5A
OPINIONS/ The Charlotte Post
February 6, 1997
The welfare state destroys society’s bonds
By Father Robert Sirico
SPECIAL TO THE POST
Let me tell you a story about growing up in Brooklyn,
New York. The kids m our neighborhood, maybe 15 to 20
of us, would play stickball in the streets.
Presiding over us from her stoop was the lady my
mother referred to as “the mayor of the neighborhood,”
Mrs. Rabinowitz. She would sit on her stoop and look at
anything that went on in the neighborhood. If at any
point in the stickball game this group of boys would get a
Uttle too rambimctious, Mrs. Rabinowitz would lean over
just a Uttle bit and beUow out one of our names: “Robert,
I see you.” Everything would stop.
We’d aU get back in aUgnment. It’s remarkable that not
so very long ago one little Jewish lady sitting on her
stoop could control a group of teenage boys in Brooklyn.
But Mrs. Rabinowitz is not on her stoop anymore. 'That
ability to have governance without government in a
neighborhood has evaporated. In its place now we have
to send in armed troops that sometimes are stiU not suc
cessful. What has happened?
We knew that behind Mrs. Rabinowitz’s bellowing
voice was moral authority. And we respected that
authority. We had a self-government instilled in us by
certain moral principles that were expected of us and to
which we acquiesced. The fallacy of the welfare state is a
pjaraUel fallacy to the whole sociaUst construct. Tm not
saying the welfare state is the equivalent of StaUnism.
I’m saying that there is something systemically wrong
with the welfare system.
Everyone across the poUtical spectrum acknowledges
that the welfare state has failed in its objectives. What
we do not fully understand as a society is why the wel
fare state has failed. I suggest that it has failed for very
similar systemic and economic reasons that socialism
failed in Central Europe, and that is the fallacy that
might be caUed the synoptic delusion.
Synoptic Uterally means “one eye.” The synoptic delu
sion is the notion that there can be one central eye that
can see aU of the needs that exist across the social spec
trum and can coordinate all of the resources necessary to
meet those objectives.
In the name of the poor our society has constructed a
massive welfare system. And yet the poor have gotten
worse and worse. 'This is because of the violation of a
principle that in Catholic teaching is called the principle
of subsidiarity. Basically, what this says is that needs
are best met at the most local level of their existence. If
you have a need, you should be the first person to fill it. If
you are unable to do that, your family should help you. If
your family is unable to do it, then people close to you
should do it.
Only when aU of the immediate, local levels fail do you
bump it up to higher levels of social ordering. Moreover,
the principle of subsidiarity says that it is a danger to
have higher levels of government intervene and prevent
the natmal coordination that would occur on the most
local level. It is the intervention of the state with the pre
tense of knowledge that prevents more natural, knowl
edge able social systems from meeting basic human
needs. To the extent that the state has collectivized the
normative service of social remedies, wq have had a secu
larization of our society. When you can no longer chal
lenge people with a moral message, how are you going to
go about remedying the problem of illegitimate births?
The solution the state has is to distribute condoms or
Norplant, or to make abortion more available. 'The solu
tion of religious institutions is to instill that sense of self-
governance, to give people a sense of self-dignity, of self-
respect. To the extent that the state has marginalized
the church and the religious institutions, it has also
muted the moral sensibihty that we used to have.
We all recognize that this is more costly because it fails
to recognize the deepest human needs, and it is predicat
ed on a materialist assumption. If a person is himgry, we
only provide food. If a person doesn't have housing, we
provide housing. While those needs may be real, they are
only an outward exhibition of a deeper hmnan need. 'The
more important thing is to get to know the person and
say not only, “you do not have a coat,” but, “how has it
come to pass that you do not have a coat?” It is this
human bonding that can only take place between people
who know each other that can ultimately get to the roots
of the problem.
FATHER ROBERT SIRICO is founder of the Acton
Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in
Midland, Michigan
IWe’re in need of progressive black leaders
i Marian
Wright
\Edelman
like many of us, Hemy Louis
Crates grew up poor and didn't
know it.
All he knew was that his
fi ither worked two jobs — loading
t -ucks at a paper mill and as a
r ight janitor at a phone compa-
r y - and that the family always
£ te well, dressed nicely, and
I lanaged to put a little money
£ way for college. He also knew
t lat what his parents expected
1 'om him didn't sound like poor
I )Iks’ expectations.
“Certainly my parents never
allowed my brother or me to
doubt that we could become
whatever we chose,” Henry says
in his new book, “The Future of
the Race,” which he wrote with
fellow Harvard scholar Cornel
West. “Nor did they let us doubt
that the world would yield its
secrets if only we turned our
attention to it. They believed in
the possibility of upward mobili
ty, of racial betterment, of col
lective progress. We were to get
just as much education as we
possibility could, to stay the ene
mies of racism, segregation, and
discrimination. If we heard it
once, we heard it a thousand
times: ‘Education is the one
thing nobody can take away
from you.”’
But as the great black scholar
W.E.B. DuBois noted nearly a
centmy ago, education, and any
upward mobility that came as a
result, meant a whole new set of
responsibilities, DuBois wrote
that the “Talented Tenth, “the
most fortunate, gifted, and suc
cessful minds in the black com
munity, were obligated to help
those less fortunate. “Dr. King
did not die so that half of us
would ‘make it’ and half of us
would perish, forever tarnishing
two centuries of struggle and
agitation for our equal rights,”
Henry and Cornel write. “We,
the members of the Talented
Tenth, must accept our histori
cal responsibility and live King’s
credo that none of us is free
until each of us is free... and
that all of us are brothers and
sisters, in spirit.”
When I was growing up, I was
taught that the world had a lot
of problems that I should strug
gle and work to change. My par
ents taught me that extra intel
lectual and material gifts
brought with them the privilege
and responsibility of sharing
with others. They beUeved that
service is the rent each of us
pays for living, and that service
is the very purpose of life and
not something you do in your
spare time or after you have
reached your personal goals.
Cornel and Henry say that the
lessons of recent histoiy and the
many challenges we have yet to
overcome as black people
require us to take a fresh look at
our ideas about what it will take
to move us forward. They
believe that we must all find
opportunities for positive
change - within ourselves and
within our community. What
about government’s role? They
make the case for getting people
off welfare, training them for
good-paying jobs, and putting
them to work.
We must demand a wide
range of economic incentives to
generate new investments in
inner cities, youth apprentice-
New word to send us into orbit
I Ebonics.
Just that word, a word we had
never heard until a few weeks
ago, now gets all our juices run
ning.
Why?
It touches at least two of our
“hot buttons,” either of which
(lould send us in to orbit. The
two together could shoot us to
Mars.
.There are times when we
ipight sit back and quietly dis
cuss how we can best teach
Bnglish to kids who don’t speak
■^standard” English at home or
understand our language well
enough in the classroom.
.j On those days we could even
qalmly think about whether or
^ot there might be some merit
in using patterns from the way
a child normally speaks to help
that child learn to speak, under
stand, read, and write correct
EngUsh.
We might even have a polite
disagreement about the best
way to help such children learn
^good” English.
One of us might say, “The best
jWay for children to learn is for
,^eir teachers to establish high
standards for speaking and
writing English - and insist
^hat they be met by everybody.
Don’t allow any crutches. They
just hold the kids back. Throw
"them into the ice water and
insist that they perform well.
True, some kids may not make
as good progress as others. But
most will learn, if they under
stand what is expected of them-
and are not excused for non-per
formance.”
The other of us might respond,
“No, a better tactic is to try to
find out the way each child
learns faster and better. Then
try to use that way whenever
possible. And if it could be
shown that it helps teach stan
dard English, then we should
even consider using — Ebonics.”
Whoa!
When we hear that word,, we
just stomp our feet and say,
“That is the most ridiculous
thing that I have ever heard of”
(Forgetting, by the way, that we
shouldn’t be ending our sen
tences with a preposition.)
That word immediately keys
us in to things we care about-
passionately. It hits those two
hot buttons I mentioned earlier.
They are (1) the English lan
guage and (2) race.
We worship the English lan
guage - with good reason.
It is the great rope that binds
our countiy together. We regard
it with reverence as our symbol
ic and practical unifier. A com
mon language makes a common
culture possible. And a shared
or common culture helps make
it possible to be a unified people.
I admit that sometimes I won
der whether my attachment to
the English language is really
only because it is the national
unifier. Part of my passion for
English may be because it just
happens to be my language.
What if I lived in Quebec?
How supportive would I be of
that Canadian province’s pro
gram to promote its “unifying”
French language by stamping
out the public use of English? I
would probably be in the streets
protesting the abomination. I
ships with businesses, and larg
er tax credits for money earned.
And they urge us to stand boldly
against anti-black racism, but
warn us against continuing to
repeat the same old, stale for
mulas: “to blame ‘the man’ for
oppressing us aU, in exactly the
same ways; to scapegoat
Koreans, Jews, women, or even
black immigrants for failure of
African Americans to seize local
entrepreneurial opportunities,"
is to neglect our duty as leaders
of our own community.
“Not to demand that each
member of the black communify
accept individual responsibility
for her or his behavior —
whether that behavior assumes
the form of black-on-black homi
cide, violations by gang mem
bers against the sanctity of the
church, unprotected and too
early sexual activity, gangster
rap lyrics, and hate of any kind
- is to function merely as ethnic
cheerleaders selling woof tickets
from the campus or the suburbs,
rather than saying the difficult
things that may be unpopular
with our fellows.
Being a leader does not neces-
s£uily mean being loved; loving
one’s community means daring
to risk estrangement and alien
ation from that very communi
ty, in the short run, in order to
break the cycle of poverty,
despair, and hopelessness that
we are in, over the long run.”
I agree. What we desperately
need now is the kind of leader
ship that vriU allow us to move
forward as a commvmity and as
an entire nation. Given the mul
titude of problems we face
today, we must recognize that
we aU have a responsibiUty to'
serve as leaders.
“The Future of the Race,” writ
ten by Henry Louis Gates,
chairman of Harvard
University’s Afro American
Studies Department, and
Cornel West, professor of Afro-
American studies at Harvard, is
published by Alfred A. Knopf
and is available at most major
book stores or by calling (212)
751-2600.
MARIAN WRIGHT EDEL-
MAN is president of the
Children's Defense Fund and a
member of the Black
Community Crusade for
Children Working Committee.
don’t know for sure. But I do
know, for sure, that any threat
to the English language gets me
excited.
And then there is race.
Writing about race is danger
ous. Thinking and talking about
race often puts us so much on
edge that we leap to misunder
stand each other. Race is so
close to the surface of our skin
that even little misunderstand
ings can create big problems
and strain fiiendships.
Honest inquiry or commentary
often comes across as conde
scension or inconsiderate—or
racist. We can’t joke about it.
The balm of humor that heals
other wounds can turn to salt
when it touches race. We avoid
it if we can — and if we talk or
write about race at aU, we do it
with glum, serious, sanctimo
nious, scientific-sounding
rhetoric.
Therefore, I am going to say
this quickly: Ebonics has
become one of those race words
or images hke the Confederate
Flag, the “N” word, and “racial
quotas.” It is one of those things
that instantly inflames our
racial divisions.
Let’s put the word “Ebonics”
aside.
We are united in our commit
ment to give all of our children
the sldlls they need to succeed.
We don’t need another code
word to divide us and put us in
orbit or send us to Mars. We
need to keep our minds cool and
our feet firmly planted on the
earth when it come to educating
our children.
D.G. MARTIN is Vice
President of Public Affairs for
the University of North Carolina
system. He can be e-mailed at
dgmartin@ga.unc.edu.
Follow O J. money trail
By Dennis Schatzman
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUB
LISHERS ASSOCIATION
LOS ANGELES - As the
Women’s Progress Alliance
seeks to recall an Orange
County judge who granted O.J.
Simpson custody of his two
youngest children, the group,
headed by activist Tammy
Bruce and Simpson’s former sis
ter-in-law, Denise Brown, is
seeking $200,000 from the
Texaco Foundation possibly to
perform this and other tasks,
mainly in the black South
Centra! Los Angeles community
to promote “social action on vio
lence against women and chil
dren.”
Instead of returning a
reporter’s call last week, Bruce,
former president of the Los
Angeles chapter of the National
Organization of Women, called
black leaders sympathetic to
their causes to try to get the
reporter, who was seeking clari
fication, to back off the story.
According to the proposal
obtained by this reporter, the
$200,000 “would provide start
up funds, operating costs and
expansion” for what will be
called the South Los Angeles
Allinace. Yet the Women’s
Project Alliance, the parent
group, is simultaneously raising
funds to conduct a recall against
Orange County Superior Court
Judge Nancy Weiben Stock.
There has also been no explana
tion as to how safeguards will
be implemented to assure there
will be no co-minghng of funds
or activities.
As has been reported during
the Simpson criminal trial,
Denise Brown was involved in a
foundation named after her
slain sister, Nicole Brown
Simpson, which raised money
by selling angel pins and seek
ing donations from such nota
bles as talk show host Geraldo
Rivera. Much of the money
raised remains unaccounted for,
according to published reports.
Last November, top leaders
within the civil rights move
ment, including the Rev. Jesse
Jackson of the People to Save
Humanity, Kwesi Mfurne, exec
utive director of the National
NAACP and Celes King, HI,
state chairman of the Congress
for Racial Equality of California,
worked tirelessly to help resolve
a class action discrimination
suit filed against Texaco by its
4,000-plus black employees. The
suit was settled for just under
$200 miUion. Part of that settle
ment is earmarked for charita
ble work in the black communi
ty via the Texaco Foundation.
Brown, Bruce and a group
that is “men and women, gay
and straight. Republican and
Democrat and is ethnically
divers,” intends to work with
three predominantly black-run
social service organizations; the
Creative Neighbors Always
Sharing House, the Family
Helpline and the Continental
Healthcare Alliance.
The Continental Healthcare
Alliance is an independent
physicians’ association commit
ted to offering quality medical
care to minorities in South
Central Los Angeles. The physi
cians provide free medical treat
ment to indigent patients on
Saturdays.
DENNIS SCHATZMAN is a
National Newspaper Publishers
Association colunmist.
Ebonics under
undue attack
By Ron Daniels
SPECIAL TO THE POST
When the Oakland, CEdif.,
School Board voted to recog
nize Black Enghsh or Ebonics
as the primary language of
many African American
youth attending that city's
public schools, controversy
erupted aU across America.
The attacks on the predomi
nantly Black Oakland School
Board were almost hysterical.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson was
quick to denounce the deci
sion £is madness and Kweisi
Mfume, President of the
NAACP derisively called the
board's resolution laughable.
Indeed, in an appearance on
ABC’s “Nightline,” Mfume
showed a total lack of knowl
edge of black linguistical pat
terns by disputing the fact
that Ebonics has roots in
African languages.
The debate over Ebonics
was not confined to African
American leaders, however.
At the dinner table, on talk
shows, on street corners,
buses and subways, the con
troversy over Ebonics con
sumed Black America. The
early verdict among most
African Americans was that
Black English was httle more
than street slang.
Overwhelmingly African
Americans expressed the
view that the Oakland School
Board had erred badly in vot
ing to recognize Ebonics with
in the educational arena.
Black America seemed
angered that an errant group
of “brothers and sisters” on
the Oakland School Board
could embarrass tbe race
with such an outrageous deci
sion.
Unfortimately, much of the
early debate about the
Oakland School Board’s deci
sion was based on ignorance
and mis information. In the
first instance there is a vast
body of research and litera
ture which definitely estab
lishes that Black
English/Ebonics is not bad
EngUsh but a distinct dialect,
if not complete a language
system, which is clearly root
ed in the African languages of
ethnic groups from West and
Central Africa (the regions
where most enslaved Afiicans
who were brought to the
Americas came from. African
American and even some
European Unguists have dis
covered that there are dis
tinct structures and patterns
to Black English/Ebonics
which most black people,
even highly educated profes
sionals, speak in informal
conversation on a daily basis.
Whether or not one feels
that Ebonics should be “offi
cially” recognized or not, it is
important that Africans in
America be aware of that we
have a unique manner of
speaking which is not simply
some bad EngUsh, an embar
rassing badge of degradation
that should be dispensed with
post-haste. Secondly, it is
important to rmderstand that
the primary purpose of lan
guage is communications and
that there is nothing inher
ently “better” about “stan
dard” EngUsh than any other
language or manner of com
municating including
Ebonics. In fact for those who
have been conquered and
oppressed by EngUsh speak
ing Europeans - Native
Americans, Latinos, Asians
Africans - to be compelled to
speak English as if it is a
“superior” language is adding
insult to injury.
The purpose for learning
standard English in an
English speaking nation is
the same as the reason for
learning French in a French
speaking nation. One-has~to
learn to speak the language
of the society in order to func
tion effectively within that
society, even if one is commit
ted to changing that society.
Learning the “dominant” lan
guage should never imply
that any other language or
form of communication is
inadequate or inferior.
RON DANIELS is a syndi
cated columnist.