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THE BETTER WE KNOW US ...
TAX REFORM: The Battleground of the Movement of the Seventies by The Honorable Walter E. Fauntroy [D., D.C.]
“THE BETTER WE KNOW US” is
proud to publish the speech given by the
Honorable Walter E. Fauntroy of
Washington, D.C., in Salisbury, N.C. on
Friday, Demember 5, 1975.
TAX LOOPHOLES:
A Barrier to Socio-Economic Solutions
Until we close those loopholes, we will
not be able to solve the nagging problems
of unemployment, inadequate housing,
poor schools and a host of other ills that
plague the American people. Dr. Martin
Luther King,
Jr. used to say that the human rights
programs that we must launch to fulfill
the rights of black and poor Americans,
unlike the civil rights programs of the
sixties, will require money to implement,
lots of money. How right he was! It will
take money to put our five million
unemployed to work, about 10 billion
dollars a year according to studies done
for the Brookings Institution. It will take
money to house America’s low and
moderate income families, $2 billion of
more than we are now spending on
housing subsidy by a modest estimate of
the National Urban Coalition in its
Counterbudget.
It will take money to provide quality
education to all of the 50 million children
in our elementary and secondary schools,
$3 billion more from the federal treasury
than we are now spending according to
Congressman f auntroy, formerly a top
aide to the late Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. was the guest speaker for a banquet
held by the Association of Progressive
Black Democrats of North Carolina’s 8th
Congressional District.
Listed among many of the congress
man’s accomplishments and responsibil
ities, he is a full-time minister and was
appointed by Dr, King as a coordinator of
PART TWO
the National Urban Coalition in its
blue-print for changing national
priorities. It will take money to provide all
of our young people access to higher
education, $3 billion more than we are
now spending according to the American
Council on Education. It will take money
to provide America with a comprehensive
national health insurance system, train
the necessary health manpower and
conduct much needed disease research,
$10 to $15 billion more than we are
spending today according to Dr. Alice M.
Rivlin, Economist and co-author of the
book “Setting National Priorities,”
published yearly by the Brooklings
Institution.
The average American tax-payer,
particularly the middle class & the poor,
already carries far more than his share of
the cost of running our country. It is little
wonder then that he is not willing to have
his taxes raised in order to fund these
desperately needed social programs. If
the money to attack the basic problems of
this country that are reflected so acutely
in the black experience is ever to be
raised, it must come through extensive,
tax reform. That tax reform will not come
about until the unmonied many, black
and white together, are awakened to the
fact that we are being fleeced by the
wealthy few and unite as we did 100 years
ago to march on ballot boxes and drive
the monied special interests from the
command posts of power.
Phillip M. Stern in a revealing book.
The Rape of the Taxpayer, has pungently
illustrated what Pechman and Okner
carefully documented: that rich individ
uals and multi-national corporations are
given an enormous free ride in this
country, a welfare check that adds up to
$77 billion a year. Let me give you an
example. A 1969 tax study by the U.S.
Treasury Department reports that Ralph
Senters, a typical laborer in this country
making $7,371.00 a year, must pay
$1,131.00 of it or 16% of his income in
federal income taxes. This, while an oil
rich millionare who earns $1.3 million
dollars a year can get away with paying
nothing in federal taxes.
Until we change such a system, we will
never be able to develope the federal
resources to attack the basic problems
confronting us in this nation that just
happen to be reflected most acutely in teh
the “March on Washington” and also the
“March from Selma to Montgomery,
Alabama”.
This speech will be published in its
entirety in a three-part series.
black experience. Let’s take a closer look
at this system which has the bourbon
interests of our day laughing all the way
to the bank.
The 16 th Amendment to the
Constitution back in 1913 authorized the
first U.S. income tax and empowered
Congress to tax “incomes from whatever
source derive.” The monied special
interests of our day laugh all the way to
the bank because they have been
successful in getting Congress to
develop an Internal Revenue Code which
exempts certain kinds of income from
taxation. If you earn your income from
the sweat of your brow like Ralph Senters
and vitually all voters in America, you are
taxed on that income. But if you earn your
money in oil, real estate ventures, the
stock market or interest on state and local
bonds, substantial portions of your
income are exempt from taxes.
The result is that over 3,000
millionaires in this country last year with
earnings of more than one million dollars
were told that they didn’t have to pay
$720,000 to Uncle Sam that they would
have had to pay if their income were
taxed like that of 99% of the American
people. That amounts to a public welfare
check to those millionaires of $14,000 a
day on every million they earn.
To see how such loopholes in the tax
system can build up to an aggregate loss
of $77 billion a year in lost tax revenue,
let us look at a few U.S. Treasury
Department documented cases to see
how, first, rich individuals and then,
major corporations get by with paying
nothing in taxes. There’s the oil man who
made $1,313,811 a year but paid nothing
in taxes last year because he combined
Continued on Page 6
TRIBUWALAID
A VIABLE, VALID REQUIREMENT
RESPONDING TO
BLACK NORTH CAROLINA
VOLUME III, NO. 30 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17,1975
.fS.OO PER YEAR
20 CENTS PRESS RUN 8,500
MEMBER: North Carolina Black Publishers AssociationNorth Carolina Press Association, Inc.
BENNETT COLLEGE PRESENTS LIVING MADONNAS
Notes & Reminders
HIGH POINT - The
Sounds of Christmas are
coming to the Washington
Street Branch Library,
every day after school, Dec.
15 through Dec. 19.
At 3:30 p.m. Monday
through Friday all week,
school-age children can
take part in a variety of
Christmas activities, last
ing about an hour.
The Sounds of Christmas
will include seeing Christ
mas films and filmstrips,
listening to music of the
season on records, hearing
holiday stories and singing
Christmas carols. The
children will also have the
opportunity to do creative
construction by making
Christmas cards.
A decorated Christmas
tree and holiday books and
records will be on display.
The Washington Street
Branch of the High Point
Public Library is located at
the corner of Fourth and
Washington Streets.
For full information on
library Christmas pro
grams, interested persons
should call the Washington
Street Branch, 886-4015.
HIGH POINT - The
breaking of the "pinata”, a
traditional part of. Christ
mas festivities in Spanish
speaking countries, will be
the highlight of three
separate holiday parties for
children this week at the
High Point Public Library.
The annual preschoolers'
celebration, will be held on
Thursday from 1:30 p.m. to
2:00 p.m.
Parties for older children
will be held Saturday. First,
second and third graders
are to attend a morning
party at 10:30 a.m. Fourth,
fifth and sixth graders will
celebrate at 2:30 p.m. The
programs will last about 45
minutes.
HIGH POINT - The High
Point Jaycees, the High
Point Chapter of the
American Red Cross, and
WGHP-TV will sponsor a
blood drive on December
19, 1975. The blood drive
will be held at Wesley
Memorial Methodist
Church on the corner of
Chestnut Street and West
chester Drive from 11:00
a.m. to 7:30 p.m. the goal
of the blood drive is to
collect 700 pints of life.
Coming throughout the day
to give blood and greet
others who are there to
donate will be Miss Sharon
Maness, the North Carolina
Junior Miss; Miss Libby
Garten, the High Point
Junior Miss; and Betty
Bambalis, Miss High Point.
Also arriving throughout
the day will be television
personalities from Channel
8.
Christmas and New
Years is a holiday season
when the Red Cross gets
calls for considerable a-
mounts of life-giving fluid.
So, this Christmas, give the
gift of life. Come to the
Jaycee Blood Drive, Friday,
December 19, from 11:00
a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Wesley
Memorial Methodist
Church. Nursery service
will be- provided,
HIGH POINT - YWCA
(Fourth Street) Wednesday
thru Friday: 8 a.m.--Adult
Day Care...3 p.m.--After
School Care. (Wed., Dec.
17) 7 p.m.--Open Recrea
tion. (Thurs., Dec. 18) 11
a.m. --Golden Agers...4:30
p.m. Piano Lessons,
* * *
V
GREENSBORO - After
33 years of producing “The
Living Madonnas,” Ben
nett College’s faculty and
students were faced with
the task of creating original
themes and scenes to
depict the traditional
Christmas scene this year.
“There’s always the
chance of repeating scenes
from past productions,”
said Mrs, Alma Adams,
assistant professor of Art.
“It means hours of
research in several libraries
and browsing in dusty
magazines for copies of the
Madonna and Child. This
year we gave two senior art
students a theme and told
them to get busy.”
The creative work of
Greensboro residents
Michelle Crosby and Mich
elle Grandison were pre
sented on December 7 in
Annie Merner Pfeiffer
Chapel.
Given the theme “Living
Madonnas, Constancy and
Change”, both Michelles
developed a multi-cultural
presentation which depict
ed scenes from Spanish,
Tahitian, African, Eskimo,
American Indian and In
dian cultures. They design
ed six of the scenes and
authentic costumes. Assist
ing them was William
McMillan, chairman of the
Department of Art at
Guilford College.
The joint-effort of the
music, art, drama, cloth
ing, and maintenance
departments was an hour-
long production done in
total darkness, except for
the appropriately lit 8’ x 10’
picture frame.
Background was esta
blished by off-stage narra
tion with organ and choral
music. Guest organist was
Clarence Whiteman, of the
music faculty of Virginia
State College.
“The multi-cultural di
mension of this production
was the element of change
in our theme,” explained
Mrs. Adams. “It was
counterbalanced with a
pervasive madonna image
of the Renaissance Period,
“The Annunciation” by
Fra Angelico,”
Among the student
models participating in the
“Living Madonnas” were
foreign students from
Africa, Sri-Lanka and
India.
Among the “Living Madonnas” scenes was “The Arinunciation.” Benneit
students participating were Marva Vaugh, Charleston, S.C. as the Madonna
and Sierra Joyce, Washington, D.C., as the angel.
Classic To Be Exciting, Informative
GREENSBORO, N.C. - assembled a competitive and excellent shooters.
The Aggie Holiday Classic, tournament with represen- “North Carolina A&T,
Dec. 19-20 at the Piedmont tatives from the top winner of the MEAC
Sports Arena in Greensboro conferences. I feel that this championship last year, is
will feature four of the cross section of competition tough again. A&T is
nation's best predominate- will make for an exciting coached by Warren Rey-
ly black college cage teams, tournament and will give nolds, who was named as
The field will include the country an early look at the MEAC’s top coach in
Jackson State of the possibly the best black 1975.
Southwestern Athletic Con- college team,
ference, Elizabeth City With the NCAA expand-
State of the Central ing its number of teams for
Intercollegiate Athletic As- post-season play and the
NIT publicly announcing
that at least one black team
would be included in its
A Gift Of Woods
GASTONIA-Mrs. Janet child-care service began
Woods sincerely believes Sunday, December 14th
that a person should do and the only criteria for
“what you can, when you Mrs. Woods acceptance of
can, with what you have.” a child is that he or she be
And to prove it, she’s between the ages of 3 to 13
remodeling a house in her and that they be delivered
backyard for the sole and picked up.
purpose of attending to,
feeding, and even clothing
children--free of charge-on
Sundays between 8 a.m.
and 4 p.m. This unique.
Mrs. Woods states “that
any child is welcome...but
especially those children
with no church or do not go
to church.”
Tax Packages On The Way
sociation. North Carolina
Central of the Mid-Eastern
Athletic Association, and
North Carolina A&T of the
Mid-Eastern Athletic Con
ference.
“Last year 1 was
certainly disappointed that
not one predominately
black college team was
chosen to compete in any of participating schools
the major post-season
tournaments," said J.D.
Haynes, chairman of the
Classic committee.
“We feel that we have
GREENSBORO, N.C. - He explained that che listing of local IRS toll-free
The Internal Revenue number of taxpayers being ^telephone assistance num-
Service will mail out 2.2 sent the 1040A package
million 1975 tax packages includes 16 million who
tournament. Haynes feels to North Carolina residents received the 1040 package
the Aggie Holiday Classic next week as part of a last year. The reason for
would be an excellent nationwide mailing of over the change, the IRS District
opportunity for tournament 81 million packages, Robert Director said, is that IRS
representatives to evaluate A. LeBaube, IRS District records show the taxpayer
the talent and the caliber of Director for Northa Caro- could have used the short
play displayed by
the lina said today.
Of the total packages to
Jackson State, coached be sent out nationv/ide,
by Paul Covington, is a" LeBaube pointed out, 43
exceptional basketball million will be of the 1040
team,” Haynes said, type and 38 million the
“They have height, speed, short form 1040A variety.
form 1040A, based on his or
her particular financial
situation.
Both the 1040 and 1040A
tax packages contain forms,
instructions, and additional
tax information such as a
bers. North Carolina tax
payers can call 1-800-822-
8800, if the instructions do
not answer their tax
questions. Each tax pack
age also contains an order
blank which taxpayers can
use to obtain additional tax
publications and forms.
LeBaube said that 1975
forms reflect changes
primarily due to changes in
tax law. The form changes
reflect a special housing
Continued on Page 6
The “Little Gold Temple
Mission” proves, as Mrs.
Woods so eloquently
states, “Love that doesn’t
understand the language of
sacrifice is not Love. Those
who give most are least
concerned about returns.”
Anyone wishing to accept
Mrs. Woods’ “gift” to the
Gastonia community may
do so, any Sunday, at either
of the following addresses:
1104 S. Miller Avenue
(Telt: 865-9316) or 2140 W.
5th Avenue - (Tele;
867-2959).
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