(Stje fflarnn Itcnri)
Published Every Wednesday By
Record Printing Company
P. 0 Box 70, Warrenton, N. C. 27589
BIGNALL JONES HOWARD F JONES KAY HORNER
Editor Business Manager News Editor
GRACE W. JONES, President
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Children Of Poverty
Statistics quoted recently in
"The New York Times" reflect
problems among a group of vul
nerable and dependent citizens,
America's children.
According to the figures, 22 per
cent of persons under 18? num
bering about 13.8 million ? live
below the poverty line, by defini
tion of the federal government a
yearly income of $10,650 for a
family of four. Fifteen years ago,
the percentage of minors living
under the roof of poverty stood at
14.3 percent. What are the impli
cations for a society whose
children appear poorer than those
of a generation ago?
We do not wonder that the class
of poor children has developed so
subtly. Because children are not
customarily the heads of
households, the plight of poor
children is often buried within the
larger dilemma of impoverished
families. Further, children have
no vote, rendering them political
ly powerless to draw the attention
of legislators.
As limited as their power to at
tract assistance is their ability to
escape on their own devices.
Breaking the reins of poverty is no
easy feat for adults, but it is a vir
tual impossibility for children
alone, without the trainability or
skills or experience which adults
often possess.
The despicable nature of pover
ty and its effects on the individual
is reason enough for alarm. Addi
tionally, there lies the threat of
allowing a class of poor children
to develop into a class of poor
adults with neither the tools nor
the drive to escape and with social
and political philosophies nur
tured in a far-from-desirable en
vironment.
The poor children of America
rank high on the list of groups in
need of an intercessor to plead
their cause now, before their for
mative years have passed and the
cause is lost.
Results Are Mixed
In The Greensboro News & Record
Although more black students than
ever before are enrolled at the Uni
versity of North Carolina's 16 cam
puses, minority students aren't
always enrolling at the right institu
tions. By that, we simply mean that
black students are not attending pre
dominantly white institutions in satis
factory numbers.
As a result, the 1981 desegregation
plan, signed by the UNC system and
the federal government, is lagging
behind its goal of having black stu
dents comprise 10.6 percent of enroll
ment at historically white institutions
by 1986. The figure now stands at only
8.39 percent.
But that's the down side of the story.
Here's the good news. UNC's five
historically black universities have
exceeded the goal for white students
that the desegregation plan mandated
for their campuses. The goal is IS per
cent white enrollment by 1986. That
objective was reached last year, and
the number stands this fall at 15.63
percent.
Elver since the consent decree was
signed, the UNC system has faced a
problem. In public elementary and
secondary schools, attendance zones
can dictate racial composition of a
school. But the university system
doesn't work that way. College-bound
students enjoy free choice to enroll
where they wish.
Another factor affecting black
enrollment at predominantly white
campuses is the national decline in
college attendance by black students.
Shrinking federal college aid, rising
college costs and more demanding
college admission standards have
taken their toll nationwide. While
more black students are enrolled in
the UNC system, some of these fac
tors, particularly admissions stand
ards, may determine where they go to
college.
As for tuition charges, it would be
wrong to put much blame there.
Although tuition varies from campus
to campus, the differences are not
dramatic. Annual tuition and fees for
in-state students at UNC-G are 1888,
compared to AAT State University's
1814. And at UNC-Chapel Hill, the
flagship of the system, the tuition is
even cheaper ? 1794 for to-state
What appears to have happened,
then is that some white campuses
have not recruited as actively as they
should. Both UNC-G and UNC-Chapel
Hill have experienced a decline in
black enrollment since 1981.
One explanation is that all of the
historically white campuses are now
competing for the same pool of
minority students. Some are doing a
better recruitment job than others.
UNC-G Chancellor William Moran
acknowledges as much. UNC-G has
hired a new admissions director
whose high priority is to energize
UNC-G's recruiting of minority
students.
"We are looking at some new direc
tions," says Chancellor Moran. "I
think we can do more...I think we can
do better."
With the court-ordered 1906 goal of
black enrollment still not achieved,
it's time for historically white in
stitutions to try harder?a lot harder.
Lots Of Laborers
Peasants who live along a 30-mile
stretch of road in China widened the
roadbed in just one week, says
National Geographic. At its peak, the
project involved 200,000 laborers who
were each paid five yuan (01.75) a day
and a portion of the wood from the
trees cut down.
Looking Back Into The Record
November 91, IMS
The Warren Record, which has been
put to bed in its present quarters for 30
years, will move over to the next door
and occupy the corner portion of the
Dameron Building where S. M. Gard
ner has carried on his furniture
business for a number of years.
A gift of 93,000 has been made to the
Warren County Memorial Library to
be added to the building fund by
George G. Allen of New York City, a
native of this town.
Farm land prices have reached a
dangerously Ugh level, says Ivy W.
Duggan, governor of the Farm Credit
Administration, who adds that they are
rising about one percent a month.
November IS, IMS
Charles T. Johnson, Jr., who has
been practicing law in Warrantor for
the past four years in association with
W. W. Taylor, Jr., has accepted a posi
tion with die TVust Department of First
Citizen's Bank and Trust Company in
Raleigh.
Mrs. C.S. Scott and Mrs. J. W.Scott
entertained at a tea on Wednesday for
their sister, Mrs. Charles M. Standi, of
Chapel Hill.
Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Hilliard of
Jackson announce the birth of a
daughter, Melody Rose, in Warren
General Hospital on Nov. 11. Mrs.
Hilliard is the former Miss Janet Loyd
of Macon.
November 20,1975
McCarroll Insurance Company will
merge with Citizens Insurance and
Bonding Company on Jan. 1, 1976, it
was announced here this week.
Miss Cynthia Ann (Cindy) Connell,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Con
nell, HI, and a senior at Warren
Academy, has been selected by the
Warren County Morehead Selection
Committee as Warren County's 1975
nominee for the John Motley Morehead
Scholarship at the University of North
Carolina.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Scott Gardner
of Warrenton announce the engage
ment of their daughter, Janet Grey, to
Forrest Dodd Adair, son of Mrs. D.
Mithcell Cox of Sherman, Conn, and
Forrest Adair of Atlanta, Ga.
The Warren County Scene
Reflections of an autumn woodland are offered in this setting in front of
the home of Mrs. A1 Williams in Warrenton. The bridge spans the pic
turesque stream known as Horse Branch.
(Staff Photo by Dianne T. Rodwell)
Carolina Commentary
Jay
Jenkins
Remembering Harry Golden
Some 30 years ago, the North
Carolina General Assembly was con
ducting hearings preparatory to
adopting the so-called Pearsall Plan
as the state's answer to the U. S.
Supreme Court s 1954 desegregation
decision.
Every shade of opinion was repre
sented by the speakers, one of whom
was Harry Golden of Charlotte, editor
of The Carolina Israelite and a few
years away from fame as the best
selling author of "Only in America"
and other books.
Golden was waiting in the wings of
Raleigh's Memorial Auditorium while
an old, crippled white man denounced
integration and cited biological dif
ferences in the two races. Golden
whispered to a friend:
"When I go out there, I think I'll tell
the legislature that while it's true the
monkey has black skin and a pug
nose, he also has straight hair and thin
lips. It's a Mexican stand-off. Whad
duh think?"
The friend laughed and said no. So
Golden simply argued that the state
should obey what was now the law of
the land. But the untold story was
typical of the way he made his points
with humor, an element conspicious
by its absence in the debates now in
progress.
Golden started The Carolina Israe
lite in the 1940s. Of tabloid size, it
didn't publish any current events. As
Sam Ragan has noted, it contained
brief items and observations about
people and places ranging from
prehistoric times to the present.
The paper appeared on no fixed
schedule, but the Golden touch made
it a joy to read, not only for Tar Heels
but for national figures such as Adlai
Stevenson and Carl Sandburg. The fat
little Jew with the big cigar delighted
in spoofing many Southern mores, in
cluding the delicate one of segrega
tion.
He observed, for instance, that
dark-skinned foreigners wearing tur
bans had no difficulty entering restau
rants from which native blacks were
barred. Buy turbans, he urged. Black
women accompanying white children
encountered no problems, he said, so
more of them should follow the prac
tice.
Golden delighted in twitting all
ethnic groups. One of his tongue-in
cheek claims was that the Irish were
one of the lost tribes of Israel and he
was in the front row of St. Patrick's
Day parades in Charlotte.
For members of the White Citizens
Councils then active throughout the
South, Golden advised, "Become
Jews. There is little likelihood of any
appreciable number of Negroes ever
going to shul. Every day when the sun
goes down you'll have yourselves a
nice compact community. You'll ,
never have to worry about Negroes I
again, and you'll even have your
selves your own country clubs,
swimming pools, rummage sales and
book reviews."
Asked once how he managed to sur
vive as a tart critic in the heart of
protestant country, Golden said, "I
live here. I'm not like those guys who
come down, throw a rock over the
wall, and then run back to New York."
A fire gutted his house on Elizabeth
Avenue in Charlotte, where be lived
and edited The Israelite, and
destroyed many of the books in his
large collection. Readers from North
Carolina and around the nation rallied
to him, offering to restock his library
and help in other ways. Harry Golden
was genuinely touched by the warmth
and scope of the response.
His trenchant and humorous words
hit a lot of exposed nerves, and dis
sected many cherished myths. In the
opinion of one man, Harry Golden
turned his typewriter into a "bully
pulpit" and performed a useful ser
vice before he died several years ago. |
Kay
Big Apple' Weekent
The New York weekend had been on the agenda
for several weeks, so by the time the four of us
gathered in Greensboro Friday morning for our flight
to LaGuardia Airport, we were properly armed with
tour books, maps and lists of where to eat, where to
shop, and what to see, gathered from acquaintances
more knowledgeable than we about The Big Apple.
A little more than two hours later, we were stan
ding in the lobby of our hotel, still armed with books,
maps and lists, in a quandary over what to do first.
In New York City there are more than 8 million
people who have spawned things to do by the tens of
thousands and places to eat by the thousands. That
fact makes those of us who spend our lives in a land
where owls still hoot and brooks still babble adjust
haltingly, if at all, to life in the fast lane.
As a result, Southerners sometimes say very nas
ty things about New York. In fact, the closest some
of us ever come to admitting that the city has any
saving graces whatsoever is when we comment on
the South's own version of a burgeoning metropolis.
"That Atlanta," we intone. "It has all the bad of
New York and none of the good."
Part cf the bad press, I believe, comes from a lack
of understanding about how to get from here to there
in New York. After this past weekend, I feel equipped
to offer some advice for visitors to the city.
The first lesson our entourage learned was taught
by Yellow Cab drivers. It is this: When the time
comes to hail a cab, forget what your mother told you
about the power of softspoken gentility. The first day,
we tried to hail cabs politely from curbside with a
dignified flick of the wrist. We also walked alot.
The second lesson was that in certain parts of the
city at certain times, there is no need to try hailing
a cab?there aren't any. For instance, at 5 p.m. Mon
day through Friday anywhere in the vicinity of Wall
Street, there are no cabs. If your status in the finan
cial district is such that you can't afford a limousine,
you apparently do not want a canary-colored public
transit vehicle calling attention to the fact. You simp
ly take the bus, which leads us to the next point.
Do not get on a bus in New York City without $20
in change. Some people aren't even allowed on buses
unless they have the correct change, but apparently
we had honest faces and the driver told us to get on
and see if we could raise the needed coins before we
got to our destination. To our surprise, four people
opened bags of shiny tender and offered to share with
us. How nice, we said. One lady explained her
gesture thusly, "I wouldn't do this for a New Yorker.
They should know better."
Southerners also quickly learn that in New York
sidewalks are made for walking, sometimes stroll
ing, but never lollygagging. Out-of-towners read ci
ty maps on street corners at their own risk because
locals give a strict interpretation to the signs "Walk"
and "Don't Walk," and they do what the signs say
quickly and en masse.
Lastly, do not believe that behind every tinted
limousine window there sits a celebrity. Limos are
now big business in New York, leased on a daily basis
by every Tom, Dick and Harry who doesn't want to
wait for a taxi in the rain and doesn't own a car
because he has nowhere to put it at night. Go ahead,
hail a chauffeur. He might take you across town at
a very reasonable rate just for something to do while
his other client shops on Fifth Avenue.
Granted, these tips won't solve all the tourist's dif
ficulties with New York. After all, it was nicknam
ed Gotham, for the legendary English village whose
inhabitants were noted for their foolishness, for a
very good reason.
But it grows on you. During lunch on Day One,
someone in our party looked at the sprawling city
from the Windows on the World Restaurant, 107
stories above Manhattan on the Hudson River, and
gave us the usual cliche, "This is a nice place to visit,
but man, I really wouldn't want to live here."
A day later, he had shopped at Saks, visited the
Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit at the Museum of Modern
Art, seen "The Marriage of Figaro" at Circle in the
Square Theatre, through the hospitality of company
manager and Warrentonian Bill Conn, met its star
Christopher Reeve, and dined on escargot and veal
at celebrity-studded El Pyrenees.
After dinner, the naysayer of Day One leaned back
in his chair as we talked about plans for our last day
in New York and noted, "You know, I could get used
to this."
DID YOU KNOW?
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