks include the George Wallace "Dixlecrats" of the deep South, their goal was to win the White House. They didn't realize that the David Dukes of the world would come out of the woodwork and run for office as Republicans. What an embarrassment! Like the Democrats, who courted the votes of black Amer icans during the 1960's and 1970's, the Republicans have discovered that they cannot re cruit a faction Into their party without giving them the oppor tunity for representation In leadership roles, especially a group which they have worked so hard to win over. The Republicans pursued this constituency with the fervor of a love sick suitor wooing his bride-to-be. The courtship commenced with Reagan's overtures to Southern white conservatives during his 1980 presidential campaign. Reagan spoke In de fense of "states rights," which are code, words for "Jim Crow" and "segregation." He avowed the GOP's loyalty and asked for the Dixlecrats' hand in marriage whUe in office, by virtually dismantling the Civ il Rights Commission, con demning affirmative action as reverse discrimination, and re placing liberal and moderate Supreme Court Justices with those who shared his right-wing conservative views. The relationship was consum mated during the Republicans' 1988 presidential campaign when they displayed Willie Hor ton's photo at eveiy opportuni ty, avoided the Inner cities like the plague, and, for all practical purposes, wrote off the black vote. After achieving the goal of wedding Its Intended, the GOP looked forward to marital bliss, but evidently the honeymoon Is over. Persons of David Duke's National Minority^ PoKtics by Gweneveve Daye Davis ilk have decided that they are not content to be docile and submissive--they want a more assertive role in the relation ship. David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard who recently won a seat in the Louisiana state legislature, rep resents the sentiments of mem bers of this long-sought-after faction. He ran during the past eight years: Eradication of mi nority set-aside programs, low taxes, and decreased subsidies to the "rising welfare under class." The GOP was apparently not prepared for someone of Duke's political prowess to challenge one of their own, as they had a weak candidate opposing the former Klansman. John Treen, endowed with a milk-toast per sonality when compared to Duke's charisma and flrey ora tory, Is sort of the Michael Du kakis of the Louisiana Republi can Party: If he yelled fire In a theatre, no one would be aroused. For their part, all the powerful Republicans spoke in Treen's behalf and against Duke. Let ters from Bush promoting Treen's candidacy arrived at most homes in the city by elec tion day, and Reagan's voice was heard on area radio stations. 'We repudiate him and his views and we are taking steps to see that he Is disenfranchised from our party," said Lee Atwater, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Unfortunately, their efforts were to no avail. It was a close contest—Duke won by only 234 votes—and the combination of media attention and a high turnout by his supporters, worked to Duke's advantage.' Atwater refers to Duke as a "pretender, a charlatan, and a political opportunist who is looking for any organization he can find to legitimate his views of racial and religious bigotry and Intolerance." Evidently, Duke has found his home in the GOP. Only time will tell If the elec tion of David Duke was merely a fluke, or If this typifies the be ginning of a trend within the ranks of the Republican Party. The manner In which party leaders respond to these events in the future will, to a large de gree, determine the staying power of these extremist, right- wing forces. I do. however, agree with one thing that Duke said: "That's " The GOP was ... not prepared for someone of Duke's political pro- wess...as they had a weak candidate opposing the former Klansman. " what is so wonderful about America. We had the governor opposed to us, we had the politi cal bosses opposed to us, we had no PAC money, we had no political endorsements, even the President of the United States came out against us, but we won. The people decided." Despite the nature of Duke's views, American democracy has triumphed and the people of Metairie, Louisiana have spok- Ms. Davis, based In Houston, Texas, is publisher/editor of the monthly newsletter National Minority Politics.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 9, 1989, edition 1
6
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75