Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Nov. 21, 1996, edition 1 / Page 4
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4A EDITORIALS/ The Charlotte Post November 21,1996 tllje Cljarlotte ^osit Published weekly by the Charlotte Post Publishing Co. 1531 Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. 28203 Gerald O. Johnson CEO/PUBLISHER Robert Johnson CO-PUBLISHER/ GENERAL MANAGER Herbert L. White EDITOR IN CfflEF Assassination of the black female’s image By Earl Ofari Hutchinson NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Dr. Mae Jemison made history when she became America’s first Afiican Americem woman to fly through space on the Endeavor shut tle mission in 1992. Following a routine traffic stop in Houston four years later, Dr. Jemison again flew through space. A Houston police officer hody slammed her to the grovmd, twisted her wrist and arms and slapped handcuffs on her. The officer claimed that she resisted arrest for an outstanding traffic war rant. Dr. Jemison denied it. In that hrutal moment, Dr. Jemison was not a celebrated black woman praised by the pres ident and applauded by the public for her contributions to the nation’s space program but a “gangsta.” It was a harsh reminder that to much of America, black women, like black men, have also become a menace to society. The massive media depiction of black men as “at risk” and “endan gered” masks the damage that gender and racial stereotypes wreak on black women. The roughhous- Whilc ffiiich of "I myth that black women are not fficdid considered as physical threats and economic competitors to enshrined the .v, k In addition, they share the bur den of all women of being politi cally and economically marginal- Hutchlnson Jemison stereotypes of black men as violent, prone, crime sexual aces, women men- same way. The fight for affirmative action GERALD O. JOHNSON As I See It Affirmation action is under attack from various special interest groups who are deter mined to see it come to an end. If recent battles are any indi cation, then it is safe to say they will win the war. When the question to end affirmative action was put before California voters as a proposition, it passed. The sentiment about affirma tive action is it creates a reverse discrimination atmosphere and we should do away with it alto gether. I caution people who feel this way by giving them my ver sion of what affirmative action is really about. To do this I only need to turn to sports. Up to the late ‘40s, people of color were not allowed to partici pate in professional sports. Because colleges and universi ties were segregated, athletes of color were given little exposure in the mainstream media. The exclusion of athletes of color had nothing to do with ability or qualifications. They were not given the opportunity to participate. One by one, each of the barri ers started falling. A lot of us know the Jackie Robinson story. A lot of us know the story of Bear Bryant, the leg endary University of Alabama footb^l coach, who watched his natioiially-ranked all-white team get trounced by the University of Southern California and their black run ning back Sam “Bam” Cunningham. Bear Bryant started recruiting black play ers soon after that game. We all remember the 1966 NCAA Final Four basketball champi onship that pitted the all- white University of Kentucky team against all-black Texas Western (now Texas-El Paso). These historical athletic events as well as many others played a mqjor part in breaking many of the racial barriers both in and out of sports. Interestingly, but not acciden tally, sporting events became marketable. Television was coming of age and saw the opportunity that existed. More and more money was poured into sports and a strange thing started to happen. Winning was no longer a nice thing, it was a necessary thing. How you played the game was important only if you won. Coaches at every level were and still are required to win. Their jobs depended on it. This caused coaches to go afier the best players to fit in with their team philosophy. Interestingly, affirmative action is not an issue in this environment. The players are put on the field and asked to perform. The best per formers become a part of the team. Again, affirmative action is not an issue. Race is not an issue. The best people make the team. Several basic points are clear in this enviromnent: • Participation is open. Unlike the old days, people are not barred from participation because of race, creed, or reli gion. • Expectations are clearly defined. Players and coaches know what is expected of them. • Everyone has a stake in the final results. It is easy to evalu ate everybody’s contribution. Subjectivity is minimized in this envirorunent. • Consequences of results are immediate. Coaches and players alike know when they are not meeting expectations. Most employers are not put under the microscope like sports teams. As a consequence, most employers use a lot of subjectivi ty as it relates to hiring, firing and promotions. As long as this subjectivity is a part of the cor porate structure, so should be affirmative action. Subjectivity carries the biases of the person doing the selecting or the judg ing. It closes the door of partici pation. It clouds expectations, thereby confusing what the expected results should have been. Affirmative action is the only current vehicle that bal ances this corporate subjectivity with a dose reality when the scale tips too far to llie right. GERALD O. JOHNSON is publisher ofThe Charlotte Post. ized and socially devalued. Black women have never been laZV violent accorded the protection and “priv- ’ ileges” of white women in America. There is bitter truth to the old line that the only time black women are ever called ladies is when they are cleaning black . While much of the media W e re stereotypes of black men as lazy, violent, crime prone, typed much the sexual menaces, Wack women ^ were typed much the same way. The heavy dose of racial and gen der stereotypes rests solidly on these deeply ingrained myths: •Hypersexuality. During Senate hearings on the Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court nomination in 1991, white male senators savaged Anita Hill. Hill was not simply a victim of partisan politics. She rein forced the image of a sexually promiscuous, deceitful black woman. In the rape trial of boxer Mike Tyson, attorneys tried to paint Desiree Washington as a woman out for money and sex. Washington and Hill were trapped by the slave mythology that black women are sexually loose and promiscuous. The image of the sexually immoral woman puts black women at risk in law and public policy. Police, prosecutors and the courts in many cases ignore or U^tly punish rape, sexual abuse and assaults against black women. •Devalued lives. Between 1980 and 1985, the number of black women murdered exceeded the number of American soldiers killed in Vietnam in 1967, a peak year of the fighting. By 1990, homicide was the No. 1 killer of young black females. A black woman was 10 times more likely to be raped than a white woman and slightly more likely to be the victim of domestic violence than a white woman. The media often magnifies and sensationalizes crimes by black men against white women and ignores or downplays crimes against black women. •Welfare and single parenthood. Nearly two out of three welfare recipients live in a suburban or rural area, stay on welfare less than four years, have one to two children, and are white. There is no evi dence that poor black women make babies in order to live luxuriously at taxpayers’ expense. Even if they wanted to, no state has maximum benefit levels that allow recipients to exist at the official poverty level. The national average monthly payout is $373. The twin myths persists that black teens have a monopoly on “ille gitimacy.” 'They don’t. In 1993, the lypical single mother was a white, well-educated working woman. Sixty percent of out of-wedlock births were to white women and 70 percent to women older than 20 years old. The number of black unmarried girls having bcibies, though stiU disproportionately high, has sharply dropped since 1992. Gangsta rappers, some black filmmakers, and comedians reduce black women to “stuff,” “Bitches,” “Ho’s” and “MFs.” Their contempt reinforx*s the slut image and sends the message that violence or mis treatment of black women is socially acceptable. Despite lawsuits, protests and boycotts by women’s groups, “gangsta”-themed films and rap music continue to soar in popularity. Hollywood and the record companies rake in small fortunes off them. Black women are blamed for many of the crisis problems in American society. They are accused of emasculating and taking jobs away firom black men. Their special needs and problems are often ignored by many feminist and women’s organizations. The remedy is an intensive, active media and public campaign to make sure that black women such as Mae Jemison and all others will not continue to be seen and treated as the “other” menace to society. EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON is author of “The Assassination of the Black Male Image" and “Beyond O.J.: Race, Sex, and Class Lessons for America.." KPPf fiffi n f?n i\bia U® 11 ulill 1m • \" 0 lUL UMWK UM*' How the NAACP handles elections By Kelly Alexander Jr. SPECIAL TO THE POST After reading your article “Candidate barred fiiom NAACP vote,” (Nov. 14 Post), I wanted to clarify the election procedures used by the NAACP. Elections in the NAACP are governed by rules found in the “Election ftocedures Manual” and in the constitution for branches. These official rules, adopted by our national board of directors, may not be changed by a simple vote of a branch. TTie only body that can change these rules or grant exceptions is the national board by mqjori- ty vote. In order to be nominated for office a candi date must be a member of the branch at least 30 days before the October meet ing. The national rules provide that a receipt signed Alexander by a member ship solicitor makes you a member of the national organization as of the date of the receipt. However, your membership in the local branch starts at the time your membership is received by the branch Secretary. Memberships given by solicitors to any officer other than the Secretary are only recorded when the Secretary receives them. The NAACP has a history of not opening its membership ros ter for general inspection. This stems fiom an attempt decades ago by a state bent on publish ing the names of all members of the NAACP, so that the Klan and racist employers could harass and attack them. The organization defeated this attempt in court eind has held its membership roster close ever since. However, our election rules do provide appropriate access for presidential candidates. 'The Secretary of the branch, not the Elections Supervisory Committee, certifies nominees for office. The Elections Committee sim ply sees to it that those properly certified have their names placed on the ballot and that' only those persons whose names appear on the roster thirty days- before the elections, in this case those who were members as of Oct. 21 are allowed to vote. I hope that this clarifies our process for you. KELLY ALEXANDER JR. of Charlotte is the former N, C. NAACP president. Recognizing blacks’ real struggle By Malik Russell NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Throu^out the history of the United States of America slav ery has been often deemed “the Peculiar Institution.” Its pecu liarity arises firom several dis tinctions, not least of which was an inhumane treatment of Africans. But, also peculiar about this institution was the way Southern antebellum soci ety maintained its control of Afficans. Despite the attempts of Hollywood and jaded historians, Africans did not succumb to docility, nor willingly accept oppression. In fact, accorffing to historian I. Herbert Aptheker in “American Negro Slave Revolts,” "Several first hand observers of the slaves were struck by their restlessness, dis content, and rebelliousness.” The fear of rebellion - particu larly during times of war, was so pervasive among slave own ers that it prompted Jonathan Mason, a former Massachusetts senator who was traveling through the South in 1805 to write, “The citizens live in fear and (to) avert the evil, to lessen the danger, and to thin their population employs the time and expense of the Government armually.” In 1825, a Virginian slave holder and politician admitted the deep fear of rebellion, when he warned, “I wish I could main tain with truth...that it was a small danger, but it is a great danger, it is a danger which has increased, is increasing and must be diminished, or it must come to regular catastrophe.” Although very few, if any detailed studies have been done concerning Afiican slave revolts in America, except the well- known ones of Derunark Vessey, Gabriel Prosser, Nat Turner, and Cato, it appears that our ancestors revolted every time, and in anyway available. In turn, as a means of control ling these enslaved Africans, Southern states developed a militaristic infrastructure which should be viewed as the precur sor to the present American police state. According to Aptheker, “behind the owner, and his personal agents, stood an elaborate and complex sys tem of military control. In the cities were guards Eind police, for the coimtryside there were the ubiquitous patrols, armed men on horseback...Practically all adult white men were liable for patrol service.” As we are beginning to see, those quaint pictures of huck- abucking, grinning slaves full of timidness and docility are about as real and accurate as having a Caucasian actor portray a pharaoh of ancient Kemet (Egypt). The lesson those of African descent must learn is simple: Power concedes nothing by choice, only through respect or fear of a loss of power. The gains made by African Americans were mere concessions conceded at a certain time in order to pre vent greater losses. MALIK RUSSELL is a National Newspaper Publishers Association columnist.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Nov. 21, 1996, edition 1
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