Newspapers / The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.) / Jan. 11, 1990, edition 1 / Page 4
Part of The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
King Holiday Evolves From the conception of the idea for a national holiday to honor the work of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which surfaced in 1974, to the passage of the holiday bill by Congress 12 years later, in 1986, to the first official obser vance in 1987, we curiously have wondered how the holiday celebration would actually take shape and evolve into an American holiday. To our delight the Raleigh King observances seem to answer the basic questions. How do we ap propriately celebrate King Day without commercialization and false pretense? How do we teach, motivate and inspire young peo ple and old alike, to the virtues oi nonviolent social action? Further more, how do we put into the pro per perspective and benefit from the enormous spiritual power this mortal man shared with the rest of the world? Martin King was a hero, nc question about that. A man of ma jor national and international ac complishments. But as the spiril of King lives on, it is important, even necessary, to recognize the many in our midst who espouse the principles for which King died. For our purposes here, names are not relevant. What is, however, is to understand that those citizens, black and white, young and aged, who work throughout the years to promote nonviolence, peace, social and economic justice, and negotiation over confrontation, are deserving of our appreciation and gratitude. There are not many opportunities to properly bestow our awareness and appreciation for their con tinued efforts. This holiday season is one such opportunity. Against great odds and strong waves of surges of racism and violent acts by some, it is refreshing and wholesome to see young at heart, and the young in years, continue to work toward the ideals of liberty and justice for all. The Raleigh King Committee who for five years now sponsored remarkably appropriate obser vances, The CAROLINIAN sincerely thanks you and publicly affirms that your work does not go unnoticed. The general public now actually looks forward to the holi day with anticipation of a day of reflection and a renewal of the spirit New Decade, New Year BY REP. AUGUSTUS HAWKINS Guest Editorial As our nation’s leaders prepare for the new decade, a number of important social issues must be brought to their attention. Although the issues are familiar, they also challenge our creative abilities, and should be pursued with the highest degree of vigor and ambition. Still, too many of our citizens languish in poverty, or are simply living on the edge as members of the “working poor”... one paycheck away from economic disaster. We must realize that economic pro sperity does not reach many of our fellow citizens. Theifc needs and concerns must not be Ihst in a sea of indifference. The first issue which deserves our highest attention is education. We should fully fund Head Start and Chapter 1 math ?nd fearing programs until every fchild \(Ho jis eligible for these services is serv* ed. The initial investment, now, will more than paw for itself in future years. Likewisfe, at pie state and local leveis, we <j£pi im plement quality education pro-j grams which meet the unique needs of our diverse population. If education is a universal right, we must design our pystem to serve all children, regardless, pf their economic or residential plight. The second important isfcue is child care. The availability of safe, affordable: and quality child care is absolutely essential to help poor families become economical ly self-sufficient and assist others in maintaining stability. I advanc ed a version of'a bill I wrote (H.R. 3) to the end Qf the congressional process, but unfortunately the Congress adjourned before fur ther action coulfl be takdn. I am confident, however, that the Con gress will move forwdtfd 'in the early part of this year to fipalize action on a quality child care bill, Thirdly, we must revitalize our system of public health. Too many of the nation’s public hospitals struggle in their role as providers of last .resort. They -need resources to update their medical equipment and re^uit doctors, nurses and other key medical per sonnel. I plan to raise this issue in Congress, and link the Congres sional Black Caucus of which I am a member and the Congressional Rural Caucus to examine the na tional plight of community hospitals and provide needed assistance. Finally, we must embark on a comprehensive mission to prepare our workforce for the year 2000. As mentioned previous ly, educational efforts in the early learning years (Head Start, Chapter 1) are critical to this mis sion. However, determined efforts on all fronts will be necessary to meet this challenge. Last year, I introduced the Workforce 2000 Employment Readiness Act, legislation intended to educate our workforce in basic skills and training for the new jobs being created by technology. Congres sional hearings on this legislation will continue this year. Undoubtedly, other national issues must be responded to, such as drug abuse, homelessness, public housing needs, the security of our senior citizens, infant mor tality, and others. Above all, let us be wary of complacency. This na tion has the know-how and the resources to overcome economic and social inequities. Let us begin the new decade with a caring and ambitious tone, and work to invest in the welfare of our fellow Americans. tow riivaiB uonversatnns lii Police, and oth monitor < Government agents, snoopers, extortionists, eavesdroppers and just about anybody who wants to hear what some may consider their “private conversations” have had a free ear for a long time as a silent listener. They love cor dless phones and some agents are hoping that these phones will become such neat little gadgets that every household in America will use one. It will make their job much easier. Dveroment officials who desire may ord you say over ■ vuruicM jhiuiiO because the right to privacy that normally protects telephone calls does not apply with cordless phones. Novice spy ‘ tafor field day like rendez Modern communications and electronics have assured the demise o' .ivate telephone con versation. Bugs are plentiful and no longer only in the hands of the professional or elite. With a cor dless phone, a s^eiBcSRPOOterfl relayed through a handset to J base unit by low-poenc, radic waves. The signal is transmit* from the base through regulai telephone lines. Another cordlesi phone within, usually up to 70( feet, can pick up the calls. The Supreme Court this wed left intact a lower court rullnf that the constitutional right oi privacy under the Fourth Amend ment or federal law does not pro tect cordless phones. The code deciphered: "B< careful what you say over thi phones; you are fair game ant more than likely beinf monitored." NNPA FEATURE COPING by Dr. Charles W. Faulkner DR. FAULKNER'S ADVICE FOR YOU Each week, I receive your interesting letters. Here are my brief answers to several of them. From Ms. B. in Seattle, Wash.: “I think that a man who works with me is very attractive, but I’m afraid that he might take advantage of me. So I don’t let him know how I feel. What should I do?” If you like him, let him know it—in a sub tle way. Smile, be courteous, compliment him. He may turn out to be a lifelong friend. It is not necessary for you to go to bed with him just because you smile at him. From Ms. K. in Baltimore, Md.: “I want to have sex with a man I met a couple of months ago. But he refuses to use a condom. I have asked him many times to use a condom and he just won’t do it. How can I convince him of how important it is to protect ourselves against sexually transmitted diseases?” Carefully and clearly explain the dangers of AIDS and other similar diseases. Then, ask him again to wear a condom. If he refuses to do so, dump him like a hot potato. From Mr. R. in Atlanta, Ga.: “Every week, I have to give the employees who work for me a nasty lec ture about something they did wrong. But it doesn’t seem to do any good because they seem to enjoy seeing me get angry. What should I do?” Stop giving nasty lectures and start teaching your employees how to do a good job, ana now to be happy white they art do* ing it. Your nasty lectures simply an* tagonise them and make them dislike you. That is why they enjoy the manta) punish ment that they cause you to haye. From Mr. M. in Manhattan, N.Y.: "My wife gave birth to a wonderful Uttle boy last year, but now he’s not 10 wonder ful because he cries all night long and we can't get any sleep. I beat his butt good with a belt but it just makes him cry even more. How can I control him?" Of course he cries when you beat him with a belt. You would cry too, if someone who outweighed you by 900 pounds beat you. What should you do? Stop beating the child, immediately, before you injure aim. Psychology is the procedure that you should use to rear (not control) your child. I have sent you some basic information on how to rear your child—without beating him. It is urgent that you contact your city or school psychologist; or, visit your public library. From Ms. N. in Tuskegee, Ala.: "Since 1900, I have been going to an astrologist to find out about my future. I pay good money to get information about my love life, my job and my personality. What else should I do?” First, save your money. Don’t, give another nickel to the astrologist. Neat, contact the Department of Sootal -pnd Psychological Services in your city. You can get reliable Information about your love life, your job and your personality. FREE. Eye On The Homeless BY HENSON P. BARNES No one is certain of just how many peo ple in North Carolina are homeless. A1908 report compiled by the Department of Natural Resources and Community Development puts the number at 8,045. Other sources say the population is significantly higher. A report released recently by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction estimates that more than 6,000 school-age children are among the homeless In our state. That number does not take into ac count the hundreds of preschoolers of homeless families. Linda Shaw, executive director of the N.C. Low-Income Housing Coalition, says that families make up the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population. Although there seems to be no consensus on the number of people in North Carolina without places to live, the case has been sufficiently made that a growing number of North Carolina’s residents are among the nation’s homeless. In Its 1969 session the Legislature took a flirt step in dealing with the problem by authorising the Homeless Persons Study Commission to investigate the problem of homelessness in this state. Ita mission is to study the situation and develop an inven tory of the approximate number, location and causes for homelessness, and after that consider the role of the state in cooperating with public and private en titles In addressing the problem. In our state most of the aid to homeless persons Is currently provided by locally operated non-profit organisations who receive funds from multiple sources, in —i.MUitg the federal government. The Department of Economic and Com munity Development's Division of Com munity Assistance administers a shelter 1 grant program which Is funded by the U.8. 1 tmately $1.0 million. Community Assistance received applications for the • a_ju. - - -..xi.k tMafla ■ Me the funds available, according to a pro Requests for assistance have been dou problem [of homelessness],” laid Mi. Shaw, who la a member of the Legislative Homeless Persons Study Commission, “It will significantly improve it." Recent reports have shown that persons without homes And themselves in the predicament because of a variety of reasons. While many are homeless :>ecause they lack sufficient Income to rent Musing, others are victims of mental il lness and drug and alcohol abuee. The Homeless Persons Commission has i full year to review the magnitude of the problem and determine the role of the itate in solving the problem of homelessness in North Carolina. This article contains information about issues being debated in the Legislature. For more Information, write: Prealdaat Pro Tempore, State Legislature Building, Bible Thought Bow down thin* ear, 0 Lord, hear me; for I am poor and eedy. Pwww my aoul, for t am holy: 0 thou my God, eve thy servant that truototh In thoo. Bo merciful unto me, I Lord, for I cry unto thoo daily. lUJotce the soul of thy ear ant; for unto thoo, 0 Lord, do 1 lift up my soul. Psalms M:h iBrown’* ©©auamam AMERICA'! NEW CIVIL WAR AT IT! LETHAL BEST After hoatinf a network radio talk ahow for a week, it oc mnred to me that Americana are eaaeotlally Involved In w Many whites have become Hardcore cynics about the abilities if blacks. They see black failure is a manifestation of their own luoceas. Their only necessary ichlevemsnt la being white, they Others believe their lives are not complete because blacks are Interfering with their destiny. One caller read from an article, detai ling high crime rates among Mseki. Meek Illiteracy, black broken homes, blacks on welfare, " itc. BROWN His owhMton was that “most” blacks art criminals, il literate, socially unstable, on welfare, etc.-not that the rates are disproportionately high, but blacks are pathological as a group. Than, of course, he can dislike them as a group-ond Justify it with statistics, because he’s essentially dealing with the stereotype he’s created. Another white caller, a woman, believes that most blacks are on welfare and that only whites pay taxes and provide them with their Income. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with blacks spending almost 98 percent of their Income with whites. After all, she says, Isn’t this the way the system Is supposed to work? expression of hatred toward whites. She blames blacks (all blacks) for being on welfare, but resents them If they try to do anything about it. Her misconceptions are legion; her assumptions a Catch-22. Her assumption la that blacks have two choices: live 00 welfare or hate whltee. Either way, she had provided herself with a convenient excuse not to like them—as a rtmi there are those whites who are convinced they are qualified’’ because they are white ami conversely be at affirmative action they are bona fide superior. Overlook ing Individual talents and not submitting their facts to a candid world, they rush to a Judgment that makes them f§Bi good about being white. -Never mind the fact that for hundreds of years, they got Into the unions because their fathers or uncles wdbe'is them; never mind the fact that they were admitted to col lege because their fathers went there; or got the besthpfet ment or Job—Just because they were white, and in most Refusing to accept any historic linkage of centuries of 1 deprivation and psychological abuse heaped on black j Americans' to the current maladies of Mack adaptation, they new even resent a white-controlled Supreme Court | that demands affirmative action as long as we have afflr The Irony of all of this for me is that I believe the black leadership has pads a tremendous tactical error In pro moting affirmative action to Hie detriment of qconomic self-help or affirmative opportunity and creating tremen dous nsgativa public opinion in the process. As a result of the inability to structure an equitable pro gram to house a viable principle of remedy,- i.e.,.affir mative action, blacks appear as beggars, dependent on the whims of the most abject failure In the white population. The already unstable whites in this group have setoff upon this perception to convince themselves that in spite of their inability to succeed In a system that is stacked in their favor, they are superior simply because blacks need their hate. The greatest damage, however, Is being done to black* themselves, not only by the racism of the unqualified whites who bask In the perverted glory of “reverse dis crimination,’’ but through the erosion of self-esteem. We have produced a generation of blacks who now believe that white philanthropy is essential to their well being. They believe white permission is necessary before they can be educated, employed, or even be happy with 001 In fighting to oorrect a system of racism, they have im posed upon themselves a system of psychological and economic dependence that is, Ironically, the fundamental principle upon which slavery operated. “ ■ se no inconsistency in spending 96 percent of (BoeTONY BROWN, P.8) J Other Viewpoints ■LACK hoaDBR OBJECT! TO AFRO-MONIKER BY J. ARCHIBALD HOLLAND Tho term Afro-American has given us the connective thread to the homeland we have loot, a sense of pride in this development, and we era forever grateful to its perpetrators. However, for long-term usage, I find the term Afro-American divisive. It excludes Macks < i who are Mtfasae of other countries, all of whom identified with and following the Afro-American logic, should residing Mack Cubans call themselves AAro-Cuban i i Americans? Or, should Mack Africans living in the United Statss call tfasmaalvooAmero-AfrleansT Dare we suggest that othsr foreign Macks call thsmaahros Afro-EngBshmen, Afro rrwaohnisn, or Afro-West Indians? Would It be prudent to cal someone an Afro-Jew, or Afro-lfuslimf And what would you call a Mack Maori from Now Iceland, or a Mack Aborigine from Australia? They, too, identified with the American civil rights movemeot. The word Mack has only five letters. It la oonvenlent, rorful, all-inclusive, and not too long ago was “baautiful.” It brings Mi ‘ , with a http one common bond, with a senes of universal 11 R fojfin evident that white ■ia could al i adds further confusion to the pro Africa, Egypt and Algeria could also call thsmaalvas Afro Amorioane, allof wuchad to violate the prin historic of such Nkrumah, and Marcus and cultural but also the the way of that a tool for
The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 11, 1990, edition 1
4
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75