Newspapers / The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.) / Sept. 26, 1991, edition 1 / Page 4
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me violent wave oi umrc sweeping across the country and destroying many African American mostly males in its wake, is in search of an urgent solution. The crime and drug war is be ing fought in cities by organiza tions, awareness marches, statewide meetings with gover nors, politicians, law enforcement officials, members of the judiciary and open com munity forums. Regarding North Carolina, particularly Charlotte and Durham, the subject is most urgent. We must stop living in fear in the African-American community and halt the escalating march of crime, drugs and violence that is placing North Carolina toward the top 10 most dangerous states in which to live. Charlotte and Durham are abhorrent models of acceptable social exchange. Violent crime in Durham and Charlotte is like a plague ruflning through the black community. Somehow this must end before these cities are turned into mean streets, putting the majority of people who are law-abiding per sons at risk. In other inner cities, all too often, the residents and businesses have become prey of a handful of criminals whose ac tions debilitate neighborhoods. As a result, outsiders and residents alike view many black neighborhoods as crime turfs and many of the people who live there as criminals. Such is not the case. The vast majority of persons who live in predominantly black neighborhoods are law-abiding citizens. They are people who want peace and security in the community. We must first erase the wrong headed notion that most of the people who live in crime-ridden neighborhoods are criminals because it gives the wrong im pression that criminals are vie I1IIIIXIII5 wuiti vx uuuuua. u v vii u this were the case, these com munities should not be ignored by a cold shoulder of indifference andracial polarization - Charlotte Mayor Sue Myrick, who has co-chaired the Drug Task Force of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, testified before Congress on automatic weapons control and crime and drugs, says that only the united voices of the people ap pealing to their legislators is the power that can bring relief. The mayor of North Carolina’s leading crime-ridden city believes it is far past time for laws to pro tect the innocent rather than cod dling criminals. Our state, our neighborhoods, our very homes aren’t safe anymore. Local governments have no power to do anything more than the policing and jailing already being done. “The power lies in Raleigh with the state legislature,” Mayor Myrick notes. Chester L. Jenkins, the besieg ed mayor of Durham, Mayor Myrick and others must promote in any argument to address solu tions to the rising tide of crime that conservative members of government and Congress reject die notion of “root causes” and believe that the answer is simply to get tough. Everybody supports a firm policy of dealing with hard-core criminals, but we must also ac cept that there are many things we can do—especially early in a child’s development—that will deter persons from antisocial behavior. Any sincere effort to deal with the crime problem must evaluate the realities and resulting conse quences of employment, underemployment, substandard housing, inadequate health care, physical deterioration, teenage pregnancy, economic develop ment, self-esteem, drugs, family deterioration, racism and discrimination, plus other social economic ills. The African-American College Student During the period folowmg integration, enrollment in black colleges and universities dwindled. Now a national trend is showing a steady increase at both public and private black colleges as they achieve a new status of acceptability. Frankly, they are doing a better job of educating the African-American student and telling our story using positive images. The African-American professor and teacher have always been a dominant force in the advancement of race. Without them, we could never, and would never, have achieved our current success against such outstanding obstacles. Shaw University, St. Augustine’s College and North Carolina Central University in this area should be applauded for continuously meeting the remarkable demand of educating our young people to meet the challenges of the future and remain Afro-centered. Today’s student faces a different task than 30 years ago. Then, the African-American t* student faced, reckoned with, challenged, and strove to !»v overcome the color barrier in order to enter most jobs, professions and careers. Today, some of these barriers have been broken and the student now must place emphasis on going beyond what is in existence and strive to be innovative in every aspect of endeavor. What a far better, greater challenge students have today to create, embellish or be on the cutting edge of new thought, to expand, to be imaginative and free. It was the students who led the change for civil rights. It was the students who brought about the beautiful new awareness of the African-American. Through change, professors, teachers and students worked to educate and eradicate demeaning terms such as coons, bucks, spades, niggers, coloreds to the elevation of being a people of descendants of prestigious ancestors of proud African heritage and origin beyond the crossroads of human dignity. It is a time of powerful change and conceptualization of new cities and communities as the global village grows smaller with technology daily revealing the unknown and hidden dimensions. The steady enrollment increases of African-American students in black colleges and universities represent a remarkable shift and a renaissance in Afrocentric education. Letter To THe Editor i Wi AN OPEN LETTER TU U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR LYNN MARTIN Dear Secretary Martin: The recent tragedy in North Carolina of 25 workers losing their lives has brought to the nation’s attention the need for an improved occupational safety and health program in North Carolina and the nation. I am sure that there are several ways in which tc improve the working *;< conditions for our workers I;’; such as more inspectors tc visit high-hazarc workplaces like the * Imperial Foods plant ir Hamlet, educating *> employers and employees on now to identity ana eliminate hazardous risks in the workplace, and providing advice and assistance to employers and employees, especially those in small businesses. Obviously, we all are restricted by our limited resources, but I request that you consider providing additional resources for expanding the current training available for occupational safety and health professionals in the Southeastern region of the United States. _ The State of North Carolina is very interested in the federal government’s expanding the training ■acuities ana opporiunme! available to train botl governmental laboi inspectors and privati sector employers ant employees through th< provision of a regions safety and health trainin) institute such as the presen one now operated by th< U.S. Department of Labor ii Des Plaines, 111. Such a siti could be secured in th< Raleigh-Durham - Chape Hill area of North Carolina perhaps on land already owned by the federa government, the state, 01 the university system. Th» relatively low density o (Sec l.bTTEK. I* 12) * NMEITtttoKlbe wouibNT wTacbis* APPO»NTQ»>HE«ESHC Acii aijl aussieb umo KWSC*OrtN«ttMAL TV^biunciWr^ DEMOCttOTC im _ in s*w/r/ BY F. GODFREY The following facts are noteworthy for the week of Sept. 22-28: Sept. 22: Xavier University, first black Catholic college in the United States, opened in New Orleans, 1915. Sept. 23: Mary Church Terrell, civil rights activist, born 1863-1954. Sept. 24: Desegregation of Central High School, Little Rock, Ark. Sept. 25: Secretary of Navy autoriz'' ’ enlistment of slaves as Union sailors, 1861. Sept. 26: Maggie L. Walker, business and civic leader, first black woman bank president, born in Richmond, Va., 1867 1934. Sept. 27: W.C. Handy published “Memphis Blues,” the first blues song, 1912. Many African-Americans proudly refer to themselves as being in the “middle class." But just what is the middle class? Is it the class just above the so-called lower class and significantly below the so called upper class^ We also have subdivisions among the classes such as lower-lower and upper-middle. So, in fact, there are actually nine classes if you buy into the social classification system which basically places one in a class based on income, source of income, type of residence and place of residence. However, if one would realiy look into the so-called social class stratification there are really only two classes of people: the haves and the have-nots. A supplement I use in my economics class, titled “A Field Guide to the U S. Economy,” published by the Center for Popular Economics, strongly supports this contention. For example, the distribution of the wealth in the United States has remained relatively constant over the past 40 years. The upper 10 percent of the population controls 90 percent of the wealth while the bottom 90 percent controls 10 percent of the wealth in America. Ten percent of American families earn $50,000 or more annually, 52 percent earn from $15,000-$49,000 annually, and 38 percent of American families earn less than $15,000 annually. Among the top 10 percent of families ranked by income, the typical family in 1983 had a net worth of about $132,000, while the net worth of the bottom 90 percent was less than $20,000. In 1983, according to a financial survey by the Federal Reserve Bank: •The top two percent of income recipients owned 50 percent of all stocks and 39 percent of all bonds. •The top two percent of all wealth holders owned 54 percent of all net financial assets while more than half of all families either had no financial assets or owed more than they owned. •Only 19 percent of all families in the Uni'ed States owned stocks, and only three percent owned bonds. This trend continues when one begins to look at income from property. For example, 44 percent of Americans had no income from property; 54 percent had income of less than $10,000; and two percent had income of more than $10,000 annually. People who earn less than $50,000 annually get most of their money from work rather than property. Conversely, only about 30 percent of the income of individuals with taxable incomes over $500,000 in 1982 came from work. The remaining 70 percent came from property. One of the reasons this situation has not changed, and probably will not change in the foreseeable future, is that too many of us have bought into social class stratification which tends to further divide us and make us even more vulnerable to manipulation and oppression. In reality, the only real difference between anyone in the so-called middle class and someone in the so-called lower class is that the “middle-class” person is two paychecks away from being bankrupt and homeless and the person in the lower class is only one paycheck away. One of the end results of this entire process is frustration and bitterness. While those who perceive themselves as middle-class consider themselves quite comfortable compared tor-others-in the lower classes, when he takes a good look at those in the so-called upper classes, he realizes that he or she is not as well-off as he or she may think. Those in the lower classes often perceive (and rightly so) that those in the middle class look upon them with disdain. If we culd just take time to look closer, we would find that we are basically all in the same situation: up to our necks in debt and perpetrating a fraud. I don’t consider myself as being in the middle or lower class. I see every African living in America as my sister and my brother, no less and no greater than I. Peace! Different Voice BY DOROTHY SHAW-THOMPSON HOME IS WHERE THEY ALWAYS LET YOU IN Yes, I have been watching the Thomas hearings on the C-SPAN network and no, I did not hear the statements made by Councilman Campbell on Friday night, and yes, I’ll reply and discuss both at some later date. For this week I want to share an inspirational experience from last week. Sometimes we get caught up in our own experience of things that we believe that what we see is happening everywhere. I recently had an opportunity to journey with my aunt to Lawnside, N.J. This municipality is where she lived for 35 years. She wanted to go back and visit and invited me to go along. As we planned our itinerary to make the most of our short time there, one item brought for me a i modicum of dismay. She wanted to visit ! the relocated school where she taught some 13 years ago. Because I love my aunt , and wanted the entire experience to be l pleasant, I was concerned that she would , meet with icy “Can I help you?” assertions I of procedures to negate “disruptions” in I the school. I had expected that underlying | thes words would be the “this is our school, . we are in charge and why are you here?” i belief systems literally expressed by some . parents and citizens who enter the , hallowed halls of public education. I The evening before our visit, to get our bearings, we drove through the city and r around the school where we saw a newly I installed trailer. Both of us assumed that it • was a “special education" class. The next day, gathering my courage, • ready to “protect" my aunl from any negativity (smile), we entered the school. I was immediately taken aback, tor to my left in the entrance foyer was a painting of prominent historical African-American persons. To the right of that picture was a gallery of paintings of African-American children from a variety of experiences with recognizable, distinct and diverse African-American physical characteristics—all positive—all beautiful. As we obeyed the visitors' instructions and entered the office, I was in for another shock. A brief moment ol silence accompanied by welcoming smiles and positive expectation was followed b) recognition of my aunt. There was nt pandemonium, but homecoming. I ever discovered a playmate, Barbara Jordan who had visited Raleigh during th< summer and attended school here for s while. Unlike my expectations, we botf were welcomed. There was no fear 01 finding them not “on the job for children,’ no expectation of ulterior motives on out part. In addition there were no children in the office, none in the halls on errands or foi punishment. As I walked around the schoo I saw teachers teaching and childrei attending, smiling, happy to be in schoo and learning. We never did see tfr principal and no one voiced where he was however, it was obvious to us that it wa trusted that wherever he was he was doini what he was supposed to do and trustei them to do the same. I met most of tb teachers and some of the children. Th teachers and a counselor had n understanding and experiene of what I wa expressing of my experiences am previous expectations. I met the thre •See DIFFERENT VOICE. P 12) V Bible Thought Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than h« that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool. Also, that the mmI be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth. The foolishness of man pcrverteth his way and his heart fretteth against the Lord. Wealth maketh many friends, but the poor is separated from his neighbor A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he Utttspeaketh lies shall not escape. TONY BROWN'S JOURNAL BY TONY BROWN BLACK AND DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN? OR BOTH? Today, it is widely acknowledged that a deliberate strategy of racial exclusion has transformed the Republican Party over the last 25 years into a party of whites, barely masking a thinly veiled racism. The negative reaction of many black people to the Republican Party and to black people in the Republican Party must be under stood in the context of what the Republican Party has become. It has intentionally alienated blacks to become a party of white people. With its “Southern strategy,” it has used code words (“quotas”) and symbols (Willie Horton) to play on the racial fears of whites. It has polarized the races and since the 1960s played a largely negative role for its own BROWN political gain. ' But how did we arrive at this point in the history of our political culture? After all, it was the Democratic Party that was all-white, the party of slavery, Jim Crow and state-enforced segregation. It was the Republican Party that was founded on May 9, 1854 in Ripon, Wis., to stop the expansion of slavery. The GOP is the party of Abraham Lincoln, the president who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and the remarkable Frederick Douglass, a former slave who became a national hero. Republicans in Congress were the architects of Reconstruction, a 10-year period of unprecedented political power for black people. They initiated the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery; the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed blacks citizenship; and the 15th Amendment, which extended the right to vote to former slaves, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1866. How did blacks move from the party that gave them civil and political rights to a previously all-white Democratic Party with a history of racist demagoguery, support for slavery and Jim Crow, and tacit approval of lynching? There is a tradition and philosophy, in eclipse since the adoption of the “Southern strategy” in the ’60s, that exposes what is being done as contrary to what Republicanism stands for. Having said that, what should black people do? I suggest that a proper reading of history will answer that question. The only time that black people have ever been politically empowered was between 1936 and 1934. Prior to 1936, blacks gave the Republicans nearly all of their votes out of a gratitude for freeing them from slavery, giving them citizenship and the right to vote. After 1964, blacks made the same strategic with the Democrats—'who now get close to 96 percent of the black vote. Because blacks vote overwhelmingly Democratic, the Democrats can offer lip service and still count on the black vote. And because blacks have become an almost nonexistent force in the GOP, Republicans can ignore thf* altogether. It’s a political Catch-22 for the black community. We can solve this dilemma by doing what we did (See TONY BROWN, P. 12) MIND’S* EYE by Agathp E. Carroo THE ISIS PAPERS Part3of4 Dr. Francis Cress Wes ling is brutally graphic in her interpretations of the symbols and language created by the “global white supremacy system" to subjugate other noo white peoples throughout the world. She states that the ivhite psyche must be decoded to truly understand the “behavioral manifestations of all of those who are victims of white supremacy domination and oppression.” Dr. Wesling examined certain specific language pat-. terns used by black males within the white supremacy cul ture. To refer to the white male as ‘The Man,’ according to Wesling, relegates other males to the status of boy, girl, woman or baby, the four remaining categories of people. Vehemently objecting to being called “boy,” black males have begun to refer to each other as “baby,” refer to black adult female peers as ‘mama,’ and refer to their residence as a “crib.” Dr. Wesling interprets this pattern of speech as an unconscious recognition that “the Man” has the ultimate power, the black male is a powerless “baby” who sleeps with adult females whom he calls “mama.” Wesling is equally graphic in explicating the language patterns of white males relative to black adult males and females. She offers evidence supporting her thesis that whites are genetic mutant albino offspring of African parents, the original mothers and fathers. The marriage of albinos with one another subsequently produced the white race, according to Dr. Wesling. Realizing their origin, whites have psychologically repressed it, but have exposed their unconscious awareness by referring to black women as “mammy,” and “aunt” or “auntie,” and referring to black males as “pappy” and “uncle.” Dr. Wesling also views the white male’s strong support of black females suckling white babies as an unconscious ’ fantasy of his that he is suckling the breast of his original I black mother. The sexual aggression perpetrated by white i men toward black women is analyzed by Wesling as a I “symbolic attempt to be born again, but without the ! genetic defect of melanin pigment deficiency or albinism.” i Wesling states, “This powerful need to degrade the black i female who symDolically represents his original black [ mother is primarily a<result of the genetic dominance of I the black (and other non-white females) over the white : male: she is able to cause his genetic annihilation because ; of her offspring by the white male are non-white, like > herself." s Dr. Wesling vividly decodes the symbols and speech i patterns of white and blacks in a historical and s psychoanalytical context to support her main thesis that racism stems from the need to ensure white-genetic survival in a majority world of peoples of color.
The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Sept. 26, 1991, edition 1
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