4A
EDITORIAL AND OPINION/Cgstlotte
Thursday, July 13, 2006
tCIje Cljarlotte
The Voice of the Black Community
1531 Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. 28203
Gerald O. Johnson ceo/publisher
Robert L. Johnson co-publisher/general manager
Herbert L White editor in chief
EDITORIAL.
Crime and
breakdown of
the family
We’ve got to admit too many
kids allowed to run rampant
The July 4 melee uptown and a demonstration three days
later by West Boulevard-area residents were unrelated by tim
ing, but brii^ to focus a naming problem facing C3iarlotte — a
small, yet determined criminal element tiiat makes life difficult
for everyone else. That most of the people who make up this
group is African American should give us a reason to pause and
ponder where we’ve gone wrong as a sodety and a people.
For the second straight year, hooligans disrupted the peace in
center dty during the Independence Day fireworks show, which
required a swift police response and numerous arrests. A few
days later, low-income residents along West Boulevard carried
signs and heavy hearts to a police substation demanding more
accountability finm law enforcement and neighbors alike.
Where’s the tie-in? Both inddents are connected in that law
less thugs are responsible for such a public outcry Political and
law enforcement leaders will hold meetings to get a grip on mak
ing center dty safe, and strides are being taken to make west
Charlotte safer, but they can’t change one basic fact; We have too
many thugs who lack home training in our midst.
There once was a time back in the day when elders controlled
the streets in black neighborhoods and kept kids in line. Sadly,
the kids have turned the tables and parents have gi,ven thdr
authority away through complidty of acquiescence or the eco
nomic windfall of some of thdr offspring’s ill-gotten gains. We
know relatively few black families are like that, but you don’t
have to go far to be painted with the salne broad brush. As one
relative goes, so often does the entire family
There are many reasons why people turn to criminal behavior,
if only as a one-time thrill: a mob mentality pervades during an
event where thousands of people gather, or the lure of fast
money in the hustling game. But overshadowing all those poten
tial pitfalls is the deterioration of families. Wthout that anchor,
the vessel of community is cast adrift in a sea of temptation and
the results are catastrophic for African Americans. The majority
of black babi^ are bom to unwed mothers. More fathers are
mere DNA donors who take a pass on parenting and lack the
slriUs or maturity to handle the job. It’s Httie wonder why our
diildi-en act as if they’ve lost their minds - they haven’t been
given any to work with by the adults who are supposed to be
looking out for them.
It doesn’t have to be that way Families have to become a bea
con to our young people. Fathers need to “man up” and provide
emotional stability and discipline for their kids. Mothers have to
get past the anger of putting their aspirations on hold because
they gave birth too soon. Extended families may need to pick up
the slack for parents who can’t — or won’t — do ri^t by their kids.
In a society that often looks for others for a hand, it wouldn’t
hurt to build bridges with schools and the business community
to ci'eate job training and education modds that can help young
people make positive contributions to sodety
The challenge isn’t just Charlotte’s. It behooves aU of us to turn
our families around before we’re steered into institutionalized
docks built to keep its out of the mainstream rmtil we’re useless
to anyone of consequence.
Joe Martin showed us
how and why to live
A few days ago my college classmate and friend Joe Martin
supervised the planting of new flowers in his yard at Lake
Norman. Earlier he directed the installation of a sliding tube to
the tree house he recently designed and had con
structed for his grandchildren.
On July 4, the flowers brightened the yard, the
children enjoyed the new sliding tube,' some
older children and brave adults tried out the new
water toys, and everyone enjoyed the fireworks.
A'. •" It was almost the same as if Joe wae still
Twelve years ago Joe learned that he had Lou
Gehrig’s disease (ALS or amyotrophic lateral
sdeiosis), which gradually but certainly robs its
victims of their ability to move and ultimately
takes their lives.
Adjusting to life with ALS would be an awesome challenge for
anyone. But Joe had been so active and energetic that it must
have been even more difficult for him. He had helped his broth
er Jim win election as governor in 1984. Then, as a senior exec
utive with Bank of America, he helped guide Hu^ McCoU
through the thickets of mergers, growth, and corporate citizen
ship.
By his honest, wise, and practical counsel, Joe gained the trust
and confid^ce of Governor Martin, Chairman McColl, and
many others. Then he pushed them for active efforts to strength
en communities and expand opportunities for minorities and
women. People called him the conscience of the bank-and the
community
When we learned of Joe’s fllness, we thought it was such a
shame that his powerful and influential voice would be stilled.
We should not have worried.
After he became fll, Joe was determined to communicate even
mor'e openly than before about matters that concerned him -
education and race relations. He fbimd that his condition gave
him more leeway to confront important issues forcefully
“Maybe I have an advantage over you,” he told me. “Nobody is
^r.ir.0- fr. o Ty>a-r, iv. a or. T +clt a
Next month, Bruce Gordon
will celebrate his first year as
president and CEO of the
National Association for the
Advancement
of Colored
People. In less
than a year,
Gordon has
done some
thing no other
NAACP presi
dent or board
chair has done
in more than
50 years - he has told the
truth about the organiza
tion’s anemic membership
numbers.
When I began covering the
NAACP in the early 1970s for
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
Executive Director Roy
Wilkins and his successor,
Beryamin L. Hooks, would
boast that with 500,000
members, the NAACP was
the oldest, largest and most
powerful civil rights group in
the world. But Hooks — and
the chief executives that fol
lowed him - continued to he
about the size of the volim-
teer organization. Finally,
Gordon has acknowledged
that the venerable organiza
tion has a membership of less
than 300,000. He won’t say
how many members shy of
300,000, but other NAACP
sources say the figure has
fluctuated between 150,000
and 250,000 over the past
three decades.
The NAACP has had vari
ous membership drives over
the years and for some rea
son, they ejqjected the pubhc
to beheve they had a half-niil-
hon members. When they
weren’t having membership
drives, they were claiming
500,000 members. At the end
of each drive, the figm-e
reported to the public would
still mystmoTOsly remain at
500,000. The Baltimore Svm
did some research and discov
ered that the NAACP has
been claiming 500,000 mem
bers since 1946. For 60 years,
it has been tilling the same
he.
It wasn’t like top officials
didn’t know the actual num
bers. My friend DeWayne
Wickham, who has been
researching a book on the
NAACP, came acauss a memo
written -by Benjamin Hooks
stating that as of November
30, 1982, there were 178,000
members. Hooks made a
report to the executive com
mittee of the board on
December 17, 1982 citing
those figures. Hooks and
Board Chair Margaret Bush
'V\ffison clashed over a num
ber of items, including the
low membership numbers
and some questionable fiscal
practices. 'While working in
St. Louis, I broke the story in
1983 that she had suspended
Hooks after a very heated .
board meeting at which
Hooks had to be physically
restrained. The board over
turned Wlson’s action and
later refused to re-elect her to
the board. As leaders came
and went, the membership lie
remained a fixture.
Some fear that by disclosing
that the NAACP does not
have the numbers it has
claimed, the organization’s
clout might be diminished lb
the contrary, by having the
courage to tell the truth,
Gordon can build on his first
year in office and embark on
a membership drive that
exceeds 500,000. In fact, by
the time the NAACP cele
brates its 100th birthday in
2009, Gordon hopes to have
at least 1 million certified
members on the roHs.
It is Black America, not the
NAACP, that should be
embarrassed that with a pop
ulation of 38 million African-
Americans, l^s than 300,000
are dues-paying members of
the NAACP. Over the years,
many African-Americans
know that without the work
of the NAACP, the official
barriers of segregation and
second-class citizenship
would not have crumpled.
And in local communities
throughout the nation, when
there is a police brutality
case, often the victim’s first
action is to contact his or her
local NAACP chapter.
A1 Sharpton was correct
when he said that despite afl.
the criticism leveled at
today’s civil rights leaders,
when there is a major issue in
the black community those
same civil rights organiza
tions are our only source of
dependable support. They, in
turn, need and deserve our
support.
Supporting the NAACP
does not mean we can’t
remain active in other are
nas. I think one of the great
est challenges facirg the civil
rights movement is finding a
way to integrate other Black
professional groups into the
leadership structure and
relying on their area of ejqjer-
tise. Civil rights groups
should be working in concert
with the National Bar
Association, for example, to
address ' criminal justice
issues. The National
Association of Black
Journalists should be work
ing with civil rights organiza
tions to expose and challenge
negative images of African-
Americans on TV and boy
cotting sponsors of the hly-
White Sunday rooming talk
shows. Financial hteracy pro
grams should be vetted with
the Urban Financial Services
Coalition, formerly known as
the National Association of
Urban Bankers. In other
words, let the experts in a
particular area lead the way
Tb their credit, Jesse
Jackson, Bmce Gordon, A1
Sharpton and National
Urban League President
Marc H- Morial have been
working closely on major pro
jects, such as returning dis
placed residents to New
Orleans and pressuring
Congress to raiew key Sec
tions of the 1965 Voting
Rights Act. They should now
take that next step and sys
tematically bring more Black
organizations into the fold. If
that happens, we will become
an even more formidable
force. And we would have
done that by standing on the
shoulders of the NAACP.
GEORGE E. CURRY is editor-
in-chief of tlw NNPA News Service
andBlackPressUSA.com. To con
tact Curry or to book him for a
speaking engagement, go to his
Web site, www.georgecurryeom.
Voting rights deserve everyone’s support
On May 2, a broad array of
members and all the leaders
of the House and Senate,
Republicans and Democrats
alike, gathered at a press con
ference on the East steps of
the U.S. Capitol to announce,
with great
I fanfare, the
I bipartisan
i and bi-camer-
' al introduc
tion of the
Fannie Lou
Hamer, Rosa
Parks,
Coretta Scott
King Voting
Rights Reauthorization and
Amendments Act of2006. All
the House and Senate lead
ers plec^ed swift considera
tion and passage of the bill.
Acting expeditiously to
deliver on the pledge, the
House Judiciary Committee
reported the biU. favorably to
the full House by a vote of 33
to 1. 'The move toward
prompt passage of the biU.
came to an abrupt halt, how
ever, oh the day the bill was
scheduled to be considered on
the House floor.
A few Republican memb^
managed to co^re their lead
ership into pulling the bill
fix)m the House floor, daim-
ing that they had been
unfairly exduded fium the
process that produced the
bill. This small group, led by
Reps. Westmoreland and
Norwood of Georgia, is mis
leading the Republican lead
ership and using this daim as
a smokescreen for their ideo
logical objections to the
Voting Rights Act. We must
confront them. We must
insist that the Republican
leaders not allow their
extreme elements to be the
voice of their party and delay
consideration and passage of
this important bfll. The daim
made by these members that
they were exduded fium the
process is unformded and
their ideological position is
extreme.
The bi-partisan, bi-cameral
press event surrounding the
introduction of the Voting
Rights Reauthorization and
Amendments Act was possi
ble only because it had been
preceded by months of hear
ings in the House Judidary
Committee (a total of 10
hearii^ at whidi a legisla
tive record of more than
12,000 pages had been
amassed) and by painstak
ing, bipartisan discussions to
reach agreement on the con
tents of the bill. After the biU
was introduced, both the
House and the Senate
Judidary Committees contin
ued to have additional hear-
ir^ on the bfll.
During the House Judidary
Committee hearings, the
Chairman requested and
received unanimous consent
to aUow members of Cor^ess
who do not serve on the
Judidary Committee to par-
tidpate in the hearings. This
unanimous consent was
important:
• It allowed members of the
House who were not on the
Committee to be much more
involved than normal in the
process; and
• It allowed reauthorization
of the Voting Ri^ts Act, his
toric legislation for
Republicans and Democrats
alike, to be considered with
broad, bipartisan input.
Rep. Westmoreland, who is
not a member of the
Judidary Committee, actual
ly questioned witnesses dur
ing the House Judidary
Committee hearings. Before
the House leadership abrupt
ly pulled the bfll, the Rxiles
Committee had also autho
rized both Rep.
Westmoreland and Rep.
Norwood to offer amend
ments.
It is clear that some
Republican members are
simply using the claim that
they were exduded fixim the
process as ari excuse for try
ing to derail the bfll.
Rep. Norwood claims not to
oppose the Voting Rights Act.
Instead he claims to be con
cerned that jmisdictions with
lor^ and documented histo
ries of denying equal voting
ri^ts to African Americans
should not be singled out for
spedal legal scrutiny (the
requirement to obtain “pre-
dearance” of voting chains
from the Justice Department
or the federal court before tiie
changes can be implemaited)
when other jurisdictions that
have been guilty of discrimi
nation more recently are not
subject to such scrutiny
It is precisely the decades
loi^, documented history of
discrimination that the
Supreme Court has held is
constitutionally necessary to
justify affirmative, spedal
treatment (such as the
requirement to obtain Justice
Department or federal court
pre-clearance) to assure that
such discrimination does not
continue and to redress the
continuic^ effects of such dis
crimination.
It is time for Congress to
make the same moral deri
sion on the Votii^ Rights
Reauthorization and
Amendments^ Act of 2006.
The Act merits passage
because the record demon
strates that the work of
assuring that every citizen
has the ri^t to vote in our
democracy is still incomplete.
REP. MEL WATT of Charlotte is
chairman of the Congressional
Black Caucus.