Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Sept. 21, 1989, edition 1 / Page 6
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Page 6A - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thursday, September 21, 1989 Cl)c Cljarlottc ^os!t Gerald O. Johnson, Publisher Robert L. Johnson, Co-Publisher Herb White, Editor EDITORIALS District n Race Voting A Civic Responsibility By HOYLE H. MARTIN Editorial Writer Once again we are approaching the time when responsible, concerned. Involved citi zens should and hopefully will be prepared to cast their votes for the candidates of th^lr choice for mayor, council members at-large, and for district council seats. As we look forward to Primary Election Day, Tuesday, September 26, we need to pause and look back over our shoulders for a reminder of the historically and embar rassingly low voter turnout our city has had In past primaries and general elec tions. It is because of such historic trends that the board of elections Is Justifiably predicting another very low primary voter turnout this coming Tuesday. It Is ironic, that in America where we have the privilege and right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and civil rights laws that Martin Luther King Jr. and others have died for, so we can be free to study the Issues and cast an intelligent vote, there are literally millions of people nationwide who do not vote. Many of these non-voters are residing here in Charlotte. Hopefully, we understand how fragile our freedoms are. Hopefully, too, we understand that the strength of a democratic free society is In how effectively the voters use their voting rights. Many voters, particularly black voters, have complained bitterly about some as pects of our electoral process, especially when the process appears to work to the disadvantage of black candidates. This has too often resulted in a "what's the use atti tude" and caused many to simply not go to the polls and vote. Yes, the American elec toral system is not yet perfect, but it is the nearest to the lofty status than any other nation in the world. In fact, it will probably take the act of voting Itself to correct the system. The New Miss America In the Sunday morning newspapers this past weekend, the Associated Press began a story with this paragraph, "Miss Missouri Debbye Turner, a marimba-playing veteri nary student, was crowned Miss America 1990 Saturday night." Not once in this ini tial 10-paragraph news story was any refer ence made to the fact that the new Miss America is a black woman, a likely first in absence of a reference to the winners' mi nority racial classification. Miss Turner is, of course, the third black woman to win the coveted Miss America crown. Another, arid possibly more Important first, is that pageant officials this time have asked Miss America to express a view point on an issue of her choice. Pageant Di rector Leonard Horn said the idea of giving Miss America the right to express opinions on topics of her choice Is designed to gain more national respect for the pageant. He said, "This is not just a beauty pageant." We are glad to see the Miss America Pageant reaching beyond the "dumb blond mentali ty" to something of more substance than young women parading around in swim suits like sides of beef on a conveyor belt assembly line. The lovely Miss Turner wasted little time in speaking out as on her first public ap pearance when she sang a religious rap song to stress her bom-again Christian commitment. On another theme, Debbye Turner said her mission is "motivating the youth of this country to excellence." She noted, too, that she "grew up in a middle- class home (where she) was given love and taught how to work hard for goals and not give up, not be discouraged by obstacles." Miss Turner added that she is "politically moderate -1 vote my conscience." It is Indeed refreshing to see a young wom an, 23 years of age, in a high profile posi tion who at least initially sees beyond her own physical beauty and has some Ideas on issues of substance and reality. If this be ginning Is an example of things to come.the causes of women's and minority rights, equality, and respect will take a giant step forward from a traditionally unlikely source. We trust and pray that God Almighty will forever post an angel at Miss Debbye Tur ner's side in her quest to motivate the na tion's youth to excellence and to be a role model truly befitting the title of Miss America. The Suave Versus The Savvy We have observed the struggles of the peo ples of Communist-run Poland in their quest to have free and Independent trade unions. Likewise, we have read reports emerging from Russia of growing numbers of people demanding the right to establish a new political party; that is, an alternate to the bureaucratic dictatorial Communist Party. Earlier this year, we witnessed Chi nese college students being beaten, impris oned and even killed because they dared to protest against a lack of freedom in their own country. Therefore, the fight for freedom, justice and equality continues on and in this fight we must never abandon our privilege to vote, and to vote our convictions on this coming Primary Election Day and on all election days. Finally, it Is long past time for both ma jor political parties at the local, state and national levels to reevaluate their beliefs, ideas, policies and programs to assure that their ideologies, whatever they may be, don't Isolate or exclude any group of people. Some in the black community likewise need to end their long-standing apathy to ward the political process. We need Instead to force the political parties to show us as black people more respect by first begin ning to respect ourselves through the intel ligent use of the ballot box. The hard fact is that in the absence of the application of our civic responsibility to vote, and to vote in telligently, neither of the major political parties will show any respect to us or our Interests. Yes, it's your city, your neighborhood, your home, and your tax dollars, so you de cide what's best for your future and the fu ture of your children by voting your convic tions on Primary Election Day - Tuesday, September 26. VOTE, VOTE and VOTE, It's your right, your duty and your freedom. The District race for a city council seat has been relatively boring considering it Is the first time a true contender has opted to unseat long term Incumbent Charlie Dannelly. The true con tender of course is Hoyle Martin, first time candidate for political office. Steve Barker, a white po lice officer, has thrown his hat in the ring as well. But Barker has to be considered a spoiler, rather than a winner. The race basically bolls down to the suave versus the savvy. Dannelly. the suave. Is most comfortable and most effective away from the public's eye. He is very politically aware and as tute. He willingly spends time with groups helping them under stand how to deal effectively with the city. His biggest political problem in the past has been his general aloofness. This aloofness has at times caused him to misjudge the overall needs of his consti tuency. Moreover, his constitu ents have complained that Dan nelly has not taken the leadership position on repre senting the district. Martin, the savvy, on the other hand spends a great deal of time attempting to stay on top of is sues facing the community. He shows no reluctance in con fronting Issues head on. Though Martin has no politi cal track record to measure, he has been a community activist for many years. Martin has been labeled as naive on some politi cal Issues, but he can usually overcome this through hard and dedicated work. Moreover, Mar- Asl See It Gerald O. Johnson tin has a knack for pulling di verse groups together for dia logue. The question of who to vote for isn't as much a question of qual ifications as it is leadership styles. Both men bring strengths and weaknesses to the table. But in my opinion Martin's style is better suited for the dis trict needs of the 1990s. I think His leadership style is more adept at leading District II into the 1990s. What he lacks in ex perience, he can more than make up for by providing some new and fresh ideas. In spite of ourselves growth is headed for District 2. It is the only area in the city left un touched by bulldozers. It will be necessary for this future growth to be controlled and planned. It will have to be coupled with eco nomic development to guarantee the quality of growth. This means that the District II lead ership of the 1990s has to be pro gressive and proactive. It has to be participative and inclusive. Elven though Martin has no po litical track record, he has dem-j onstrated an ability to get ac-j tlvely Involved with Issues fac-* Ing the community. Moreover) he has demonstrated an ability to be proactive with commimlty concerns. 1 Dannelly's style is better sult-i ed for maintaining the status; quo. It has been reactive and ex-> elusive. Consequently, the white westi slders feel that he has been 4 candidate for West Charlotte, in-* stead of the westslde. Elven some of the West Charlotte constltu-j ents have complained about Dannelly not showing an Inter-^ est with their concerns. i Steve Barker's candidacy will guarantee that Martin does not benefit from the frustrated white voters. He will get most of that support. Martin’s only hope for victory is a high District 2 voter turn-; out. Dannelly's support will: come from hard core West Char-I lotte voters. They will come out to vote. Martin must convince those individuals who are issue voters. They have to be given 4 reason to come out and vote. J am not sure if Martin has given them enough of a reason. But we will know by this time nexf week. - Finally, it is worth mention^ Ing again that political competlS tlon makes political Incumf bents accountable. Dannelly's active Involvement in the Dis^ trlct and on the political scenes; has made him a worthy Incum-? bent. If nothing else, Martin's challenge has made Dannelly & better councilman. ; Pages And Pages Of Southern Culture I D.G. Martin ■I One-On-One "Another new book about the South!" I can hear you now. "My shelf is full of them." But you are still In terested, aren't you? What is it about us southerners that makes us love books about our region? Is it because we know we are different from folks in other regions, but don't know just wh}'? You won't get the answer from me today. But, yes, there is a new book about the South —The En cyclopedia of Southern Culture. It is a big, fat book. In fact, al though the Encyclopedia is packed into a single one volume, it is, like the Bible, many books. The Encyclopedia has 24 book- length sections about different aspects of southern culture. Each of these sections is a com pilation of many short articles on related topics. Honestly, 1 did not like the book at first. It is big and bullty. More than 1,500 pages and weighing more than 10 pounds, it is too big to carry around or to rest on your lap when you read in bed. The Etncyclopedia's thou sand different articles made me ask, 'Where do I begin? Where do 1 end?" But my initial reaction got turned around quickly. I took the Encyclopedia to a librarian friend to get an expert's opinion about how the thousand articles were organized and Indexed. He had no time to help, but as I was leaving, his mother asked, "Does it say anything about okra? Any big book about the South ought to have something about okra." Sure enough, the Encyclopedia had a long article about okra- and other articles about grits, gumbo. Goo Goo clusters, mint juleps, moonshine. Moon Pies, and other such treats that have a special place in southern cul ture. My friend and I wanted to read about our favorite food and drinks. But his mom wouldn't give up the book until she had written down notes about okra to share with her friends at the retirement home. By the way, did you know that the word "okra" comes from the word "nkra" in a West African language, and that Accara, the capltol of Ghana gets its name from the same root word? I didn't either until my friend's mom read the entire article on okra—out loud—three times. Her excitement was contag ious. When I found the same type of interesting details about the other southern foods, I de cided that the Encyclopedia de served more consideration--and. a more extensive test. I took it to the kids on the comer. "Think of something southern," I said, "and we'll see if the Encyclope dia says an)dhlng about it." "Try wrestling," said one of them. "I bet they don't have any thing about Ivan Koloff and the Junk Yard Dog." The Encyclopedia does not mention those particular per formers, but it has a great article on the professional wrestling. Did you know that there are more than 3,000 professional wrestlers in the United States? Or that a wrestler who does pre liminary bouts every night can earn at^ut $40,000 a year? Do you know whether it is fake - “ for sure? The kids found the an^ swers. « The kids also read article* about stock car racing and foot-" ball. I found ones about gam“ bllng, hunting, cockfighting, andh cheerleading and twlrllng-all ol which have southern roots o£ southern connections. 1 had to; drag the book away from them. - The final test for the EncycloZ pedia was a visit to a scholar; She wanted to know what it said- about the southern dialect, t looked in the index and founef nothing under "dialect" or "accent" or "southern accent." I Well, of course, the Encyclopel dia cannot cover eveiythlng. But our southern way of spealUng is such an important distinction! How could it be left out? So I flipped through the pages and found an entire section on lan^ guage. It had more artlclesi about southern ways of speak ing than I could ever read-- Gullah, mountain speech, Indl' an languages, and even one oif the dialect of the Outer Banks.* Maybe its index needs a little work, but the Encyclopedia passed the scholar's "southerrC dialect" test easily. She tried to persuade me to leave the Encyl clopedia with her. ; But I am not going to give up my copy to anybody. The Ency clopedia proved that it can an» swer our crazy questions about ourselves and our regional home--on hundreds of topics from agriculture and architect ture to violence and women'4 life. And it proved something even more Important: It Is fun. If you are curious, and if you love where you live, I bet you will want to own the Encyclopedia, too. Most book stores have it in stock, but if you have trouble finding a copy, write me at Box 2088, Chapel Hill, NC 27515. To Break Free Politically, Black Votes Can’t Be Taken For Granted By Parties , By THOMAS "FESS" BRADLEY Special To The Post It is Important to understand the roles that the major political parties have played in the devel opment of the politics of sym bolism. Fact: America's mllng class is not a monolithic structure: it al lows room for some ideological and pragmatic differences. The Democratic Party and the Re publican Party are the highest expression of these differences. Fact: both parties as compo nents of the power structure seek the containment of op pressed people. They may choose different methods for pursuing containment, l.e., one may choose app>easement, while the other chooses aggression, but both parties are designed to develop ways of preventing op pressed people from disrupting the status quo. Fact: history proves that the approach to containment may be reversed based on political exjjedlency. For example, in 1867 the Re publicans were the party of mol lification and they enacted so cial programs such as the Freedmen's Bureau, while the Democratic Party chose aggres sive tactics such as the enforce ment of the Black Codes. In 1989 the roles are com pletely reversed and who is to say what the sltuaUon will be 50 years from now. Fact: oppressed or powerless people are pawns in this game of power relations between the parties. One party beckons sup port from the oppressed by pro moting its alleged good will, i.e. social programs, candidates from the oppressed community, while the other uses such pro motions to appeal to subjective or racist support. African-American politicians who may be frustrated by their inability to "deliver" for those they represent need to recognize the framework in which they are operating and develop strate gies accordingly. The black politician must de cide how can he/she from a po sition "within" best serve the struggle against race oppres sion and exploitation. The politics of substance is an analysis of the power relation ships between the parties, and declares positive neutrality is the best course of action for the masses of black people. Positive neutrality is not political isola tion; it requires participation in the political process based on Intelligent decisions. It clearly seeks to cut the um bilical cord that has allowed the Democratic Party to freely feed on the African American com munity, l.e. a guaranteed 90 per cent of the black vote in every election, but it recognizes the chlcaneiy of the Atwater era Re publicans. Positive neutrality sa3rs to Afri can-Americans that their vote is a valuable resource: that the parties should equally compete for that vote the way the super powers compete for spheres of influence or strategic positions around the world. Positive neu trality teaches the African American to recognize the true intentions of the major parties: that neither party as a collective group is not remotely-interested in the real needs of our commu nity. Therefore, it removes any de pendence on either party, yet It requires an awareness that the parties because they are power hungry will offer something that can be beneficial to our struggle. However, any such offers that are of relevance to the struggle will not occur until there is true competition for the black vote, and true competition will not begin until African Americans remove themselves as pawns of the power game by practicing positive neutrality. Positive neutrality is absolute ly necessary to bring about the politics of substance. As long as African-American leaders re main locked into one party they will continue to perpetuate the politics of symbolism and the masses will suffer accordingly. Quite frankly most of these leaders should publicly express political Independence. The politics of substance plac es politics within its proper context in the black community. There are five major disciplines that must be mastered to achieve liberation, each repre senting 20 percent of the solu tion: politics, economics, educa tion, social responsibility and culture. The current mode of activism is overwhelmingly balanced to ward politics. We can generate plenty of enthusiasm for black candidates at election time, but we cannot generate any enthu siasm to correct the appalling educational scores of our chil dren. Our political leaders rally us to march every time a racist nut kills one of us. But black-on- black drug killings are Just an every day occurrence. The most effective blow against any form of racism is the development of positive self concepts. Many of those rallies and marches should be replaced with ses sions where people are stud}4ng the Doctors Cheikh Anta Dlop, Frantz Fanon, Na'lm Akbar. Frances Cress Welslng, etc. Our political leaders accept a Eurocentric world view without question, yet we have difficulty understanding the low self es teem and negative concepts that plague our community. We must embrace Afrocentrlclty to devel op positive self concepts. In our historical situation we must be cognizant that these disciplines are inextricably linked. No one dominates the other. As we enter the 90 s we must drive toward control and em powerment. Why engage in ac tivities where success or failure, is dependent on the political whims of others. The move from the politics of symbolism to-'' ward the politics of substance „ clearly enhances the drive to-" ward empowerment. To eventually control our des tiny we must see ourselves en gaged in a protracted struggle -^ for liberation. It is for the peace-;. ful existence of our children, our brothers, our sisters, for each other, that We must do this and we must do it now.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 21, 1989, edition 1
6
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