Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Aug. 17, 1989, edition 1 / Page 7
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Thuisday, August 17, 1989 - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Page 7A Reading The President’s Lips The National Urban League (UL) met last week and In its scholarly fashion documented how bad off black people are. Blacks have fallen from a "racial parity index" of 51 in 1967 to 47 in 1985, "indicating that African Americans lost ground in the quest for racial parity," said Frank Lomax, the UL's executive vice president. Equality with white people would earn a score of 100. 1 doubt tf the report mentioned the fact that during that same period blacks went from spend ing 93 percent of their money with non-black people to spending 93.4 percent with non blacks. Put another way. Blacks went from spending seven percent with other blacks to spending 6.6 percent with other blacks while the "racial parity index" dropped from 51 to 47. l'ii> sure that kind of logic ,jpwasn't included and 1 readily confess that my ‘economic eval uating Is In the distinct minority among my people. But also be assured. I'm convinced that I'm correct. Therefore. 1 have no In tention of dropping the subject. And speaking of points of view, from the accounts I read of the UL's convention, I wonder tf the UL-powers-that-be really heard what President George Bush told them? - \lnanlmously, the UL officials - applauded Bush's "tone," with- minor reservations. For exeim- ple. Bush outright Ignored the Tony Broom's Jl Commentaries UL plea to nullify recent Su preme Court decisions with leg islation and made It clear that he approves of the recent deci sions against affirmative action programs and setting aside con tracts for so-called "minorities." It's safe also to conclude that the UL does not believe that blacks can depend on this U.S. Supreme Court to help Improve the black misery Index. There fore, It seems appropriate to ask if the UL believes the President will do what the Supreme Court will not. While the UL Is strongly pro- affirmative "action," Bush Is ada mantly affirmative "opportunity." He finds the Issue of affirmative action essentially Irrelevant to the current work force and the future economy. In the 1990s, there will be "more than enough jobs and too few people quedl- fied to fill them." he says. Bush suggested In his UL speech that affirmative action programs are no longer neces sary, because a shortage of la bor In the coming decade will mean jobs for women, non- whites and Immigrants. Forget quotas, goals, timetables, set- asides and 8-A firms. Bush may want a "kinder and gentler" nation for blacks, but don't depend on him to build It. Clearly, Bush's plans are to create a full opportunity econo my to respond to affirmative ra cism: education, urban enter prise zones, skills and the training required to complete and succeed In today's complex market. These Ideas were espoused in a 20-minute speech Interrupted 11 times by UL applause. "I think thd Administration has got Its rhetoric right. Now we'll be watching to see how It imple ments It," John Jacob, the UL's chairman said. That statement is confusing because President Bush Is In lock-step with the very Supreme Court which the UL has decided will not reduce the misery Index of blacks with Its rulings. "1 want to make sure everyone In this room knows just where I stand," Bush Initially told the black leaders. But one wonders tf they understand what he said. Read his Ups If you don't be- Ueve me. TONY BROWN'S JOURNAL TV series can be seen on public television In Charlotte on Chan nel 58 (WUNG). Please consult TV listings or phone station for air time. Child Poverty Shouldn’t Happen In U.S. By Cong. Gus Hawkins Guest Editorial The United States Is one of the wealthiest and most abundant nations in the world, and Is of ten looked upon by poorer na tions to provide their needy with aid packages and technical as sistance. Our foreign policy statements are laced with phrases projecting the success of our democratic ideals and principles. The truth is, despite this Image as a beacon of hope to other nations, our commit ment to helping children In this country, especially black chil dren Isn't all that great. In fact. In some Instances, It Is down right Inferior. A clear example of this situa tion is children without ^homes. Almost 10 percent of black chil dren In America were in foster care In 1980. One-third of this ■'total have been there for over five years. Almost 10 percent of black children are In families supervised by a child welfare agency, four times the supervi sion rate for white children. Black children are subject to greater health risks than their white counterparts. This In cludes higher percentages In black Infant mortality and low birth weight babies. Black chil dren are less Ukely to be Immu nized or fully Immunized against one or moe preventable diseas es. Many do not have regular dental checkups. If any at all, before they reach adult age. Be tween one-fifth and one-third of aU black children and youth fall below the average for white he moglobin level, a red blood cell classification which Is one measure of Inadequate nutri tional status and anemia. Com parable margins of disadvan tage are visible In educational achievement, and as the child matures. In employment status. A recent report "California: Tlie State Of Our Children - Re port Card '89" prepared by Chil dren Now, a nonpartisan group of prominent Californians, ex amined the status of children In their home state. Graded on a number of factors such as edu cation, health, safety, teen years and family status, the report gave California an overall grade of "D." Nationally, the report card on children Is probably close to the California subpar rating. Yet none of these facts are mysteri ous to many of those faced with making decisions on funding programs at the local, state and federal levels. The American public probably doesn't com prehend the full scope of the cri sis facing children, and particu larly the plight of black children. One way the American public can be Inspired is for President Bush to raise the Issue of child poverty through a nationally tel evised address. Unemployment Affects Jail Population Guest Editorial By Charles E. Belle 'There Is simply no convincing evidence that more Incarcera tion has deterred crime In any way — either by discouraging new crime or by reducing recidi vism." Robert D. Raven, Presi dent, American Bar Association. The recent Reagan appointees as Justices of the Supreme Court are apparently blind to the connection of unemploy ment to crime. Considering their recent decision to de nounce the Civil Rights Act of 1866 by their decision In Patter son vs McLean Credit Union. Under their new ruling, "discrimination or racial ha rassment after one Is hired" Is acceptable In these United States. There is no justice served by protecting people from discrimination only during the hiring process, but not pro tecting them from abusive treat ment, harassment or general dlscrlm^atlon once they are In the work place. The supremlst Supreme Court of Reagan recently also ruled on an employment discrimination case. Wards Cove Packing vs Aroiiio, shifting the burden of proof of discrimination In hiring onto the plaintiff - the job seek er. When the Justice of the Su preme and State Courts, as well as all European Americans, Americans understand that the root cause of crime by all ethnic groups, red, yellow, black and white. Is unemployment then they can make laws which will truly affect crime. An affirmative action commitment by this na tion Is necessary to negate the creation of America's rapidly growing criminal arena. "Our criminal justice system Is overhwelmed. Each of the three parts of that system — the po lice, the courts and corrections simply cannot handle the In creasing number of people fall ing In the river of crime," accord ing to Robert D. Raven, President, American Bar Asso ciation, Mr. Raven was address ing the Commonwealth Club of C^lfomla, Its over 14,000 strong members and a nationwide ra dio network of over 100 stations on the topic of "Crime, Courts and Correction: A Criminal Justice System Overwhelmed." A senior partner In the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, a model of a private Industry affirmative action. Raven reviewed the re pugnant record of America's battle against crime. The country "cannot stand 34 million crimes a year." These are only the reported serious crimes. Most crime Is not re ported to the police. E>en seri ous crime like robbery, rape and assault Is reported only 46% of the time." In 1986, only 2.53 mil lion of the 34 million serious crimes were even exposed to ar rest, less than 10%. "Sanction for crime today Is not only un certain, It Is unlikely and slow," reminds Raven. A recent study discloses that In Los Angeles, Inmates wait in jail for an aver age of 32 days; In Chicago's Cook County the average Is 144 days. Seven hundred Inmates currently In Cook County jail have been waiting trial for over a year. Nationwide there are over 605,000 men and women In fed eral and state prisons and an other 300,000 In county jails. Federal prisons hold almost 50% more prisoners than they planned to hold. "Today, 37 states have prison facilities that are under court order to reduce overcrowding." No matter now good the Inten tions of the European Ameri cans, African Americans and others must always be mindful of and guided by the godfather of the Civil Rights struggle from slavery In 1858 and subsequent continuous oppression that the hero of Paul Robeson, Frederick Douglass espoused when he said, "Power concedes nothing without a struggle." Size alone may make the prisons a place to plot "Peaceful coexistence" at the pace this country's criminal element Is growing. An affirma tion for affirmative action can afford this obvious drug poison In prison. Education Needs Parental Attention Dear Ekiltor: To parents of school age children and parents of pre schoolers, as a concerned mother, please allow me to share some of my expelences with the Charlotte- Mecklenburg school system. My Initial contact came in 1974 when the family Relocat ed from another city. Upon my arrival I Immediately sought out the proper schools to en roll my first grader and third grader. Within weeks, I was told by my first grader's teach er that my child was Idle and was not using her time wisely. While I agreed that It Is my re- sponslbllty to encourage my children academically, evalu ate their progress, and moni tor their study habits. It Is dif ficult If not Impossible for me to know what Is occuring In the classroom setting. Be cause teachers now seem to be reluctant to enforce verbal discipline, parents should in sist upon teachers challeng ing academic abilities. It has been necessary for me to obtain outside help for each of my three children be fore they demonstrated their true academic abilities. A spe cific recommendation that I would like to make Is the teav- hing of phonetics on a consis tent basis by primary school teachers. It Is my opinion that this would prove to be most useful in future learning and will not give young children the Impression that elemen tary schools are an advanced babysitting class. My second experience was the most disturbing and Is an excellent example of underly ing problems when there are breakdowns in teacher child communications. During the previous school year I was ad vised that my third child was causing class disruptions and was put out In the hallway. To my dismay my son was still expected to know what went on In class that day. What re sulted was my third child be ing diagnosed with a serious reading problem. Fortunately, my Involvement has resulted In an appropriate academic placemant. These children will be our leaders tomorrow. Without de dicated parents and teachers making a joint effort and a commitment to our chil dren we will continue to have an accelerating dropout rate. Without the emphasis on pho netics In our schools' reading program, we will contribute to our Illiteracy problem. With out a challenging academic environment, we will create children who channel their energies to drugs, crime, and sex. As concerned parents we should be aware of our chil dren's education. HATTIE CRAWFORD New Writers Need More Recognition Dear Editor: I don't sifljpose Dannye Ro- malne could find any contem porary black writers when she went to the grave and dug up Phyllis Wheatly from 1761. Ironically three local black writers werq being honored at the Afro-American Cultural Center on the same date, July 9,1989, when Ms. Romalne did her eirticle on Wheatfy. I too, like the UNC Charlotte English professor Julian Ma son, love Phyllis Wheatly's poetry. It will be Interesting to find what the professor thinks of the fact that Wheatly was sto len from Africa by one of the prominent forefathers, Ben Franklin. No mention was made of this. Ms. Romalne Is to be con gratulated on her ability to placate contemporary local writers via her Ingenuity to ex change a prominent, though deceased, black writer for new „ones. This says that new black writers get caught In the catch 22 syndrome— how can a new black writer get press and publication If they are not famous—then how does one become famous without press and publication? Ms. Romalne did release press on the autographing of the three honorees on the op posite page which required a magnifying glass to find. Well, I suppose a little press Is better than no press. Thanks Dannye for small fa- ORATE AESIHEIY WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND? Let us hear your comments, ideas and opinions. Write to; Letters To The Post P.O.Box 30144 Charlotte, N.C. 28230 Please include name, address and phone number. We edit letters for clarity and grammar. Americans Have Lost The Incentive To Pinch Pennies-—Or To Pick Them Up "You can't buy an3rthlng with a penny!" responded a senior citi zen when I asked If she picks up pennies during her walks. Al though she admits she does pick up pennies, this lady asked, "What can you buy with a nickel or a quarter?" This lady forced everyone on the park bench to grapple with her question. I could not think of a single thing one could buy with a penny or a nickel. And no one else In the park dared to challenge her statements. I left the park encountering the many times I had foimd pen nies along my neighborhood walking path. I often times would pick up these pennies, al though on occasion I have al lowed one to remain In the street two days before I re trieved It. I asked another senior citizen If he found pennies. He said he found many pennies and he picked all of them up. This fel low claims he walks through the parking lot of his neighborhood shopping mall and finds four or five pennies without any effort. This fellow also said he finds pennies on the floor of the local supermarket. He offered a couple of experiences that high lighted the Insignificance of small change today. He claimed that a lady's pock- efbook popped open In the r iMiller Says By Shefman Miller parking lot of a supermarket when he was driving up. A few coins rolled out onto the pave ment. She merely closed her pocketbook, got Into her car. and drove off. This fellow also contended that he once took pennies to a supermarket to exchange them for cash. The supermarket re fused to take his pennies. So now he will only tsike his pen nies to the bank. The above tales offer credence “ to former President Ronald Rea gan's television scene where he argued that the dollar was worth roughly 40 cents. Reagan was highlighting the evils of Infla tion. Yet people's refusal to pick up pennies says that the psy chological vestiges of Inflation have not been destroyed. I hope this currency devalua tion does not lead to America creating huge denomination bills that are worthless, or per haps the government fading var ious coins out of existence. I re call once signing a hotel bill In Ball, Indonesia, for 300,000 ru piahs which was approximately $300 American money. Imagine the Impact on the America's retail Industry If the penny should become extinct. The magical nine on sales days will be relegated to American folklore. There will be no more $99.99 or $9.99 sales; Instead, p>eople shall be forced to accept that these amounts are really $100 and $10, respectively. If you take away the nickel, dime, and quarter, then how will the government be able to set the national minimum wage rate? Will the government offer these workers $4.50 per hour or ' $5 because the new coin Incre ments will be 50 cents and $1? As we celebrate Labor Day, let us ask our national leadership to not be blinded by yesterday's foolhardy battles between labor and management. This national dlvlslveness has only led to mil lions of American workers fall ing victim to imemplo3rment and Inflation eroding the value of our currency. I ask President Bush to use this Labor Day to show the world that he also wishes to be known as the President who fos tered a spirit of cooperation be tween labor and management.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Aug. 17, 1989, edition 1
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