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EDITORIALS/ The Charlotte Post June 13, 1996 Charlotte Published weekly by the Charlotte Post Publishing Co. 1531 Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. 28203 Gerald O. Johnson PUBLISHER Robert Johnson CO-PUBLISHER/ GENERAL MANAGER Herbert L. White EDITOR IN CHIEF Accommodationism of Booker T. Washington sparked U.S. apartheid By Ron Daniels SPECIAL TO THE POST In 1895 at the Atlanta Cotton Expwsition, one year before the his toric Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court decision, Booker T. Washington spoke before an irifluential gathering of agricultural, industrial, commercial and financial leaders and exhorted southern Blacks to “cast down your bucket where you are.” In this widely watched and noted speech, Mr. Washington went on to say; “In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet as one in aU things essential to mutual progress...The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is extremist foUy...” The Atlanta Exposition speech marked the rise to ascendancy of Booker T. Washington as the pre-eminent leader in Black America. The speech also signaled an accommodation to the system of south ern apartheid in the Post Reconstruction era in the South and decid edly played to the interests of the power elites in both the South and the North. Northern textile interests and southern agriculturalist had a vested interest in keeping the former slaves locked to the land in the South as sharecroppers, tenant farmers and agricultural labors. The exploitation of quasi-slave labor meant large profits for the cotton industry in the South and the growing textile industry in the North. Northern industrial interests were also eager to avoid con flicts between a “black horde” from the South and the waves of white immigrants arriving from Europe taking jobs in the industrial/manu facturing sector. Hence, Washington’s “cast down your buckets where you are” remark was designed to discourage blacks from leaving the South in search of the “promised land” in the North. Washin^n’s counsel to blacks in the South to avoid “agitation” over social and political questions was particularly comforting to the southern power structure which had broken the back of the populist revolt where white and black farmers and workers had united to threaten their rule. Washington thus emerged as a “trusted” figure who could be counted on to keep blacks in their place in terms of stay ing in the South and someone who would keep the peace on questions of sociail and political equality. As a consequence, the coffers of philan thropists in the North and South were opened to finance Tuskegee Institute and other projects promoted by Booker T. Washington. In addition, the major estabUshment media of the day also actively tout ed Mr. Washington as the kind of reasonable and responsible leader of the “colored” people that White America could do business with. Mr. Washington was not without his detractors, however. Up and coming leaders like the young W.E.B. DuBois considered Washington an unadulterated “Uncle Tom.” Mr. Washington was an accommoda- tionist, but it is sometimes difficult to determine how much of what he articulated was a matter of true belief or simply feeding White folks what they wanted to hear to buy time for a beleaguered and underdeveloped Black community. For example, Mr. Washington clearly believed that blacks in the South had made a big mistake by exercising political power without an economic base, or the education, skills and training to compete in the economy of the South. Hence, he w£is a stavmch proponent of the values of hard work, thrift and self-reliance. He believed that through practicing the right values and acquiring skills through agricultural and vocational education, whites would eventually come to accept blacks as their equals. And, Tuskegee Institute, which Mr. Washington labored long and hard to build, was unquestionably a beacon of hope and promise for large numbers of blacks in the South. Despite his “cast your buckets down where you are” doctrine, how ever, Mr. Washington is known to have secretly financed groups of blacks who wanted to leave the South to go North. And, in spite of his pubUc admonition to blacks to avoid agitating around social and poht- ical equality, he also contributed funds to individuals and organiza tions mounting legal challenges to lynching and the disenfiranchise- ment of blacks. The enigmatic Washington was not adverse to saying one thing in public and doing something completely different in pri vate. Whether wishful “Tom” or cunning tactician, the accommodation ism of Booker T. Weishington was inadequate to advance the inter ests of the sons and daughters of Africa within a hostile racist and exploitative society. It was not a matter of choosing between self help or agitation, but utilizing both self help and agitation. By emphasiz ing only one aspect of the struggle for liberation, Booker T. Washington was saddled with the label of Uncle Tom. RON DANIELS writes from Elmsford, NY. Restoring fathers to families By Michael Session NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBUSHERS ASSOCIATION Recognizing the critical prob lem of “fatherlessness” in the nation, the Cleveland-based Institute Responsible Fatherhood and Family Revitalization has created a remarkably successful approach, that brings young black American fathers back to their children and families. Over 2,500 fathers and their families have been served by the institute. It is a non-profit organization created in 1982 fi"om the vision of its founder and president, Charles A. Ballard. Ballard, in explaining why he started the institute, has spoken eloquently on the devastating effect a father’s absence has on his fami ly: “There is something missing in the fives of children who grow up without committed, caring fathers. The potential problems can follow a family for genera tions. ’The effects are especially hard on young males. Without that special dimension of guid ance a father can give, these young men are at risk of becom ing fathers too soon themselves. The pressure of having to act responsibly without the proper understanding can be too much for them to handle. As a male who was separated from his father at three and became a father at 17,1 can relate to this intimately.” 'The institute has developed a method that literally changes the lives of absent and non- attentive fathers. Its approach is based on modeling and inter ventions to encourage young fathers to achieve positive self esteem. The institute’s team interacts with fathers to create environments which allow them 4# to develop thinking that pro duces an increased quality of fife for their children. Fathers being served by the institute often display high- risk behaviors, however, under the institute’s coimsefing and guidemce the father pursues a risk-free lifestyle. Each takes on the challenge of living in the absence of tobacco, alcohol, other drug abusive behavior, sex outside of marriage, obesi ty or other high-risk tenden cies that plague black American communities. Fathers receive intense non- traditional one-on-one support, group support, family out reach, fathering skills, health and nutrition information, medical emd housing referrals, as well as educational and career guidance. Most services are provided in the home of the father, permitting his issues to be managed at the core, which establishes quality at the source. Despite its unorthodox approach, a 1993 reactive eval uation of the Cleveland pro gram and services, conducted by Drs. G. Regina Nixon and Anthony E.O. King of Case Western Reserve University, documented the positive impact the institute has had on its par ticipants. Findings included: • 97 percent spend more time with their children and are pro viding financial support. • 96 percent experienced an improved relationship with the child’s mother. • 92 percent developed posi tive values and attitudes. '• 70 percent of fathers com pleted 12 years of education; nearly 12 percent at least one year of college. • 62 percent are employed full time; 11 percent are employed part-time. Since institute outreach spe cialists lead by example, model ing rather than demanding change, they are able to help bring about a change in the atti tude of the father. Moreover, enough cannot be said about the fact that the institute does not undermine the traditional two- parent family as past programs have. In fact, the institute is FILE PHOTO helping restore the two-parent family. During the course of the past two years, letters and calls from more than 60 cities and seven countries, including Japan eind some in Afiica, have requested that the service be expanded to their locations. Based on a thor ough evaluation of the requests, and vwth encouragement from both local and national opinion leaders, foundations and corpo rations, the institute is now beginning national expansion to five additional cities: Atlanta, Milwaukee, Nashville, San Diego, and Yonkers. In the targeted areas for each site, the institute will go door-to door to over 15,000 households. During that period of time, 1,000 fathers will establish paternity and some 300 will receive intensive services. The Institute For Responsible Fatherhood and Family Revitalization is paving the way for a better America. MICHAEL SESSION is a National Newspaper Publishers Association columnist. -7^ AiOTAv./ African American male image takes a beating at hands of women By Eric H. Kearney NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBI.SIHERS ASSOCIATION As an AiHcan American man, I have to admit I still feel bruised by Alice Walker’s novel and movie, “The Color Purple.” That’s why I have not rushed out to see (or read or rent) Terry McMillan’s “Waiting To Exhale.” I’ve heard my wife, my mother, my female cousins, and a bevy of black women rejoice over its independent AiHcan American women char acters. With that I detected, or better anticipated, that the book and movie liberate African American women at the expense of African American men. 'This impression, which is admittedly ill-informed and tenuously provided, was con firmed during my voyage on the Internet’s Net Noir. From what I can, teU Net Noir is the “cybro- hood,” an African American sec tion of the Internet where many blacks chat about issues. On my first visit to NetNoir (and my first surf on the Internet since graduating from college), many of the women found that the movie accurately portrayed the sad state of affairs between African American women and men. African American men were described as uninterested in commitment and dishonest once in a relationship. The conversation on the Internet branched out from the movie to relationships in gener al. It devolved into those endless talks about relations without getting to conclusions, or the point. Caustic criticism of African American men led to more stories of how bad Afiican- American men are. I felt trapped between the scented pages of Essence magazine and the African-American women’s conference scene in “Jungle Fever.” 'Then the conversation turned as it inevitably does to the “threat:” African American women stated that since there are no acceptable African- American men, they were turn ing to other races for romance. One even stated that African American women can live with out African American men, but African-American men cannot five without African American women. It seems in truth, that either gender can do without the other and many choose just that. Interracial couples seem well-accepted. 'The dating game is an open market; people are free to choose. But the com ments carry a deeper pain. They show that African American women, whether justified or not, felt African American men have mistreated them. They show that African American women feel Afiican American men find “hanging with the fellas” more rewarding than being with Afiican American women. Still further, their comments imply that they feel African American men are immature. Picking at a sore only makes it worse. Hearing these specious charges only makes me more reluctant to see another movie or read another book by an African- American female author. As an African American man, I grow tired of being subjected to criticism from society and then hearing it from my African American peers. My personal experience has been that African American men, like most men, are reluctant to enter into relationships. On the other hand, African iknerican women are untrusting and expect seem- ingly instantaneous commit ment. Moving beyond the hurting and inaccurate generalizations, African American women and Afiican American men are indi viduals and should be received and graded as such. ERIC H. KEARNEY is a Cincinnati attorney. He is the publisher of NIP Magazine, an African American News ! Feature magazine distrib uted in Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, Lexington, and Louisville. Send your comments to: P.O. BOX 1691, Cincinnati, OH 45201.
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