How often have you heard the
greeting “Happy New Year?”
Many times, of course. With some
people, it is merely a form of
greeting with equal weight to
“good morning,” or "good even
ing.” With others, it is a form of
•spiritual greeting, symbolizing a
new opportunity for us all.
The days between Christmas
Eve and New Year’s Eve have
been called the season of visions.
On Christmas Eve, there is the vi
sion back across many centuries
to the beginning of the Christian
religion. On New Year’s Eve,
there comes the vision of a new
tomorrow whose days hold the fill
ing of our wishful hopes and
dreams.
A new year means a new op
portunity for all of us. It is
especially a great opportunity for
those who have failed or stumbled
along the wrong way during the
past year. The chief thing to
remember is that the past year is
gone and all the sins and failures
that occurred during those 12
months are also gone.
The new year offers hope and
new opportunities for those who
failed or met defeat in the past.
However, we must not think of the
new year only as an opportunity to
redeem ourselves. The new year
offers for those who have been
successful a challenge. Those who
have reached the top or have gone
a long way toward the top, must
realize that the hard part about
making good is that one has to
keep on making good every day of
his life.
As we have said, the new year
can offer a challenge. It is such a
challenge as reminds us of the old
story about the shepherd who one
day caught a glimpse through the
clouds of the place on top of a
mountain where the gods dwelt.
The shepherd determined to
leave his humble abode and make
his way over the rough road to the
lofty peak. With great exertion
and effort, he accomplished his
ambition. Finally he stood on the
heights and the gods con
gratulated him on his efforts and
determination to overcome all dif
ficulties.
The poor shepherd, exhausted,
lay down to sleep. When he awoke
he was alone in the cold mist of
the mountaintop. He caught a
glimpse of the gods now in a dis
tant and loftier peak. He cried out
in his disappointment and a voice
called out to him saying, “Foolish
mortal, dost thou not know that he
who would dwell in the heights
with the gods must not sleep but
forever climb higher and
higher?”
Often, we have heard the wish
for a prosperous New Year. Many
people equate prosperity with
material wealth, money and
things. This is a very narrow view
of prosperity indeed. Man ought to
prosper in all areas of his life—the
physical, emotional, spiritual.
Then the New Year will be a hap
py one.
Growing Eduction Crws
Our national education crisis is
growing in magnitude with each
passing day, and will continue to
worsen unless we assert the
necessary leadership and provide
realistic budgetary resources to
improve current trends. If we
want to strengthen our nation’s
economic muscle, we must pro
vide all sectors of our economy,
and indeed, all avenues of society,
with the best and brightest minds.
The current administration
does a lot of talking about educa
tion, using the “politics of
chiidren” to impress others, but
the bottom-line question we must
as*; ourselves is—what resources
are we committing to our nation’s
schools and the millions of
children who demographically
will comprise a contrastingly dif
ferent generation than we have
ever known?
Early last year, after examin
ing President Bush’s budget for
education, we were reminded of
that over-used phrase, “Where’s
the Beef?” Not only did the presi
dent’s budget investment in
education receive a failing grade,
but it also proposed to “rob Peter
to pay Paul” by raiding funds
from cost-effective federal educa
tion programs which have long
been supported by the Congress
and the general public.
It is time for the president to
wake up to present realities and
observe the dramatic changes in
America’s population profile. The
following sobering statistical pro
file of America’s school children
excerpted from a 1966 Education
Week special report titled, “Here
They Come, Ready or Not,” con
firms this great demographic
challenge:
1. One out of four will come
from a family living in poverty.
2. 14 percent will be children of
teenage mothers.
а. 15 percent will be physically
or mentally handicapped.
4. As many as 15 percent will be
immigrants who speak a
language other than English.
5. 40 percent will live in a
broken home before they reach 18.
б. 10 percent will have poorly
educated, illiterate parents.
7. Between one-quarter and
one-third will be latchkey children
with no one to greet them when
they come home from school.
8. One-quarter or more of them
will not finish school.
This is the challenge. These are
the young children who are carry
ing with them to our schools the
diverse problems of our nation.
Already, new challenges are aris
ing as children who suffered drug
exposure at birth are entering our
schools, and require special
educational attention. This trend
will continue to rise unless we
take the necessary action to pre
vent it.
One way we can begin to change
the present course is by investing
in children early. Everything we
know tells us that a child’s
predisposition to learn is largely
formed in the first few years of
life. Under our current system of
education we simply do not invest
enough funds in preschool educa
tion and child development pro
grams, especially when com
pared to other industrial nations.
If we are serious about address
ing our educational challenge, we
must expand preschool services
and education to every child who
is eligible. We must also begin to
examine the needs of poor and
minority children, many of whom
are the helpless victims of factors
such as violent home en
vironments, poor health care, and
schools without the resources to
help them overcome their educa
tional difficulties.
The Homicide Of African-Americen Men
BY BENJAMIN F. CHAVIS, JR.
Guest Editorial
new study released by the
federal Centers for Disease Con
trol in Atlanta, Ga., concluded
that the homicide rate for
African-American males, ages
15-25, increased 66.6 percent in the
United States between 1864-88.
Ida Is at the CDC have
should be very disturbing to all
Americans. Yet, the tragic reality
is that too many parsons in our
society have become insensitive
to the slaughter of African
Americans. In fact, some urban
areas in the United States have
now become literal “killing
fields'’ for African-American men
under the age of 25.
The key author of the CDC
report, Dr. Robert Froehlke,
stated, “In some areas of the
country it is now more likely for a
black male between 15 and 25 to
See EDITORIAL. P 12 >
Tribuw Mtdil SawcM
NNPA FEATURE
COPING
b>
Dr. Charles W. Faulkner
1 .1.
MANIPULATING YOUR WAY TO
HAPPINESS
Let’s face it! When you are honest,
lovable and devoted, you usually receive a
mild emotional “slap in the face.” Your
mate thinks you are weak, takes you for
granted and stops treating you with kind
ness. Your friends stop being considerate
of your feelings. Your boss expects you to
do more work than the other employees.
And most other people generally try to
make you feel unhappy.
On the other hand, when you play “hard
to get,” when you act mean, and when you
push people around and intimidate them,
they treat you in a completely different
way. Your spouse becomes Jealous and af
fectionate. Your friends regard you as
strong and assertive. Your boss gives you
a pay raise for being so tough and ag
gressive, and for displaying leadership
qualities. In general, you get the respect
that you want.
The nice person usually gets abused. The
manipulative person gets respected. This
seems to contradict what you have been
told all of your life by your parents,
ministers and teachers. You were told to
be honest, fair and kind. You were told to
do unto others as you would have them do
unto you. This was supposed to leed to
friendship and happiness because people
were supposed to be nice to you if you were
nice to them.
But this is the real world. Most people
think that nice folks are weak. Your kind
ness has made you unhappy instead of hap
py. This seems so much against what you
were taught. No matter how unfair it is, no
matter how much we want the “nice guy”
to win, the simple fact is that nice guys
often do not win. Nice guys are usually
taken advantage of by the
manipulators—who are not nice, but are
tough.
I’m not referring here to bank robbers or
murderers. I am referring to average peo
ple who will do nearly anything to you in
order to make you do what they want you
to do. Their primary objective is to control
you and they will use manipulation to do it.
However, they only try to manipulate so
called weak (nice) guvs.
Are you surprised by this? Probably not.
You realise that if you want a pay raise,
you have to manipulate the boss by smiling
and making him think that you regard him
•s a nice guy (even though you may hate
his guts). If you want a good grade from
your teacher, you must make him think
that you like him, even if you don’t. If you
want to be pursued by the opposite sex, you
must set nonchalant, as if every other man
or woman would do anything to go to bed
with you.
The point is that you are already well
scbooled in the art of psychological
manipulation. You probably call it
something else, but it is still manipulation.
Pfii it psychological pragmatism, persua
sion, a white lie, common sense, or the con
game. Call it what you want, but you and I
know that those who master it control
everyone else. Is it true that you’d better
do it to them before they do it to you?
Wajid’s Word |
President burn, responding to criticism
over the number of African-Americans in
the Gulf, suggested that this is merely an
indication of the increased opportunities
being afforded “minority” groups in the
armed forces, he concluded his remarks
by pointing to the fact that the head of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff was also an African
American. He went on to suggest that all of
the young men were volunteers and were
not forced to join the military.
What Bush failed to admit, however, was
the fact that many of the young men who
joined the various branches of the military
did so as a last resort. Many of them
perceive military as a means of financing
their college educations. Many of them
were without employment and were able
to find “employment” in the military. Still
another group believed the numerous com
mercials urging one to “Be All That You
Can Be” which are constantly being
pumped up over the television stations and
the radio stations that cater to blade youth.
These commercials are professionally
done and give the illusion of a military
where one can learn a career and leave the
military with enough money to go on to col
lege. These commercials fail to warn those
who might consider the military as an op
tion of the real potential of never really be
ing able to “be all that you can be,"
because you just might wind up in a body
Yet, we ao have an ail-volunteer Army. I
gueea the same thing can be said about the
prison system. Those In prison, in too
many cases, opted (or crime as a way
“out” instead of the military. Others
merely drop out and live on the streets.
Others go to college and hang out, ac
ci,r dating thousands of dollars of debt
and wasting four to six years of their lives.
If America were truly the land of oppor
tunity, why shouldn’t all aspects of society
reflect the same makeup which is found in
the military? Are 90 percent of the heads of
major corporations African-American?
Are 90 percent of the business-owners
AMcan-Americans? Are 90 percent of the
students in coliege African-American? Are
90 percent of the prison population
African-American?
I am not suggesting that the military
might not be a good place for someone to
learn valuable skills and even to make a
career. I am suggesting, however, that
given the availability of other options,
most of the young men (and women) in the
military would have opted for something
else
And I for one am not fooled by the posi
tion fo Colin Powell who is merely an
“echo” of Bush’s military policy. You let
Powell speak his own mind just once and
see if you will ever hear from him again.
Of course, t am sure that Bush was very
careful in his selection of Powell so he need
not worry aboutspeaking out of line.
Everyone should have the opportunity to
beall that they can be, but such opportuni
ty should not be confined to Just the
military. Peace!
BIBLE THOUGHT
Yet count him not as an «Mmy, but admonish him m
» brother. Now the Lord of peece himself giveyou peeoe
■twayi by all meant. The Lord be with you ell. 11m salute
tton of Paul with mine own hand, which ia the token In
every epiatle: »o I write. The grace of our Lord Jeeua
Chriat be with you all. Amen.
Tbeeaaloniane lt:ll
Other Viewpoints
PUBLIC MISLED ABOUT WASTE DUMP
BY EDWARD RENFROW
State Auditor
I am deeply concerned that the people of North cmmHnm
have been milled about the recent Council of State decision
against locating a hazardous waste facility at Butnar in
Granville County. I am not opposed to a hazardous waste
incinerator in North Carolina. The management of hazar
dous waste is an extremely important issue and we have a
responsibility to the citizens of this state to safely
of the hazardous waste we generate. That responnslbillty
includes the development of safe and economical disposal,
facilities in North Carolina.
I am not timid about the public response to an unpopular,'
site decision. This type of decision is nothing new to the;
Council of State. Many of us were involved in the dorialoa ‘
to establish a PCB dump in Warren County several years
ago. We had to condemn private property then in order to |
locate and construct a PCB landfill to d—n up the waste 1
dumped along North Caroline roadways. We made die
selection in an orderly and responsible fashion even though
it, too, was extremely controversial and met with strong
resistance in the community, even to the extent that tfaef
Highway Patrol was called in to remove demonstrators'
from the site in order that the trucks could dispose of their
PCB content. >
I am not against a Regional Agreement as some have'
reported. However, I do have concerns due to the recent
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling regarding the
Alabama landfill that we canont restrict the wastes
treated. My concern is not only for North Carolina but also
for the other four states in the regional agreement—South
Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. What good is
the agreement if we cannot restrict the wastes accepted tot
those generated in the agreement states? It has been;
pointed out that a strong desire exists among the regional
agreement states to ask Congress to establish the group as
a compact which would then allow them to restrict the
wastes. I am very supportive of this action and would be
willing to assist in any way possible to get it accomplished.
The governor, lieutenant governor, commission
members and some of their staff members have Hlfilel
that the Council of State vote against the Granville site was'
an irresponsible action. I maintain that it was the onlyi
responsible action we could have taken, given the slgnifl-i
cant number of unresolved questions and unique dr-1
cumstances. The governor wanted a rubber stamp, but
that is not what the people of North Carolina elected us to
give.
I have not criticised the Hazardous Waste naMg—^ent
Commission They were charged with selecting a site for
North Carolina’s hazardous waste complex that meats all
the technical criteria. Yet whsn the decision was made to
look only at state land, their hands ware tied. After careful
ly reading and studying the tagtai«H«m that the
Hazardous Waste Management Commission, it is dara to
me that the legislature had private property in mind whan
the law was enacted, since they exempted almost all state-’
owned property from consideration. However, after en
countering such strong opposition from private property
owners, the Hazardous Waste Mahegt^fnt rw.
decided to direct its efforts to state-owned property. TVs, I
believe, tied the commission’s hands, because there was
not enough state-owned property eligible for consideration
for the commission to make the best decision.
Another factor of concern is the rule prohibtttaM the
locaiont of a hazardous waste facility within the corporate
limits of municipalities. While I agree with this rule, and 11
understand there is no corporate charter for the
site, I believe the purpoee of this rule was to prevent
locating a site in a populous area. To automatically accept
(See VIEWPOINTS, P. 13)
A Different Voice
BY DOROTHY 8HAW-TH0MP80N
A* we move through the Christmas ■—on and embrace
the celebration of Kwanxaa to move forward into ■ New
Year, the words peace, love, justice and responsibility echo
continuously. There are tboee who have already learned to
live In such a way that theae worda are an integral part of
their dally experience. For far too many people Hfe’a ex
periences, unmet basic needs and physical ailments and ir
rational belief systems create an emotional environment
that does not allow for the inclusion of those words.
On the national landscape, the threat of war that adds to
many individuals’ distorted views of die aforementioned
wodrs. I am thankful for the job that I have working with
people In the intimate relationship of counseling that
demands that I practice a policy of unconditional love, per
sonal congruency and a mental attitude that demands that
I Investigate, question and learn if I am able to be a
facilitator of change for myself and other people. Tem
porarily this way of living can be taxing or strsaaftil,
however, what I have gained through my life experiences
is a continuous affirmation that peace is possible, love is a
capacity, justice a necessity and personal responsibility ia
the connecting tool.
Because in my work I am able to explore the beginnings
of the life experiences that create emotional difficulties in
children as well as face the adults that are the results of
those childhoods in other counseling experiences I am able
to learn about the indomitable will of the individual to sur
vive as well as extend a blend of compassion and confronta
tion to others in a way that allows me to extend both to
myself. This year I met a little girl who given me ooe of the
best connectors to show how the world’s distortions affect
the life of children. This young lady had just turned three
years old when I met her. The behavioral difficulty that she
was experiencing was that she was physically assaulting
everyone and anything that caused her frustration, in addi
tion, whenever she experienced those temper tantrums,
when she would > come calmer, she’d say that she wanted
her daddy at home. Her mother was confused by this
behavior and change from a previously sweet, independent
and happy child. Previous discipline methods were not
working and punishment made things worse.
When I met this cherub it was difficult to believe that she
could display such behavior. In addition, she was one of the
moat verbal young children I have met to date. It wee not
long before I recognized the source of her difficulties. She
said to me, “My daddy is in Saudi Arabia to kick the bad
man’s butt.” Swiftly all other behavior made sense in the
context of that sentence. When you couple a lack of
understanding of people, places and things with a confusion
about emotions, behavioral rules necessary to survive, you
look craxy (smile). This child in the face of reality had
learned that when you are angry and don’t Hhe the way
S«v IHKKKKKNT VOICE, P. ID